Noodle's Lip

[3piggles]

I totally cleaned Pigloo City, yesterday. I'm using clumping, unscented kitty litter as a base, for now. I had it from the winter(traction control).

Everything came out, the pine pellet bedding, the screen, the lofts, the loft coverings, everything. I completely scrubbed everything solid, including the grids, using an anti-bacterial, anti-viral, food grade cleaner.

This started with the last bale of hay, which was lousy hay, but it was all that was available. Over time I noticed some flies around the cage, but it was summer, and there were fruit flies, house flies, you name it. We were fly swatting maniacs. Then I found a maggot on the floor by the slider, and that could not be explained away as summer time annoyances. The girls went into a basket, and everything came out to be tossed or cleaned. I was amazed at the number of flies that came out of the hay in the cage, but even more amazed at the number of flies that came out of the rest of the bale. That bale has been tossed. Hubby had bought a new bale, MUCH better quality, but I usually clean the cage on Thursdays, so hadn't done it, yet. That maggot meant I cleaned the cage as soon as I had a few hours to do it. Probably should have postponed the dentist

I've never seen hay that bad, and I've gotten some really lousy hay. Not moldy, or anything like that, just bad quality and "off" if you know what I mean. The girls enjoyed eating it, so it obviously tasted great.

We have more pine pellet bedding, but I think for the rest of the summer, I'm going to stick with the kitty litter. It's more per container than a whole bale of hay, but I really want to make sure all the corners of the cage have dried completely.

I will scoop out the clumps regularly, and add more kitty litter when necessary, so it stays clean. Poos are all on top of the screen that separates the bedding from the hay, so they get cleaned out weekly. I will be checking it more often, though. Even with the a/c, the humidity level has been extremely high, and that breeds all sorts of little buggers and problems.

The girls are enjoying their clean home. Probably don't notice anything except that the hay is absolutely fabulous No flies since I got rid of that hay, used and unused.

[Bean]

That sounds like a marathon cleaning session, but well worth it to see off maggots and flies! It's interesting that the girls were still happy chomping the hay even though it seemed so bad to you. I've had a couple of well meaning friends give me cruddy Pets At Home hay they've had leftover, and the pigs were having none of it!

[3piggles]

We only have a couple of outlets for bales of hay, and Vic said he went to both, and had to settle for that last bale. He said it never smelled quite right, but the girls did like it, and loved playing in it, so I figured it was probably a different type of hay than usual. I noticed the flied, sort of long, narrow, gossimer flies, but they weren't really bad, just bothersome like fruit flies. The maggot may have come from something else, but it was the last straw, and I'm really glad I did it, when I saw all the flies that came out of the hay and Pigloo City They didn't bother the girls any, and that surprised me, as I kept watching the girls for some reaction that said my concerns were justified. Maybe they're just not very discerning when it comes to hay, lol

[Bean]

Well, that's a good thing for when you can't get your hands on the good stuff as you really don't want them stopping eating hay!

I've never experienced fly strike in any of my pets, but that would worry me if flies were hanging about. I mainly heard about it when we had rabbits, and none of my current pigs have health issues that make keeping themselves clean an issue. But it always crosses my mind at some point in summer.

[3piggles]

This wasn't really fly strike. It seemed to be a few(3-4) flies around the area of the cage. Not even in that cage, that we could see. It turned out they were in the hay, but even when I removed the hay, I might have doubled that amount of flies. Not a huge number. They also weren't typical flies for anything I've seen attract flies before, like the kind that like filthy cages, or get into the food, etc. I've seen those flies around indoors and outdoors forever, so seeing one or two at a time on the wall above the cage didn't seem really off, if you know what I mean. It wasn't until I disturbed the hay, and a few more came out, that I decided to toss the whole bale. I don't even know if the flies came in the hay, or went to the hay because it was the right environment for them. It was all just really weird, and if I hadn't found that maggot on the floor, which again may not have been related, I probably wouldn't have reacted. The hay didn't smell great, but it didn't smell off, either. It just didn't smell like much of anything, which was weird. Anyway, glad that hay is gone, even if it wasn't the cause of the flies and maggot. I just feel better with it gone. It would just be nice if it were easier to tell when something was really off, and with that hay, it just wasn't at all easy to tell.

The girls are reveling in the new hay, and no more flies.

[3piggles]

Noodles has two growths on her lip. They don't seem to bother her, though we didn't try to touch them. More old age signs, or vet visit?

[bazookagoof]

I suppose if you can manage a vet visit, it couldn't hurt.

On a side note, I see those pics and think, "It's a fistful of Noodles!" 

[3piggles]

The vet is an hour away each way, so if I can avoid doing that, I will, but not if it risks Noodles. I haven't talked to the vet to know if they're still doing pandemic no one in but the pigs, which I don't like. I really think Oodles would still be with us, had I been able to go into the exam room with her. The vet wasn't really a guinea pig vet, and I could have pointed out things. The new vet is a guinea pig vet, but I still won't know what the vet did to diagnose the bumps, and that leaves me with so many questions.

The bumps seem to be growths of regular lip tissue. I watched her eat and drink. No sign of any problems. She isn't pawing at her mouth, or anything like that. I only noticed them when we clipped their nails, and I had my lighted magnified glasses on

[Bean]

I can't really see that well from the photos - are they on her top lip, kind of symmetrical? If she's not bothered by them, there's no sign of inflammation or irritation, and no big bumps in the skin behind what can be seen, I'd be inclined to leave Noodles be and just keep an eye. Maybe she's banged it or received a nip, but even so, it doesn't look bad from what I can tell.

Other things that come to mind are that I've have had a pig or two get more sensitive to fruits in their senior years - if it does get any worse it might be worth seeing if swapping out fruits for veg makes a difference (I know they don't have loads, it's just a thought). I've also definitely had a pig or two get skin tags around the mouth in their senior years. They never got bad enough to be in the way or bother them, so we just left them be.

But if that were on one of my gang, I'd be happy to watch and wait. Hopefully it'll be nothing.

I like the description of a fistful of Noodles!

[3piggles]

I loved the fist full of noodles, too

I'm inclined to just watch. The lumps seem to be on her lower lip, but she wasn't letting us pry her mouth open. I did feed her a few different things, watched her eat them, and she ate without hesitation or any sign of problems or pain. The lumps seem to be extensions of her lip, same color, same texture. I'm thinking they might just be old age lumps, the way humans get liver spots and skin tags. We are watching her, and if I see any sign of her having trouble eating, she'll be at the vet ASAP. Those pictures were the best we could do without really munging her around and upsetting her. If there's nothing wrong, I don't want to upset her. I took Squeak out to look at her lips as comparison, and she didn't forgive me for hours. She was also getting out of sorts with Pip, so a brief leave from Pigloo City gave her a chance at a new perspective, lol

[Bean]

Wait and see sounds good.

I hope Bertie never gets anything wrong with her teeth. She's generally so laid back but try to look at her teeth and she's snorting and backing away/ wriggling like her life depended on it! (We can get round it by just holding some food up for her to reach up for, and see they're okay that way.)