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My guinea pig may be sick
Posted: 2004-06-10 02:45am
by Superman
While bathing my guinea pig tonight, I noticed 2 strange growths on one foot and 1 on the other. While I first thought they were maybe tumors, they look more like dried poop that somehow connected itself to the feet. While this is possible, they seem to be attached. Could they be some fungi growth? I keep their cage pretty clean. They are also shaped like poop hanging from one end.
Has anyone heard of this? Any ideas?
Posted: 2004-06-10 02:50am
by Son of the Suns
I'd take it to the vet, as I doubt there are any guinea pig experts here.
Posted: 2004-06-10 02:52am
by Superman
Yeah, she's going tomorrow. It's odd because I can't find this problem on any guinea pig websites.
Posted: 2004-06-10 02:57am
by Son of the Suns
Maybe just a weird fungus then, or a tumor like you said.
Posted: 2004-06-10 02:58am
by Superman
This is odd, but I just found a site that explains that some guinea pigs get spurrs on their front feet.
Some guinea pigs develop flaps of tough skin that protrude from their front feet. These spurs can be carefully removed with a nail clipper to prevent accidental tearing. Avoid clipping too closely and causing bleeding.
Development of spurs does not seem to be related to the type of bedding or flooring used. The author notes only one of her three pigs continually grows spurs while the other two have never had them. All cavies are kept on towels and/or heavy cotton cloth. So genetics rather than husbandry may be responsible for their development.
I think that's it. Anyway, I'll let the vet figure it out.
Posted: 2004-06-11 05:35pm
by The Dark
Most of my guinea pigs developed the same thing (I've owned four). They're somewhat like calluses (sp?), except that they can become long enough to cause problems. I'd always clip them a little bit at a time to make sure I didn't catch live skin. I've never seen it appear dark, though; does your guinea pig have dark feet?