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Mystery Illness

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CharlieH

CharlieH

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi All,

Long time no speak, I hope you're all doing ok :-)

I have a bit of an odd query really. A while ago you may my remember - or may not :)) - that Dumpling developed some sort of skin problem (we thought) which we treated and seemed to be fine after about 3 months. The hair was coming out with little scabs so we did a mite treatment and then later a fungal one. All seemed to be going well until she began balding without any of the scabbing etc about 3 months later again.

We had blood tests done for liver and kidney function among other things and again treated for mites / fungal etc but she's continued to bald. We had a chat with our piggy vet about the possibility of Cushings disease but he hasn't come across in it guineas before (she fits all the symptoms, her skin is very thin and almost papery on the bald patches, she's a bit pot bellied, can be lethargic, often shivers as if stressed, seems hungry all the time but never puts on weight etc). Has anyone had any experience with guinea cushings?

She's on Oxbow Critical Care alongside her normal food because she's dropped a lot of weight too. Bloods and skin scrapes etc however were normal.

The real mystery about it all is that Crumble, her sister is now balding in the exact same way (stomach first then up the sides onto her back). These two don't live together and haven't for about 2 years but both seem to have developed this after a period of intense stress. (Dumplings was after her operation in 2013/4 and Crumbles was after a bad stomach upset a couple of months ago).

Just wondering if anybody had any ideas?

I'll get some photo's when I'm home again this weekend!

Thanks :))
 
Hi! I've not had experience myself, but I have heard of cases of Cushings. This thread from a few years ago may help with diagnosis.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/milo-has-cushings-disease.70922/ (I'm tagging in Milo's owner, who I'm sure will have some great advice @flintstones)
In this case the liver enzymes were elevated, but Dumpling doesn't have that. And considering how rare Cushings is in pigs, it does seem amazing that you would have two with the same thing.
Stress can cause hair loss without any underlying disease, but has your vet considered ovarian cysts/hormonal issues? There isn't usually weight loss or the other symptoms you describe, so it may be nothing to do with it, but the fact that Crumble is balding too...?
Let us know how you get on. x
 
Hi @Elwickcavies
Thanks for your response and for tagging Flintstones for me :-)

I'm assuming liver enzymes are tested with general liver function at blood testing? Interesting though.

The vet says he thinks its hormonal especially since Crumble has seemingly got something similar going on. He's ruled out cysts, but only by palpation (though it was pretty thorough..) but it's confusing as the pattern of hair loss is consistent with cysts up until it progresses and spreads over their backs too.

I wonder if it is just stress related, but there's nothing in their environment that wasn't there previously, we know that Dumpling even gets stressed at jingling sounds (!) so have even removed the tag that was jingling from the dogs collar to see if there's any difference. She's always been a particularly stressy pig, but Crumble has always been much more chilled out and even now doesn't give any impression of stress.

It's just odd really, they're both still eating and except for Dumplings odd lethargic day, they're both active and noisy!

Will be interesting to see if anyone has had anything similar!

Thanks again,

Charlie :-)
 
How old are Dumpling, and Crumble?!

May I ask what treatment your veterinarian previously prescribed to treat for mites, and/or fungal?!
 
I was wondering how they were treated for fungal too? It may be worth asking your vet about oral fungal medication if they were only treated topically before, I think it is quite a big coincidence that they would both have something hormonal going on. I have a friend who's pig had Cushings so let me know if you need any information.
 
Thanks for your replies :-)

Dumpling and Crumble must be 3 by now (time flies!)

They were treated with Xeno 450 for mites, and we did lots of Malaseb shampoo baths for fungal (Crumble has also had ringworm in the past so she was quite used to it lol!)

We treated everyone with Xeno and bathed everyone just in case any of the others were carrying. That's very interesting about oral fungal treatments, I didn't know they existed actually!

I wondered on the hormonal front if there was something genetic potentially that they were both predisposed to, none of the others have shown anything (including Mouse, Crumbles cage mate).

Thanks again :-)
 
The oral medication is Itrafungol but they can also have Nystatin. I would definitely ask your vet about it as it would treat any fungal issue systemically.

Also if it was mange mites you were dealing with, spot on is not usually as effective as the injectable form.
 
While it is possible that Dumpling, and Crumble are suffering from a fungal infection, I am rather inclined to think that they are suffering from mites - 'Xeno Spot-on Solution' is very much a preventative treatment, and I understand that this product is not particularly effective against certain parasites!

Standard treatment involves a course of ivermectin injections (Three injections administered 7-14 days apart)! ALL guinea pigs will need to be treated, as will the environment!

Please look at the following thread:

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/2-more-dying-piggies.122408/page-10#post-1701216
 
Hi Everyone, I'm afraid I don't have much to add to the above advice.

What I will say is generally with Cushings the hairloss is symmetrical.

You would have to test the cortisol levels to get a firm diagnosis but the lab did not have a base level when we investigated Milo's suspected Cushings.

@helen105281 how did your friend confirm the diagnosis I'd be interested to know if there is a base level for guinea pigs out there now. As it was years ago I tried to confirm his dignosis.

To be honest I'm skeptical about Milo's diagnosis. I had two different vets confirm based on all the symptoms but in my mind the base level would have been the only concrete diagnosis.
 
I'm not sure it was ever confirmed as she lost him not long after to an unrelated illness.
 
flintstones said:
Hi Everyone, I'm afraid I don't have much to add to the above advice.

What I will say is generally with Cushings the hairloss is symmetrical.

You would have to test the cortisol levels to get a firm diagnosis but the lab did not have a base level when we investigated Milo's suspected Cushings.

@helen105281 how did your friend confirm the diagnosis I'd be interested to know if there is a base level for guinea pigs out there now. As it was years ago I tried to confirm his dignosis.

To be honest I'm skeptical about Milo's diagnosis. I had two different vets confirm based on all the symptoms but in my mind the base level would have been the only concrete diagnosis.
Click to expand...

I will affirm what Flintstones has said...to diagnose Cushings you need cortisol results. We had many a conversation at the time on the validity of Milo's results vs what constituted normal "base/reference value" fpr Cushngs markers .....The sad fact is that there aren't any Cushings ref values for guinea pigs.

Sorry - this is not helpful - albeit negatively informtive
x
 
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