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Hair Loss Mother and 3 week old pups, mum has hair loss, safe to treat for mites?

BigBossPants

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Hi all,
I recently rescued a guinea who turned out to be pregnant, and she gave birth to 4 pups. 3 females and 1 male, who are now almost 4 weeks old. The male has been separated! I noticed that the mother has patches of hair loss on her sides, but her skin is normal underneath. I'm trying to decide if she is chewing her hair or if she could have mites, is hair loss or chewing normal while lactating or should I assume mites?
If I were to treat for mites, what treatment is safest to use seeing as she has the babies with her, and can the pups be treated at this age?
Thanks in advance!
 

bpatters

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If she has mites, you'd notice a lot of scratching. I'm not sure I'd treat her for them unless she is scratching. But if you have to treat her, the pups can be treated with ivermectin when they weigh 350 grams, or earlier with kitten Revolution.

Hair loss can be a sign of a vitamin deficiency, and that wouldn't be unusual in a sow that had just given birth. I'd try supplementing her with about 40-50 mg. of vitamin C daily for a few weeks and see if that helps. Just don't put it in the water bottle -- liquid vitamin C degrades very rapidly in the presence of light, and will have no benefit whatsoever.

Also, please don't start new threads on the same pigs. It makes it much easier for us to follow what's going on with your herd if all the info is on one thread. Thanks.
 

BigBossPants

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I haven't noticed any scratching, but she does spend a lot of time in her hut so I may not see it. I will look into options for vitamin c and see what is available near me. Is feeding veges high in vitamin c enough?
Ok noted! I won't start new threads, sorry about that!
 

Soecara

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Feeding a vegetable high in vitamin C, generally we recommend 1/8 of a large to 1/4 of a small capsicum (also known as bell peppers in the US) per pig per day, is sufficient to prevent deficiency.

However in the case where vitamin C deficiency has already occured you will need to add extra vitamin C supplementation (about 50mg/kg per day for a week is enough) to first bring them out of the deficiency before vegetables alone will give enough vitamin C to maintain them.

Check out this link for more info: https://www.guinealynx.info/scurvy.html
 

spy9doc

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If your cavy needs extra Vitamin C, feeding extra peppers may not resolve the issue right now, Yes, most of us feed peppers on a daily basis, but if a cavy needs extra Vit. C, it is far better to syringe it to ensure that she is actually getting it into her system.

I recommend Oasis Vit. C Drops which can be found in most pet stores, at least here in the US. Follow the recommendations on the label which recommends 16-32 drops/day for a deficiency. My boys occasionally go on strike and won't eat their peppers, so I begin syringing their daily C until their appetite returns.


Vita-Drops.jpg
 

bpatters

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Just don't put those Vita Drops in the water bottle, even though Vita Drops recommends that. Just syringe it to them. If they don't like the taste, you can put it in a little diluted fruit juice or a slurry of some vegetable that she likes.
 
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