Female GP with bald patches

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Elly

Post   » Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:24 pm


My intact female short haired GP Dilly is developing some bald patches.

I do not know her exact age as she was listed as the standard 1 year old when I got her from the SPCA, I have had her for nearly 2 years and I estimate her age when I got her anywhere between 1-3 years old. Her age now could be 3-5.

She is otherwise healthy. She is eating, drinking and has not lost body condition that I can tell. She weighs 1lb 15.2 ounces. I am unsure if she has lost any weight because I have not been weighing her regularly since Hurricane Katrins atruck and my old health book was soaked and molded in the storm rendering it useless and unreadable.

Her hair loss is roughly a nickle sized patch on her middle back. She also looks like her chest hair could be thinner then normal but I am unsure as I rarely look at her chest. She is NOT a belly pig! I have not noticed any hait loss on her sides.

I have noticed something like scabbing on the back of her neck and one on her left shoulderblade. They aren't exactly scabs though, more like dry hard skin. It picked at they come off easily along with some hair. The "scabbed" areas are small and I have only found 3 in the last few days.

She is not scratching any more then she normally does. The bald skin is pink and healthy looking with no scaling or irritation.

She is not irritable nor does she seem to be in any pain when scratched, held or pet. She was humping the other girls the other day but she has always done that when she's in heat.

Her teats are long but not scaley and there is no discharge. They have always been long (since I got her) I'm unsure if she has ever littered. I could only get a clear picture of one teat. The other is black and blended in with her hair.

I have a vet appointment for her on Aug 17th. That's the earl;iest I can get a non emergency in as my (really great) exotic vet is the only game in town right now and he is only in the clinic he's working out of 2 days a week.

I'm thinking of treating all the GPs with Ivec just to be safe.

What do you think? Hormonal? Ovarian Cysts (though her ab feels normal-but they could be small)? Mites? Fungus?

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User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:11 pm


It's always a good idea to treat with Ivermectin, as you say (treat all the pigs in your house). The scabbing makes me think it's mites.

After that, if the hair doesn't start growing back, I'd put some monistat on the bald spots, and see if they respond to that.

Hormonal hair loss is, as I understand it, usually bilateral.

She a small pig by many standards, at under 2 lbs. Is she a little thin?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:57 pm


I'm with Mum on treating with ivermectin. Mostly the hairloss happens on the sides and the skin looks nice and healthy. If it is hormonal, I don't think it is an emergency anyway. Do watch her behavior and start weighing now. If the ivermectin makes a difference, I'm betting that's it.

p.s. okay if I add these pics to the board?

User avatar
Elly

Post   » Fri Jul 28, 2006 9:23 pm


Yes Lynx you can add the pics.

Thanks for the help. Keep it coming if you have any more. Now I have to find some Ivec. I lost the "if in case" bottle I had.

Dilly has always been a smallish GP. In fact all 3 of my girls are small compared to what some people seem to have around here.

Dilly = 1lb 15.2 oz
Daisy = 2lb 1.4 oz
Meg = 2lb 1.6oz
Gumbo (neut male) = 2lb 7.4oz

Hmmm. Looking at those numbers I think she must have lost weight. We always called her our little fatty even though I know she weighed about the same as the other girls.

Feeling her over and comparing how she feels to the other girls she does seem bonier. I can feel her ribs and hips easier then on Meg. She still doesn't seem outright skinny like the two foster GPs I had though.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jul 28, 2006 9:25 pm


Feel where her ovaries would be. See if you can feel enlarge ovaries.

p.s. thanks for the pix.

User avatar
Elly

Post   » Fri Jul 28, 2006 9:53 pm


Ok. I've palapated my two healthy girls in comparison to Dilly.

When palapating just her abdomen all seems well. When palapating her abdomen with my thumbs at her "waist" (between ribs and hips) I think I can feel something "different" under my thumb on her right hand side. It seems a bit too firm and round. It seems bigger then a marble but smaller then a superball (or shooter marble - inch or less). I notice something on her left side but it's smaller and feels more normal to me.

Would I feel her ovaries more under my thumbs about 45 degrees off from the spine? I've only ever seen an animal's ovaries when they were on their backs during surgery and never actually palapated their ovaries before.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:17 pm


Yes, I'd say about a 45 degree angle. Still it is wise to do the ivermectin first.

User avatar
Elly

Post   » Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:49 pm


I will absolutely do a course of Ivec. I'll be running out tomorrow to try to find some. I think I will have to go to one of the worse pet shops around to get it though (which SUCKS) but I don't want to have to wait for shipping unless someone can recommend an online place that ships fast.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:12 am


You can't find ivermectin in petshops. Try a farm supply store. I think the online places are actually pretty fast.

User avatar
Elly

Post   » Sat Jul 29, 2006 11:30 am


This petshop is a feed store. I know they used to sell Ivec. along with antibiotics, skin staplers Saline IVs, all the stuff you need to patch up a pit bull after a fight. They also sell gps, rabbits, degus, sugargliders, hamsters, gerbils, hedgehogs, puppies, snakes, turtles, etc... Most sick,all from awful breeders, all housed horribly.

I was working hard to shut down the one closeset to me. Then the storm came, all the animals died and they are still closed.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:09 pm


Good luck finding ivermectin. Unfamiliar with that kind of pet store. I hope they never again open.

User avatar
Elly

Post   » Sat Jul 29, 2006 4:44 pm


I got it. Another, better feed store had it. I'm working out the dosing by GP weight now.

That kind of feed/pet store is common here in the land where cock fighting is still legal :-(

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