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Is My Piggie Ill? Scab On Back, Biting, Change In Behaviour...

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katieg

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I've had my 2 piggies for around 4 months now. They were settled in nicely and were relaxed with us picking them up etc. however the past week or so Ive noticed some changes and I'm worried they're sick?

Crunchy -always squeaks loudly when i come home from school and when i rustle in the food bag, doesn't squeak as much/ sometimes not at all
- i found a scab on her upper back (ill insert a pic). It has since fallen off and there are no other ones/ scars etc ? Also havent noticed any hair loss
- she is v frantic during laptime. She always loves to explore and sometimes she'd nip you but now she's very energetic and bites me and my clothes constantly (i dont know if this is excitement)

Winnie - havent noticed any changes however i had her out for laptime just now and started squeaking in terror it sounded, this is weird because she is a quiet pig and never ever squeaks

What made me keep a very close eye on them is...
-Both piggies poops are now light brown but normal shape? their poo used to be darker brown!
-they have gone off their pellets! I feed them pellets once a day but now it takes them longer than 24 hours to finish? They do not squeak and run to the bars when I'm getting the pellets ( i loved that ) and when i place the bowl in the cage they dont touch it

I am taking them to the vets tomorrow as its not open today but just wanted to post on here anyways


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Looks like a small sebaceous cyst to me. I wonder what others think?. If it is then the treatment is to squeeze out the gunk daily until no more forms, and cleanse it each time. I use Hibiscrub for this.
You could get it checked out at a vet before you go squeezing it yourself! I know I would, I'd hate to squeeze a wound that shouldn't be squozen.

It looks nice and small, best to get it sorted while it is - they do tend to grow. My Freddie has one that just won't go away and next week I'm taking him down to discuss surgical removal. Most don't come to that though :)
 
Looks like a small sebaceous cyst to me. I wonder what others think?. If it is then the treatment is to squeeze out the gunk daily until no more forms, and cleanse it each time. I use Hibiscrub for this.
You could get it checked out at a vet before you go squeezing it yourself! I know I would, I'd hate to squeeze a wound that shouldn't be squozen.

It looks nice and small, best to get it sorted while it is - they do tend to grow. My Freddie has one that just won't go away and next week I'm taking him down to discuss surgical removal. Most don't come to that though :)

thank you so much for replying! I just had another look at her skin and the cyst is gone! however i feel like there is some hair loss in that area now, is that normal? there is a little tuft of hair near when the cyst was, almost like someone cut her down really short!

also would you know why they have stopped loving their pellets?
 
Perhaps it was just a scab then, and not a cyst :)
I've never had one with a normal cut/scab before, but I would think hair loss is normal. We have hairs too, and it takes time for them to grow again over new fresh skin :)
 
just looks like a bite , or it could be that she has scrached herself , l would not do anything other than monitor it to make sure it dos not become infected .
 
Just keep an eye on her and watch for the formation of other scabs or any open sores, which could indicate a skin infection of parasites. It's probably just nothing more than a normal cut/scab/healing though :)
I'm tagging @Wiebke and @helen though for their thoughts and for them to look at your other question about their food x
 
Definitely get it checked by the vet tomorrow, it doesn't look like the cysts mine have had & the symptoms you are describing could possible be selnic mites :) Please take both pigs with you as the vet needs to check them both over :)
 
Thank you all so much for replying to me, I really appreciate it! I am going to continue to monitor them! I have just cleaned the cage this morning and their poo seems to be dark again so I am happy! Still confused on why they suddenly aren't as interested in their pellets! They eat their veggies and hay though so they are getting all their nutrients!
 
Definitely get it checked by the vet tomorrow, it doesn't look like the cysts mine have had & the symptoms you are describing could possible be selnic mites :) Please take both pigs with you as the vet needs to check them both over :)

Have just looked up mites, however I have not seen patches of hair loss or white specs on them
 
It's unusual for a piggy to bite at all, so something is bothering her. How long do you have her on your lap? Try handling them after feeding them & keep laptime short, she might just be telling you she needs to pee ;) Good luck at the vets tomorrow, hope they can sort it out for you.
 
Have just looked up mites, however I have not seen patches of hair loss or white specs on them

It is difficult to tell at this stage what has caused the biting. It could be a small burst cyst, the beginning of fungal, or slightly less likely mange mites (which are invisible to the naked eye, by the way; what you are thinking of is lice, which so not cause a piggy to bite itself).

I would recommend to disinfect the open wound with saline solution (sterile from the pharmacy or homemade by mixing 1 teaspoon of salt into 1 pint of boiled, cooled water). Keep an eye on it. If it heals without any further issues, then it is like just a burst cyst.
If you notice further biting, itching and balding in the next few days, please see a vet promptly. Do not treat the bald spots on spec, especially not with low dosed shop products, as that can make a diagnosis very difficult for a vet and you may need to wait until you can start treating fully and appropriately with a proper product. Fungal and mange mites can look very similar in the very early stages.
 
It's unusual for a piggy to bite at all, so something is bothering her. How long do you have her on your lap? Try handling them after feeding them & keep laptime short, she might just be telling you she needs to pee ;) Good luck at the vets tomorrow, hope they can sort it out for you.

If it is a bite i suspect it could be Winnie! Crunchy always squeezes herself into the same hidey that Winnie is in and i hear a loud squeak and crunchy has been pushed out! Nothing too serious though! Laptime varies, sometimes they are relaxed and nearly fall asleep, other times if they are biting me or shuffling i put them back as they probably need to go to the toilet! Thank you for your help :)
 
It is difficult to tell at this stage what has caused the biting. It could be a small burst cyst, the beginning of fungal, or slightly less likely mange mites (which are invisible to the naked eye, by the way; what you are thinking of is lice, which so not cause a piggy to bite itself).

I would recommend to disinfect the open wound with saline solution (sterile from the pharmacy or homemade by mixing 1 teaspoon of salt into 1 pint of boiled, cooled water). Keep an eye on it. If it heals without any further issues, then it is like just a burst cyst.
If you notice further biting, itching and balding in the next few days, please see a vet promptly. Do not treat the bald spots on spec, especially not with low dosed shop products, as that can make a diagnosis very difficult for a vet and you may need to wait until you can start treating fully and appropriately with a proper product. Fungal and mange mites can look very similar in the very early stages.

Thanks for your advice! :) I have saline solution at home already so thats good! I have done a full inspection of Crunchy again and the cyst/ scab whatever it was has gone and completely healed :) However I will be keeping a very close eye on her! Thank you so much for your help!
 
Actually I misremembered about not experiencing a straight-forward cut on a piggy. Penny had one on her back ages ago. Took her to the vet but it really was just straight forward, as was the healing process. We never knew how she did it, whether another had bitten her but I doubt that.
Hope it's just as straight forward for Crunchy, it sounds promising. Glad you are keeping an eye on it over the coming weeks to make sure nothing develops :) x
 
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