Behavior Theo's Medical Thread

[jaycriae]

Hey, I haven't been on this forum for awhile, I've been pretty busy. But I've been having an issue with one of my piggies lately so I figured it was time to jump back in.
I doubt people remember, but I have three female guinea pigs, the bigger two, Odeta and Theo, are each 3 and the baby Bitters is about 1 and a half.
Theo's always kind of liked to annoy Bitters, chasing her around, sometimes biting her whiskers, etc. but lately it's gotten worse. Theo's become grumpier in general, chattering at me when I pick her up and not seeming to enjoy being pet anymore, and she's been harassing Bitters a LOT. (She's also been lazy, wanting her veggies to be delivered right to the pigloo lots of the time.) She seems healthy, just her personality has changed so much from my sweet baby snugglebug This is maybe over the course of the last 4 months or so.

Anyway, she's never drawn blood so I never considered it a big problem, but yesterday I noticed that Bitters has a pretty big bald spot on her butt, and watched them a bit more closely instead of just picking one of them up or distracting them with hay. Theo chases Bitters around while Bitters shrieks in a way that sounds really pained (the same noise that happened when I cut her nails too short before) and then Theo eventually comes off with a mouthful of fur, swallows it, and then starts chasing Bitters again until she gets tired. It lasts a long time and it gets way worse when Odeta is taken out of the cage. It happens at least once a day while I'm around, and probably way more when I'm not.

I know it's not a huge urgent problem, but it's really annoying both for me and for Bitters. I've heard that chronic pain from arthritis can cause increased grumpiness/chattering in guinea pigs as they age, and a vet can prescribe painkillers, but I feel like Theo's pretty young for that? I am working on switching from Carefresh to fleece, though, since I know the flat surface is easier on aging pigs' joints.

Anyway, does anyone know how to get Theo to stop being such a jerk? Could it be arthritis, would a vet visit be helpful at all, or would they not be able to tell me anything? If I don't go to the vet, anything I can do to at least give poor Bitters a break?

 

[bpatters]

Re: How to stop harassment/barbering?

I'd take Theo in and have her checked for ovarian cysts. That kind of grumpy behavior can be hormonal. Does she have any symptoms of mites, particularly scratching a lot? They can make a pig mighty unhappy.

 

[jaycriae]

Re: How to stop harassment/barbering?

Alright, I know this thread is pretty old but unfortunately I somehow missed the notification that bpatters replied, and I only just now started considering the possibility of ovarian cysts. She doesn't have any symptoms of mites, and I also don't know where they would have come from, since I always change my clothes and wash my hands and arms after being in contact with other animals before handling the pigs. Cysts, however, could absolutely be what's going on.

I've been dimly aware that Theo has thinner areas of hair on her sides for awhile, but it never occurred to me that they could be the balding associated with cysts, because Theo has abnormally thick hair in the first place and so it wasn't too noticeable. Here are pictures:



She isn't really all that pear-shaped, but again, it's hard to tell because she has always been small and stocky, and has a lot of fur.
Additionally, what I've only noticed today, is that her odd behavior with hair isn't only limited to barbering the others. When I was petting her, a chunk of hair came out, with a tiny bit of skin holding it together, and she looked curious about what I was holding so I put it in front of her nose. She promptly grabbed and ate the small tuft of her own hair. Is this a cyst thing? A behavioral thing? Something else entirely? And is it dangerous that she's so interested in eating fur?

I also read on Guinea Lynx yesterday that excessive drinking of water can be a sign of pain, which surprised me, as Theo has always drank about twice the amount of my other two pigs put together. She often drinks too fast and ends up coughing, and then goes right back to drinking afterwards. It used to scare me terribly.

Lastly, if she does have cysts, of course she'll have to be spayed. I'd gladly use my vet fund for that, but I worry about the anesthesia because Theo has fairly weak lungs. She's always sneezed pretty often and has been smallish since she was a baby with a URI (I got her over three years ago, when I didn't know better than to buy from Petco). She's had one other URI since her first one, though it was much milder and resolved much faster. Still, I worry that she wouldn't be strong enough to survive the surgery and recovery, even if the vet does confirm that she has cysts.

I'll probably take her to the vet anyways, but I wanted to update this thread and also ask 1. Does this seem like cysts? and 2. What options do I have if it turns out she can't be spayed?

 

[bpatters]

Re: How to stop harassment/barbering?

Actually, that hair loss pattern is totally typical of mites. It's as far as the pig can reach with its teeth to scratch its back end. It's not at all typical of the hair loss pattern of ovarian cysts.

Here's how to treat your pig: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/111160-How-to-treat-for-mites-and-lice

 

[jaycriae]

Re: How to stop harassment/barbering?

Hm, alright, thank you. It doesn't look like most of the cases of mites I've seen at the shelter, but that could totally be because it's less severe. Why would it only be affecting the one pig, though? I checked Odeta for comparison (Bitters is a Rex so I figured her hair patterns could naturally be different) and she isn't missing any hair at all, and the other two have been acting normal (Odeta's mellowed out as she got older, if anything).

And I should put the Ivermectin behind the ears like usual even if the only hair loss is on the sides of her body, right?

 

[bpatters]

Re: How to stop harassment/barbering?

Because sometimes one pig will have a flare up and the others don't.

Yes, the ivermectin goes behind the ears.

 

[jaycriae]

Re: How to stop harassment/barbering?

Alright, thank you. It's certainly much better than having to spay her.

 

[jaycriae]

Re: How to stop harassment/barbering?

This is unrelated to the previous mite treatment/behavioral issues, so I'd appreciate it if someone would change the name of this thread to Theo's Medical.

Lately she's been having an excess of grooming fluid in one eye, and I'm not sure why. She's not squinting or acting like it hurts when I wipe it away at all, and normally I find it when it's already dried in the fur around her eye. It doesn't
happen every day, but has been happening once in awhile for almost a month. I'm emailing the vet now but wanted to know what you make of this. (Today I noticed it while the fluid was still wet.)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bpatters]

Re: How to stop harassment/barbering?

She may have a blocked tear duct. Take a clean damp cloth and wipe the area around the eye. Then very very VERY gently massage under the eye, near the corner. Do this a couple of times a day for a few days and see if that helps.

 

[jaycriae]

I've already been doing that, but it doesn't hurt to keep doing it until I hear back from the vet, I suppose.