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General Dried fur on bottom?

chickpea616

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Hi there,

I recently gave one of my guinea pigs a bath for the first time. Not sure if breed matters, but she's closest to Rex, with thick wool-like fur (she almost looks like a small sheep). The reason I did it was because she has some dried, clumped-up fur on her bottom area (butt). Another pig was chasing her around the cage and trying to mount her relentlessly, and we thought that maybe giving the first one a bath might help (like maybe the second one was smelling something on her that was making her chase the other one).

So we gave the bath and now the problem is now two-fold. 1) The second one (Sausage), still chases the first one (Seven), even right after the bath. And 2) the dried-fur on Seven's butt came back - not as much as before, but now I'm wondering what that is. As I mentioned, she's pretty furry - is it just dried pee? I've also heard that can be a sign of a Yeast
infection.

My questions: should I take either one of them (or both of them) to the vet? Seven for the dried-fur issue, and Sausage for her constant chasing (she's tries to do it to the 3rd pig in their also, but not as much as she does to Seven). But it's literally every day that she's chasing and trying to mount, with lots of squealing going on...(I think someone mentioned Ovarian cysts in another post - possible?)
 

bpatters

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How old is the pig that's chasing and mounting? She may need to be evaluated for ovarian cysts. Very young pigs don't usually have them, but they commonly begin around three years of age.

I doubt that the dried hair is causing the other one to chase. But if it's dried urine, she might have a bladder stone that's causing some urine leakage. Either that, or she's sleeping in a pile of pee and poop.
 

chickpea616

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The pig that is chasing and mounting is about 3. I don't think the other one is sleeping in pee and poop - they are on fleece that I change regularly, and have little snuggle beds and pads that I change regularly also...so perhaps it's a bladder stone or something like that.

How do they test for ovarian cysts? Do I need to find an exotic vet that does ultrasounds? MRI? What do I ask for?
 

Guinepigmom_2.0

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The pig that is chasing and mounting is about 3. I don't think the other one is sleeping in pee and poop - they are on fleece that I change regularly, and have little snuggle beds and pads that I change regularly also...so perhaps it's a bladder stone or something like that.

How do they test for ovarian cysts? Do I need to find an exotic vet that does ultrasounds? MRI? What do I ask for?


You will need to ask for an exotic vet because not all vets are trained to care for guineapigs.
 

bpatters

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You'll need to find an exotic vet near you. And yes, they'll probably do an ultrasound. Some cysts are large enough to be felt, but many are not.

Don't ask for anything, just describe the behavior and ask them to evaluate for ovarian cysts.
 

PippathePig

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I don't have any advice, just hope you can rule out any issues. Find an exotics vet. Regular vets are not equipped nor really trained on guinea pigs, and they are considered an "exotic" pet. You may have to really look for one. I know the closest one to me is nearly a 45 minute drive but worth it for their expertise!
 

chickpea616

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Yeah, we already have an exotic vet that we take them to for nail trims and general sickness type stuff -- however, I have already asked them if they have the ability to do an ultrasound and they said "no". They did, however, give me a few phone numbers of exotic vets that *do* have one, so I'll be calling those this week.

So, is the concensus to take Sausage in first (the one chasing and mounting), or do I take Seven in also (the one with the recurring dried fur)? I keep on thinking they are somehow related (like Sausage keeps chasing Seven because her bottom smells, or something silly like that), but they are probably unrelated....

Thanks all for the responses!
 

bpatters

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The chasing and a smelly bottom could be related, but also could not be.

I think I'd take the one with the dried fur on the bottom first. If she's got a stone, it could turn into a life-threatening emergency if it falls into the urethra and blocks the flow of urine.
 
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