Balding Teddy

[Cavy chaos]

Hi. Humbug my boy Teddy has been slowly loosing his hair on his back and the vet has now performed skin scrapings. He has been treated for mites with vet strength medication he has had fungal baths to no effect so now he has had a skin scrape. I wondered if anybody has had any experience of a Teddy loosing hair and there being no obvious cause. The vet is going to move on to blood test for thyroid or hormones. Any suggestions?

 

[Piggies&buns]

If all medical, parasites, fungal or barbering (which can indicate underlying discomfort) can be ruled out, then unfortunately he may just have teddy skin. Their coarse hair leaves them prone to skin issues and hair loss.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi. Humbug my boy Teddy has been slowly loosing his hair on his back and the vet has now performed skin scrapings. He has been treated for mites with vet strength medication he has had fungal baths to no effect so now he has had a skin scrape. I wondered if anybody has had any experience of a Teddy loosing hair and there being no obvious cause. The vet is going to move on to blood test for thyroid or hormones. Any suggestions?

Hi

There is a problem called 'teddy skin' in the vernacular (there is no proper medical name for it) which is tied to the genetics of the teddy breed. It doesn't affect all teddies and you need to exclude all other potential causes for hair loss first.

My Nerys (the teddy in my avatar on the left) and my Nye both suffered from 'teddy skin'; while Nerys's sister Nia didn't nor did Nerys's later companion Nesta.

There is nothing you can do about teddy skin; it tends to wax and wane throughout life. It is just unsightly.

 

[weepweeps]

Hi. Humbug my boy Teddy has been slowly loosing his hair on his back and the vet has now performed skin scrapings. He has been treated for mites with vet strength medication he has had fungal baths to no effect so now he has had a skin scrape. I wondered if anybody has had any experience of a Teddy loosing hair and there being no obvious cause. The vet is going to move on to blood test for thyroid or hormones. Any suggestions?

I’m so sorry he is losing hair.

But look at his little black “trousers” . Oh so sweet.

I hope your vet can find the cause and it’s something easily treatable

 

[Cavy chaos]

Oh, I didnt know about Teddy Skin. Poor love he is very dry. I really want his hair back. I do polish him with coconut oil to make him abit more comfortable. I wonder if I should have the more invasive blood tests if the skin comes back negative. They want to sedate him for that.

 

[Wiebke]

Oh, I didnt know about Teddy Skin. Poor love he is very dry. I really want his hair back. I do polish him with coconut oil to make him abit more comfortable. I wonder if I should have the more invasive blood tests if the skin comes back negative. They want to sedate him for that.

This is your right and call as an owner as to how far and how invasive (and expensive) you want any further investigations to go; especially when medication and treatment for guinea pigs is rather limited and where you want to draw the line and just accept things as they are. There is currently a lot of pressure on vets for pushing expensive tests etc. from the clinic chain owners after all. You do not have to have a bad conscience if you do not want to put your piggy through more invasive testing and just enjoy him as he is.

Teddy skin affects both genders equally.