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Truffles Has A Problem

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BonBon2010

BonBon2010

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I've just picked her up and noticed she's gone bald on both sides of her belly, its as though all her hair has just fell out, she's not itchy, i'm shocked and upset, pretty sure it's ovarian cysts, as she's not as big as she used to be. She's only 2 :(
 
It is a possibility, when Fuzzy had them her hair went really thin. Are you able to get her scanned at your vets? does she have any of the other symptoms like crusty nipples, dominant behaviour etc?

Fungal is also a possibility though so see what the vet says.
 
She's always been a dominant sow, and her behaviour has never changed. She's eating fine, drinking fine, hasn't got a massive belly either, and she wasn't bald the other day, it's like it's just fell out. I'm hoping it's one of the other piggies barbering her, but one other thing that bothers me, is she never likes to be picked up, she even chatters her teeth and goes out of her way to avoid it.
It's only 4 months since I lost BonBon, I simply can't go through this again, it's breaking my heart :'( She's booked in for later, I think they could scan her, or at the very least x-ray her. Her nipples are normal, not crusty, her eyes are normal and bright too, she's got me flummoxed :(
 
I think the hair loss with cysts does tend to be slower.
 
I always thought it forms like a V shape on their back, hers is just a 4 inch diameter patch on her left side just in front of her hind leg, and a smaller one on her right side, similar place, she could have been over grooming, which is a sign of discomfort isn't it? It's not got any sort of V shape to it
 
That's mange mites and can also be a sign of a particular type of fungal called broken back.

Yes she could have been overgrooming and self barbered. With Fuzzy her hair loss with cysts was a general thinning all over including under her chin.
 
I know she's been nibbling at the longer hairs as she's meant to be a funky piggy, and she just looks like a scruffy Abyssinian these days, although still behaves like she's the boss of the herd, never had a self harmer before.. There's no other patches, just in those two spots
 
Vet thinks it's hormonal for which she said there isn't much they can do for her. She also needs her incisors trimming as the bottom ones are too long, but she couldn't see much wrong with her molars, that said, surely if they're long then her molars are? That could be enough to cause her to loose weight. They're going to sedate her and do her teeth, and at the same time xray her to look for cysts, but she said she couldn't feel anything abnormal, and Truffles never squealed once during her check up.
Vet also said they usually gain weight with hormone issues, which is a bit of an odd one, as she's gone the other way. Hopefully that part is tooth related, even though I hope it proves nothing wrong, I had all that with BonBon last year regarding weight loss, and no problems with her appetite either, i really hope history isn't about to repeat itself :(
 
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Dropped her off at the vets :( Going to leave a nice big hole in my wallet too.. Have asked whether they can spay piggies, going to get an answer to that one tomorrow, just so I have something to work from. She's not lost any more weight, and has gained a couple of grams (not much I know but it's something)..
 
Well, she's had her front teeth done, under sedation and the x-ray. They could find nothing out of sorts with her stomach, or any lumps and bumps, i'm going to discuss spaying her on Tuesday with the vet. Think i'll let her get over the dental first though.
She's currently tucking into some chopped lettuce and winding her cage mates up :))
 
Update on Truffles, she apparently dropped down to 900g from 940 on friday, so a bit worrying for over the weekend as she had the dental on friday. She came home, already rattling and winding up her two cage mates the minute she stepped into the cage and wanted feeding straight away. She did struggle over the weekend with anything leafy or hard, so I chopped her food up small, and at the same time kept enticing her with partially crushed nuggets, mixed with quaker oats, which she enjoyed.
At her check up she weighed 930g, and that was in the morning before feeding time, and tonight she weighed in at 955g so her weight is creeping back up. She now has the signs of a proper belly again, and is so much brighter than she was. Bald patches are still there, and i'm hoping that it was more a sign if vitamin deficiency than hormonal, as nothing showed up on x-ray either.
On the subject of spaying, we've decided to wait and see what happens weight wise first, as I want her to gain at least 200g weight wise, as she's not meant to be a small guinea pig, and the extra weight will aid her recovery if we go ahead. I checked her poops tonight, nothing small about them, they're huge!
 
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