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Specialist Unknown skin condition/hair loss

J

JazzyTink

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello,

about 2 months ago my 6 year old female began losing fur on her front paws. This fur loss spread to the entirety of both rear legs and finally her nose. She had been treated with Ivermectin as well as Intrafungol orally. She also had been on an oral antibiotic because she was biting herself to the point of open wounds.
Fast forward to now, she has about 2 doses left of the Intrafungol and her skin looks no better. In fact, she had a new open area where her “tailbone” may be in a human. Does anyone have any ideas of where to go next? The skin is so raw and dry and scabbed in some spots. She is also self barbering and has trimmed off most of the fur on her bottom area. I’ve attached an area of her front paw, this is how the skin looks basically in all the areas I’ve described.
we have a vet appointment this afternoon for a follow up...
 

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JazzyTink said:
Hello,

about 2 months ago my 6 year old female began losing fur on her front paws. This fur loss spread to the entirety of both rear legs and finally her nose. She had been treated with Ivermectin as well as Intrafungol orally. She also had been on an oral antibiotic because she was biting herself to the point of open wounds.
Fast forward to now, she has about 2 doses left of the Intrafungol and her skin looks no better. In fact, she had a new open area where her “tailbone” may be in a human. Does anyone have any ideas of where to go next? The skin is so raw and dry and scabbed in some spots. She is also self barbering and has trimmed off most of the fur on her bottom area. I’ve attached an area of her front paw, this is how the skin looks basically in all the areas I’ve described.
we have a vet appointment this afternoon for a follow up...
Click to expand...

Hi!

Sorry, I have never come across something like this but it sounds very uncomfortable.
How many rounds of ivermectin has she has and what product?

@Abi_nurse @furryfriends (TEAS) @PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns @Siikibam
 
That looks really sore. However I’ve never seen that in any of my piggies. The self barbering must be due to pain, poor girl.
Can I ask, is your vet experienced in guinea pigs? If you could add your location we could help direct you better.
 
Hi thank you for the quick responses! She had 3 rounds of ivermectin topical. I got it on Amazon so not entirely sure of the brand.
Yes, she is cavvy savvy. And she is a second vet I’ve gone to but seems more experienced than my usual.
I’m in the US (I know this is mainly a UK forum but I’m at a loss at what to do).
 
Thank you, I mean I’m able to press on all the bare areas without a response. She is acting completely normal and not itching. She must be biting when I’m not looking because I haven’t actually witness her do it.
I had treated her with a Revolution years ago which worked well, would you recommend that?
 
I agree with @furryfriends (TEAS) this sounds like a pain or stress response, especially if it began on the legs which isnt a usual place for mites or fungal problems to first appear... in the UK vets usually prescribe Xeno 450 for mites, but if you have used a lower strength product then possibly any remaining mites could now well be resistant to ivermectin which could be a problem- treating with other low dose topical ivermectin may only make the problem worse...
Has your piggy had skin scrape tests and dermatophyte tests and been definitively diagnosed with either mites or a fungal or bacterial skin infection? It seems rather a long time for a vet to be prescribing and guessing when these tests can be done very simply and cheaply and you could have a definitive diagnosis in a week or two at the most...
 
She did a sample to see if fungus grew, nothing grew back. I’m hesitant to do any scraping at all because (correct me if I’m wrong) I do not want to put her under any sedation to be honest. I’m thinking maybe arthritis? She does have a friend in her cage who is also losing fur, but on her back only and it’s not wide spread.
 
JazzyTink said:
She did a sample to see if fungus grew, nothing grew back. I’m hesitant to do any scraping at all because (correct me if I’m wrong) I do not want to put her under any sedation to be honest. I’m thinking maybe arthritis? She does have a friend in her cage who is also losing fur, but on her back only and it’s not wide spread.
Click to expand...
A skin scrape should not require sedation at all, just a quick scratch and an annoyed wheek and all better once she gets a snack. It is worrying if you also have another piggy losing fur in the same cage, I would get them both tested properly for mites and bacterial skin infections if the fungal test was negative, but if this is continuing it may be worth repeating the fungal test too on both piggies just to make sure...
 
Thank you! I’m bringing them both so fingers crossed I get answers
 
Just a thought, and don't get me I'm no vet but I would ask your vet to look for a tumour, with the age of your piggy, it's not always the case at that age.
Have you noticed any weight loss?
 
Hi, no weight loss. Vet treated her with revolution in case of persistent mites. Also put her back on the antibiotic and gave me some silvadene ointment for her sores. All scrapings and samples were negative for fungal or mites.
 
JazzyTink said:
Hello,

about 2 months ago my 6 year old female began losing fur on her front paws. This fur loss spread to the entirety of both rear legs and finally her nose. She had been treated with Ivermectin as well as Intrafungol orally. She also had been on an oral antibiotic because she was biting herself to the point of open wounds.
Fast forward to now, she has about 2 doses left of the Intrafungol and her skin looks no better. In fact, she had a new open area where her “tailbone” may be in a human. Does anyone have any ideas of where to go next? The skin is so raw and dry and scabbed in some spots. She is also self barbering and has trimmed off most of the fur on her bottom area. I’ve attached an area of her front paw, this is how the skin looks basically in all the areas I’ve described.
we have a vet appointment this afternoon for a follow up...
Click to expand...

this looks like in my opinion though I may be wrong but potentially a neurological issue with pain in the limbs, potentially from poor circulation perhaps. I would be looking to see if your little pig could see a specialist about this?

Did she have ivermectin injections of jut the spot on? Has she had any tests to see what it is at all?

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