Losing Fur?

[FozzieBear43]

Hi everyone, i have been recently having a problem with one of my guinea pigs, Gem. She has been losing fur behind her head and beside her stomach. :{ She is sharing a Shed with 2 Females and One Male (neutered), Whom she all gets along with perfectly fine . She has been looked at by a vet and the vet found no Mites or any other physical cause. We give our Guinea Pigs as much exercise and fresh air as possible when the weather is nice. Gem is approximately 2 and a half years old and has had no previous medical issues.
We are stumped as to what on earth could be causing her fur loss. mallethead Please Help! <3 xx>>>

 

[Abi_nurse]

How did the vet look for mites? Some are not seen unless under a microscope. There would be no harm in treating all piggies for mites with Ivermectin. (xeno). Ideally three treatments 10 days apart. I would consider doing this, and if no improvement is seen maybe pop back to the vets.

x.

 

[Guinea pig slave]

Just a stab in the dark but hair loss on a sows side can be ovarian cysts - an ultra sound scan will confirm.
Does she appear to be in 'season' regularly ? Constant chasing, humpiggin (mounting) her buddies etc. all point to this condition which is treatable by a good vet.

 

[FozzieBear43]

Abi_nurse, the vet looked for mites by putting a strip of sellotape across the are where she is losing the fur and checking that under a microscope, we figured if it was a form of mites all 4 Guinea Pigs would have them by now as it was a few months ago that we noticed the initial loss of her hair/fur.

Guinea pig slave, we do notice the female Guinea Pigs, including Gem who's losing the hair/fur trying to mount each other, and when outside she does like dashing around, popcorning etc...

As a Guinea Pig she definitely appears to be the leader of the group, but we thought could she be losing her hair/fur due to stress of some sort or is she some how grooming herself or are the others grooming her somehow ?!

Thank you both for you quick responses !

 

[Guinea pig slave]

How's things with Gem - meant to ask how old she is
This may be useful to read:

http://www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html

 

[FozzieBear43]

Thanks for your link you sent. I will have a look at the info.
Best wishes

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Just to add to what Abi Nurse said, Selnick mites cannot be seen & they can present in some pigs but not in their cagemates, mine had them in July when I picked them up from boarding. They can be treated as she advised, but all of them would need treatment together even if they look clear :

http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html

That shows advanced cases, mine only had a slight hair loss on the lower back & weren't itching more than usual, I caught it early though.

It sounds like your vet was looking for static hay lice in the fur instead.

The vet can treat them for mites & also should be able to gently feel for any ovarian cysts, the hair loss is usually on the sides, although one of mine has a cyst & yet has no hair loss If the hair doesn't grow back after mite treatment then the vet may consider cysts. HTH