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Post by loldonutsss on May 12, 2014 16:02:03 GMT
Poopsie is shedding her winter coat (I hope it's just shedding ) like CRAZY!!!!!
Like I said, I hope it's just shedding, as she has had mites before, but she's not scratching any more than she normally does. She's throwing her typical "mommy, hold me!" or "mommy, I'm hungry/thirsty" fits , wheeking at me when I call her name, etc. She's eating normal, in fact she's quite fat lol but she doesn't eat her kibble much anymore (she goes through spells when she refuses to eat kibble and just eats the veggies and occasional fruits but i still keep it in there just in case she decides she wants kibble), but she's always been a picky pig. I give her dandy lion collard thingys here and there, too, but not every day. She's eating her hay blocks (I switched her to the timothy hay blocks bc the bales were giving her the mites) perfectly fine, drinking plenty of water.
I guess I should actually talk about the shedding lol
Anyway, she is losing hair from her face (her cheeks, the bridge of her nose or forehead i'm not sure what to call it lol) but not in huge amounts there. She's losing A LOT of hair from her back and her bum area, i haven't noticed her shedding from her sides or her belly or her chest, though. She doesn't have any bald spots (as of right now, but her hair is thinning out on her back?) and sometimes i find skin flakes but not very often. Also, her hammock is COVERED in hair. I chuck it in the washing machine and such every wheek (ha, wheek) but there is still hair coming off her little body!
I brush her like 3x a week & every other week I give her a bath with small animal shampoo that has like vitamin E and oatmeal in it or something & that seems to be helping with the skin flakes appearing because there aren't as many. I'm thinking it's a combination of shedding a winter coat & dry skin?
What do you all think? Any suggestions?
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Post by 3piggles on May 14, 2014 16:18:04 GMT
Get her to a guinea pig vet. If she's just shedding her winter coat, add moisture to the air with a humidifier, not to her skin with a bath. Baths only help during the bath, then back to the dry air and dry skin again. If you have a thermometer with a humidity guage, check for at least 30% humidity in the cage area.
If humidity is fine, it's something more, and she needs a vet. Just quickly get temperature and humidity info together give to the vet. A radical warm up might account for some of the shedding, too. Please keep us posted.
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Post by Bean on May 14, 2014 19:45:41 GMT
It does sound like a vet check may be in order if her hair is thinning out in places and there are skin flakes. Could be something parasitic/ fungal irritating her. Agree with 3piggles about the baths being unnecessary too. Keep us posted with how you get on, hope she's okay.
That font colour is a beast to read by the way - I think I need a lie down now!
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Post by 3piggles on May 15, 2014 15:47:45 GMT
I got ot on black on my phone. Hmmm?
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Post by loldonutsss on May 16, 2014 1:06:46 GMT
It does sound like a vet check may be in order if her hair is thinning out in places and there are skin flakes. Could be something parasitic/ fungal irritating her. Agree with 3piggles about the baths being unnecessary too. Keep us posted with how you get on, hope she's okay. That font colour is a beast to read by the way - I think I need a lie down now! OMG I'm sorry the font was hard to read! But I cleaned her cage yesterday and there was hair EVERYWHERE on her bedding. Her hair seems like it's thinning out on her back, I forgot to mention. I've been giving her baths because the vet suggested that-the vet I took her to previously wasn't a guinea pig vet (you all could probably tell because of what they were doing for her). I looked up some guinea pig vets around my area and there IS one (THANK GOODNESS) literally right around the corner. They just put it in a few months ago, which was after she was sick before...otherwise i would have taken her there. Oh and today I noticed her scratching behind her ears & biting around her bum area so I'm thinking it's not just shedding now........... Will keep you posted.
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Post by loldonutsss on May 16, 2014 1:14:32 GMT
Get her to a guinea pig vet. If she's just shedding her winter coat, add moisture to the air with a humidifier, not to her skin with a bath. Baths only help during the bath, then back to the dry air and dry skin again. If you have a thermometer with a humidity guage, check for at least 30% humidity in the cage area. If humidity is fine, it's something more, and she needs a vet. Just quickly get temperature and humidity info together give to the vet. A radical warm up might account for some of the shedding, too. Please keep us posted. Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk I've read the humidity thing before! We have one for the whole house, and the thingy doesn't show humidity unless a certain button is touched but the guage indicated its about 30%. If she's had issues with her skin before just like this, could it be that the infection never really "cleared up" all the way? They always give her ivermectin or however you spell it and that seems to help some, especially with itching. With all the hair falling out and her hair thinning, i'm thinking its not just shedding
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Post by 3piggles on May 16, 2014 20:38:56 GMT
Definitely sounds like s vet visit is needed. If she didn't see a cavy vet last time, she may not have been cured. Sounds as if she's a very unhappy girl, so get her to the vet soon. Hugs ♡
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Post by loldonutsss on May 17, 2014 1:37:16 GMT
Definitely sounds like s vet visit is needed. If she didn't see a cavy vet last time, she may not have been cured. Sounds as if she's a very unhappy girl, so get her to the vet soon. Hugs ♡ Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk I called the vet today and she's going in tomorrow at 2. This new vet has a small animal specialist *thumbs up* ! I noticed today that she is extremely skinny.....like....I can feel her hip bones and her shoulders what if it's like cancer or something?!?!?! She's eating fine so I don't understand why she is so skinny........
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Post by Bean on May 17, 2014 8:50:57 GMT
Regular weighing is a great way to monitor health. When we handle our pigs several times a day, we might not notice a gradual drop in weight, but the scales can tip us off.
Fingers will be crossed for Poopsie at the vet, really hope she's okay. x
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Post by 3piggles on May 17, 2014 19:24:17 GMT
I hope she will be okay. Guinea pigs can have expensive health problems. That's for sure. The vet will weigh her. Get that weight and start a journal. Weigh her weekly at the same time, I.e. Monday noon, Friday morning, Wednesday afternoon. Whatever is convenient for you. At the end of each month, take an average of her weekly weights. Weight csn fluxuate as much as 30g just from being full or eliminating waste, but decreases of more than 50g need to be watched. Any downward trend needs vet attention.
Also, guinea pig poos tell a lot about their health. Poos should be oval, medium to dark brown and solid, and about half an inch long. Small, light, soft or dry poos imply a problem. Too many fruits and veggies, too little hay and even the wrong hay cause most poo problems, but if correcting the food problem doesn't fix the problem quickly, it's vet time!
Once you get used to it all, it becomes second nature. Good luck at the vet ♡
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Post by loldonutsss on May 30, 2014 1:52:58 GMT
my apologies on taking a few days to reply.......been busy since her appointment. so he weighed her and said she's at a healthy weight which is excellent. he was really thorough with checking her skin and her hair...he didn't do a skin scraping...he said that just because she has the symptoms of (he diagnosed her with mange mites) doesn't mean that the skin he scrapes will have the mites on it. they've never had a guinea pig who is 6 years of age there in a long time so they were surprised when i told them how old she was lol...i guess that's 80 in guinea pig years! holy cow! anyways he also said that because she is losing weight (he was able to get her chart from the other vet i used to take her to and she dropped in weight a little..but he wasn't too concerned because she has a lot of fat in her belly!)he also suggested that she may have a kidney issue (since she's and oldie) and she may retaining a lot of water and isn't too interested in eating as much as she used to. he also said that because of the size of a piggie there isn't much treatment they could do for kidney issues so we didn't test her, plus he wasn't too convinced that was the cause, he still thinks that as she gets older she'll be more susceptible to illnesses, which i agree with....i mean it makes sense right? but he gave her an ivermectin injection and clipped her horrendous nails for me because i can't get her to hold still to clip the front feet...he also gave me a syringe of more ivermectin to give to her the following tuesday, so day before yesterday i gave her her next dosage orally and she was not a happy camper! but the only thing she will eat now is lettuce and spinach......she just poos in her kibble so im taking that as a statement lol. her poos are normal by the way :-) she's not yelling at me as much now and i think that is because she is more comfortable...which makes me happy! i'm not sure how to get her to eat anything other then lettuce or if i should even attempt to do so? what do you all think? i don't want her to like...starve to death or something.....
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Post by 3piggles on May 30, 2014 14:08:33 GMT
There is a probiotic called Bene-bac available at some pet stores and online. It is formulated to different animals, so get thecone for small animals/rodents. Sprinkle it on the lettuce. Some digestive help might make her more willing to eat other foods, especially hay. Limit the spinach to avoid stones. Older pigs have trouble processing large doses if calcium. Try giving her a syringe of orange juice ot a piece of an orange section for vitamin C. Mine love their morning C Syringe, and even fight over the syringe. Otherwise, as long as she's happy, her poos are good and she's getting the Ivermectin, I wouldn't try any majorly invasive treatments or surgeries, at least not on my own pigs.
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Post by loldonutsss on May 31, 2014 1:42:32 GMT
There is a probiotic called Bene-bac available at some pet stores and online. It is formulated to different animals, so get thecone for small animals/rodents. Sprinkle it on the lettuce. Some digestive help might make her more willing to eat other foods, especially hay. Limit the spinach to avoid stones. Older pigs have trouble processing large doses if calcium. Try giving her a syringe of orange juice ot a piece of an orange section for vitamin C. Mine love their morning C Syringe, and even fight over the syringe. Otherwise, as long as she's happy, her poos are good and she's getting the Ivermectin, I wouldn't try any majorly invasive treatments or surgeries, at least not on my own pigs. Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk i'll be sure to give that a try...and i don't give her spinach very often but should i stop giving it to her? i buy her dandelion leafs at the grocery store and she used to scarf those down and now she'll hardly eat those I'm afraid that she's dying because she won't eat very much....... how much oj should i put in the syringe? which oj is the type to get or does it not matter? she just lays in the corner of her cage under her hammock now...she started that maybe last thursday...and i took her to the vet on that tuesday so i hope thats not related.... i'm so scared i don't understand what's wrong with her..
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Post by loldonutsss on May 31, 2014 1:43:21 GMT
that dancing cow was not intended to be put there idek how that got there lol it was supposed to be a crying sad face..
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Post by 3piggles on May 31, 2014 15:44:41 GMT
If it's her time to go, give her lots of snuggles. Can't stop the inevitable, but you can love her to bits until then.
Most syringes are 4cc so one full one is fine. You can also syringe feed her thinned veggie and fruit baby food with fruit or veggie juice. Avoid lots of citrus, as that can cause mouth sores.
If she'll take it, grind pellets and add them to the baby food.
Has anyone checked her teeth? If her molars are giving her problems, she won't be able to eat. Hugs ♡
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Post by loldonutsss on Jun 1, 2014 2:32:33 GMT
death is the worst part about having a pet......i'm hoping it'll be a while away when i lose her! and the vet checked her teeth after i told him she wasn't eating as much...he said her teeth are in excellent shape. i also bought what you suggested plus decided to switch her from the timothy hay blocks to the actual hay bales - poopsie seems pretty excited about that change! i put her on the hay blocks to prevent the mites (as the previous vet suggested) but now i'm more concerned about her eating than getting mites again *knocks on wood*. i wasn't able to make it to the drug store today to get some syringes (i'll get some tomorrow since i got orange juice). so for tonight i decided to mix her plain solid pellets i bought with pumpkin in one dish, carrot baby food and solid pellets in another and berry baby food with solid pellets in a third dish. she seems to reeeeeeally really like the pumpkin! i almost cried when she finally ate something other then lettuce... she also likes the parsley you also suggested i give her. i was also fretting she may not be getting as much water as she used to from her water bottle so i put some fresh water in her old food dish, seems to work like a charm. i wonder if she was just having a hard time getting water from the bottle thing? it's weird though because i just bought it and it was working earlier last week... at least she's drinking water and sort of eating again. that's all i can ask for. i'll keep you all posted!
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Post by 3piggles on Jun 1, 2014 20:53:09 GMT
Wow! It's great that she's eating, and interested in eating! Water bottles can have problems. Most have a ball in the drink spout to keep the wter from leaking out. The ball can get stuck and not let the water flow. Even new bottles can fail. Excellent I've never heard of a connection between hay and mites. Hay and lice, yes, but not mites. She will enjoy having hay to play in as well as eat, I doubt she'll get stressed and get mites Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
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Post by jolovespiggies on Jun 2, 2014 18:30:21 GMT
Ths is so sad to hear love but it is a fact, they know when it is their time which doesn't make it any easier for mums and dads. Sending lots of hugs
Jo xx
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Post by loldonutsss on Jun 27, 2015 2:20:46 GMT
I haven't posted in forever, my appologies. Something new is wrong with Poopsie... She is eating her hay (filled twice a day), sort of eating her kibble, eating the fruits and veggies I give her, too, and drinking water. She's alert and vocal, too. Here is the kicker: she suddenly started losing weight. Like you can feel her shoulders and her hips and her back, she seems to be filling in a little bit because you used to be able to see those. Her belly seems not really "fat", but definitely not bloated. Poopsie is 7, and I have heard that their weight drops from their bones as they age, but in my mind that doesn't happen to a healthy animal. Just so I can prepare myself...what do you think is going on with my baby? I'm so scared it's something serious; I don't want to lose her
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Post by jolovespiggies on Jun 27, 2015 18:40:03 GMT
Of course you don't want to loose her love but to be on the safe side, get a vet to check her over. As she is normal in every other way I cannot think of a reason but as piggies get old they do tend to do this. Let the vet have a look at her to put your mind at rest. Please keep us posted. Lots of love.
Hugs Jo xx
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