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Itchiness: Mine and Theirs

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Spiggly

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I got my three boys in November. I used to have pigs all the time i was growing up, but my last boy died about 5 years ago. I have asthma and used to get a bit wheezy from the pigs, but i make sure i take any hairy clothes off before going into my bedroom and i havent been wheezy at all really wih these boys.

Since christmas, i have been very itchy on my arms. I have had a couple of small patches of eczema on my wrists, and these have spread, and i have itchy spotty patches all the way up my arms to my shoulders. I try and wear a jumper whenever i cuddle the pigs, but i cant think what else it could be.

At the same time, i have noticed they are itchier since christmas, although they dont spend all their time scratching. They dont look as sleek as they used to, and this weekend they seemed to be much more lethargic than normal.

I have had a pig with mites before, but she was scratching like crazy, and ripped a big hole in her side. They arent that bad, but i wonder if something is going on if i am itchy and they are itchy and now they are lethargic (and so am i, but i have flu - do you reckon it is PigFlu and we all have it? :)))
 
first thing that comes to mind for them is mites, are they indoor piggies or outdoor piggies?

and for you have you changed your washing powder, shower gel, bath stuff etc?
 
They are both indoor and outdoor piggies. They run around indoors all evening and are out in a double-layer hutch during the day. At christmas they went to my parents with me for a week, and went out on the grass for the first time since i have had them.

I havent changed any washing liquids, soaps or deodorants. In fact the only thing that has changed since i started getting itchy was that i now have the pigs. I was hoping that if they had mites, i could get it solved and stop all of us itching.
 
do you live in the uk? if you do its too cold to change them from outside to inside at the minute the change in tempreture is too great.

you can treat them for mites with xeno 450 i think it is. or take them to the vets to check, could be lice, could be nothing.

if they were mine i would bath them to see if that helps, but you have to keep them warm whilst they are drying so they dont catch a chill.

I'm allergic to 2 of my piggies so i take antihistamine tablets. might be worth a go. or pop to the dr.

that doesnt help a lot sorry.

and also with there claw trimming you can do this yourself at home. or if they are on concrete give them lots of hidey holes to run to and from and scatter treats for them. they may just be getting used to there new surroundings
 
They seem ok outside - they have huge amounts of hay and are always warm when i bring them in. I do worry that they are not wearing their claws down though. Today they are in the conservatory, but they dont seem very bothered today. There is a lot of sitting and snoozing instead of running and popcorning as usual.

As there is no noticeable skin or hair problems, just a bit less shiny then normal and average scratching, i dont think i will take them to the vets just yet. You are right, i could give them a bath, i would have to get some piggy shampoo. Is there anything i can use in the meantime until i can go to the shops?
 
i still wouldn't put them outside until at least march/april time. its not that they are cold its the change in tempreture between outside and inside. they dont handle the changes well. mine are indoors all the time and therefore dont wear there nails down so i cut them.

i use johsons small animal shampoo, or you could try a gorgeous guineas shampoo. which are designed for piggies.
http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/

some people use baby shampoo but i dont. i would wait until you have some shampoo and then bath them.

at the moment all mine do is sit and eat hay no running about unless its to the side of their cage cos they think i have food!
 
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