Sticky brown "grease" around nipples

[HeatherW]

My one-year-old sow, Jasmine, has a sticky browny-orange substance around both her nipples. It's not a scab as I was able to pick bits off and there's no wound, and it doesn't look like it's discharge from her nipples (although I could be wrong as it can't have come from anywhere else). Could it just be a build-up of grease from her skin? Or could it be something else?

Her teats are actually quite long (not sure if this is as a result of having babies in the past) and the "grease" actually made them stick to her skin. She's not in any pain that I can see and is perfectly normal; I only noticed when I was checking her over. Any ideas?

I'll try and get pictures later!

 

[Betsy]

Piccies would be useful so we know exactly what you mean!

 

[HeatherW]

Jasmine's fed up of me man-handling her as much as I have done today, but here's the photo. Thoughts?

 

[Lady Kelly]

has she suffered any hair loss or become more... erm... well has she been humping her cagemate or seeming a bit more aggressive. I have seen this just once in my time with piggies but my sow did have ovarian cysts which was behind it

 

[HeatherW]

She's lost a bit of hair, but that's been down to mites (static lice) and it's grown back a bit now. Nothing out of the ordinary behaviour-wise either.

 

[Lady Kelly]

She's lost a bit of hair, but that's been down to mites (static lice) and it's grown back a bit now. Nothing out of the ordinary behaviour-wise either.

I would continue to monitor her weight and behaviour and if there's anything out of the ordinary then take her for a check over. Bumble was the one of mine with crusty nipples from ovarian cysts but she didn't really display any other symptoms. She started to sit in her own urine more so I took her along and they were sizeable by then so she had an emergency spay. The only other one I've had with known cysts was Bea and she once had a hairless strip down her abdomen that she had barbered herself from the discomfort and she had become a little more fiesty (not aggressive though) her cysts burst during examination and she didn't need any treatments or operations

 

[HeatherW]

I'm probably going to take both to the vet this week anyway. I posted another thread after this one ("Lice from lawn time?!"), so I'll ask them to take a look at this problem too. Her nipples aren't crusty at all; they've just got a grease on them.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Yea that's what bumble had. Not as in hard crusts but like soft scabs that came off easily. I used a damp cotton pad to wipe it off but if you are heading to the vets I'd be inclined to leave it as is for the vet to see.

 

[HeatherW]

The vet has checked her this morning and says it's nothing to worry about. It's just excess grease which has built up about, so as long as she's behaving normally, it's fine.