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Barbering And Poo Stuck To Back End

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orangeinepig

orangeinepig

Teenage Guinea Pig
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So I have a trio of girl guinea pigs that are 6, 4 & 1 and last night when I went out to sort them all out I noticed my 4 year old guinea pig had a patch of fur missing and also where her mammary tumours are a patch of fur missing there as well and I'm pressuring either she or one of the other guinea pigs has been barbering so I'm just gonna keep an eye on her for a couple of weeks and see if she gets any better but my 6 year old pig has had poo stuck to her back end for at least the last week and I was hoping they would groom her back end but they haven't so I have to clean it so I'm wondering if it could be due to age or something else?
 
orangeinepig said:
So I have a trio of girl guinea pigs that are 6, 4 & 1 and last night when I went out to sort them all out I noticed my 4 year old guinea pig had a patch of fur missing and also where her mammary tumours are a patch of fur missing there as well and I'm pressuring either she or one of the other guinea pigs has been barbering so I'm just gonna keep an eye on her for a couple of weeks and see if she gets any better but my 6 year old pig has had poo stuck to her back end for at least the last week and I was hoping they would groom her back end but they haven't so I have to clean it so I'm wondering if it could be due to age or something else?
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I would strongly recommend to have your mammary tumour piggy checked by a vet as she is most likely self-barbering due to pain or discomfort. Barbering ( Eating Hair)

The six year old could be developing arthritis either in her spine or legs. Please change her cosies daily and give her a gentle hand-warm water bum clean; check her daily so the poos can't cake in. Also check for signs of urine scald. Another piggy to have vet checked, unfortunately.
Guinea Lynx :: Urine Scald
It is not uncommon in older guinea pigs that become a bit frail and are not able to clean themselves as well as they used to.
 
Wiebke said:
I would strongly recommend to have your mammary tumour piggy checked by a vet as she is most likely self-barbering due to pain or discomfort. Barbering ( Eating Hair)

The six year old could be developing arthritis either in her spine or legs. Please change her cosies daily and give her a gentle hand-warm water bum clean; check her daily so the poos can't cake in. Also check for signs of urine scald. Another piggy to have vet checked, unfortunately.
Guinea Lynx :: Urine Scald
It is not uncommon in older guinea pigs that become a bit frail and are not able to clean themselves as well as they used to.
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Thanks for the information :) we have had the guinea pig with mammary tumours checked by a vet and they have been infected before so she was on antibiotics which has cleared the infection but we chose against surgery as she is fairly old and there is about 6 of them which would lead to not much skin left to suture. I will take them to the vets but it will have to be next week so after the 29th as it isn't possible this week unfortunately but I will keep cleaning the 6 year old one daily :)
 
Took th pigs to the vets and the vet said that she wasn't concerned and that to come back in about 2 weeks to see if the hair is growing back fine and to possibly find out if mars has arthritis although she is only 900 grams :(
 
orangeinepig said:
Took th pigs to the vets and the vet said that she wasn't concerned and that to come back in about 2 weeks to see if the hair is growing back fine and to possibly find out if mars has arthritis although she is only 900 grams :(
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Have you got one of our recommended piggy savvy vets within your reach? Guinea Pig Vet Locator
 
orangeinepig said:
The closest one is in Stockton-on-Tees which I doubt my parents would allow me to take my guinea pigs to however if they desperately need to I should be able to take them there.
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Just see how she goes. Did your vet check for ovarian cysts etc. that could have also caused the barbering? it is frustrating when a vet doesn't feel the necessity to at least check properly.
 
Wiebke said:
Just see how she goes. Did your vet check for ovarian cysts etc. that could have also caused the barbering? it is frustrating when a vet doesn't feel the necessity to at least check properly.
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She does have ovarian cysts or mammary tumours? that go all the way up her belly but she feels that as the barbering is in places where the guinea pig can't reach it may be one of the other guinea pigs.
 
orangeinepig said:
She does have ovarian cysts or mammary tumours? that go all the way up her belly but she feels that as the barbering is in places where the guinea pig can't reach it may be one of the other guinea pigs.
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Without any pictures and just from your description, it is very difficult for me to judge without pictures whether the barbering is self-inflicted or not and - if it is self-inflicted - what could be causing it depending on its exact location. We are encouraging our members to seek vet advice for exactly that reason. If your vet is convinced that the barbering cannot be self-inflicted, then their advice makes perfect sense.
 
Wiebke said:
Without any pictures and just from your description, it is very difficult for me to judge without pictures whether the barbering is self-inflicted or not and - if it is self-inflicted - what could be causing it depending on its exact location. We are encouraging our members to seek vet advice for exactly that reason. If your vet is convinced that the barbering cannot be self-inflicted, then their advice makes perfect sense.
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It's right on her back but behind where her head can reach so the vet assumes it is from one of the others from bickering over food etc as they aren't sisters :)
 
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