Wet Bottom/tail?

[oogieboogie]

Hello all,
We just adopted two female piggies last saturday. I am a bit concerned because the mother always seems to have a wet bottom. After doing some research on wet tail, we will be bringing her to the vet this week as I think she is getting worse, her hair is now thinning on her back/butt area. Otherwise she seems perfectly normal, eating drinking, pooping and peeing fine. My question is there anything to help her stay comfortable until her vet appointment? Would a bath help her? I have tried to find info on the internet about wet tail in guinea pigs, but am having a hard time. I have seperated her from her daughter (which seems to really them both out) and am giving her fresh timothy and greens. I had also heard that wet tail could be deadly. Anyone who has had any experience with this...insight would be helpful. What does the vet normally do at the visit?? I am guessing an exam, x-rays, and medicine..I am just trying to be prepared financially for our visit.
Thanks!
Jenn

[JanJam]

Wet tail is a fatal illness for hamsters, as far as I know piggies don't get it.
This could be diarrhea, but you say her poops are fine.

I'm no expert on here ... but two things I would do is get the earliest vet appointment possible and also weigh her (well, weighing both weekly is a good habit to get into) twice daily and make a note of the weights. My vet likes to have this information and also when you go to the vet take some of her poop with you.

I hope someone more knowledgeable will pop along soon. It's also worth posting this on Guinea Lynx too.

[Patchatch]

Is she short haired, or long haired?

[Pumpkin_RIP]

I'm not sure what it could be either, but I just wanted to remind you to have a good Cavy savvy vet. It's very important to ask them some questions that a good cavy vet should know, just to make sure. Sometimes they say they specialize in guinea pigs, but they really don't know much. Good luck!

[Char-x]

Firstly I would go over to Guinea Lynx and post it:
Guinea Lynx :: * * * * *

I've just tried to do some research for you and I've found this, it mentions hamsters and other small animals - whether Guinea Pigs would be included in that I'm not entirely sure.

"Wet Tail—A reference to a condition brought about by consistent diarrhea in hamsters and other small animals, it is generally caused by a bacterial infection that can be initiated by an unclean habitat. Lethargy, appetite loss and coat problems usually accompany the problem. If your animal seems to be suffering from consistent diarrhea, consult with your veterinarian at once and make sure that the animal is drinking enough water to combat dehydration."

I would get a vets appointment asap as it sounds pretty bad. I know urine infections can get bad and end up with sores all over the bottom area...I really am not an expert with this type of thing though. I know one of my females had a constantly wet bottom but she never had thinning of the hair etc, we did give her bum baths though - water only just to make sure it soothed her. We think she had a pretty bad urine infection.

[oogieboogie]

thank goodness we do have a cavvy savvy vet not too far away...he runs a piggie rescue out of his clinic. Rhoda is a 2 year old and short haired. I am very thorough about cleaning the cage out daily, maybe she developed an illness from the small, crowded conditions I rescued her from.

[Ly&Pigs]

Guinea pigs don't get wet tail. They can develop other things like UTI's, incontinence, urine scald and others. A trip to the vet is in order and the sooner the better.

[Maisiepaisie]

It sounds like a urine infection. A few of my pigs have had it in the past and I noticed that Baytril (the most commonly prescribed antibiotic for pigs) wasn't very effective. After doing some research I asked to be prescribed Bactrim but my vet refused so I changed vets. I got Septrin from the new vet. Septrin is another brand name for Bactrim but is the same antibiotic and it cleared up the problem. Have you seen a vet yet Oogieboogie? How is Rhoda now?