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My guinea pig has scabs around her ears?

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mkoudsi

mkoudsi

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Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum here. I've been coming here for awhile, but never got around to setting up an account. I couldn't find the answer to my question so I decided to make an account and ask it myself. I have three guinea pigs (An American shorthaired, an abyssinian, and a Peruvian. My longhaired guinea pig, Tia, has been having some problems lately. I've been thinking of taking her to the vet, but as I'm 17 years old and working a part time job, I don't have that much money to spend on a vet appointment, only to find out that nothing was wrong. So as I've been examining the pigs, I recently discovered some weird sort of scabbing around the outer edge of Tia's ears. I checked the other pigs' ears and they look just fine. I searched online to try to find out if it was some type of mites or ear infection, but I found nothing that matched her scabbing. This has been going on for about two weeks as far as I'm aware. I've been waiting to see if it gets better, but I haven't seen any improvement. Whenever I put slight pressure on the scabs, She jerks away and squeaks a little bit, so it's obviously causing her a bit of discomfort. I'll post pictures, but an error keeps popping up saying the file is too large. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. Thank you so much.
 
Hopefully this works. This is a picture of Tia's right ear.


This is another picture.

And this is a picture of her left ear.

It might be a little bit hard to tell that it's scabbing, but her left ear is normally all pink. Her right ear is normally brown, but the edge is scabbed.
 
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It is quite difficult to see in the photos, does it have a white tinge at all? or look like it has a bloom to it? if so, then it could be fungal and am afraid a vet visit will be needed.
 
helen105281 said:
It is quite difficult to see in the photos, does it have a white tinge at all? or look like it has a bloom to it? if so, then it could be fungal and am afraid a vet visit will be needed.
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I'm sorry. It's really difficult to take a picture of it since she has so much hair in the way. I'll try to take some clearer ones. I'm sorry, but what do you mean by "does it have a bloom to it"?
 
It's difficult to describe what I mean, my Nigel had it and is ears seemed to look all white in the right light.
 
helen105281 said:
It's difficult to describe what I mean, my Nigel had it and is ears seemed to look all white in the right light.
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Oh, okay. I've seen fungal before online and it's definitely not that. It just looks like regular scabs, like she got a cut and it scabbed over.
 
Do they live indoors or outdoors? Minnesota is quite chilly at the moment temperature-wise. Crusting/tissue necrosis around the edge of the ears could be due to a possible circulatory problem either from frostbite or a heart condition or both. The damaged tissue can then develop an infection - either bacterial or fungal. Are her ears colder to touch than the other two? A vets trip may be necessary to rule out a developing heart/circulatory condition, especially if they are indoor pigs.
HTH
x
 
Pebble said:
Do they live indoors or outdoors? Minnesota is quite chilly at the moment temperature-wise. Crusting/tissue necrosis around the edge of the ears could be due to a possible circulatory problem either from frostbite or a heart condition or both. The damaged tissue can then develop an infection - either bacterial or fungal. Are her ears colder to touch than the other two? A vets trip may be necessary to rule out a developing heart/circulatory condition, especially if they are indoor pigs.
HTH
x
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They're indoor pigs. They live in my room, and I keep it at about 65°-68°F (about 18°-20°C, I believe) I just touched her ears and compared the temperature to the other pigs' ears and it felt about the same. My mom was hypothesizing That maybe my abyssinian guinea pig, Peaches, has been biting Tia's ears and that's how the scabs have gotten there?
 
I just recently moved all three into one big C & C cage. I adopted Peaches about one year ago from my aunt's friend. I had tried to introduce the pigs, hoping that they would get along and it never worked. So until about 3 weeks ago, they were in separate cages and they fought like crazy if they came across each other outside of their cages. I recently decided to try giving them a buddy bath, in the hopes that they would get along and it worked. So they're now all living in one cage. Peaches is now the dominant pig, and she sometimes nips to assert her dominance. This is why my mom thinks that it might be Peaches biting Tia's ears. I checked Marley's ears (my other guinea pig) and her ears look fine, though, so I'm not sure that this is what's happening.
 
Nigel had a heart condition and this was one of the reasons that he developed the fungal infection on his ears. I agree with Pebble that a vet visit is needed to rule out any circulatory issues and to check for fungal. The vet would also be able to tell you if it is a bite wound which is difficult for us to see on a photo. It is a good idea to try to put some money aside each month for a vet fund.
 
helen105281 said:
Nigel had a heart condition and this was one of the reasons that he developed the fungal infection on his ears. I agree with Pebble that a vet visit is needed to rule out any circulatory issues and to check for fungal. The vet would also be able to tell you if it is a bite wound which is difficult for us to see on a photo. It is a good idea to try to put some money aside each month for a vet fund.
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How much do you think I would have to pay for a checkup? I have about $500 (about £305, I think).
 
At my vets in the UK it costs me about £17 for a consultation but any diagnostics would be on top. A conscious xray is around £40 to £60 but I cannot comment on how much US vets charge, hopefully someone from the US will respond as there are a few members on here.
 
I've brought all three pigs to my vet before, but my mom has payed for it up until now. She said that when we took two guinea pigs in, it was $75 per pig, just to have a checkup. She said that any treatment or testing was extra. But I suppose it's worth it to keep my little girl healthy and happy.
 
I figured that while I already have a thread, I might as well bring up another issue that Tia is having. I've been finding this black gunk in both of her nostrils.


And this is what I got out when I used a tissue to clean it out.

Any ideas as to what this could be caused by? I'm going to schedule a vet appointment, but it's closed today, so I won't be able to go for awhile.
 
To me it is so worth it, we make a commitment when we take these animals in and so it is our duty to make sure they get the veterinary attention that they need.
 
That needs checking out too, could be the start of a URI, could be an allergy or could be dirt up her nose. How is her breathing? does it seem laboured at all? does she make a noise through her nose?
 
helen105281 said:
That needs checking out too, could be the start of a URI, could be an allergy or could be dirt up her nose. How is her breathing? does it seem laboured at all? does she make a noise through her nose?
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It seems to be dirt to me. Her breathing is fine. I even put her chest against my ear to hear her lungs to the best of my ability and couldn't hear any crackling or wheezing. She's acting normal. Eating normally. Drinking just fine. And she hasn't been sneezing at all. Where would the dirt come from, is my question. I have them on fleece, and they haven't been outside since fall. I wash the fleece regularly and do a daily sweeping to get rid of all the poops and hay. I also bathe them every two weeks. I know this might be considered unnecessary and such, but they get so smelly and Tia pees on the hair around her bum area and it irritates her private area. I always make sure to dry them off completely with a hair dryer (on the warm/ cool setting) before putting them back into their cage. I also make sure to never get the soap or water on their faces.
 
Could be from the hay. I would mention it when you go to the vets in case. Sounds like you look after them very well.
 
helen105281 said:
Could be from the hay. I would mention it when you go to the vets in case. Sounds like you look after them very well.
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Also, thank you for your replies and suggestions. I'll be sure to make a vet appointment. I'll also post an update when I take her to the vet and tell you what the vet said :luv:
 
Wow, what a good little piggy momma! This might be completely wrong, but could she perhaps be scratching an itch and maybe nicking herself with her nails? I know even though my girls' nails are trimmed, they are still pretty sharp. Perhaps taking a file to dull down any jagged nails would help with her case.

I hope you find your piggies in good health!
 
It could be possible. I try to clip their nails with a small pet nail clipper every time I give them a bath, but I never file. Maybe I should try that. I have a vet appointment scheduled for next Tuesday after school, so hopefully we can get all of this figured out. Fingers crossed! Thank you for all of your kind words and advice!
 
Hello everyone. Sad day today. Last night, Tia's condition worsened. She became very lethargic, weak, and wasn't able to eat properly. By the time I noticed this, the vet was already closed. I planned on calling the vet right away at 8:00 am, as that's when they're open. But Tia seems to have passed away peacefully sometime during the night. I miss her terribly already and am very upset about it. I'm bringing her in today to get cremated. I love you Tia. Have fun popcorning beyond the rainbow bridge, wheeking for veggies. <3 xoxoxo
 
Oh god I'm so so sorry, what a shock. Night night little Tia.

I wonder if she had the start of a URI or maybe an undiagnosed heart problem as Pebble mentioned. Heart problems in pigs are very common but often undiagnosed.
 
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