[Gpdd] HEALTH: hair loss, itching on back

Jennie angiebeena at yahoo.com
Tue May 9 21:06:05 EDT 2006


Hello all,

I've been having a problem with a few of my piggies. 
Three of them have a "V" shaped hair loss on their
backs along with itching at the spot.

I have 7 piggies total.  All are intact females. 
Three (Isabel, Gertrude, Hannah) live in one cage, 2
(Eudavilla, Fiona) live in another, and the last 2
(Yuki, Mochi) are together. 

All the pigs get a tablespoon each of Oxbow Cavy
Cuisine twice a day, free fed hay and water, and 25mg
of chewable vit C.  They are housed on aspen bedding
in C&C cages.  None of them have direct contact with
pigs outside their group. 

The hair loss and itching started with Eudavilla.  We
thought she was rubbing against a tunnel but it just
got worse after we took it out.  Then we thought
another pig who recently died (Princess) was picking
on her.  Around the time she started to get better
Fiona started the symptoms.  A few weeks later Isabel
followed.  Now, Gertrude is starting to show signs. 
Yuki and Mochi have never shown signs of hair loss or
itching.

The V spot is at the small of their back, right where
it dips down.  If you touch it, they start biting the
towel or reach back to itch.  Other than that they
seem to leave it alone.  I've never seen them itch at
the spot in the cage, but I'm not there 24 hours. 
Also, I've never seen barbering or any aggression
within the groups.

We've taken all of them to the vet.  She's a
knowledgeable exotic vet who's been treating our pigs
for 7 years.  She did a skin scraping for mites and a
fungal culture; both were negative.  She doesn't
really know what it is, but she's actively searching
for an answer through her vet networks.  I mentioned
hair loss around the flank can be a symptom of ovarian
cysts, but she doesn't think that's it because of the
itching.

It doesn't seem to bother them, but you all know how
pigges can be with pain.  If it's contagious then why
don't they all have it?  If it's not, why do so many
have it?  I'm a very worried mommy :(

Here are some pictures.  It's only on their backs.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/SoulCaddy/Missing%20Hair/rand047.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/SoulCaddy/Missing%20Hair/rand050.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/SoulCaddy/Missing%20Hair/rand051.jpg

Any ideas what it could be?

--Jennie-- 
(___)^*)


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 




More information about the Gpdd mailing list