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One Pig A Bit Itchy And Sneezet, The Other With A Bit Of A Bald Patch?!

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Todite88

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So Captain Black and Popeye have been with us a few weeks now, last week I noticed a bit of a bald patch on Captain blacks back.. I didn't want to do much handling though with him being so new to us. I've been away for the bank holiday weekend and my mum's been pig sitting.. Today I got home cleaned them out and put them in the run for a few hours. Captains patch seems to be getting new hair growth on it.. the skin does look a little dry around it could it be mites? Would I be ok to leave him for another week to see if there's more inprovement? Popeye keeps sneezing and seems very itchy.. Am I best taking them both to the vets?
 
Todite88 said:
So Captain Black and Popeye have been with us a few weeks now, last week I noticed a bit of a bald patch on Captain blacks back.. I didn't want to do much handling though with him being so new to us. I've been away for the bank holiday weekend and my mum's been pig sitting.. Today I got home cleaned them out and put them in the run for a few hours. Captains patch seems to be getting new hair growth on it.. the skin does look a little dry around it could it be mites? Would I be ok to leave him for another week to see if there's more inprovement? Popeye keeps sneezing and seems very itchy.. Am I best taking them both to the vets?
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Can't answer that because one of mine had the same. The vet treated her for mites & she's just the same.
I think mine maybe has dried skin, but I don't know what you would rub in to moisture it
 
I would take them both to the vets, ideally over the next couple of days. It could be mange mites for both of them and if so they will need a course of Ivermectin. The vet would also need to rule out fungal too. As for the sneezing, it could be allergies but the vet would need to check that is not the start of a URI which woould need antibiotics.
 
Ok I'll see if I can get them in tomorrow.. There are no vets local to me that are on the reccomended list.. how have they got on there? like what's better about them than the local practises? I really don't want t over stress them I've only had them 2 weeks they are just begining to warm to me :( x
 
Hi I use vets for pets in Castleford most of the time. The chain overall can be a bit hit and miss but might be worth a go at one near you as you're right there aren't any on the locator that are that near you.

Pick one near a Pets at Home because the vet is highly likely to have had to deal with the most regular piggy ailments on a frequent basis. They are part of the same group of companies I think so that's why they use them. P@H piggies often get sick and/or sheer volume they have means the odds of them needing to go to the vet is higher hence all the experience the vet will be getting.

If you are worried about the vet's expertise, you may find they are close enough (in Yorkshire) to Holly House vets for them to be willing to assist your vet by chatting with them on the phone if your vet has any queries. They offered this to me at the weekend and, so far as I can tell, wouldn't have charged for it. Just acting as one professional helping another.

Another tip is to go armed with info from the experts on here about what meds you should expect to be given for the most likely diagnoses. Usually my vet has prescribed what I had expected but occasionally I've found it useful to have gone with info from here and have talked to the vet about it and it has helped them to decide what to prescribe (and made me feel better and more confident that they've done the right thing).

Good luck!
 
Maybe I could ring P@H and ask which vets they use I know there is a vets for pets not too far away but the local vetinary practise is literally round the corner.. will give them a call too see what they say x
 
Todite88 said:
Maybe I could ring P@H and ask which vets they use I know there is a vets for pets not too far away but the local vetinary practise is literally round the corner.. will give them a call too see what they say x
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Both good ideas. Ask the one very close to you how many piggies they see. In answer to your question about how vets get added to the locator, I think there is a thread in the health and illness section that explains. I've not read it but I got the impression it was based on experiences of people on this forum at least in part.
 
The vets on the list are mainly those who forum members have used and asked to be added to the list. If your local one is not on there it doesn't mean they aren't any good, more likely that no-one on the forum has been there.
 
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