My prairie dog Pietje is almost 7 years old now. Lately bumps have started growing on his skin(lower back, arm pits, stomach, neck even a small one on his eye). They grow very rapid. Most of them have developed in 2 weeks and are reddish. It itches and he bites them open and every night he openes the closed wounds again. I have been to vets, but they don't know much about prairie dogs and are puzzled. He is now on anti biotics for 3 days and it didn't get better(maybe even worse) . I hope someone has seen or heard about this and can help me.I forgot: he eats and drinks normal also the rest of his behaviour is normal.

here are pics of the bumps and wounds:

http : / / community.webshots.com/album/575483492DPzhaT
(you have to remove the spaces, else i was not able to post the link because of my low number of post)
kind regards and hoping for help

Felix

this for you!

It's pretty hard to make any kind of diagnosis over the internet, even with pictures. Those sores look pretty painful. The first thing I look at is if there has been any changes to his environment lately? New cage, new bedding, new food? Even something as simple as new detergent used to wash a blanket?

Has your vet taken any tissue samples or done swabs of the area(s) to culture and look for bacteria? That'd be a good first start. You don't have to know anything about prairie dogs to do that. Have them diagnose it like any other animal that would come in with those kind of lesions. If he hasn't had any contact with other prairie dogs, it's unlikely it's something specific to prairie dogs. If they don't find any bacterial or fungal infection, I'd then probably consider some kind of allergy (which is why I asked if there has been any changes in his environment recently).

I have been thinking but the food, water, sleeping place is the same. He does his usuall stuff he does al day for quite some years now. He doesn't sleep in a cage. He sleeps on a chair in a blanket and in the morning he gets up chews on willow wood sticks, eats and sits befind the window and looks at the cars and people that go by. And of course he gets his cudlles every day for some hours.

I will ask my girlfried about the detergent she uses for the blankets he sleeps in.

The vet didn't take him out of the carrierbox at all. She told me she would ask a german vet in Berlin who works with those kind of animals. Of course he didn't know about it. I just got some antibiotic that i am giving him now since monday.

The funny thing is that he acts normal. An ill animal wouldn't eat or drink isn't it?

Generally the first thing when prairie dogs aren't feeling well, at least with my personal experience, is that they get very lethargic, sleep a lot more, and eat a lot less. So yeah, it is kind of surprising to me that he's still acting normal. Maybe they're not as painful or irritating as they look.

One thing that would probably be a good idea, if you go back to the vet, is to get an accurate body weight. That way if he does lose some weight, you can have some actual numbers to compare, instead of just guessing by looking at him or judging by how much he is eating.

I would not give him antibiotic ointment without proper Vet advise.
The wrong antibiotic can make them worse or kill them. If you are putting ointment he can lick it and ingest it. I hate how most vets just say they don't know about prairie dogs, after all they are rodents. The only good vet I ever
had died of old age recently, havent found a decent replacement. From my past experience and NON Vet experience, I had a richardsons that had something similar. It was suspected to be an auto imune thing. If you havent changed food maybe who makes the food changed their ingredients. It doesnt hurt to check. And Press the Vet harder for answers, one that treats Rodents
at least. They can at least do a swab like someone mentioned or a skin scrape to check for mites Ectoparasites or Endoparasites that live in the skin. If a vet cant check for those they shouldnt be a vet. If they didnt take him out of the cage i hope they didnt charge you and I wouldnt go back. A real vet would have taken a look. Print out a copy of vet hints from R Zu 2 U
treasureranch.com

Pietje is getting anti biotics which he has to eat. He really likes the stuff(must taste very well). I have a new appointment on tuesday. He will have to be sedated because the vet won't examine him if he is awake(he is to scared). than he will examine the skin and take samples.

Is it wise to sedate an animal that is 7 years old or is it no problem since he is fit, eats and drinks normally?

Please contact Gena about your baby and please do it before she's given any antibiotics. It's customary for her to speak with vets across the globe and can walk your vet through the necessary steps needed to diagnosis and treat your baby.

I don't understand why Pietje is being given an antibiotic when they haven't diagnosis the problem. I'm guessing it's a general antibiotic which is common for most animals, except prairie dogs. Giving antibiotics should be done under strict guidelines and only if absolutely necessary because doing so can be fatal.

I have permission to post this information.
Contact Gena at the information below:

Gena Seaberg, PhD
Consultant for Prairie Dog Care Domestically and Abroad Since 1995
2023 Adams Avenue
Everett, WA 98203
Office 425.265.0818
Cell 425.870.1729
[email protected]

Sedation for a few skin scrapings and swabs? That seems a little ridiculous to me, not to mention dangerous for a small animal that the vet has no experience treating. I would just bring a towel or blanket, something you can wrap him up in and maneuver around to get to the spots you want to examine, while keeping his head covered to keep him as calm as possible. I know most vets prefer their staff do the handling, for liability reasons, but when it comes to exotics, sometimes the animal is just more comfortable with their owner doing it. If the vet doesn't know how to properly handle an animal without knocking it out, it's probably better for you to do the handling. Anyway, I don't want to sound like I'm trying to give you medical advice, you'll have to decide what is best between your comfort level, Pietje's, and your vet's, but in my experience with several different species of exotics, including prairie dogs, sedation for basic veterinarian exams is entirely unnecessary. It might take some patience. You might even get nipped or scratched a bit. You may need to give him some time to relax a bit between procedures, but I personally feel more comfortable with that than sedation.

I have been to the vet today. He sedated Pietje and took a big skinsample from one of the newly formed lumbs. His first guess is skincancer, because of the structure of the tissue. He mailed the sample to a patologylaboritry in Munich. The result he thinks will be there on friday or monday. He told me that he has never seen such lumps as a result of flea or mitebites. All i can do is hope and pray now, but i guess if the result is cancer it is better for the animal to be brought to sleep.

Sorry to hear that. I've never heard of skin cancer prairie dogs, but cancer is strange stuff. Here's hoping for a good result from the lab.

hang in there until you get the results, I don't think he could tell by looking. I had some skin problems and only the pathalogist could be sure. My tests were negative. Lets hope Pejites is too.
the thought of putting him to sleep could be a little premature also. Not all cancer is deadly. People have lumps removed all the time. Wait for Friday and hope for the best.

hi thank you for the replies. i will. The itching at the lumbs is getting worse. He is getting more and more lumbs. It seems like everyday there are developping new ones. In the morning when he bites the lumbs he makes pain sounds which give me gooseskin. It is really hard to see him like that. On the other side he still etas drinks, and does his droppings normal he also still wants to be cuddled a lot. So on the inside everything is still working right. I am so sorry for my poor little man.