Teddy bear cross has thin hair

[Penguin2809]

So I've got a baby girl around the age of 10-11 weeks. I've owned her since she was 6 weeks. She lives with her sister. She is a mix between a normal hair and a teddy hair. Her parents was both normal hair and so was all her brothers/sisters but somehow she has come out as a teddy type. Obviously she isn't pure bread but you can clearly tell that she is a mix.

I have treated both her and her sister for mites and are brmeing treated for possible ringworm. The ring worm is nearly healed and no new cases yet. The one thing I'm unsure about is how thick her hair should be? She seems more thick and sheepskin on the front but less and thinner in her back. I've had a good look and I think maybe dry skin is present to.

They have had mite treatment for over 3 weeks and ringworm just over a week. Both are active, eat well and maybe a little on the porky side but they are only babies at the moment so I'm not worried about that.

I feed them pellets and muesli mix with added hay. The food is mixed into a tube with 5 cups pellets to half a cup muesli to give you an idea of a ratio. I know muesli isn't healthy, it's just there as a small treat. They also get a small pudding bowl full of a third bell pepper, a small handful of kale and a small handful of spring greens a day too with a unlimited supply of hay.

I know people are going to have a comment about the food, I'm aware of that but I would rather have people commenting on whether her hair could be thinner due to being a mix breed and what to do with dry skin etc

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

Some teddies have a tendency for dry skin, but I can't judge from the distance if this is the case here. What does your vet think?

 

[Engel]

I'd get a vets opinion. Has her hair always been like that? I don't know if they have a moult and a slight coat change. @Wiebke may know.

 

[Penguin2809]

Some teddies have a tendency for dry skin, but I can't judge from the distance if this is the case here. What does your vet think?

I haven't taken them to the vets yet because I have no cause to. I have good knowledge of animals and I know what looks bad or isn't for example, I have owned chinchillas how had ringworm and I also had ringworm at one point so I know what it looks like and what to do. My dog suffers from severe dry skin and dandruff so I know what that looks like too.

What my Gpig has definitely looks like dry skin but I'm not sure what her fur is thin or whether its the way she is. I also want advice on how to treat the dry skin because I know they shouldn't be bath.

I've only had then 4-5 weeks so I'm not entirely sure. Honestly she was in poor condition when I got her as she has around 15 brothers and sisters and parents in a small cage and she is the runt of the litter so she had a few marks and cuts due to being stood on and probably nibbled on. I've managed to clear all them up including the possibility of ringowrm and her coat looks a lot better and she looks happier too

 

[Piggies&buns]

You should have any potential skin issue seen by a vet. Mites and ringworm require vet strength prescribed treatments. We cannot tell you what is wrong or whether there is still a skin conditions present - only a vet can do so. We also cannot say how to treat dry skin as we don’t know that it actually is dry skin or whether there is an underlying issue which is also contributing to any potential hair issue. Putting a treatment on which hasn’t been prescribed can make things worse

You say you know people will comment on the diet but I would urge you to look at it and change things up as an incorrect diet can have an effect on body condition and long term health. Five cups of pellets, if that is between those two piggies, is an exceptionally high amount (unless you don’t mean that you give them that whole amount and that is simply for mixing). They only need one tablespoon (approx 10 grams) of pellets per pig per day. Muesli doesn’t need to be given as a treat as there are healthier alternatives such as fresh herbs. Too much kale can also cause health and bladder issues due to its high calcium content (although too many pellets and unfiltered drinking water contribute most calcium) and shoud be kept limited to one small amount once per week only. Giving kale every day is too much.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

Please be aware that your diet is extremely high in calcium, which can lead to bladder stones in the longer term and very high vet bills, and especially in boars a higher risk of fatal complications if the stone ends up in the inglenook they have in urethra; embeds itself in the all there or blocks the urine flow.

Pellets (and muesli) contain weight for weight much more calcium than the veg highest in it, kale. They are also full of life shortening, unhealthy fillers, as scientific research in rabbits has shown; the same goes for guinea pigs.
Please keep in mind that veg and muesli replace the supplementary that wild forage would have had but that they are not enriched with the full width of trace elements and vitamins. Like rabbits, guinea pigs will make a beeline for the sugary bits in the muesli. The calorific fillers in pellets and muesli also mean that they are less hungry when eating hay, which is crucial in the long term because this means that they are eating less grass fibre to grind down their crucial back teeth, which can promote dental problems in the long term. The higher sugar content in your diet will also contribute to the overgrowth of the wrong kind of bacteria and can made them more vulnerable to severe killing bloat.

Please take the time to read these links below. A good balanced diet can actually help with the hair loss if it is based on malnutrition issues (not just in your baby but also coming from his mother) and not on fungal or parasites (although as malnutrition/dietary imbalances lead to a lowering of the immune system, they are much more likely to occur). A vet visit is most definitely in order.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Pellets Or Muesli / Dry Mix?

You are of course as the owner in your right to make any care decisions - but ask yourself, knowing these aspects: Would you like to be a pet in your own care? It is a useful question to ask yourself whenever you are unsure about anything to do with your pets.

 

[Penguin2809]

Hi!

Please be aware that your diet is extremely high in calcium, which can lead to bladder stones in the longer term and very high vet bills, and especially in boars a higher risk of fatal complications if the stone ends up in the inglenook they have in urethra; embeds itself in the all there or blocks the urine flow.

Pellets (and muesli) contain weight for weight much more calcium than the veg highest in it, kale. They are also full of life shortening, unhealthy fillers, as scientific research in rabbits has shown; the same goes for guinea pigs.
Please keep in mind that veg and muesli replace the supplementary that wild forage would have had but that they are not enriched with the full width of trace elements and vitamins. Like rabbits, guinea pigs will make a beeline for the sugary bits in the muesli. The calorific fillers in pellets and muesli also mean that they are less hungry when eating hay, which is crucial in the long term because this means that they are eating less grass fibre to grind down their crucial back teeth, which can promote dental problems in the long term. The higher sugar content in your diet will also contribute to the overgrowth of the wrong kind of bacteria and can made them more vulnerable to severe killing bloat.

Please take the time to read these links below. A good balanced diet can actually help with the hair loss if it is based on malnutrition issues (not just in your baby but also coming from his mother) and not on fungal or parasites (although as malnutrition/dietary imbalances lead to a lowering of the immune system, they are much more likely to occur). A vet visit is most definitely in order.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Pellets Or Muesli / Dry Mix?

You are of course as the owner in your right to make any care decisions - but ask yourself, knowing these aspects: Would you like to be a pet in your own care? It is a useful question to ask yourself whenever you are unsure about anything to do with your pets.

Hi, thank you for your reply. When I say a muesli/nugget mix and how much I feed them I didn't mean I give the guinea pigs the tube, I used that as an example of the ratio I mix it in. They have just under 2 egg cups a day. I've made sure to pay attention on what they eat etc as same as any animal or people come to that would of course eat the non healthy stuff first so by paying attention to how much and what they eat I have found a balance of the muesli/pellet mix because by the time morning comes the next day the food bowl is completely empty and no they haven't kicked it everywhere either.

I feed them the muesli/pellets in the morning when I get up and then when I come home around 4-5 they get the greens. They constantly have hay at hand throughout the day and night and gets changed every morning.

When I said about people commenting on the diet I have my pigs on, I didn't mean to sound like a owner who has no intentions on doing the right thing. I'm just tired of feeling like a bad parent to any of the animals I have due to people having different options on what is right and what is wrong. Your links you have attached are the most helpful thing I have read and I'm greatful for your help, I really am and I am changing the food I give them accordingly to what it says because of course I don't want them to suffer in anyway possible. I brought them to get them away from a terrible home, not to put them in another one.

Both my pigs as I have said are slightly porky now but compared to them being really underweight I'm fine with that for now. As they grow up and now even I'll be keeping an eye on the weight.

Again I apologize for sounding harsh or uncaring in anyway, I'm not a terrible parent and I don't like people making me feel like I am.

One other thing I should, my 2 pigs are female, not males

I was also debating whether to get them fixed if you have any opinions on that?

 

[Penguin2809]

I'm feeding them twitch nuggets. Just so you know

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, thank you for your reply. When I say a muesli/nugget mix and how much I feed them I didn't mean I give the guinea pigs the tube, I used that as an example of the ratio I mix it in. They have just under 2 egg cups a day. I've made sure to pay attention on what they eat etc as same as any animal or people come to that would of course eat the non healthy stuff first so by paying attention to how much and what they eat I have found a balance of the muesli/pellet mix because by the time morning comes the next day the food bowl is completely empty and no they haven't kicked it everywhere either.

I feed them the muesli/pellets in the morning when I get up and then when I come home around 4-5 they get the greens. They constantly have hay at hand throughout the day and night and gets changed every morning.

When I said about people commenting on the diet I have my pigs on, I didn't mean to sound like a owner who has no intentions on doing the right thing. I'm just tired of feeling like a bad parent to any of the animals I have due to people having different options on what is right and what is wrong. Your links you have attached are the most helpful thing I have read and I'm greatful for your help, I really am and I am changing the food I give them accordingly to what it says because of course I don't want them to suffer in anyway possible. I brought them to get them away from a terrible home, not to put them in another one.

Both my pigs as I have said are slightly porky now but compared to them being really underweight I'm fine with that for now. As they grow up and now even I'll be keeping an eye on the weight.

Again I apologize for sounding harsh or uncaring in anyway, I'm not a terrible parent and I don't like people making me feel like I am.

One other thing I should, my 2 pigs are female, not males

I was also debating whether to get them fixed if you have any opinions on that?

Hi

Thank you for giving us more background information. We do get all sorts of people coming on here; some sadly who are not willing to listen to any concerns their post may have raised when we read them.

We try our best not to be sanctimonious on here; after all, we are all still on the same journey of improving the life and welfare of our own piggies. Things change all the time and we will continue to develop with them.

My guides try to be practical but easy to follow for both the people who need very exact guidelines/amounts they can follow to the letter but without making it mandatory for those that prefer their own interpretation. That is why I have tried to show what role the different parts play in an overall diet.
The problem we are having especially in the UK is that we are majorly a hard water country. Unfiltered water and pellets are the two areas where most of the calcium comes from; if there is a lot of it with plenty of high calcium veg, then bladder stones are a real problem in either gender although the fatality rate is higher in boars. There are usually other factors playing into the formation of stones but diet is the pretty much the only area we can work to prevent the formation. But so much else is influenced by the diet that it is well worth checking for a better long term ride.

Please see a vet for the skin problem. None of us is one and we have the added disadvantage of being asked for advice sight unseen when a hands-on examination is the only way forward. I wish all too often I had a crystal ball with in-built magnifying function and lab attached to answer those questions competently where lack of information does make even freestyle guessing impossible. Diagnosing is not like snapping your fingers and coming up with the right thing; it is much more like investigating a crime scene that has been wiped. In our case, having to do it in the dark behind a screen and with scant information.

Can you please tell us what prodict you have treated your piggies with and how often? Please be aware that pet shop products are low dosed products geared towards prevention of but not strong enough for dealing successfully with an acute outbreak. These products can temporarily suppress problems but they will not cure them. How long since you have started treating and have finished treating?

 

[Penguin2809]

Hi

Thank you for giving us more background information. We do get all sorts of people coming on here; some sadly who are not willing to listen to any concerns their post may have raised when we read them.

We try our best not to be sanctimonious on here; after all, we are all still on the same journey of improving the life and welfare of our own piggies. Things change all the time and we will continue to develop with them.

My guides try to be practical but easy to follow for both the people who need very exact guidelines/amounts they can follow to the letter but without making it mandatory for those that prefer their own interpretation. That is why I have tried to show what role the different parts play in an overall diet.
The problem we are having especially in the UK is that we are majorly a hard water country. Unfiltered water and pellets are the two areas where most of the calcium comes from; if there is a lot of it with plenty of high calcium veg, then bladder stones are a real problem in either gender although the fatality rate is higher in boars. There are usually other factors playing into the formation of stones but diet is the pretty much the only area we can work to prevent the formation. But so much else is influenced by the diet that it is well worth checking for a better long term ride.

Please see a vet for the skin problem. None of us is one and we have the added disadvantage of being asked for advice sight unseen when a hands-on examination is the only way forward. I wish all too often I had a crystal ball with in-built magnifying function and lab attached to answer those questions competently where lack of information does make even freestyle guessing impossible. Diagnosing is not like snapping your fingers and coming up with the right thing; it is much more like investigating a crime scene that has been wiped. In our case, having to do it in the dark behind a screen and with scant information.

Can you please tell us what prodict you have treated your piggies with and how often? Please be aware that pet shop products are low dosed products geared towards prevention of but not strong enough for dealing successfully with an acute outbreak. These products can temporarily suppress problems but they will not cure them. How long since you have started treating and have finished treating?

Sure the product I'm using for the ringworm is a spray by beahphar, same as the spot on for mites. My local pet store has there own vet as they sell a lot of different and exotic animals and they have never been wrong before so I do trust them. I've been going to them since I was a child (I'm 31) and my parents know the owners of the place too which was built in 1991. Again, I had a chinchilla who had ringworm and the vets didn't want to know but the pet show recommended using athletes foot powder mixed with the sand and it worked, cleaned it up and never came back. Me saying I'm treating ringworm is only a possibility because the only way to know for sure is a scratch test which will take 2 weeks to receive the answer which in that time, it could get worse so I went for this option first and so far it's doing the job. The teddy bear was the one who had the bold ring on her neck and a dry crusty ear. It's 2 weeks on Saturday (23rd) and even before treatment the bold patch started growing hair without treatment and only about a week after she developed it and it should be all cleared up by 2 weeks but I will continue for at least another week after.

I used mite treatment because they looked very ichy and twitchy when I first got them. More so than a guinea pig normally is and you could tell they some marks/cuts was from scratching to much but again since treatment a few days after I noticed a massive difference. That's coming up to 3 weeks Wednesday.

Both guinea pigs are now in a lot better condition compared to what they where are they are a lot more happier.

The nuggets I feed them is one of the best on the market. No it's not the best but it's high on the list.

I can send pictures of both piggies for you all to see if you would like? I'm pleased with how well they look now

 

[Wiebke]

Sure the product I'm using for the ringworm is a spray by beahphar, same as the spot on for mites. My local pet store has there own vet as they sell a lot of different and exotic animals and they have never been wrong before so I do trust them. I've been going to them since I was a child (I'm 31) and my parents know the owners of the place too which was built in 1991. Again, I had a chinchilla who had ringworm and the vets didn't want to know but the pet show recommended using athletes foot powder mixed with the sand and it worked, cleaned it up and never came back. Me saying I'm treating ringworm is only a possibility because the only way to know for sure is a scratch test which will take 2 weeks to receive the answer which in that time, it could get worse so I went for this option first and so far it's doing the job. The teddy bear was the one who had the bold ring on her neck and a dry crusty ear. It's 2 weeks on Saturday (23rd) and even before treatment the bold patch started growing hair without treatment and only about a week after she developed it and it should be all cleared up by 2 weeks but I will continue for at least another week after.

I used mite treatment because they looked very ichy and twitchy when I first got them. More so than a guinea pig normally is and you could tell they some marks/cuts was from scratching to much but again since treatment a few days after I noticed a massive difference. That's coming up to 3 weeks Wednesday.

Both guinea pigs are now in a lot better condition compared to what they where are they are a lot more happier.

The nuggets I feed them is one of the best on the market. No it's not the best but it's high on the list.

I can send pictures of both piggies for you all to see if you would like? I'm pleased with how well they look now

Have you only treated once with the spray?

 

[Penguin2809]

Have you only treated once with the spray?

No of course not, every day on the infected area. I've also been using a cream which contains lavender and tea tree oil on areas which is more dry and it works like a treat. It's specific designed for small pets and it's all natural

 

[Wiebke]

No of course not, every day on the infected area. I've also been using a cream which contains lavender and tea tree oil on areas which is more dry and it works like a treat. It's specific designed for small pets and it's all natural.

Hi!

Does your spray really say to spray daily? Ivermectin can be overdosed even though Beaphar has a lower concentration than what most vets dealing with guinea pigs on a frequent basis will prescribe for mange mites because the dosage is designed for maintenance and not for an acute outbreak. Any product that can be applied for all guinea pigs between 300-1500g is low dosed because it is not weight graduated in order to avoid overdosing.
We get unfortunately fairly regularly contacted by new owners home treating with beaphar about ongoing issues. The big ivermectin guns are applied only in 2 weeks intervals and its takes three applications; always waiting until the previous application has completely worn off in order to prevent overdosing. The interval between applications is the longer the stronger the ivermectin concentration. Overdosing can result in long term damage.

PLEASE see a vet if symptoms recur. The hair will not grow back until the skin has recovered from the mange mites (if that is what they really have, lacking a proper diagnosis) and then it takes about a month for the hair to grow back. If you are dealing with ringworm (NOT roundworm), then this is a fungal skin infection, which cannot be healed by ivermectin although it can be temporarily suppressed. it will just flare up worse than ever afterwards.

It also takes time for the ivermectin (the active ingredient in the spray) to be fully absorbed. If you cream on the same spot within 48 hours of application, then you prevent that absorption. You should always the skin be in order for the ivermectin to work fully; a gentle bath with plain water 48 hours after the end of treatment is enough.

New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites