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Hair Loss - 2nd Opinions

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Cavy.girl

Cavy.girl

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Scooby - 5 years old - in the last few months I've noticed he has a fair bit of hair loss. More thinning than falling out, he has a balding underside and around his ankles. He scratches sometimes but not an awful lot, and I wouldn't say anywhere near where the hair loss is happening. He has tons of energy in between his sleepy time and his bahaviour is as normal.

He's been seen by a good piggy vet who tested a skin scraping from Scooby and found no mites present. It's not fungal either. Vet suggested it's just his age, or maybe because he spends a lot of time running about on the carpet, but I'm not sure.

I was wondering what else could be causing the hair loss? His coat feels kinda dry and not great condition, but there's no skin flakes or anything else nasty in his hair. Any thoughts?
 
Tagging in @helen105281 for you she is good with skin conditions and may have a few suggestions
 
I wonder if piggies get allergies? Hair loss is a symptom of allergies when it comes to my dog anyways :)
 
I would wonder if it is fungal, but not the fungus they tested for. Sometimes the tests are too specific. I might try a basic antifungal and see what happens.

One of my pigs has been prone to yeast infections of the skin, which sounds symptomatically similar. She starts with hair loss in the creases of her back legs, which can then progress up her belly if not caught and treated quickly. Her skin never looked inflamed or red. In some areas it looked mildly dry/flaky, but only when it had been progressing for awhile. My vet suggested just using an OTC yeast cream (Monistat) twice a day, and that helped to clear it up and to regrow her fur quite quickly. In her case, it was suggested that just general deconditioning and antibiotic use probably led to an overgrowth of yeast (she is on chronic antibiotics for suppressive therapy due to bladder issues, and at the time of this rash she had a jawline abscess and dental issues which may have lowered her resistance and allowed an opportunistic fungus to get hold.)
 
How did the vets test for fungal as only Ringworm will successfully show up if a culture was done. Other types of fungal or yeast infections do not usually show in tests. Another possibility is some kind of nutritional deficiency or even Cushings. Could you post a photo? Please could you also summarise what diet you feed, in particular the pellets?

Does the hair stay upright when you stroke it the wrong way? does the skin seem fluoresced at all?
 
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