Mimmi Is Losing Hair On Her Front Paws

[Leeni]

I noticed that Mimmi's both front paws are almost completely hairless (the pic is quite poor, the paw looks almost normal in it but I couldn't get a better one). Also the other paw had some weird white dried out goo stuck to the other side of it but it came off when i gently scratched it. The skin other wise is looking really good and hair is thick and shiny like usually during summer time (her hair and hair are quite bad during winter). I am not sure if the paws are a bit swollen too. Her feet are always quite dry so I apply some ointment on the from time to time. She has had a bit red soles for her whole life but the feet don't seem painful. Vet said it's quite normal and she should be kept on a clean, dry and soft cage which I've done.

Could she be doing this to herself? She seems content and active but could she be in pain or something if she is plucking the hair off? Or could there be other reasons?

 

[helen105281]

It is normal for pigs to have some bald patches on their legs but they can also get skin infections on their feet. Has she been nibbling at the area at all as if it is bothering her?

 

[Wiebke]

It looks like she has been overgrooming herself for some reason. if in doubt, please see a vet.

The regular bald patches are usually on the inside of the front legs and stem from regular washing themselves.

 

[Leeni]

Thank you @helen105281 and @Wiebke for your replies !

Skin on the feet looks healthy and not inflammated and she has even gained a little weight (which is good since she's been quite petite) so I'm not very worried.
I think I'll just monitor Mimmi for awhile before going to see a vet. It's sometimes so frustrating when you don't know whether to go to vet's or not . Of course I'll take her immediately if something else occurs or this gets any worse but I've gone to see vet in so many cases when it has not really been necessary and would rather save the money for the real need.

 

[Leeni]

I decided to go to vet's next tuesday because now Mimmi has some rash-like thing going on on her ears and there's a small bald patch on her bum as well ... I'll also take Tyllerö there to see if she has ovarian cysts because she has been very hormonal for the last month. I wonder if the constant bullying has stressed Mimmi out and made her resistance weak.
I hope I know more after Tuesday!

 

[Leeni]

Ok, we've been to see the vet today with Mimmi and Tyllerö.
Tyllerö was diagnosed with ovarian cysts (quite an early stage but the behavior can still be quite hot-headed bacause of them ) and had an injection of Busol. She also took a thin needle sample of the lumps beneath Tyllerö's nipples and luckily they were consisted of just fatty tissue.

Vet said that she would not make a bet that Mimmi's condition is caused by a fungus but we'll get the results back from the laboratorium in a few weeks. Until that I'll just wait. These five piggies have been together for five months already and of course a fungal infection can appear any time, but since no one else has shown any signs of it, I'm not going to separate Mimmi from others for now. There were no parasites in the scratching samples. Vet said this all could be caused also by stress.