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Vitamin C

C

CTWC

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Hi so I've been to the vets this morning as one of our guys has lost a patch of hair he lives alone as a neighbour to his friends the vet saw no mites so has advised using Vitamin C supplement but I'm not convinced. What do you all think of a short Vit C course? He has pepper, cucumber and lettuce most days not too keen on coriander though and does have a few nuggets a day. So I'm surprised at the diagnosis. If so what would you advise they suggested it to go in his water initially but he isn't a big drinker and don't want to put him off water so to speak they then said Oxbow Vit C treats but wanted your opinion before I buy it.
 
The chances of a well kept piggy with a good diet having a vit c deficiency is very low - in fact, we don’t see it happen (any scurvy cases we do see tend to be in proper neglect cases or in those who have been long term supplemented and then the supplementation stops suddenly). Form what you have said is his diet, If it were my own I’d be hesitant to supplement.
There are other symptoms of scurvy and an isolated bald patch would not make me jump to the conclusion of vit c deficiency at all.
Generalised scruffiness of the hair, perhaps; but not necessarily an isolated patch.

What I would ask is if the hair has fallen out entirely ie you cannot feel any stubble on the skin; or is there is a stubble and therefore potentially has been chewed (self barbering).
Self barbering potentially indicating pain or discomfort in an area (albeit you haven’t said where the bald patch is on his body); or mechanical abrasion maybe.
Where is the bald patch? Perhaps you could post a picture.
How old is he?

A short course (two weeks) of vit c can be given to help boost the immune system during a period of illness. It won’t hurt him; but if he is getting enough vit c then it also isn’t going to help him

Vitamin c should never be added to drinking water so for a vet to advise that is not good!
It can promote algae growth, can cause them to not drink it. Plus and more importantly, it means you have absolutely no control over dosage whatsoever - if a pig genuinely did have a vit c deficiency then there would be very little chance of it being cured by being in their drinking water.
 
It’s the place mange mites tend to show their presence but it isn’t the typical v shape indicating mange mites?
How did the vet confirm it isn’t mites?

Have you seen him biting at the area at all?
How old is he?
Do you feel stubble (if a piggy chews their hair then you feel stubble) or is the skin smooth as the hair has completely fallen out?
 
She combed through and looked under the microscope to check it wasn't.
 
The skin is soft no stubble and if it's really ght the vet suggested when self babering it feels stubbly.
 
Yes self barbering will leave a stubble.

If there is nothing there then his hair is actually falling out. It would be a case of the further running checks to find out other potential causes
 
Me too his coat is so gorgeous it's such a shame he is back at the vet Tuesday next week. 😢
 
Piggies&buns said:
Yes self barbering will leave a stubble.

If there is nothing there then his hair is actually falling out. It would be a case of the further running checks to find out other potential causes
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Any ideas what could cause it? X
 
They've suggested a pain trial! And taking some hair to send off and sample
 
Hi, I don’t know if this is relevant, but - could he be allergic to something? Years ago one of my rats developed bald patches on her head and chest. Our vet said “thats a skin allergy”. I stopped using laundry detergent to wash her bedding and the fur grew back.
 
HollysKingdom said:
Hi, I don’t know if this is relevant, but - could he be allergic to something? Years ago one of my rats developed bald patches on her head and chest. Our vet said “thats a skin allergy”. I stopped using laundry detergent to wash her bedding and the fur grew back.
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Thank you for that strangely enough the day I first noticed it he had borrowed Marcus and Willow's carrot cottage and I said to Tyler half joking I'm taking that away I can't think of any other changes but I guess allergies can develop randomly can they? 🤔
 
Wheekallweek said:
Poor Peanut... It's jsut so odd! I know you've had a chat with Amy about him. Hope we can get to the bottom of it between us! You know where we are if you need us x
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I know poor guy yes I spoke to Amy about what to do she set my mind at rest about what a pain trial was x
I literally sat with him constantly for nearly 2 hours he had a couple of scratches at his side but I didn't notice anything significant 🤔
 
HollysKingdom said:
Hi, I don’t know if this is relevant, but - could he be allergic to something? Years ago one of my rats developed bald patches on her head and chest. Our vet said “thats a skin allergy”. I stopped using laundry detergent to wash her bedding and the fur grew back.
Click to expand...
So did you just wash with water?
 
CTWC said:
So did you just wash with water?
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I used to wash their bedding (old T-shirts they could chew holes in and trash) in Ecover bleach and very hot water. At some point I couldn’t buy that and switched to another oxygen-based bleach that contained perfume, and other stuff I guess. When we realised about Esme’s allergy and switched back to the unscented Ecover one her fur grew again.

And I’ve never thought about it, but my piggies stuff gets washed with unscented washing powder because thats what I use for us hoomans.

As for carrot cottages, I’m convinced the one we bought at Christmas is what set off the cystitis Bandit is suffering with 🙁

I hope you find out what’s messing with Peanut 🤗
 
HollysKingdom said:
I used to wash their bedding (old T-shirts they could chew holes in and trash) in Ecover bleach and very hot water. At some point I couldn’t buy that and switched to another oxygen-based bleach that contained perfume, and other stuff I guess. When we realised about Esme’s allergy and switched back to the unscented Ecover one her fur grew again.

And I’ve never thought about it, but my piggies stuff gets washed with unscented washing powder because thats what I use for us hoomans.

As for carrot cottages, I’m convinced the one we bought at Christmas is what set off the cystitis Bandit is suffering with 🙁

I hope you find out what’s messing with Peanut 🤗
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Very interesting! 🤔

CTWC said:
I know poor guy yes I spoke to Amy about what to do she set my mind at rest about what a pain trial was x
I literally sat with him constantly for nearly 2 hours he had a couple of scratches at his side but I didn't notice anything significant 🤔
Click to expand...
It's good he's not scratching - main thing is it's not bothering him I suppose!
 
I'm going to double wash his bedding from now on once with non bio as usual then just in plain water to hopefully remove anything that might be irritating him I'll give anything a try for him x
 
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