Candida

[Lily & Rose]

We have just found out that Poppy has Candida, following a faecal examination. The vet doesn't want to prescribe her with anything at the moment. She wants to do another faecal test in about six weeks if she's still having problems. Poppy is fine in herself, but she can't eat any vegetables as they give her soft poops. The only thing she can manage is a bit of coriander each day. She has grain-free pellets, unlimited timothy hay and meadow hay and she has Pro C Probiotic every day. She also has an Oxbow Urinary Support tablet in the mornings and an Oxbow Digestive Support tablet in the evenings. Now that I know that she has Candida I would prefer her not to have those tablets as they contain barley and molasses, but I feel I can't stop giving her those now, as she looks forward to them so much. Does anybody else have any experience of Candida and ways to treat it? Thanks.

 

[Wiebke]

Would your vet consider a course of itrafungol? It is a systemic fungal medication that has been used for guinea pigs by more piggy savvy vets for quite a few years now with good success.
@helen105281 @furryfriends (TEAS) @Jaycey

 

[Lily & Rose]

Would your vet consider a course of itrafungol? It is a systemic fungal medication that has been used for guinea pigs by more piggy savvy vets for quite a few years now with good success.
@helen105281 @furryfriends (TEAS)

I will ring and ask her about Itrafungol next week. I mentioned the use of Nystatin, but my vet thought it would be best not to give her anything at the moment as some medicines can cause other problems. Poor Poppy is getting really frustrated with having no veggies, so I really don't want to have to wait another six weeks before anything is done about it.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

My piggies had Saccharomyces & had similar digestive problems. The vet did offer Nystatin to me but after discussion we decided against it as one had numerous health problems & as she lived with the other two it seemed pointless to treat the others, as she would just have reinfected them. Have you tried ASAP powder from Galen's Garden?

 

[Lily & Rose]

My piggies had Saccharomyces & had similar digestive problems. The vet did offer Nystatin to me but after discussion we decided against it as one had numerous health problems & as she lived with the other two it seemed pointless to treat the others, as she would just have reinfected them. Have you tried ASAP powder from Galen's Garden?

I've had a look at it but I noticed that a few of the ingredients are also in the Oxbow Digestive Support tablets, so I wasn't sure if it would be okay for her to have that as well. I'm sure that the ASAP powder is a lot better than the Oxbow tablets though.

 

[Lily & Rose]

Would your vet consider a course of itrafungol? It is a systemic fungal medication that has been used for guinea pigs by more piggy savvy vets for quite a few years now with good success.
@helen105281 @furryfriends (TEAS) @Jaycey

I have spoken to another vet who has said that there was only a small amount of Candida yeast present in Poppy's poos. Do you think Itrafungol would still benefit Poppy in this case? Are there any known side effects? The vet said that she would speak to our vet about Itrafungol, but she is hoping that it will resolve itself naturally. It has already gone a few months though and it hasn't been getting any better. Poppy has now started to get soft poos from eating pellets. A few weeks ago I started introducing new pellets (Versele Laga) to my girls, as we are running out of the Vitakraft pellets, which are now discontinued. I have been introducing it to them very slowly, but as soon as I got to seven pellets each, Poppy started having soft poos again.

 

[Wiebke]

I have spoken to another vet who has said that there was only a small amount of Candida yeast present in Poppy's poos. Do you think Itrafungol would still benefit Poppy in this case? Are there any known side effects? The vet said that she would speak to our vet about Itrafungol, but she is hoping that it will resolve itself naturally. It has already gone a few months though and it hasn't been getting any better. Poppy has now started to get soft poos from eating pellets. A few weeks ago I started introducing new pellets (Versele Laga) to my girls, as we are running out of the Vitakraft pellets, which are now discontinued. I have been introducing it to them very slowly, but as soon as I got to seven pellets each, Poppy started having soft poos again.

Itrafungol is generally effective with guinea pigs with fungal issues and has been successfully used against candida in guinea pigs before, so as your candida has not gone away on its own for such a length of time, I would really consider using it! It is not quite cheap, but I have found it worth the expense.

 

[Lily & Rose]

Itrafungol is generally effective with guinea pigs with fungal issues, so as your candida has not gone away on its own for such a length of time, I would really consider using it! It is not quite cheap, but I have found it worth the expense.

Thank you. I hope my vet will prescribe it. My other pig has also been getting soft poos which has been relating to veg. Is it likely that she can catch the yeast infection, if she has eaten some hay with traces of Poppy's poos on it?

 

[helen105281]

I second the Itrafungol recommendation. My Nigel had Candida and was on Nystatin but Itrafungol wasn't as commonly available at the time as it was a few years ago.

 

[Lily & Rose]

I second the Itrafungol recommendation. My Nigel had Candida and was on Nystatin but Itrafungol wasn't as commonly available at the time as it was a few years ago.

Thanks. How long did Nigel have Candida for?

 

[helen105281]

We lost him not long after his diagnosis sadly due to a different health issue (heart pig).

 

[Lily & Rose]

We lost him not long after his diagnosis sadly due to a different health issue (heart pig).

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that.