Tell me I'm just being paranoid... Slightly crusty nipples

[Emx93]

Ugh… These pigs will be the death of me

So I may be slightly paranoid because I've just had a piggy spayed for hormonal issues as well as a very happy long term bond fall apart for this reason and I'm still dealing with the repercussions of this and don't ever want another hormonal fall out but….

Nugget has slightly crusty nipples (discovered during health checks yesterday) she's been rumbly and a bit bossy with teenager marshmallow for a couple of weeks but nothing outside of what I'd expect when keeping a teenager in check. She did leave a nasty bite wound on fluffy when I tried rebonding them but that could be due to the bond being broken beyond repair… basically nothing I can't otherwise explain behaviour wise. no obvious hair loss, tummy is less tender than it was following veg restrictions as she has a sensitive tummy and gets gas issues. She had an x Ray 2-3months ago for her tender tummy and soft poop issues which showed gas but nothing else mentioned.

I'm thinking watch and wait, I've attached pictures they are only slightly crusty (though look worse irl than on the pictures, maybe zoom in) I'm pretty sure that I'm just paranoid I mean what are the chances of two hormonal piggys weeks apart, she's 16m so young for this kind of problem though fluffy is the same age and was spayed 3 and a half weeks ago. They were pets at home piggys. I'm in no rush for another spay with how poorly fluffy was and nugget already has some tummy problems which worsen when stressed. Her weight is stable. That being said I got my friend who's a student nurse to have a look and she advised getting a vets opinion just to be safe is watch and wait an option? If so how long do I wait to see if it goes away? Should I go for a vet check sooner? Do I risk another fall out or health problems for nugget if I do watch and wait? Can something else cause this? Please advise I'm keen to stay away from the vets for a while I don't think we've gone more than a couple of weeks without a vet trip between one animal and another in the last few months but I absolutely do not want to hesitate if I risk more fall outs/ health problems. Its not an emergency though so can surely wait till the weekend at least...

 

[sport_billy]

Hmmm could be ovarian cysts with the behaviour it ties in. Hormone injections are always an alternative option to spaying if it turns out to be cysts

 

[Emx93]

Hmmm could be ovarian cysts with the behaviour it ties in. Hormone injections are always an alternative option to spaying if it turns out to be cysts

Vet said these were dangerous and I trust her (she's knowledgeable on piggys and is an exotic vet) if it were cysts would they have not shown on the x ray she had a couple of months ago, or are they likely still small as the symptoms only just started?

 

[PigglePuggle]

Best get to the vets I'm afraid! On the positive side this looks like Jezzy floof's "saggy boob chafing" nipples which I wondered was it ovarian cysts but it seems she just needs a better fitting bra or some moisturiser on her saggy bits... but on the minus side, this was such a classic symptom everyone on the forum and our vet agreed it was worth checking. And even though it seemed ok, our vet recommended checking her every 3 months from now on just in case... not an emergency certainly, but definitely a check up in the next week or two and if nothing is conclusive a regular monitoring every week at home and the vet every few months just to make sure!

 

[sport_billy]

Vet said these were dangerous and I trust her (she's knowledgeable on piggys and is an exotic vet) if it were cysts would they have not shown on the x ray she had a couple of months ago, or are they likely still small as the symptoms only just started?

Depends on how fast they grow as to when they would show up. We had a girl with cysts that out bet shrunk with hormone injections as she was an older piggy we decided this was less risky than a spat.
Get a scan done I believe ultrasound is good at detecting cysts, and go with the vet they are the expert.

 

[Emx93]

Looks like I'll be making a phone call to the vets... Let's hope for saggy boob chafing did I annoy a higher power or something

 

[pig in the city]

I wouldn't worry too much, this is a minor sign of ovarian cysts.
Best get her checked though. In my experience the piggies with the most hormonal behaviour often have very small cysts.
My vet in Matlock does ovarian removal by keyhole surgery. If it comes to surgery it's much less invasive than a spay and they recover quickly

 

[Emx93]

Thankyou I will enquire about the less invasive one if it comes to it, hoping its something other than that

 

[Emx93]

Good news- looks better after washing it away, still slightly crusty but definitely better, if it gets worse again then I'll book her in for a check straight away, fingers crossed it was just some dry skin or something! She is definitely not aggressive in the way fluffy was just rumbly, that said if there's still some crust next week or if it's worse/ constant rumbling persists I'll book her for that check and request ultrasound...

 

[piggieminder]

I've got everything crossed this is just a false alarm.

 

[Emx93]

I've got everything crossed this is just a false alarm.

Thankyou, me too, don't think I've ever hoped to be paranoid but in this case... I definitely hope to be paranoid I'm going to check her daily during cuddle time and keep an extra close eye, if we're not sure a check certainly can't hurt

 

[Emx93]

Great news- the crust has almost gone, I'm thinking it was the saggy boob chafing thing @PigglePuggle mentioned! That said I'm still keeping a very close eye 👁‍🗨 on her as she's still rumbling away (but she does have a teenager to keep in check)
It was just a false alarm and nugget just wanted some extra attention

 

[Emx93]

Crusty nipple today following bath

 

[PigglePuggle]

Oh dear, its worth a vet check but hopefully its chafing not ovarian cysts... our Jezzy still has slightly crusty nipples but it comes and goes along with her crusty old feet... she's just a crusty old thing but she's having a health check tomorrow along with her nail trim and crusty foot check (her new crusty thing is some giant front foot spurs of hard skin now her back feet are doing better) just in case!

 

[Emx93]

Babybelle (new cat) has a follow up in the morning (while different story but shes been poorly she had bloods today) so ill ask if we need to be concerned

 

[Emx93]

I'll need to pitch a tent at this rate, babybelles 4th vet trip tomorrow and she only came home Thursday she's spectacularly diarrhead at the vets each time so hopefully tomorrow she won't and they won't have to clean her carrier again xx

 

[PigglePuggle]

Yes us too, last week it was Blod pig with a suspicious yellow smelly discharge from her bits, today we had 2 vet appointments, one for Blod's discharge follow up and one for Piggle's greasy bum, plus 4 nail trims... tomorrow we have the other 4 nail trims plus health checks! Might as well just have my wages paid straight to the vets and live in the carpark

 

[Emx93]

I feel that way too, we had nugget with hay poke in January, then we adopted onslow in February he came home not eating with smelly breath, turns out he had a bad mouth infection and needed all his teeth out, had that done then he started wwith other symptoms found out he was autoimmune, then found out he had lymphoma he. Was there every few days most weeks, then nugget and her gas/diarrhea, then fluffy and her hormones/ spay, then getting princesses metacam sorted, then we adopted babybelle who to our horror despite being told she perfectly healthy other than ear mites came to us with explosive diarrhea, then next day sickness too, also they can't see mites in her ear but somethings going on with it, and she too has a poorly tooth that needs to come out along with all these tests for her tummy now nuggets rumbly crusty nipplness send helpp

 

[alexr]

I used to have a piggy called Beryl who had folds around her nipples that produced cheesy, milky smelling wax stuff. I think it was hormone related but the vet just told me to keep them clean. It never seemed to bother her but it was odd.

 

[PigglePuggle]

I feel that way too, we had nugget with hay poke in January, then we adopted onslow in February he came home not eating with smelly breath, turns out he had a bad mouth infection and needed all his teeth out, had that done then he started wwith other symptoms found out he was autoimmune, then found out he had lymphoma he. Was there every few days most weeks, then nugget and her gas/diarrhea, then fluffy and her hormones/ spay, then getting princesses metacam sorted, then we adopted babybelle who to our horror despite being told she perfectly healthy other than ear mites came to us with explosive diarrhea, then next day sickness too, also they can't see mites in her ear but somethings going on with it, and she too has a poorly tooth that needs to come out along with all these tests for her tummy now nuggets rumbly crusty nipplness send helpp

Our record number of vet trips was Tallulah skinny pig, 9 vet trips in 12 days, when she got a bad bite wound that turned into an abscess during her failed bonding, then she had surgery to remove the abscess which was fine, but then she had a weird allergic reaction to her stitches and ended up with a big oozing hole on her neck...
Record for unexpected cost was Blodwen pig who came "free" with ringworm and £300 worth of emergency dental surgery needed!
Then we had Puggle's recurring bloat, Jezzy's crusty skin and feet and nipples...
Anyone who thinks guinea pigs are cheap and easy pets to keep is completely wrong, our cheapest two in terms of vet bills are actually the 2 who arrived with slightly disabled legs who I was expecting huge vet bills for, but touch wood so far they are the healthiest of the lot!

 

[Emx93]

Agreed! Piggies are complex little things! Marshmallow hasn't needed a vet trip yet but she's only a teenager and I don't want to jinx things Onslow and babybelle were from a 'proper' well known rescue but I've since heard other people having bad experiences with them, the worst thing is they knew what we went through with onslow and how hard loosing him was, they assured us she was healthy and yet sent her home in this state, when they open tomorrow ill be having sharp words!

 

[Emx93]

Our record vet trips was onslow who went on a friday, hospitalised, came home for a day, back next day then rehospitilised, then back home later that day but daily visits for antibiotic injections then one more visit as we had biopsy results, then every time he had a bad turn thereafter,, but at this rate babybelle could beat him with with 4 visits in 5days!