Hair Loss And Dry Skin?

[Sarah-sore]

Hi everyone. So, everythings calmed down quite a bit after Rusty went to the vet. After we lost Lillith I was super worried about Rusty but she's doing fine now It was just a false alarm.

Its actually Allie i'm posting about today. She seems to have a lot of hair loss. Like enough that it looked like I had a brushed a small dog when I was done with her. She's a short hair so I dont think I should have gotten that much hair. She's got no bald/thinning spots though, just a lot of hair loss. Also her skin is flaking. There was a lot of flacks of little dark skin, especially near her bum. She had a few dark spots on her skin that when I tried to investigate she would squeak and jump. Her skin is super dark but these spots were darker. They werent bleeding, they were just painful.
Also, I havent seen her scratching more than usual.

Allie's always kind of been sensitive, if you pet her the opposite way of her hair growth she would always squeak and try to jump away but while I was brushing the hair she seemed to enjoy it. I'm thinking maybe mites? No one else is exhibiting signs but I know that can mean nothing.

I read that mites can cause seizures, and maybe thats what Lillith had? Her illness crept up on us so fast and before we knew it she was gone. But, right near the end she did have hair loss(which I assumed it was just because she was old. Really wish I didnt assume that.) And what eventually got Lillith was a seizure.

I'm thinking I'll be booking an appointment with the vet tomorrow(its 7pm on Sunday right now, vet wont be open and this isnt an emergency yet.) I would just like to check by here and see what you guys think.

 

[helen105281]

You're right to get a vet appointment as it could be mange mites but fungal is also a possibility especially as the hair is coming out so much. Does it have any scurf on the ends at all? if you rub her hair the wrong way does it stay upright or fall back into place? she could also have a combination problem of both mange mites and fungal. For mange mites the hair may look broken half way down the shaft.

When Lillith was poorly it is likely that whatever was wrong meant her immune system was suppressed so she would have been susceptible to mange mites but it is not necessarily the mites that would have caused the seizures as you would have noticed excessive scratching first of all,

 

[Wiebke]

Please have her checked and diagnosed by a knowledgeable vet to amke sure that you are treating the correct issue with a good product. Please be aware that any lab tests can only show up ringworm, but not other forms of fungal infections.
Here is a list of recommended cavy savvy vets in Ontario: http://www.guinealynx.info/cabinet/index.php/Veterinarians_Canada

Best of luck! I am very sorry for your loss. it is always worse when another piggy is showing similar symptoms.