hairloss

[piggys]

has anyone had an experience with guinea pig losing hair after the death of the herds leader pig.bit of back story our leader guinea pig passed at 7 1/2 years old,she lived with 3 other piggies who all looked up to her,however after she passed one of the other guinea pigs started to loose hair about 6 months ago, she about 4 1/2 years old.shes been seen by the best exotic vet in the country and by 2 other vets at her practice just to get their opinion also she has had xray scan examinations and they all came back negative shes healthy in every other way.
she has hair on her head neck legs belly but nearly all her top torso hair gone,the vets all think its grief from loosing her friend even though she has the company of two other piggys and they all get along.
has any else experienced this ,she has excellent appetite lots of activity,great interest in every day things ,i also keep heat packs in with them now in case she feels cold from loss of hair,they live in the house with us.
thanks for taking the time to read this

 

[Mrs Tiggy Winkle]

I'm sorry I have no idea, but I'll ping a couple of other members
@Piggies&buns @Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

has anyone had an experience with guinea pig losing hair after the death of the herds leader pig.bit of back story our leader guinea pig passed at 7 1/2 years old,she lived with 3 other piggies who all looked up to her,however after she passed one of the other guinea pigs started to loose hair about 6 months ago, she about 4 1/2 years old.shes been seen by the best exotic vet in the country and by 2 other vets at her practice just to get their opinion also she has had xray scan examinations and they all came back negative shes healthy in every other way.
she has hair on her head neck legs belly but nearly all her top torso hair gone,the vets all think its grief from loosing her friend even though she has the company of two other piggys and they all get along.
has any else experienced this ,she has excellent appetite lots of activity,great interest in every day things ,i also keep heat packs in with them now in case she feels cold from loss of hair,they live in the house with us.
thanks for taking the time to read this

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately, the hair loss pattern sounds rather unusual.

I assume that the vets have excluded skin parasites and ovarian cysts as the most common issues? I also assume that they have checked for a potential bacterial infection?

Is the hair loss bilateral (the same on either body side) and is the skin smooth or stubbly when stroke across it? Has any vet considered a 2-3 weeks booster course with vitamin C?

It is very hard for us to get a proper idea without picture.

Guinea Lynx :: Hair Loss
Barbering (Eating Hair)
New Guinea Pigs Health Problems: URI - Ringworm - Skin Parasites
Sow Problems 'Down Below' (Ovarian Cysts, Super-seasons, Womb Infection, Pregnancy & Mammary Tumours)

PS: Our picture upload will only work once your registration has passed all checks, which usually takes a while. The best way to upload any is via the Attach Files button by the post when you write it.

 

[piggys]

They did lots of tests,they are an exotic vet practice ,and 3 vets looked at her examined her and did all sorts of tests.One of the vets suggested that because she is so healthy apart from the hair loss it could have been the sheer stress of losing the older piggy.Other than the hair loss she is a very happy healthy piggy.many thanks for sharing with other members.