Kima has bald patches!

[Orlaith]

Hey everyone!

One of my sows, Kima, has been developing bald patches over the last few weeks. We notice it every time we take her out of her cage and the hair grows back without any problems, but we're very confused as to what might be causing it.

Her skin is lovely and clear, no sign of scratching or irritation and we haven't seen her scratch either. None of her cagemates have a similar problem, which tells me that it's not mites or something like that.

I think it might be either that one of her friends is barbering her, although we've never seen it and I can't think why as they always have plenty of hay (and also, Kima is the boss big of the group so I'd be surprised if it was a dominance issue), or it might be hormonal.

We brought her to the vet last night, but unfortunately it wasn't our normal vet, but a locum, so I'm not as confident as I normally would be in the diagnosis. The vet had a good look at Kima and the other girls' skin and agreed that there was no inflammation or scratching going on, and she had a good feel of Kima and didn't feel anything unusual like enlarged ovaries or anything like that, which would imply it's not hormonal. However, the only advice she gave us was to separate them to see if the problem goes away, but I really don't believe in separating pigs without a good reason and Kima has never been alone in her whole life and I really think that would stress her out too much.

I'm a bit worried about Kima in general. She has lost a bit of weight recently and she was small to begin with, and she's a particularly rumbly girl, always rumbling at the other girls, far more than any other pig we have. Do you think I should bring her back when our normal vet is available? I know it sounds silly but if he told me it was barbering I'd be happy with that because he has a lot of piggy experience and used to breed them himself. I just trust him more.

And if it is just barbering, is there anything I can do to discourage it?

[Kayleigh]

If your certain theres no mites ect which im sure you would be aware if there was. It could well be barbering. Its a natural yet annoying thing. Iv only experienced it once, with my sow Tousel, her first litter nibbled all her hair away and although shocking it grew back lovely.

I wouldnt seperate Kima as it may stress her out and in turn cause other problems. Keep a close eye on them to see if anyone is over grooming or intentionally barbering. Im not sure if theres a way to stop them. She may be barbering herself, in which case theres very little you can do.

Aslong as the hair grows back and theres no flaky skin, inflammation ect im sure she will be fine. If your still unsure you could try going back to your own vets and getting another opinion.

Let us know if anything else comes up or you have any other ideas.

Kayleigh

[Orlaith]

Yeah, I'm sure to be sure that there are no mites. I was 95% certain before the vet visit but now I'm 100%. Her skin is so smooth and there's no debris in her fur or even any redness.

If it's just barbering then that's okay, that's just something I'll have to accept, but it's more just the worry that it might be something else. I'd rather have a positive diagnosis than work by elimination if you know what I mean.

Been keeping an eye for the last few days and no sign of any grooming or fur-chewing or anything unless it's going on in the houses, but Kima doesn't usually like to share a house. She's a bit of a stroppy madam at times!

[Kayleigh]

Hehe she sounds like a right character! Aslong as shes ok, then i woudlnt worry, Could just be overgrooming.

Kayleigh

[gwen]

i have two male guinea pigs, and one has lots of bald patches and sores. He scratches and bites himself a bit, so it must be itchy. One time it was really sore and red, so i applied the gel from some fresh aloe vera, and that worked really well. Good for the healing, and maybe it tastes so bad that it breaks the habit of biting.

[Orlaith]

From the sound of it your piggy might have mites or another skin problem. Treatment with ivermectin might clear this up. It's usually available from pet shops.

As for Kima, I'm bringing her back to the vet on Saturday. I just have a feeling in my gut about her and I won't be satisfied until my normal vet gives her the all clear.

[dkwannabe]

We had two male pigs together and noticed that one had bald patches and sores while the other was completely fine. We had them checked and got the all clear. We discovered that the male who wasn't losing hair was barbering the other and nipping. We separated and the pig losing hair is now fine.

[Orlaith]

Well, as some of you may have seen on my facebook, Kima has been diagnosed with ovarian cysts. I'm really glad I stuck with my gut and brought her for a second opinion. No one knows your pets like you do and I really encourage you to stick with it if you feel they are not themselves.

So, the constant rumbling, hairloss (identical patches on both sides of the body) and crusty nipples all point to ovarian cysts and our normal vet had a good feel of her and he could feel at least one for sure. He said he could x-ray her to see if there are more but we didn't really see the point in that.

At the moment Keemy-kins isn't in any pain but if the cysts continue to grow then she could end up in a lot of pain in the future. Our options are as follows:
a) Do nothing and see what happens
b) Get a full spay done
c) Get hormone treatment

We're dead against getting her spayed as she's almost three and a half and it's such an invasive operation. Our vet isn't even sure he'd recommend doing it as a last resort as it might be too much for her.

So, with that option down, that leaves us with doing nothing and hormone treatment. For now we're going to leave her be and not do anything, just monitor her, but our vet is researching hormone treatment for piggies as it can have a lot of side effects and he wants to see if there are any new developments that might be easier on her system.

So, the moral of the story is that if you know there is something wrong with your piggy, keep pushing or find a piggy-vet.

[jill213rn]

Wow! What a piggy instinct you have. I hope she does well and you do not need any treatments for her. Good luck!!

[Orlaith]

Thanks! I really am a firm believer that no one else knows your pigs like you. You just know when they are not themselves or are a bit "off-colour". So push for a second opinion if you feel something isn't right. Your pigs can't ask for it themselves!

As for Kima, she's in great form. Still rumbling like it's going out of fashion but I weighed her and she's up a little. Still lower than her heaviest weight but a decent weight. And she still comes running over for her chin rubs do she has forgiven me for bringing her to the vet twice in a week :-)

No word from the vet yet but his locum is on annual leave at the mo so he's working 6 day weeks until December, so I'll give him a few weeks before I follow up unless Keems changes.