'sore' (?) On Lower Lip/chin?

[Steffie]

hi,

i just noticed a funny spot on hank's lower lip/chin. at first i thought it was some kind of food stuck, but after picking him up and looking as closely as possible at it, it looks like some kind of sore, for lack of a better word. it is dry, a little split, and looks pale coloured (i.e. not like dried up blood). he is happy in himself, and eating.

our neighbours looked after them last week as we were away, so i do not know for instance if they had a scuffle that injured him.

i made an appointment with our vet for tomorrow eve as it does not seem to be an emergency. i have a good rapport with her, she knows her job, and she always handles our dogs gently and carefully, so i am happy for her to have a look first (as opposed to go to a more piggie savy vet first). of course, if it turn out to be an emergency i will take him immediately. and if she is out of her depth, i will go to the nearest piggie savy vet.

also, he is very fury, with loads of hair. he is not scratching himself, but when i lifted him up this morning and went through his hair, towards his bottom end, he became more vocal. he does not like being picked up and petted, so i am subscribing it to being unhappy, but could it be something else? at woodgreen they said if they do not like being handled near their bottom end, they might have mites. but since he is not scratching himself, at least not when i am around and that is lot, also since i have been back, i am thinking he is just not happy being fussed with.

anyway. i would appreciate any thoughts, also so as to be better informed when i go to the vets and she makes her diagnosis. thanks!

 

[Wiebke]

Good that you are planning to have your boy seen. the lip could be a little scratch or it could be the beginnings of cheilitis (lip infection). If your vet thinks it is the latter, please take him off any fruit and tomatoes.

It is good to also have his hair loss checked. It can be just stress, mites or fungal.

 

[Steffie]

thanks wiebke for your quick reply.

he does not get to eat any fruit or tomatoes -though there are some dried fruit bits in the bunny pellet food?
he does not have any hair loss, he looks normal, and he does not scratch. he just did not enjoy me petting him towards the second half of his body. he is very happy -he just popcorned, and does not strike me as stressed ...?

(i just read the post on the piggie with severe cheilitis, which was a bit alarming ... poor piggie ... )

 

[Steffie]

@Wiebke: could he have mites, and somehow by scratching his chin they ended up there and made it sore like that?
he was treated not too long ago for mites though -about end of september, by the shelter.

 

[Wiebke]

No, I think that the lip issue is unconnected. If he has had a full course of good quality ivermectin (which is the norm at Wood Green), it is unlikely that he suffering from a return, unless he has got a major stress/immune system problem. Some of my piggies are shedding quite a bit around this time when we switch.

 

[Steffie]

ok, thanks. he is shedding some hairs, going by the fleece, but other than that he is very woolly. (since i am going, i will ask the vet to help me cut away some hair by his bottom/bits, as i don't want it to be wet all the time and end up causing a problem. and have both their nails clipped since i am there, which i was planning to go for anyway.)

if it is cheilitis, is it easily treatable? would it spread?

 

[Wiebke]

if he is a woolly piggy, you will really notice the shedding. my teddy Nerys can outfit a Mongolian yurt all by herself... You'd think she's ending up completely bare, but it somehow never happens!

Cheilitis in the early stages is pretty quick and easy to treat. You just have to be careful about how much and how often you feed things that are high in acid from now on. Some piggies are much more susceptive than others.
http://www.guinealynx.info/cheilitis.html

 

[Steffie]

the thing is, i do not feed him anything high in acid as far as i am aware (unless the neighbours fed him something while i was away, but given how i instructed them, i don't think they would have dared ...!). he does get a variety of hay, some of which is quite coarse, so maybe that cut/irritated him and caused the problem?

thank you very much for your replies.

 

[Wiebke]

That is for your vet to decide - I can only give you avenues to pursue, but as I cannot see and handle the piggies nor have the medical training that a vet has, I cannot safely diagnose. Anybody who does, is irresponsible.

 

[Steffie]

ok, of course! but experience counts too, and i assume you have tons!