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Lump / red skin / hair shafts breaking

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Charlotte

Charlotte

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Fuzzypeg has had a lump on the side of his back for about 6 months now. His brother had fatty lumps (which were removed by my vet) and were nothing nasty at all. I took Peg to the vet's when the lump appeared and my vet said that it felt exactly the same as his bother's and was nothing to worry about. Fuzzypeg is his usual self, but yesterday and today I've noticed that the hair on the surface of the lump has changed slightly. The hair is thin and short, which I know points to a parasitic infection, but the hair on the rest of his body is totally normal; it's only like this on the lump. I've pulled the tiny bit of hair that's left and its just a bit brittle / frizzy and just breaks and sort of crumbles and disintegrates.

He was with Vedra on Wednesday but I was so wrapped up with his molar problem that I forgot to mention the lump. And anyway, I thought it was just a fatty lump up until the last 48 hours when it's gone a bit read and the hair is looking pathetic. I took Pearl with Peg on Wednesday and Vedra was talking about how she did the sellotape / microscope test on her and that she was squeeky clean. I just assumed that she'd tested Fuzzypeg too. I think she tests them all when they go through the door.

Should I get some Flea or Die and bathe him in that and then monitor the lump? The hair shafts breaking defo makes it sound like parasitic, doesn't it? He is happy, not scratching, eating, pottering and the lump isn't painful.

Charlotte x



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A condition like that is often due to the pig nibbling the hair. I either remove the hair on the lump or else leave well alone, assuming, as you say, that the rest of the hair is good.
 
This could be a sebacious cyst.the hair over them does tend to break off and thin.

These cysts are best left alone.

Flea and Die is useless for gp`s as it is a treatment for fleas,which gp`s do not suffer from.

Maryh
 
Flea or Die is not useless for guinea pigs as it is active against lice, which they do suffer from.
 
And if it is a cyst or fatty lump (both his brother and sister had fatty lumps) is it just a coincidence that the skin problem has appeared in this place? Or will the skin be weaker there, and therefore more likely to suffer with skin issues?

Charlotte x
 
The skin isn't "weaker" as such. The lump means that the skin is more prominent and therefore more likely to be in contact with the "outside world" and thus the hair gets worn away.
 
I've had a reply from Chrissie at GG and she also thinks it looks like a sebaceous cyst. I've been reading up in my books, including Vedra's, and it defo feels like one. I'm going to leave well alone but will just check it daily.

Thank you for all your help.

Charlotte x
 
Me again rolleyes

Just so that I'm prepared, what should my plan of action be if I go to Fuzzypeg one morning and it's burst? It's fairly big (about 2cm x 2cm) and I'm fairly certain it's a serbaceous cyst. It feels solid yet a bit squishy, if you know what I mean. Sort of like a bubble on a sheet of bubble wrap, only much bigger!

In Vedra's book, she says the content of a serbaceous cyst is only sebum, and therefore no infection is involved, therefore no antibiotic is required. But if it should rupture, how should I cean / flush it out, and what oitment should I put on?

Charlotte x
 
Gently squeeze the cyst from the base upwards. The contents are rather like toothpaste! No need at all to put anything on/over the cyst afterwards. It may help if you trim the hair away from the cyst before starting to empty the contents. It just saves you the trouble of having to remove any cyst contents that get onto the hair.
Time taken? Under 5 minutes. One squeeze is often all it takes.
 
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