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Problems with Itchy skin

BDR

New Born Pup
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Hello all,

I am new at this forum.
Similar thread was probably around million of times, but I want to share my story and hopefully get new opinion/advice.

We have 2 boys, 3 years old.
They live in large C&C cage with fleece bedding. Regularly cleaned.

During the last 6 months they are itchy.
They both scratch all over their bodies and bite their sides and legs as well.
I will not say it is very very bad, but definitely they scratch waay to much.
Whenever I look towards the cage, one of them will probably scratch.
We really care for them and all we want for them is to be healthy and happy.
There is no bold spots, no visible parasites on their skin or fur.

We kind of came to a dead spot as we can not figure out what is happening.
We did lots of research, saw a great vet and tried many things with no improvement.

1. After lots of reading and researching, we concluded they might have mites.
We decided to treat for mites, got topical Ivermectin and did everything by the book.
Dosages were good. We treated 4 times since itching was still there after 3rd treatment.
Didn't help at all. It was pretty much the same.

2. We ordered Shampoos from Gorgeous Guineas.
We washed them with Shampoo that treats Dry Skin.
We live in Canada and air in our apartment is very dry.
So we decided to try that.
That seemed to help, but only for a few days.
Other thing to mention, while we were washing them and they were wet, they were not itchy at all.
I remember reading somewhere, if pigs have mites water drives them crazy so pigs go crazy as well.

3. We tried changing the laundry detergent we use to wash their fleece.
We changed to all natural one (no smell, no dye...).
No change.

4. We took them to see our vet.
She examined their fur and skin.
Didn't find anything.
She usually treats piggies with Revolution, not ivermectin.
But she said since we treated already with Ivermectin, that should have fixed the problem if there was a problem.
We didn't wanna do the skin scrape at that time. That was before we tried Shampoos.
Said we will come back if shampoos don't help.
Vet advised to try shampoo that contains Spherulite and Phytosphingosine.

So what to do next?
Do the skin scrape? Or try with Revolution?
We also have Shampoo for Lice for Gorgeous Guineas, but not sure if that can help. Haven't tried that.
Lice should be visible as far as I know.
Or should we try with that medical shampoo vet advised?
I rather prefer those natural shampoos, as piggies skin is so sensitive.

Any advice is highly appreciated.

And sorry for the long post.
 
@BDR Do they have sore spots? Why do you see the scratching as an issue if there is no physical effects from it?
 
No sore spots or anything whatsoever.
It seems unnatural to scratch or bite themselves every couple of minutes.
We don't want them to suffer. I know how I feel if I'm itchy.

I know as animals they have to itch sometimes, but what is normal amount of itching?
 
I struggled with this as well for a few months. Was very stressful for the pigs, myself, and wallet. I treated with dips, revolution, used the shampoos, microwaving hay, different detergents, vet visits, and just didn't understand. My piggies also had no injuries, but scratched and scratched, and would bite at their sides.

What eventually saved us was changing the hay. I always purchased online from SmallPetSelect, the 2nd cut timothy. I changed the hay to KMS bluegrass for something different, and the piggies magically stopped the scratching. I was just so shocked.

I am not saying at all that SPS is bad, just that my piggies had some skin reaction. I hope maybe a change in hay can solve your problem as well.
 
Thanks alphadox.
You know what, that could possible be the issue. I never thought about that.
They eat Oxbow Timothy Hay.
And it seems like some weeks they are more itchy, other weeks less.
We open a new bag maybe every 2 weeks.

I just don't know which hay to try.
This is supposed to be the best quality hay around here.
Other options would be KMS like you said, but shipping to Canada is extremely expensive.
But might give it a try.
 
Just a thought, are they on a grain free nugget? That may be worth considering. Many animals can get itchy skin and other side effects due to grain, more often found in dogs and cats but it can occur in any species that wasn’t built to digest grains, even humans. When I switched the pigs to grain free I noticed their coat condition became a lot glossier and no more dandruff. My cats hair falls out if she has any grains so I’m super mindful of it now after doing loads of research!
 
They are both on low calcium diet, so they are getting very low amount of highest quality Oxbow Pellets.
They get most of vit C from veggies. We are feeding them higher amounts of Vit C rich veggies, but low in calcium. ( mostly green peppers).

One of the boys had a bladder stone and it almost ended up fatally.
This diet solved the problem as the stones have not reoccurred for almost 2 years now.

I checked the ingredients on the pellets, and I don't see any grains.

Change to different kind of hay did not work out, actually we couldn't really test it.
Our piggies are very very stubborn :)
I got them Orchard hay, so one of the piggies really loved it. Other one didn't want to touch it.
He decided to starve. So we had to give them Timothy hay again.
Everything would be fine, but the first piggy refused to eat Timothy hay. Now he decided to starve.

So yup, it backfired.
Now we have 2 types of hay in the cage and each piggy is eating his own hay and enjoying it :)
Gotta love them.

Anyways we decided to visit a vet and see what she thinks.
Appointment is tomorrow morning.
 
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