• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Another Fungal I Think

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hannah Boyd

Hannah Boyd

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Messages
280
Reaction score
140
Points
365
Location
Leeds
Hi everyone, noticed that Honey has a bald patch on her rump a couple of days ago. I've been putting on GG's Kwench lotion since then, and have tweaked out the hair which looks like it should come out. The skin looks fine, but her hair has dandruff type stuff attached to the bottom of them. I can't find my usual fungal treatment and disinfectant stuff so I've been out and bought Nizoral and dettol liquid disinfectant. I hope the disinfectant works as I used to have a much stronger one but the shops round here don't have that, I'd have to order in and I'd rather get started. Their apartment is plastic type material and so it should not be as significant as when they were in a wooden hutch. Anyway, I'm going to get cleaning and bathing today, how many times and how often to use the Nizoral? I thought today, again on Sunday, and then weekly for a 3-4 weeks. Any suggestions? There are two other piggies with Honey who intermittently show signs of minor fungal irritation, which is always cleared up with GG Kwench lotion.
 
Ideally the baths need to be weekly for 4 weeks. You could add in an Imaverol dip after the Nizoral too, it can be bought online from Hyperdrug (search Enilconazole). I find Imaverol the most effective treatment for fungal. Remember to patch test any new products for 48 hours behind the ear first though.

I would get the vet to confirm it is fungal you are dealing with though as the symptoms for mange mites can be similar to start with.
 
Thanks @helen105281 - I have bathed with Nizoral, piggies are now sunbathing (indoors!) and fully drying off. I have unfortunately either finished or left the Imaverol I had before where I moved from. I will see how the Nizoral goes and if it doesn't seem to be tackling it, I will get some more Imaverol. I have Ivermectin in case of mange mites but all 5 were treated (precautionary) not long ago for mites, there are no open sores and the skin does not appear to be itchy or bothering her. I have not had much luck at vets with skin issues before! unless I feel it is best for piggy, I usually treat myself for fungal or mites.
 
Update: over the last 3 weeks I have treated for mites with ivermectin which seems to have cleared up the initial issue. But i was also using daktarin just on the areas affected, so still not sure, but the ivermectin should rule out mites. Since then, one other piggie in that group (3) has got a small (5p sized) itchy and skin broken area on his front leg. I have begun spraying Imaverol on (3 days apart, today was the second treatment), but only onto the affected areas and the area immediately surrounding it. Will this be effective for fungal?

I also wondered if dipping in Imaverol, should they be towel dried? Or just sort of squeezed off and then air dried?

I never seem to have much luck with fungal with these 3, it seems to recur at least once a year. I have one pig (the remaining pig of the 3) who always seems to have flaky skin (minor) behind her ears and on two small patches on her back in the middle of rosettes, the skin looks fine and there is no hair loss - could she be a carrier? I have treated with Imaverol and F10 disinfectant before and yet it still comes back.
 
Imaverol is usually effective but by using as a spray you aren't treating the whole pig so I would go with dips too. Fungal can be difficult to get rid of fully, we have a similar situation and get a flare up every so often. I was recommended another shampoo to use in addition to the Imaverol recently - D10, Let me know if you need a link.
 
Thanks @helen105281 - I will start dipping them. I ordered more F10 for their living quarters and I just googled D10, looks good so I might order some of that too! Do you bath/treat routinely even if no signs of fungal? just because you know they are susceptible? Thank you again.
 
Hannah Boyd said:
Thanks @helen105281 - I will start dipping them. I ordered more F10 for their living quarters and I just googled D10, looks good so I might order some of that too! Do you bath/treat routinely even if no signs of fungal? just because you know they are susceptible? Thank you again.
Click to expand...

No but I always have Imaverol on standby in case.
 
Hi again, the pigs had their first full imaverol dip/bath yesterday. Today I noticed a small sore on the back of one of them which was not there previously (she did have 2 other before though). Is it usual for others to show up after the first treatment? I did read that it gets worse before it gets better!
 
I think that is pretty normal. Like you say it gets worse before it gets better. I have not heard of Imaverol causing sores.
 
Thanks, I didn't mean that the Imaverol was causing sores, I just didn't want to think that it wasn't working or I was doing it wrong! The other sore bits look loads better today.
 
@Hannah Boyd @helen105281
Sorry to be invading your thread but I wanted to check how do you actually do these dips/ baths for piggies if fungal issues occur. When you say you do Imaverol dip, how does it look like? Is this medicine available from normal pet stores? Do you just mix it with water? X
 
When I rescued 2 piggies they developed ringworm which they kept passing from me to my other 2 piggies. The vet gave me oral miconazole to treat. I used topical for them and myself as well, it was a mess. I found that before applying the topical miconazole I would clean the area with a cotton swab soaked in hydrogen peroxide, it helped it clear up much faster but does kind burn/itch
 
oxtinamona said:
@Hannah Boyd @helen105281
Sorry to be invading your thread but I wanted to check how do you actually do these dips/ baths for piggies if fungal issues occur. When you say you do Imaverol dip, how does it look like? Is this medicine available from normal pet stores? Do you just mix it with water? X
Click to expand...

It's a solution in a bottle which you mix with water and then dip the pigs in it straight after a bath with a fungal shampoo (I use D10). It is then left on and not rinsed off so that it carries on working between dips.

This is it, It is sold for pigs under the ingredient name Enilconazole (Imaverol is licensed for larger animals):

Enilconazole 100mg/ml 100ml
 
Last edited:
Another update/question - the piggies have had their second Imaverol bath today. Skin looks much better although one is still scratching quite a lot at a certain area, is it normal for her still to be itching during the treatment?

My other issue now is that over the last few days (since their last bath) they have been not quite themselves. They have periods where they seem fine, then they seem lethargic and quiet. They are all still eating, pooping, drinking. They had a large amount of grass a few days ago (they do get it regularly but this was more than usual) so I thought maybe bloat, but no typical symptoms. No real signs (other than periodic lethargy) of URI. Although I never found this before, are they likely to be like this simply because their are fighting off a fungal infection? (and now they are that bit older, its a bit more difficult?). They have a vet appointment (with a forum recommended vet practice) on Monday.
 
I think it can take a good few dips to see an improvement. Has she been checked for mange mites too? I can't remember.

I think their immune systems can be compromised when fighting fungal but it is not something I have seen. If you are worried I would get them checked by a vet. They could be gassy (rather than bloat) and therefore feeling a bit uncmofortable.
 
Their last dip (of the 3) is on Tuesday. I have already treated with ivermectin in case of mites (they finished the full 3 doses, the last one was roughly 2 weeks ago). This cleared up one area on the piggie concerned but others have appeared since then including on the other pigs, i read that mites and fungal can often happen at the same time, or one after the other since piggies immune system is run down, so i assume thats what has happened.

Okay, I called the vets today and they weren't concerned by what I said but I have an appointment on Monday just in case. I also gave them some avi pro early afternoon (I think this is what its called, probiotic). They have brightened up considerably this afternoon and this evening I have no concerns. All are more vigorously tucking into their veg and hay. However, I will keep a very close eye (they are becoming tired of me checking already!).

Thank you so much for all your help, it is really helping to keep me sane! They worry me so much if they are under the weather!
 
Hi again, today was the last Imaverol bath (3rd of 3), the fungal issues seem to have cleared up pretty well (fingers crossed it stays that way). And we also didn't need the vet visit on Monday as piggies were back to normal by Saturday evening/Sunday morning.

However, even though I was treating for fungal, one piggie continued to scratch some areas bald and so I suspected that my last mites treatment wasn't effective or has recurred. So I treated again with Ivermectin on Sunday and have seen a fairly large reduction in scratching and skin irritation. I am also hoping that this is effective and is a lasting effect! I go back home for a few days on Friday and my partner is in charge! I have several pages of instructions...
 
So now that the last bath is done, should I spray the diluted imaverol solution onto suspect areas? Or should I just leave it. I am just so worried that it comes back again, and especially because I leave early tomorrow morning to go home till next Thursday. My partner is looking after them and he will manage, but I'm not sure whether or not to get him to spray Imaverol every few days or not. I have the GG Kwench lotion which I have used before fairly successfully, and is on the list of instructions. There are a few dry areas on the pigs but these look more like the debris left behind after mites - do they need moisturised or are they best left to air?
 
I would leave them to air.

It can be used as a topical spray, I have done so in the past, but it can wait until you get back. I actually dip once a week for 4 weeks instead of every few days as the dip stays working in between dips. So waiting until you are home would be no different to me waiting a week between dips. I am not experienced in the use of Kwench lotion as I don't use Gorgeous Guineas products for fungal usually.
 
Thank you, that is reassuring to hear. I will get him to leave them to air unless the skin looks irritated. The Kwench lotion seems to work well for reducing itching and irritation, but I will leave it unless necessary. Thank you so much!
 
Hannah Boyd said:
So now that the last bath is done, should I spray the diluted imaverol solution onto suspect areas? Or should I just leave it. I am just so worried that it comes back again, and especially because I leave early tomorrow morning to go home till next Thursday. My partner is looking after them and he will manage, but I'm not sure whether or not to get him to spray Imaverol every few days or not. I have the GG Kwench lotion which I have used before fairly successfully, and is on the list of instructions. There are a few dry areas on the pigs but these look more like the debris left behind after mites - do they need moisturised or are they best left to air?
Click to expand...
@Hannah Boyd I find GGs lotions really good so if you have it it won't hurt to apply it to dry areas. It'll take few days for skin to repair x
 
Hi everyone, good news mostly! All bald/suspect patches of skin have cleared up and hair has all but grown back in! The combination of fungal and repeated mites treatment seems to have worked (touch wood!). I have two issues/questions - the first is the one pig has small patches of dry skin/fungal on both ears and in the centre of both whirls on her back. She almost always had this before and I used Kwench lotion on it from time to time but since this time I am super desperate to get rid of fungal - should I be worried? I have been applying Imaverol on only those areas (and the surrounds) roughly once a week. There is no signs of the hair coming out in clumps as it did last time and on the other pigs, her hair is coming out but in single pieces, like a molt and it does not have the yellow stuff on the ends.

Second question - we are going away at the weekend for a few days and are taking the pigs with us - we are going to my boyfriends parents and we have taken them before - they stay in a warm shed in temporary indoor cages with access to a big outdoor run (they are now well accustomed to going outside for the best part of a warm and dry day and are fed fresh grass daily). Is this likely to result in a recurrence of mites/fungal? It is roughly a 4 hour drive, they have done a return trip twice before, and once an 8 hour drive. I just feed lots of watery veggies, grass and when they get there they have lots of hidey places and usually partially cover the cage with towels to make them feel safe.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top