hayls<3
Teenage Guinea Pig
My eldest pig at 9, Muffin, has become near enough bald on her back end.
I began to notice this a few months ago when it began with a slight balding around her back leg 'ankles' (I suppose!) and presumed it was a problem with mange mites as Muffin has been treated for this previously and I always ensure I give a course of Xeno 450 every few month as a preventative measure. I have washed all of my girls with lice shampoo and provided them with the Xeno at the back of her neck and followed up with this but after a month or so I noticed things hadn't improved. But usually, I find that when the girls have skin problems or a build-up, they usually produce a black skin dandruff but this wasn't showing at all.
I've seen extracts about hair loss being linked to vitamin C deficiency but have always provided her with a suppliment.
I went away on holiday and when I returned, the baldness seemed to have spread up to the tops of her back legs.
A week after I came home, I found Muffin was alert but motionless, she wasn't reacting as she normally would when I entered my room. When scooping her up for closer inspection, she wasn't walking around as she normally would as she is extremely inquisitive. But when she did walk, she was hopping, instead of placing one foot in front of another, she was pulling them both together and preferring to stay slumpt with her head down. I rang the Vets as soon as possible and made her an emergency appointment.
When speaking to the vet, it seemed like Muffin had lost the movement in her back legs. He explained that for a guinea her age, arthritis was inevitable and that it may have come to the point that her legs may have stopped working. I mentioned about the baldness and the previous mange problems and he said he suspected that this may be because of the pain or irritation of the area but he wasn’t hopeful that she would survive. Muffin was prescribed Metacam and could take 15 drops a day. I monitored through the night feeding and watering her as I was worried she wouldn’t be able to get up to access any food or water.
In the morning she sprang back into life, running around again and I only give her the Metacam on a need basis now and am hoping to be able to give her joint tablets only to manage her symptoms but there is still the baldness that doesn't seem to be getting any better.
I do see her pulling and chewing her back end so I know it's non of the other piggles doing it to her. I have since bought some Neem gel from the Gorgeous Guineas site as it is said to help with calming irritated skin where there is itching but I'm worried she will just lick it all off, is it possible to wrap a guineas back end? I've seen the Guinea Lynx advice on badging and some examples of wrapping around the trunk but i'm sure i've just read that it should never performed anywhere else.
I began to notice this a few months ago when it began with a slight balding around her back leg 'ankles' (I suppose!) and presumed it was a problem with mange mites as Muffin has been treated for this previously and I always ensure I give a course of Xeno 450 every few month as a preventative measure. I have washed all of my girls with lice shampoo and provided them with the Xeno at the back of her neck and followed up with this but after a month or so I noticed things hadn't improved. But usually, I find that when the girls have skin problems or a build-up, they usually produce a black skin dandruff but this wasn't showing at all.
I've seen extracts about hair loss being linked to vitamin C deficiency but have always provided her with a suppliment.
I went away on holiday and when I returned, the baldness seemed to have spread up to the tops of her back legs.
A week after I came home, I found Muffin was alert but motionless, she wasn't reacting as she normally would when I entered my room. When scooping her up for closer inspection, she wasn't walking around as she normally would as she is extremely inquisitive. But when she did walk, she was hopping, instead of placing one foot in front of another, she was pulling them both together and preferring to stay slumpt with her head down. I rang the Vets as soon as possible and made her an emergency appointment.
When speaking to the vet, it seemed like Muffin had lost the movement in her back legs. He explained that for a guinea her age, arthritis was inevitable and that it may have come to the point that her legs may have stopped working. I mentioned about the baldness and the previous mange problems and he said he suspected that this may be because of the pain or irritation of the area but he wasn’t hopeful that she would survive. Muffin was prescribed Metacam and could take 15 drops a day. I monitored through the night feeding and watering her as I was worried she wouldn’t be able to get up to access any food or water.
In the morning she sprang back into life, running around again and I only give her the Metacam on a need basis now and am hoping to be able to give her joint tablets only to manage her symptoms but there is still the baldness that doesn't seem to be getting any better.
I do see her pulling and chewing her back end so I know it's non of the other piggles doing it to her. I have since bought some Neem gel from the Gorgeous Guineas site as it is said to help with calming irritated skin where there is itching but I'm worried she will just lick it all off, is it possible to wrap a guineas back end? I've seen the Guinea Lynx advice on badging and some examples of wrapping around the trunk but i'm sure i've just read that it should never performed anywhere else.
Looks age related, and i'd say at this stage of her life comfort is the most important thing for her. The baldness, well some elderly people suffer hair loss in old age, could just be that, but also as a animal or human gets older, their body has to work harder to keep healthy and they just don't have the youth and strength to keep at that healthy glow level, it could just be ageing, and control pain management, and monitoring her from day to day is the best way forward for this gorgeous girl