Is this fur being ripped out?

Flibbertygibbert

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I posted a few days ago about suspected biting between my pigs. Taking all advice on board I had a look at my cage set up as didn’t see the incident happen and removed a forage fleece back opting to leave their forage loose. All has been well but today I bought the pigs indoors for a run and noticed Fudges nose which was healing beautifully had got a bigger patch and also a patch over the other eye. Now I blamed Treacle who is asserting her dominance but fudge follows her everywhere so doesn’t seem intimidated by her. Still haven’t seen an attack so it’s all guesswork but the other two are minions lol. In short looking at the photos do I need to worry? Is it a dominance thing that could work out or something more serious? Or could it be a skin condition and I’m unfairly maligning treacle? Should I take fudge to a vet for this? They are all playing nicely and popcorning like mad around my kitchen at moment as wet out
 

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It’s hard to say whether it’s as a result of fighting or a potential infection (maybe fungal). I would pop along to the vet to have that checked (rule out medical issues before relationship problems ) , it looks like it might be sore.
 
It’s hard to say whether it’s as a result of fighting or a potential infection (maybe fungal). I would pop along to the vet to have that checked (rule out medical issues before relationship problems ) , it looks like it might be sore.
Yes she was NOT happy about me cleaning it poor thing. Will call them now. Thank you
 
It’s hard to say whether it’s as a result of fighting or a potential infection (maybe fungal). I would pop along to the vet to have that checked (rule out medical issues before relationship problems ) , it looks like it might be sore.

:agr:
 
Earliest appointment they have is Thursday so will keep a close eye on it until then. If it flares up or gets infected I’ll take her to out of hours. Until then I’ll keep it clean. I’ve got vetcyrin and a small pet tea tree cream. Fudge is currently happy in herself and has been popcorning and doing zoomies like mad so think she’s ok. She’s eating well and her weight gain is good. These piggies have me more stressed than my toddlers!
 
I posted a few days ago about suspected biting between my pigs. Taking all advice on board I had a look at my cage set up as didn’t see the incident happen and removed a forage fleece back opting to leave their forage loose. All has been well but today I bought the pigs indoors for a run and noticed Fudges nose which was healing beautifully had got a bigger patch and also a patch over the other eye. Now I blamed Treacle who is asserting her dominance but fudge follows her everywhere so doesn’t seem intimidated by her. Still haven’t seen an attack so it’s all guesswork but the other two are minions lol. In short looking at the photos do I need to worry? Is it a dominance thing that could work out or something more serious? Or could it be a skin condition and I’m unfairly maligning treacle? Should I take fudge to a vet for this? They are all playing nicely and popcorning like mad around my kitchen at moment as wet out

Hi!

Please see a vet for a potential ringworm infection, which is the most contagious and transmittable problem between humans and most pet species. It could be another fungal skin infection in view of the warm and humid weather in the UK, which is an ideal condition for any fungal spores. Please do not treat on spec as it is not worth it; we cannot diagnose from a picture (nor are we qualified to); we can only tell you when to see a vet and support you with practical tips during treatment.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

In the vast majority of cases hair loss is either caused by fungal, skin parasites or self-barbering from pain/discomfort.
Barbering down to the skin or bloody bites from a companion are actually not all that common.
Barbering ( Eating Hair)

Please take the time to read the guide links, especially our ringworm hygiene guide if your piggy has been diagnosed with it ,so you have a chance of getting on top of it without turning it into a long running saga. Shortcuts in hygiene have a very nasty habit of coming back to bite you. Again. And again. And again.
 
Hi!

Please see a vet for a potential ringworm infection, which is the most contagious and transmittable problem between humans and most pet species. It could be another fungal skin infection in view of the warm and humid weather in the UK, which is an ideal condition for any fungal spores. Please do not treat on spec as it is not worth it; we cannot diagnose from a picture (nor are we qualified to); we can only tell you when to see a vet and support you with practical tips during treatment.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

In the vast majority of cases hair loss is either caused by fungal, skin parasites or self-barbering from pain/discomfort.
Barbering down to the skin or bloody bites from a companion are actually not all that common.
Barbering ( Eating Hair)

Please take the time to read the guide links, especially our ringworm hygiene guide if your piggy has been diagnosed with it ,so you have a chance of getting on top of it without turning it into a long running saga. Shortcuts in hygiene have a very nasty habit of coming back to bite you. Again. And again. And again.
Oh dear, I hope in one way it is that and not treacle but poor fudge. Timing sounds about right as the small patch showed up when they had been here just under two weeks. Thank you I will phone around other vets see if she can be seen sooner and leave it alone until then. I clean them out completely every day so I’m not sure there’s anything more I can do cage wise. From the guide @Wiebke it seems I should quarantine if diagnosed but as not yet diagnosed so do you think I should leave her with the others and get then just get them all checked at same time? Squeak got clean bill of health last week but she can be double checked. Poor piggies they’ve had a right rough start in life :(
 
Oh dear, I hope in one way it is that and not treacle but poor fudge. Timing sounds about right as the small patch showed up when they had been here just under two weeks. Thank you I will phone around other vets see if she can be seen sooner and leave it alone until then. I clean them out completely every day so I’m not sure there’s anything more I can do cage wise. From the guide @Wiebke it seems I should quarantine if diagnosed but as not yet diagnosed so do you think I should leave her with the others and get then just get them all checked at same time? Squeak got clean bill of health last week but she can be double checked. Poor piggies they’ve had a right rough start in life :(

As they have been together you will need to treat all piggies in close contact. With your timely intervention you can hopefully keep it to the one acutely affected piggy. Separation is very stressful, so I would only separate if you have a quartet or more and separate together with their best friend, who has to share the treatment in another room, preferably in surroundings that you can easily wipe afterwards so you have to deep clean the original cage only once. With pairs and trios it is better to leave them all together and just make sure that the other two are treated enough to prevent an acute outbreak and to prevent them from carrying any spores across. As you are dealing with an outbreak that has been going for more than a day, it is enough if you start treating once you have a diagnosis. The time between infection and acute outbreak is 10 days to 2 weeks; you can interrupt the cycle anytime during this period but once acute, the infected patches have to run their due course and get worse before the hair can start growing back (see pictures in the last chapter).

I've learned most of the practical tips and several things how you should not do it when I had an outbreak with 16 piggies... But my hygiene rules have stood the test of time not just for an outbreak in a room of 30 piggies about 5 years later where I could confine it to the single affected piggy but also for a number of members in the intervening years.

If you can, ask for itrafungol. It is not cheap but medicating once daily it is a lot less stressful for the piggy than a dip every three days and the infection risk for yourself is also a lot lower as you can keep it just two rounds of bathing in order to remove any spores from the fur coat and prevent the risk of another infection down the line. Dips do work but are in my own experience a lot more hassle (just compute how many towels you go through with 16 piggies every three 3 days on top of the normal bedding - and everything washed at high temperatures... :mal:

F10 is the best investment you can ever make! It is also helpful for an occasional deep clean of the cage or any major disinfection in the house. It is currently also serving to wipe any hard surface/plastic packing that comes into the house, plus all the door and cupboard handles, light switches, taps etc. in order to keep my significantly raised risk partner safe.
 
Thanks
As they have been together you will need to treat all piggies in close contact. With your timely intervention you can hopefully keep it to the one acutely affected piggy. Separation is very stressful, so I would only separate if you have a quartet or more and separate together with their best friend, who has to share the treatment in another room, preferably in surroundings that you can easily wipe afterwards so you have to deep clean the original cage only once. With pairs and trios it is better to leave them all together and just make sure that the other two are treated enough to prevent an acute outbreak and to prevent them from carrying any spores across. As you are dealing with an outbreak that has been going for more than a day, it is enough if you start treating once you have a diagnosis. The time between infection and acute outbreak is 10 days to 2 weeks; you can interrupt the cycle anytime during this period but once acute, the infected patches have to run their due course and get worse before the hair can start growing back (see pictures in the last chapter).

I've learned most of the practical tips and several things how you should not do it when I had an outbreak with 16 piggies... But my hygiene rules have stood the test of time not just for an outbreak in a room of 30 piggies about 5 years later where I could confine it to the single affected piggy but also for a number of members in the intervening years.

If you can, ask for itrafungol. It is not cheap but medicating once daily it is a lot less stressful for the piggy than a dip every three days and the infection risk for yourself is also a lot lower as you can keep it just two rounds of bathing in order to remove any spores from the fur coat and prevent the risk of another infection down the line. Dips do work but are in my own experience a lot more hassle (just compute how many towels you go through with 16 piggies every three 3 days on top of the normal bedding - and everything washed at high temperatures... :mal:

F10 is the best investment you can ever make! It is also helpful for an occasional deep clean of the cage or any major disinfection in the house. It is currently also serving to wipe any hard surface/plastic packing that comes into the house, plus all the door and cupboard handles, light switches, taps etc. in order to keep my significantly raised risk partner safe.
Thank you my lovely. Am at vet now, Fudge has ringworm and the others don’t have an outbreak yet but all are being treated with intrafungol - you’re right it isn’t cheap lol! But worth every penny if it gets my girls healthy. I’m going to deep clean the hutch and keep squeak and bubble together and treacle and fudge can stay inside in the plastic hutch as it’s easier to fully disinfect every day. Does that sound about right?
One last question though - can they all spend time together out in the run or not?
Thank you all so much for your help I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. It’s been a stressful time for other reasons here lately and I think I’d have lost the plot entirely without you guys x
 
Thanks
Thank you my lovely. Am at vet now, Fudge has ringworm and the others don’t have an outbreak yet but all are being treated with intrafungol - you’re right it isn’t cheap lol! But worth every penny if it gets my girls healthy. I’m going to deep clean the hutch and keep squeak and bubble together and treacle and fudge can stay inside in the plastic hutch as it’s easier to fully disinfect every day. Does that sound about right?
One last question though - can they all spend time together out in the run or not?
Thank you all so much for your help I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. It’s been a stressful time for other reasons here lately and I think I’d have lost the plot entirely without you guys x

Hi!

Please give 3-5 days of itrafungol the other three in order to prevent an outbreak in the not yet acute but likely already infected companions; the itrafungol will get to any infected part on the skin so they should never come down with it.

Deep clean their hutch twice: once at the start and then once again before you re-introduce. You also need to give a bath to all your piggies in order to remove any shed spores from their coats which are not in contact with the skin but may be sliding down to it or be picked up via the floor/cosies (i.e. give your piggy coats a deep clean, too).
Any shampoo will do the trick but an anti-dandruff one from the pharmacy or supermarket will be an extra layer of security. It corresponds to the Covid hand washing advice - what to can remove mechanically you don't have to treat chemically/medically. Do this before you deep clean and let the piggies dry while you deep clean the hutch with F10. So you can make sure that no spores will enter the deep cleaned hutch and it reduced your stress and labour immensely. ;)

With a full bottle of itrafungol, you can consider whether you want to leave all 4 girls together. In this case you need to do another bath and deep clean at the end, to; once Fudge has done her full course which should in my own experience take about a week. After that you are in for a two weeks safety wait re. probable outbreak. For your own peace of mind you do a third deep clean at the end of quarantine, but that will ge it. ;)

I would recommend to deep clean the hutch with F10 about every 3 months (recommendations vary from 1-6 months so that is down the middle) but you should be basically done with the rough bit in 7-10 days.

Our hygiene guide has all the practical details and the pictures to help you judge when Fudge is no longer acute (i.e. when no new crusts are forming) although please do the whole recommended course to make sure that it doesn't come back.
Here are our illustrated bathing guides: Bathing (including cleaning grease glands)

Please also use the anti-dandruff shampoo for giving yourself a full body lather, especially all the areas on the face, neck, arms and uncovered legs that could have come into contact with ringworm or that you have a habit of touching unconsciously.
Basic commonsense hygiene rules have applied for ringworm long before Covid-19 has come onto the scene... but the principles are very much the same! Please be very careful to keep an eye on any children of yours because they tend to be affected worse by ringworm than adults if they catch it. See a gp promptly.

I know it is not cheap but worth spending the money and getting on top of the ringworm once and for all. It is not the worst illness around but what makes it so tricky is it cross species contagiousness and the longevity of its spores which can surpass two years if you are really unlucky.

With the vet diagnosis you can reclaim any cost from the pet shop if the outbreak has happened within 2 weeks of purchase as exposure and infection must have happened at the shop (see the link in my first post re. customer rights).
 
Hi!

Please give 3-5 days of itrafungol the other three in order to prevent an outbreak in the not yet acute but likely already infected companions; the itrafungol will get to any infected part on the skin so they should never come down with it.

Deep clean their hutch twice: once at the start and then once again before you re-introduce. You also need to give a bath to all your piggies in order to remove any shed spores from their coats which are not in contact with the skin but may be sliding down to it or be picked up via the floor/cosies (i.e. give your piggy coats a deep clean, too).
Any shampoo will do the trick but an anti-dandruff one from the pharmacy or supermarket will be an extra layer of security. It corresponds to the Covid hand washing advice - what to can remove mechanically you don't have to treat chemically/medically. Do this before you deep clean and let the piggies dry while you deep clean the hutch with F10. So you can make sure that no spores will enter the deep cleaned hutch and it reduced your stress and labour immensely. ;)

With a full bottle of itrafungol, you can consider whether you want to leave all 4 girls together. In this case you need to do another bath and deep clean at the end, to; once Fudge has done her full course which should in my own experience take about a week. After that you are in for a two weeks safety wait re. probable outbreak. For your own peace of mind you do a third deep clean at the end of quarantine, but that will ge it. ;)

I would recommend to deep clean the hutch with F10 about every 3 months (recommendations vary from 1-6 months so that is down the middle) but you should be basically done with the rough bit in 7-10 days.

Our hygiene guide has all the practical details and the pictures to help you judge when Fudge is no longer acute (i.e. when no new crusts are forming) although please do the whole recommended course to make sure that it doesn't come back.
Here are our illustrated bathing guides: Bathing (including cleaning grease glands)

Please also use the anti-dandruff shampoo for giving yourself a full body lather, especially all the areas on the face, neck, arms and uncovered legs that could have come into contact with ringworm or that you have a habit of touching unconsciously.
Basic commonsense hygiene rules have applied for ringworm long before Covid-19 has come onto the scene... but the principles are very much the same! Please be very careful to keep an eye on any children of yours because they tend to be affected worse by ringworm than adults if they catch it. See a gp promptly.

I know it is not cheap but worth spending the money and getting on top of the ringworm once and for all. It is not the worst illness around but what makes it so tricky is it cross species contagiousness and the longevity of its spores which can surpass two years if you are really unlucky.

With the vet diagnosis you can reclaim any cost from the pet shop if the outbreak has happened within 2 weeks of purchase as exposure and infection must have happened at the shop (see the link in my first post re. customer rights).
 
Thanks. They are all on 7 days on meds 7 days off x 3. I think I’d struggle to get the money back from the breeder tbh but I’ve just completed a painting which should cover the cost lol! Is part and parcel of having pets I guess, just a bit unexpected right at the start! Two great things have come out of this though - 1: Treacle isn’t attacking fudge at all (sorry Treacle for accusing you!) and 2: hubby has relented and they will be coming inside permanently- I get to part convert one of our rooms! All in all I’m taking that as a win!
 
i hope all ends well !you have had a steep learning curve and expense.just for future reference you can get a prescription from your vet for intrafungal suspension,usually a small cost for the prescription.you can get the intrafungal from online vets,it is half the price of the vets charges !animed direct,and vet uk seem to be the cheapest.good luck,with good hygiene your lovely piggies will never get again.:hug:
 
Thanks. They are all on 7 days on meds 7 days off x 3. I think I’d struggle to get the money back from the breeder tbh but I’ve just completed a painting which should cover the cost lol! Is part and parcel of having pets I guess, just a bit unexpected right at the start! Two great things have come out of this though - 1: Treacle isn’t attacking fudge at all (sorry Treacle for accusing you!) and 2: hubby has relented and they will be coming inside permanently- I get to part convert one of our rooms! All in all I’m taking that as a win!

I am very sorry - the safest place to adopt from is a good welfare standard rescue. We have got a locator on the top with those (carefully vetted) rescues that we can guarantee for. Sadly anybody can call themselves a rescue or a breeder in this country without licensing or control and the results can be accordingly - including any shade in between the two categories. Well worth travelling a bit further and making it a day out for total peace of mind as mandatory quarantine/vet care, a mandatory pregnancy watch for any sows over 4 weeks and careful personality matching (including with adopters' piggies) are all part of the extra service.

The cat ringworm course is three intervals but you should find that unless a guinea pig has underlying issues the ringworm will have subsided within 7 days so it is only that one week and the deep clean/bathing at the end of it that is actually the stressful bit.
If they are not happy with the meds, use our piggy whispering tips to tell them that you love them and then firmly assert your authority in piggy social language. Always start and end with assuring your love. I have learned that trick from one of my savviest 'husboar' (our word for a neutered boar living with sows); Terfel had three very strong-willed cataract sows to keep the group peace up with...
Because your using piggy socially interactive concepts, they are surprisingly effective and you don't have to wait until they have fingured out humans.

Anyway, here a lessons one and two of our piggy whispering:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Who is the boss - your guinea pig or you?
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely

You have so much more fun with house piggies, to be honest!

If you are not happy about the breeder, you can report them to both the RSPCA (where likely not much is going to happen but it puts them on the books) and to the local council over trading standards.
 
i hope all ends well !you have had a steep learning curve and expense.just for future reference you can get a prescription from your vet for intrafungal suspension,usually a small cost for the prescription.you can get the intrafungal from online vets,it is half the price of the vets charges !animed direct,and vet uk seem to be the cheapest.good luck,with good hygiene your lovely piggies will never get again.:hug:
thank you that’s good to know although hope to goodness they stay clear!
 
I am very sorry - the safest place to adopt from is a good welfare standard rescue. We have got a locator on the top with those (carefully vetted) rescues that we can guarantee for. Sadly anybody can call themselves a rescue or a breeder in this country without licensing or control and the results can be accordingly - including any shade in between the two categories. Well worth travelling a bit further and making it a day out for total peace of mind as mandatory quarantine/vet care, a mandatory pregnancy watch for any sows over 4 weeks and careful personality matching (including with adopters' piggies) are all part of the extra service.

The cat ringworm course is three intervals but you should find that unless a guinea pig has underlying issues the ringworm will have subsided within 7 days so it is only that one week and the deep clean/bathing at the end of it that is actually the stressful bit.
If they are not happy with the meds, use our piggy whispering tips to tell them that you love them and then firmly assert your authority in piggy social language. Always start and end with assuring your love. I have learned that trick from one of my savviest 'husboar' (our word for a neutered boar living with sows); Terfel had three very strong-willed cataract sows to keep the group peace up with...
Because your using piggy socially interactive concepts, they are surprisingly effective and you don't have to wait until they have fingured out humans.

Anyway, here a lessons one and two of our piggy whispering:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Who is the boss - your guinea pig or you?
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely

You have so much more fun with house piggies, to be honest!

If you are not happy about the breeder, you can report them to both the RSPCA (where likely not much is going to happen but it puts them on the books) and to the local council over trading standards.

Thank you! Yes absolutely more fun, I’ve always had house piggies before and we’ve had the best bonds but had a hard time convincing OH to let them in - it’s been seven or 8 years since our two old boys passed. Just having them in overnight last night reminded him how much he loved our last pair who were with us in our home til they were v v old! He is stubborn ha ha, only wish he’d capitulated before I shelled out for a top notch shed and not a cheap flat pack which is really all we need to house my work stuff currently sitting where the piggies will be living and an expensive outdoor hutch🙄🙄🙄😂😂😂😂😂
The girls are clearly happier inside (I still have them indoors tonight as my F10 hasn’t turned up yet) even in a temporary smaller cage. They’ve been popcorning and lounging around like jelly beans chirruping to each other all evening bless them. They’ll also make fabulous company whilst I sit next to them painting my canvases (acrylics so no thinners don’t worry!) - home working got lonely!
 
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