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Hair falling out?

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Jojoba

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My little Guinea pig Furio's hair has fallen out quite quickly on his stomache leading towards genitals, scaly and peeling and rubs off with fingers. He seems to find it a little sore but not too bad. Looks a little swollen but mostly like chapped skin. The bald patches are about 2 inches by one inch, the other pig is fine and their cage is clean. Any advice, does he need the vets?

Thank you
 
id take him him to the vets asap, could be mites or a fungal infection but I'm sure someone with more experience will be along shortly
 
I agree - it is not a usual area to lose hair and should be looked at by a professional.
 
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here is a picture, he has had lice before and has just got them again recently, and has had a wash with some delicing shampoo the other week

thanks
 
Common problem. It could be self-barbering from a lice problem. If it were a urine scald there would be other signs, such as cystitis or a bladder stone, which would cause the urine not to be passed as normal.
The abdomen is not a common site for a fungal infection.
 
It's probably worth treating him for fungal at least - bathe again in an anti-fungal shampoo weekly for 2-3 weeks and see if there is any improvement.

Is he an active pig, or does he lay around a lot?

Unfortunately the picture isn't showing for me so I can't see the problem.
 
Hi

I took him to the vets this morning and the vet thinks it is an allergic reaction to either the lice or the shampoo. I think this is somewhat questionable but both pigs have been spot treated to get rid of the lice, I am £40 down and have had a stern talking to regarding buying 'unregulated' products off the internet which could damage the health of my animals. This being the Gorgeous Guineas lice shampoo. Sigh.

My boyfriend was posting on my behalf last night as I was in a flat with no internet access, so he was relaying info to you that I was texting to him :p.
Personally I think that urine scald sounds like a much more likely scenario - this pig is not very active and unlike my older boar, who pees neatly in a corner, this one tends to pee and then lie in it :(. Especially since I bought them a house each and he adores it and curls up there all night (previously they had one house and smaller pig was forced to sleep on his own in the open).

I have to take him back in 2 weeks to see if it has cleared up but otherwise leave him alone. Pigs are now safely home munching on a treat of some Readigrass to make up for being brutalised by the vet. :(

I will keep you updated.

x
 
Hiya - have you thought of switching to fleece? It wicks away any pee to the underlay, so the surface stays dry and soft.
 
Hi

I used to have one on Vetbed, now both are on Carefresh, it is dry and they are cleaned out regularly, I guess he just pees all over himself :s

x
 
Hey

Realised I never updated about this!

My pig is now fine - the mites cleared up and vet thinks he has hypersensitive skin and that either the mites, the little house he was sleeping in, the shampoo or some unknown factor caused him to have an allergic reaction.

His skin has now cleared up, swelling has gone down and he is a happy pig :)

x
 
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