Raw Spot on Bottom
Hi all!
I just noticed a raw spot on my guinea pig right above her bottom. It looks red and agitated, and has small yellow spots on it. Does anyone know what this might be? I’m getting her into the vet as soon as possible but was wondering if anyone had suggestions for what might be going on. She’s 8 months old and lives with 3 other girls (one is her mom and one is her sister). None are spayed and she’s not on any current medication, everything she eats (hay, pellets, treats) are all oxbow, she gets lettuce everyday and child life vitamin C syrum everyday as well. They live on fleece that’s spot cleaned every day and changed about every 3-4 days. Thank you for any suggestions or advice you might have!
I just noticed a raw spot on my guinea pig right above her bottom. It looks red and agitated, and has small yellow spots on it. Does anyone know what this might be? I’m getting her into the vet as soon as possible but was wondering if anyone had suggestions for what might be going on. She’s 8 months old and lives with 3 other girls (one is her mom and one is her sister). None are spayed and she’s not on any current medication, everything she eats (hay, pellets, treats) are all oxbow, she gets lettuce everyday and child life vitamin C syrum everyday as well. They live on fleece that’s spot cleaned every day and changed about every 3-4 days. Thank you for any suggestions or advice you might have!
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- And got the T-shirt
I also think fungal, because it's also got hair loss. I'd get some Lotrimin or Nystatin and put it on twice a day with a q-tip, rubbing it in well.
And this is just my own personal philosophy, but I wouldn't separate her. The stress may make things worse, you'll just have to do full reintroductions when you put them back together, and the others have already been thoroughly exposed to whatever she's got. If you check them daily, you can catch it very early if they show the same symptoms, and get started on treatment ASAP.
Do read the link Lynx gave you, because you've got some heavy cage cleaning ahead of you.
And this is just my own personal philosophy, but I wouldn't separate her. The stress may make things worse, you'll just have to do full reintroductions when you put them back together, and the others have already been thoroughly exposed to whatever she's got. If you check them daily, you can catch it very early if they show the same symptoms, and get started on treatment ASAP.
Do read the link Lynx gave you, because you've got some heavy cage cleaning ahead of you.
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Keep in mind that sometimes when a vet looks for fungus, they check for the easy ones to diagnose like ringworm that I think may fluoresce under a uv light(?). Yeast infections are also a fungus. Given the location, it might be a yeast (fungal) infection.
Your pictures are very helpful. Otherwise, our advice would be more general.
I too am very interested in what the vet thinks (he/she may have other ideas).
Your pictures are very helpful. Otherwise, our advice would be more general.
I too am very interested in what the vet thinks (he/she may have other ideas).
a little update: we put some mupirocin ointment on it that we had for another one of my piggies who previously had a raw bottom (not the same look to the ailments but both affected in the same areas). Our vet gave us the okay to use on all the girls so we went ahead and tried it yesterday and it looks SO much better. She goes to the vet on Thursday so we get a real answer but for now this is some temporary relief
Okay so I spoke with my vet today after sending him pictures. He believes it is urine scald, and since the mupirocin has done wonders he said to keep using it and then once it’s completely cleared to use chapstick on the skin to keep it hydrated. He said an appointment isn’t necessary unless her skin condition worsens, and of course if it does I’ll post the updates in this thread so that others in the future can use this as a reference
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Rather than chapstick, I recommend a product like Desitin which is designed precisely for this use.
www.guinealynx.info/urine_scald.html
Because of the flakiness, it did not look like urine scald to me. That the area is not wet from urine may still indicate something else. But the general location is correct.
www.guinealynx.info/urine_scald.html
Because of the flakiness, it did not look like urine scald to me. That the area is not wet from urine may still indicate something else. But the general location is correct.
Yesterday when she went to the vet, he said to keep using mupiricin and then use a Desitin like product on her. He also suggested giving piggies omega 3 fish oil either orally or topically to help with general health. I never knew pigs could take omega 3's but I'll try it out and see how it goes! Thank you for all your input!