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Dry Feet?

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ghostbusterbunny

ghostbusterbunny

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Hi guys, this is a new one on me so hopefully you can help!

I'm currently at my OH's (Netherlands) and I've noticed that my Dutch girls both have incredibly dry and flaky feet. I've never seen this before in my own piggies so I'm looking for some advice as to what I can do and what the problem might be.

They're bedded on shavings and hay at the moment so I'm looking at whether that might be an issue for these two. I'm also considering whether their food might be causing dry skin. They're on a muesli mix (I know, but over here you don't see pellets...) and I think that might also be affecting their feet/skin. They're also a lot smaller than I was expecting after being away from them for 4 months... but that could be completely unrelated.

Any suggestions as to what might be causing it and what we can do to help? Bearing in mind that over here there's nowhere near the same sorts of ranges of products in the shops for small animals so we might not be able to get certain things unless I post them over.

Thanks in advance!
 
Is the bedding scented at all as this can cause problems, lavender scented is particularly nasty. Wee corners cleaned regularly as urine scald on feet of piggies that pee where they sleep will cause problems too. Additional Vit C may help too, preferably in the form of high vit C veg rather than drops for the water as pigs often don't like the taste and therefore don't drink enough.


Is there dryness to other parts of the body, ears especially - inside and out. Are the nails thickened. Is the skin inflamed at all?

If the answer is no and the problem is purely limited to the feet, try a little soothing cream applied very sparingly - kamillosan is good.

If the answer is yes then it may be a slight fungal infection - like athlete's foot in people. If vet treatment is tricky then a little Daktarin gold applied very thinly to all affected areas should resolve it. Twice a day for a week then once a day for a further week.

HTH

Suzy x
 
Thanks Suzy!

There doesn't appear to be any dryness elsewhere. Their skin is a little flaky, kinda like dandruff but very little of it. Ears/face etc are all fine. Their shavings are plain and they're cleaned out regularly enough and always get cleaned out sooner if they've been particularly dirty girls!

I think I'm going to get them on more veggies and especially some higher vit c ones seeing as how the food is a bit crap. In the mean time i will see if i can find that soothing cream here, if not ill post some over. Thanks again!
 
If they will ship over there you could try one of the Gorgeous Guineas ointments.

Paula
 
Awwww sorry to hear that your little ones have dry feet :( would anything from gorgeous guineas help? :) x
 
One of my piggies had dry feed so I ordered perfect paws ointment from gorgeous guineas. It did the trick and left Eliza's feet lovely and soft. You could see if they ship to you
 
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