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Bald Patches Advice Please

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jml

My guinea Percy appears to have developed two bald patches just above his rear legs and I'd like some advice on this please. We'll probably take him to the vets just to get it checked out personally, but any anecdotal advice is also welcome!

The bald patches are quite large, and we hadn't noticed them before because his fur is quite long and I think these developed quite quickly. I haven't noticed him scratching any more than usual, but these areas appear to have red marks on them.

Percy's about 3 years old now, and seems perfectly healthy otherwise. My OH has purchased some Johnson's insectidical spray (extra for small animals) and I'd like to know if this is okay to use or has no-no ingredients in it please!

Oh, and he also has anal compaction, so that'll be a fun task for us *all* later!
 
It looks like most probably mites if you can't see any crawlies. If you can see little white things crawling - lice; black dots - static lice.

Don't discount the possibility of fungus.

Have a look on this medical website: http://www.guinealynx.info/index.html

The spray should be ok; but do not use it in the presence of the guinea pigs and wait until it has dried. Don't over look awkward corners!
 
Thanks, I've been looking on there - it's my help site alongside you guys! The sprays we have are one for the cage and one for the guineas themselves - the active ingredient is permethrin though, I don't know if that's safe?
 
Frankly, I'd rather take them to a vet. I've never sprayed them.
 
I avoid sprays since, in my opinion, it just doesn't tackle the problem as effectively as a proper course of ivermectin, and there are more risks to using sprays (risk of inhalation, risk of ingestion of a purely topical product) than there is to treating with proper medication.

An application of topical ivermectin is considerably safer, since ivermectin can be taken orally - so no problem if the pig grooms some of the product off himself; the product is known to be safe if ingested. Not as much chance of that with sprays containing who knows what! Even if mites are not the problem, lice (parasites visible to the naked eye) respond best to bathing and combing, as do fungal infections.

Is the hair firmly attached around the bald patches, or does it slide out easily on a gentle tug? (Sounds terrible but it is a one of the best ways of spotting a fungal problem!) Any flakiness of the skin?
 
Hi there. I researched a little on the internet for you, and these are some causes for hair loss (all over the body hair loss) :

> Parasite or fungal infections (mites, lice or ringworms)

> Vitamin C deficiency (I unfortunately lost a guineapig to that)

> Stress or boredom

Here are some things you can do to prevent hair loss :

[*]For Mites[/*]

These need to be treated quickly by a vet. If can become so severe, that itching can cause seizures or death (let's hope not!).
Treatment for mites: Two doses of Ivermectin given 7-10 days apart by injection, orally or topically

[*]For Ringworm[/*]

Ringworm can cause bald patches that are red and scaly.
Treatment for ringworm: Human OTC cream called Miconazole, bath in Nizoral Fungal Shampoo (for soothing and cooling) (also used on one of my animals)

[*]For Vitamin C deficiency[/*]

Can cause pain and unfortunately, death.
To provent and treat: Some good vitamin c veg (romaine lettuce, parsley and red and green bell peppers)

Stress or boredom:

If he has no cagemate your guineapig with get stressed and bored and that can lead to hairloss and all sorts of other problems.

Hope this helped x (typed by me!) :rose
 
CCC4 said:
An application of topical ivermectin is considerably safer, since ivermectin can be taken orally - so no problem if the pig grooms some of the product off himself; the product is known to be safe if ingested. Not as much chance of that with sprays containing who knows what! Even if mites are not the problem, lice (parasites visible to the naked eye) respond best to bathing and combing, as do fungal infections.
Click to expand...

Well he got worse overnight and his skin looked quite inflamed this morning (red patches had spread from little scratch-like marks to patches) and bless him he looked subdued. Still eating/drinking/moving well though.

We didn't use the spray in the end, as all the advice online (including in here) indicated this may not be a good thing. We took him to the vets tonight and we've been given a course of ivermectin (topical) and baytril (1ml per day for 7 days) to treat him in case of any other problems. Fingers crossed this sorts the problem!

Thanks again for looking in and commenting, all, it's reassuring to talk these things through with other piggy owners!
 
For what it is worth the "standard" dose of 2.5% Oral Baytril is 0.4ml twice daily.
 
Should Baytril be given "just in case" ? I thought it was best to avoid anti-biotics if possible. Sounds a bit drastic for just a couple of bald patches.
 
wind1 said:
Should Baytril be given "just in case" ? I thought it was best to avoid anti-biotics if possible. Sounds a bit drastic for just a couple of bald patches.
Click to expand...

Right now I don't mind. It's not a huge dosage and it may be helping in case it's not mites. I'd rather that than bother with skin scrapings and let things get worse in the interim.
 
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