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Mysterious thinning of fur?

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MargeAndCinnamon

MargeAndCinnamon

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Hey everyone, my guinea pig Marge, has recently started to experience some thinning of her fun along her sides and stomach, with a patch missing from her back. There seems to be no signs of her having scabs, so I don't think it is self-inflicted hair loss. But the patch of bare skin on her back does seem dry. She's had that bald patch on her back for a while, but I didn't think anything of it as it some of my piggies in the past have had that, but the fur grew back and didn't progress. But the hair loss on her sides has been rather rapid and was a surprise to me when I noticed!

I'm not sure of her exact age, when I rescued her she was about 5 months I think and I've had her since September 2010, so I'm guessing she is just under 3 years old so not old. However, her old cage mate, Truffle, who lived till the age 6 experienced extremely similar rapid hair thinning and hair loss before passing away, but she lost alot of weight beforehand, where is Marge is still at a healthy weight and is heavy more than anything, she still has her appetite and I shouldn't think it is down to a vitamin deficency as my pigs have a constant supply of gerty dried food and hay and they get veggies regularly.

I am going to take her to the vets soon, so should have a diagnosis, but does this condition ring a bell with anyone? Any advice? I hope its not a contageous/infectious bug that lies dormant for a while, as that could explain it if Truffle had passed it onto Marge. I really don't want my other 2 piggies to catch it, if it is a catching illness!

Sorry for the essay. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm worried about her.

Thanks alot :)
 
It could be any number of things, from mites to ovarian cysts, only seeing a vet will give you a proper diagnosis & correct treatment. I would get a vet's appointment as soon as you can.

I would also advise you change her dried food, Gerty has added colourants in, & those colourants may be harmful to guineas. I would change them to Harrington's Optimum or Burgess pellets.

Let us know how she gets on at the vet's :)
 
Thanks for your advice :) I'm going to book an appointment tomorrow for as soon as.

When I got her new cage mate, Cinnamon, she ended up having been pregnant and gave birth 8 weeks later to a single female baby, which I kept. Alot of Marge's hairloss happened like 6 weeks onwards after the birth. I've heard about hair loss in pregnant sows and new mothers, but is there a possibility that being around a pregnancy, birth and therefore new baby guinea pig have had a negative affect on Marge? Such as stress?
 
It could be just hormonal hairloss, but unless you are 100% certain it's better to get it checked in case it it mites. If she has Selnick (mange) mites) then it will need treating quickly as it can cause horrible suffering to the pig if untreated & can even be fatal in latter stages when the piggy scratches so much it fits :(

Mine got mites last year whilst in boarding, we think the stress of being away from home set them off. I spotted the slight hair loss straight away, one trip to the vets & 3 weeks later the hair was growing & back to normal.

If you look closely at the skin where she has lost the hair are there any little scabs or does she scratch much?
 
Hormonal hairloss after a pregnancy can occur, but best to get her checked out. If she is thinning on her flanks (sides) and looks rather round in appearance i would be suspicious of ovian cysts. Hopefully the vet will be able to help you.

x
 
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