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Worried: excessive hair loss

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I got my guinea pig out for the first time in a week today and noticed she was losing excessive amounts of fur. I know all guinea pigs malt quite a lot but it was coming out in clumps with the root still attached (she's a short, silky haired breed).

I did also notice, though, that she had a dirty bum and I had to cut a bit of fur away as it was matted up. I've had her a year and I've had to bath her regularly as she refuses to clean her bum and I worry it will make her ill.

I'm now wondering if she's not cleaning the rest of herself properly and that it's just hair that's fallen out naturally but she's not removed it by grooming like she's supposed to.

So - can anyone tell me whether they think this is the case or it's something else?

And, if it is this, how do I get her to start cleaning herself?

Thanks
 
Hi love i'd have your piggie straight to the vets!
It could be a couple of things, i'd be concerned about mites :(
In the meantime gently bathe her but don't pull out the fur.
My piggies have never malted so i can't help you on that point.
Good luck and let us know how it goes xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once you have things sorted do a daily routine of a quick brush and run your hands over her body.... you will get to know her body and if anything changes you'll be aware of it quickly :)
I bathe my girls regularly as i have one with long hair and a short haired one....... both of them can get a bit mucky in the butt area! Main problem with long haired piggies i've found in my short time dealing with mine is that the hair grows and drags in the hay/wees/poops rolleyes I also trim her butt hair when i wash her.
 
Thanks for the message.

Whenever I hold her in short sleevs and she touches my skin I come out in red lumps on my skin. My skin becomes itchy, so I have to scratch it and then it sort of becomes raised in red patches.

I always thought I had some sort of mild allergy to them but now I'm thinking could it be mites on her that are causing my rash? Does that fit with mites?

I could really do with a recommendation of a good vets in Staffordshire, UK. I've only taken one of my pigs to the vets once before and she died before going back for the op. They were nice enough and I don't think it was to do with them at all, but they didn't seem to know a lot about guinea pigs. After that I'd rather take Bubble somewhere where I'm confident they know what to do
 
I'd think you'd more likely to have a little allergy to them, than it being the mites......but i'm not sure of that sorry.

I'll just have a look in our vets section for you :)
 
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