what is normal?

[ellie_jo3213]

hi, sorry for so many question.. never had a guinea pig before so not sure whats normal or not. i'm wondering if any one could help me with some questions?

1) firstly, i have recently found pee stains on the back end and side of my guinea pig fur. her white fur is now yellow. just wondering if any one has ideas why this is happening. i clean out her toilet areas everday. seems like shes lying in her pee or is lying down and peeing herself.. i keep washing her to get the stains out, but more apear the next day.

2) also i have noticed that she has a tendancy to (wipe/drag?) her bum along the floor. wondering if this is due to her producing caecotrophs. or if shes just itchy.

3) her back feet are quite red, mostly on the heel part. when she sits and walks round, she does walk on the heel part more than any other part. could it be sore from walking this way? i keep her on wilkinsons hay, and the second level is made of towel and a fleece blanket. ive been putting some vaseline on them the past few days, but they are still quite red. or could it be down to losing heat(vasodilation and all that)?

4) she seem to make noises, what could only be described as hiccups. her whole body twitches when she gets them. the noise isn't loud or particualy noticable. is this normal?

5) lastly she has bauld patches in the insides of her forelimbs, is this due to washing her face, and the hairs have worn away? she is quite itchy and does spend quite a long time, itching/cleaning. for example, within the past 5 mins she has itched her two back legs, both inside forlimbs, turned round and itched both left and right sides and finally, scratched both her sides, cheeks and behind her ears. she does this quite frequently as i often see her doing this. no obvious red patches, dandruff, bauld patches, hair thinning can be found. but she does moult tonnes! is this due to loose hair?

sorry for so many questions! and just wondering whats normal or not.
thanks,
ellie.

 

[Briony_S]

I don't know about everything but number 5 sounds like mites. A small amount of grooming is normal but not if it becomes very frequent scratching / grooming. A couple of trips to the vets will cure it. George had mites and when I took him it cost around £20 in total for both trips!

Guinea pigs feet can be slightly red but I found george's became less red after being removed from the woodshavings he was on. If your piggie is new and was kept on shavings before you got her this might be why. George's got better on it's own but you there are some creams you could try from gorgous guineas!

The bald patches on limbs could be caused by excessive cleaning due to the mites, George had a simular problem with his foot he kept cleaning it and biting it and lost some hair and was very dry with a few scabs.

Sorry can't help you with anything else but the vet will be able to tell what is and isn't normal! I am very new to this so I could be wrong but better a trip to the vets than to leave her if she is suffering.

 

[Niki]

hi, sorry for so many question.. never had a guinea pig before so not sure whats normal or not. i'm wondering if any one could help me with some questions?

1) firstly, i have recently found pee stains on the back end and side of my guinea pig fur. her white fur is now yellow. just wondering if any one has ideas why this is happening. i clean out her toilet areas everday. seems like shes lying in her pee or is lying down and peeing herself.. i keep washing her to get the stains out, but more apear the next day.

White piggies can easily become yellowish from urine, she may be laying where she wees, you can wipe her over with a damp cloth or a baby wipe.

2) also i have noticed that she has a tendancy to (wipe/drag?) her bum along the floor. wondering if this is due to her producing caecotrophs. or if shes just itchy.

She sounds like she's scent marking, my boys & sow all do this at times

3) her back feet are quite red, mostly on the heel part. when she sits and walks round, she does walk on the heel part more than any other part. could it be sore from walking this way? i keep her on wilkinsons hay, and the second level is made of towel and a fleece blanket. ive been putting some vaseline on them the past few days, but they are still quite red. or could it be down to losing heat(vasodilation and all that)?

White haired piggies do seem to have pinker feet than darker haired piggies if her feet aren't dry, split or sore then i'd leave them, I would also not use vaseline, you can use Kamillosan or Bepanthan nappy creams or email Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas but personally i'd not be concerned

4) she seem to make noises, what could only be described as hiccups. her whole body twitches when she gets them. the noise isn't loud or particualy noticable. is this normal?

Has she eaten when she does this? Some of mine do the same if they eat too quickly or it could be a case of heaving hiccups, have a look here
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/heavinghiccups.htm

5) lastly she has bauld patches in the insides of her forelimbs, is this due to washing her face, and the hairs have worn away? she is quite itchy and does spend quite a long time, itching/cleaning. for example, within the past 5 mins she has itched her two back legs, both inside forlimbs, turned round and itched both left and right sides and finally, scratched both her sides, cheeks and behind her ears. she does this quite frequently as i often see her doing this. no obvious red patches, dandruff, bauld patches, hair thinning can be found. but she does moult tonnes! is this due to loose hair?

Bald patches on the inside of the front legs is normal, as seen here on Fitz's legs

If the scratching is persistent then it "could" be mites, however you should see at least one symptom, greasy skin, dandruff or if she squeals (in pain)when she's picked up. My piggies are moulting too at the moment.

sorry for so many questions! and just wondering whats normal or not.
thanks,
ellie.

 

[ellie_jo3213]

thanks! that picture is exactly what my pig bauld looks like!
i might email g.g.pigs, maybe send in a pic too of what it looks like.
she does protest at being picked up, now wondering if it is due to irritation. ive been having problems with her being picked up for months, biting me when ever my hand is in the cage etc.. asked a few weeks ago about it on behavior section, and general thoughts were mostly due to her young age (8mths) and that she would probs grow out of it. there were a few suggestions about mites. might pop her along to the vets for a check and just general health check.
thanks again

 

[Niki]

thanks! that picture is exactly what my pig bauld looks like!
i might email g.g.pigs, maybe send in a pic too of what it looks like.
she does protest at being picked up, now wondering if it is due to irritation. ive been having problems with her being picked up for months, biting me when ever my hand is in the cage etc.. asked a few weeks ago about it on behavior section, and general thoughts were mostly due to her young age (8mths) and that she would probs grow out of it. there were a few suggestions about mites. might pop her along to the vets for a check and just general health check.
thanks again

I would, if only for your own peace of mind & if it is mites they are easily treated, hope she goes on ok

 

[ellie_jo3213]

thanks. its abit frustrating really, as I'm in vet school, and have learnt all about mites and fleas etc.. and if she does have mites, i know which ones she has and how to treat them, i just cant do it myself! lol. ah well, only 3 and abit more years to go till i can!

thank you very much for answering my question, I'm not so worried about her now! i think i'll pop her down the the vets back home during easter break and check her out.

 

[MissPiggy78]

4) she seem to make noises, what could only be described as hiccups. her whole body twitches when she gets them. the noise isn't loud or particualy noticable. is this normal?

I'm wondering if this is 'popcorning'. Sometimes new piggie owners mistake this behaviour for fitting, when in actual fact they're just happy! x