Hair loss?

[HeatherW]

Jasmine tends to be poofier around her bum than her shoulders anyway, but her hair does seem thinner than usual on the back of her neck. I've checked her skin and it doesn't look sore or flaky; it's the usual pink. She and Pickle have had mites twice before, but neither are scratching excessively and there doesn't appear to be the usual tell-tale brown specks in their hair. I couldn't get a great close-up photo and it looks more obvious in person. Do you know if it could be anything else? I'm not worried and I'm keeping an eye on it; both pigs are their usual selves. I'm just wondering if it could be a symptom of something else.

Thanks!

 

[sport_billy]

Vets check, could be start of Mites. It is in the area for it

 

[HeatherW]

I took both Jasmine and Pickle to the vet last week, but it wasn't the usual lady and she said it was "walking dandruff" - so they're white lice which are very difficult to see against Jasmine's hair. Although I had my doubts, I went along with it and have started treating them with Xeno again.

However, Jasmine's hair loss has got worse and is expanding along her right-hand side. The hair appears to at least be longer than it was, but it's definitely thinned out. Her skin doesn't look irritated or feel hotter than it should be.

Pickle is unaffected, so I'm convinced the vet is wrong and was just looking for what she believed it to be rather than a range of possible causes. Neither Jasmine's nor Pickle's behaviour has changed and they're both their usual selves.

Any ideas?! I'm taking them back to the vet (making sure it's the usual one this time), but it'd be great to know if it could be anything serious. I'm away on a business trip all next week, so I can't keep an eye on them as closely as I'd like.

 

[Betsy]

These things always happen at the wrong time don't they?

 

[HeatherW]

I'm more worried by not knowing what it is and doubting the vet's diagnosis. Guinea Lynx hasn't shed much further light, but could it be an ovarian cyst?

Guinea Lynx :: Ovarian Tumors

She's always been more round at the rear in comparison to her shoulders, has always had long nipples which are greasy (rather than crusty) and the hair loss description is pretty accurate. Where the hair is thin, the skin is fine - but where it's still well covered, she has a lot of dandruff. Jasmine is the dominant pig, but isn't aggressive...

 

[Danielle Smith]

Keep up with the Xeno until the full course is done. Mites are usually not visible to the naked eye (unless we are talking about hay lice, which is suspect is what you saw before -- they are relatively benign). Definitely get a second opinion if you are not happy though, you know your piggy best.

The kind of piggy she is, she may just have very scurfy skin. Not all pigs get all the symptoms of ovarian cysts, especially if they are the larger fast-growing external-to-the-ovary variety. Once my cystic sow started losing hair, it thinned astonishingly quickly. As you say, the skin in the thinning/bald patches is perfect, if a little fragile.

Unlikely given the photos, but could perhaps be fungal; have you tried bathing her in Malaseb a few times to see if the hair loss stops? Her skin looks a bit red, but I don't know if that's normal for her.

Other things that come to mind are Vit C deficiency, a very low-protein diet, or Cushing's disease (the latter is very rare). Your pattern of hair loss is a bit odd though, all these things are usually bilateral hair loss.

 

[HeatherW]

Thanks for the reassurance! They only started the treatment last week, so I've not had the opportunity to stop applying it.

They're booked in with the regular vet tomorrow, so I'll see what she says. It's just not how my pigs have usually looked/behaved when they've had mites, granted the previous two occasions they were hay mites, and if it is mites, then I'm surprised Pickle hasn't been as badly affected.