[harry]

whats this SPOT.... is it for dogs??? can it be used as a preventive measure.

[princesspiggy]

i dont know the name but can take a picture when the rain stops! it can grow about 5 ft tall. we have the odd bit by the pond. it has lots of tiny white flowers on thick single stems. i dont she would have eaten it but might have brushed past it with her bald skin ( )
maybe she went partying whilst i was in wales and no-one has told me...while the cats away...lol
is the hair loss normal? its much worse than last year. we went to a farm park last week in england and their tammie boar was virtually bald too. nice pig..but solid muscle! 

[robert waddell]

that is giant hogweed from your description         children use the stem as peashooters and get sores round the mouth the plant juice causes this  that is a more logical solution as to what has happened rather than bites kicks or whatever
the vet thing it should be 6 days the same as an issolation facility i have come accross this before with commercial pig units
the south americans that i met at the highland would not come to our stand because they were due to vist a commercial pig unit the following week (no contact for 6 days prior to visiting the unit with pigs or facilitys where pigs are kept)

[Tudful Tamworths]

Looks more to me like insect bites. I'm in Caerphilly, south Wales, and this year I've had a huge problem with the giant European horsefly (a big, 2" bugger) sucking the blood of my sows. Like mosquitos, it's the females that feast on the blood in the breeding season. Whacked one with a feed scoop, photographed it, and stuck in on a (very helpful) anoraky entomologists' website for ID.

The wounds and swellings look just the same. I'm using a combination of purple spray to treat the wounds with various insecticides, to keep the flies off. Seems to be working, though the one who is worst affected inevitably scratches and pulls the scabs off, requiring repeat treatment.

All the best
Liz

[Tiva Diva]

I'd agree they look more like bites than anything from brushing up against plants - and they don't look ANYTHING like the giant hogweed blistering I've seen in humans. I'd go along with Tudful Tamworths and your vet. Maybe she was bitten by some water-loving insect down by the pond. Some antihistamine tablets might help but I don't know if you can give them to pigs so I'd check with your vet first.

[Tudful Tamworths]

A "friend" of mine uses Coopers Spot-On and/or Crovect to keep the flies away (neither licensed for pigs, albeit recommended and prescribed by certain veterinarians under the "cascade" system). Just FYI.

[princesspiggy]

well im stumped really. so was vet. shes had anti-inflamatories from the vet.

any views on hairloss? normal or not normal?
shes gone from pic 1 to pic 2 in a month.

[Tiva Diva]

Our OSBs have lost their hair too. Hot summer!
Did you ask vet about antihistamines?

[princesspiggy]

Did you ask vet about antihistamines?

no, i was thinking the anti-inflammatories would do the same thing?
shes happy this morning, pouring with rain again but probly a good thing, give her a good wash down. not much change, im sure there is a new one coming up so that is 5 on one side and 2 on other. but shes ok so thats the main thing. thanx for ur advice everyone! 

[oaklandspigs]

whats this SPOT.... is it for dogs??? can it be used as a preventive measure.

This is Coopers spot-on, which is not licensed for pigs in the UK, but is licenced for them in Ireland.

Vet's are permitted to prescribe medicines which are "off-label" or "off-ticket" (ie not licenced for the intended use or not licenced for the particular species), so lill's vet was able to let her use the product under his direction.

Spot-on is not licenced for use on pigs (but is for cattle and sheep) in UK, because under UK legislation the makers have to go through a long series of test to prove safety etc. and this is per species, so despite being approved for sheep and cattle, they would need to re-test for pigs and this along with high licence costs means you have to be sure of a good market before going to the expense.  In UK the outdoor pig herd is not large enough and need for this product is obviously not high enough for Coopers (or more accurately Pfizer who make it) to go through the efforts and costs of licencing.  In Ireland the licencing regime is less "Defra gold plated", so costs are low enough to make it worth selling.

PS whilst railing about costs, did you know that the "Defra approved"  disinfectant that you use, costs the company £17,000 to renew their licence/approval every three years, despite no change in formulation - so £17,000 just to do the paperwork to let them carry on selling it.  Sorry when I say "costs the company" I obviously mean "costs you and me" - cos we pay it back to the company.  Apparently this helps fund the cost of the administration!!
 

[Tiva Diva]

Antihistamines are not the same as anti-inflammatories, they may work synergistically. Are the anti-inflammatory drugs steroid based? I have a dog who got lumps like Dorothy's from insect bites and the antihistamines helped a lot. If the anti-inflammatories aren't steroid based it would definitely be worth asking your vet. I used chlorpheniramine (piriton) for the dog and it is used in pigs, see www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Maximum_Residue_Limits_-_Report/2009/11/WC500012072.pdf

[Fowgill Farm]

Just come upon this topic as been offline over weekend but just to say sounds like bad reaction to horse-fly bites as its the same as that happens to me, ended up in casualty several times over adverse reactions to the bites now i keep very strong antihistimines handy in case of bites. we also has some piglets affected similarly to what you describe and i crushed up my antihistimines for them in a jam sandwich and it helped no end, so defo speak to your vet about them.
hair loss normal during summer, some of my GOS are positively bald! others are hairy beary!
HTH
Mandy 
Ps i am now scratching like buggery!! at thought of bites

[princesspiggy]

i mite take a trip to chemist then.....

[Tudful Tamworths]

The hair loss is absolutely normal - annoyingly so, at this time of the year, for those of us taking bald pigs to shows!
The sooner it comes out, the sooner it will grow back, though.

[pinkpiggies!]

those look like insect bites. i have a horse that reacts in exactly the same way to horse fly bites, they are really sore!!  i would get some anti histamine, you can get anti histamine cream from the chemist, not sure if it works on pigs though!!!  All my GOS are bald as well but totally normal at this time of year.