Patch Is Allergic To Hay, And Traditional Bedding :(

[Patch & Pi]

So last week patch had a weepy eye, took her to the vets and was given eye drops (seriously I have a cat whose needed meds and that was nothing compared to this joy!)

she has always had an allergy to hay (only in the summer), she is susceptible to hay mites, every year we need to bath her, with special shampoo and use G'pig spot on. which normally works, she normally loves her bath.

we treat Pi just in case and to make sure when they cuddle up she doesn't give them to Patch this is not so much fun Pi hates her bath and squeaks some very rude things at us.


However this year patch has been really sick with the mites. she is lethargic (normally a total nutter, pop corning her life away), She is not eating (she normally lives up to the Piggie part of her name, Pi is the shy eater.) I’m really worried and going to take them back to the vets tomorrow.

has anyone else had these issues? Is there any good alternative bedding, currently on shavings (fine in the winter but really irritating her at the mo, I think she is sore all over from scratching and being nipped.

Moving her indoors is not a long term option as she hates it, when we bring her in (weather, fireworks night ect) she gets really low in mood similar to this.


she is normally a very very lively pig, who runs around all the time, does these hilarious tricks (have no idea how she learnt them we didn't mean to teach her), but now she is lethargic, not eating and looking so sad. She has lost weight also, she used to be the more curvaceous piggie, now she is a bit of a skinny pig, still in normal weight range at present.

 

[maxdawn]

My Albie is allergic to wood shaving. He gets itchy and has a very snotty nose. He's been on Fitch bedding for 10 months now, and has had no health problems. Changing bedding was the Best thing I every did

 

[GloriousGuineaGirl]

I am undergoing treatment with Poe for mites. My vet said that if he is one of those pigs who is susceptible to them he can administer oral ivermectin 3 monthly orally to stop breakouts. Have you tried fleece bedding?

I am sorry to hear how down and ill she has become. Has the vet prescribed anything for the allergies?

 

[helen105281]

I agree with the Fitch recommendation. Mine are indoors on fleece and vetbed but my hamsters are on Fitch. www.fitchrecycling.co.uk

Has the mites diagnosis been confirmed? did the vet consider fungal at all? shavings can make any fungal condition worse and if left untreated it can result in weight loss as the fungal spores are continually ingested and generally make them feel rubbish.

Also she may have mange mites as the skin debris can look like little black flecks which resemble hay mites. A round of injections would be more effective than spot on if this were the case, but you would need to let the vet know how much Ivermectin she has already had.

 

[Patch & Pi]

the vet has said its hay mites, It only happens in the summer. Have gone for a non dust, paper based bedding to see if this helps. going to see if this helps and check her in the morning. If she looks worse. as bad I will take her back to the vet. Have noticed that she perked up when I locked her in the run for 1/2 an hour whilst I scrubbed out the hutch today (they have access to the run all day from the hutch but we lock them in when cleaning). This makes me think it is the allergy. Have also brought a hay trouth that is in the run and removed all hay from inside for now. fingers crossed, and thanks for the advice

 

[helen105281]

That's ok. Hope the change of bedding helps.

 

[emiboo23]

I have tried all sorts of bedding with my pigs, as one of them gets sniffly/crackly lungs the minute you put something dusty or slightly musty in (had a bad instance where a new bag of carefresh was musty) but the best I've used is aubiose. It's horse bedding and is fairly cheap, and it's never given any of mine any problems

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I would be worried about her not eating I am wondering if the runny eye was a sign of a URI instead. If she is still not eating properly tomorrow personally I would be down the vet's again & try to get to the bottom of this because I wouldn't think an allergy would stop any pig eating. Does the vet think she is allergic to hay or the hay mites? If it is the hay mites then have you tried Oxbow Western Timothy hay or Alfalfa King Timothy hay at all? These are imported from the US so are sterile hays, which may help.
(I just noticed you said you are taking them back to the vet's tomorrow which is great & good luck, let us know what the vet says )

 

[Patch & Pi]

bedding has been changed for a week eyes have all cleared up

 

[Patch & Pi]

sorry forgot to say, I think not eating was because she was feeling so rubbish, as we all do with allergies, so she went off her food for a few day, but was drinking. a few days after the bedding changed I knew she was 100% better as she was begging for food (literally begs like a dog) and climbing up the bars of her run, as i was taking to long opening the roof to put her veg in. These are not under fed or deprived little misses, its just Patch takes the Pig part of her name very seriously. Image below is of her after her first eye drops, the stuff around her eye is medication and not discharge (id only just washed it), and it was swollen at that point

 

[KittyandNancy]

Awww so cute. Glad she's feeling back to her old self.

Angela

 

[Curtis Cavies]

Hi,
Glad Pi is seemingly better. I have mine on megazorb bedding. Superbly absorbent, though sometimes can be dusty, and can have a weird smell sometimes. It is virgin wood pulp and again a horse bedding. Though I'm beginning to like the sound of Auboise and am going to try to source it locally to give I a go. Hope Pi continues to flourish!