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Does Ringworm Always Spread?

TheWillowPigs

TheWillowPigs

Junior Guinea Pig
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Found a bald patch on the bum of one member of my group of 4. I immediately rang the local cavy savvy vet and made an appointment, suspecting it to be ringworm due to its circular, scaly nature.

I have just got back from the vets where it was confirmed to be ringworm. As it is a single patch (and she checked all of them thoroughly), I was given a cream to put on the patch and a medicated shampoo to give all 4 a bath in once a week until the patch clears up (hopefully!) This guinea pig is 2 and a half years old, and I last added a new guinea pig to the herd at the very beginning of October. This leads the vet to believe that stress has caused it to flare up (I have recently moved house.)

Now, due to the nervous nature of the pig in particular, we are reluctant to split her from the other three, for fears she will get depressed and even more anxious (she loves her herdmates a lot!)

So, my question is, is it possible to have just a single isolated case of ringworm? I'm going to treat as per the vet advice and will clean the cage thoroughly before placing them back in after their bath. I would like some reassuring nice stories of isolated cases (if there are any!)
 
I am no expert but when one of my 2 got it.. I treated them both and left them together .. as I thought already exposed before i spotted it... x
 
Betsy said:
@Wiebke is the best to advise on Ringworm. Here is the Ringworm thread.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

@PigglePuggle also had a case of ringworm recently.
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I've read the advice thread and will get rid of their houses and buy some of the F10 (I believe it was called?)

I'll hoover the carpet around them and will put a table cloth under and around the cage.

The thing I'm really worried about is knowing whether to split the herd? I'm scared re-introducing them may be difficult (they have some big pigsonalities) and I really don't want HQ to get more stressed.

Ah, I don't know what to do!
 
If your one piggie has ringworm chances are the spores are on the others and it's just a matter of time before they start showing symptoms too. I would treat all 4 of them just to be on the safe side. You don't want it to go round and round and never get rid of it. Members who have had experience of ringworm will be on soon so will be able to advice better than me.
 
I've been told to bathe them all with the shampoo (which is one of the ones on Weibke's list) so will do that. The other thing I've been given is a cream to use on the affected area so can't really treat them all with that 😅

Thank you for tagging the Ringworm thread 💕
 
We were lucky that we spotted Blodwen had ringworm as soon as she arrived, so immediately quaratined her away from the other pigs. It was very hard for her as apparently she'd never been alone before, but she'd never met her new herd either, so we prioritised their health and kept Blod in quarantine until she got the all clear.
If ringworm turned up now, after my herd is all happily bonded, I honestly dont think I would split them up- I'd treat them all and the cage, that's what I did when Jezzy floof had suspected mites, treated them all just to avoid seperating them. The junior locum vet suggested seperating Jezzy for 6 weeks but I said no chance. Cost 6x as much for treatment, but any cage mate has already been exposed to skin infections by the time you see symptoms and get a diagnosis, and you can't put a price on keeping a happy herd bond! That's my opinion anyway, not sure if others may prefer to seperate an ill and infectious pig, but I personally wouldnt- I guess there are different opinions based on different personal experiences :)
 
I think HQ would HATE to be seperated so I'm going to do the bathing of all the crew, cream her bald spot and pray it doesn't spread. I'd always rather they were a happy herd than make her miserable just to save a possible spread, which as you say may happen anyway.

It seems this ringworm has just sprung from nowhere! 😳
 
I’ve had an outbreak unexpectedly in one sow in a group of 3. Never did find the reason for it. I chose not to separate her from the others and treated her with sporanox from the vet. By bathing all of them, observing strict hygiene and copious amounts of F10 we restricted it to just the one piggy and it cleared up well.
 
TheWillowPigs said:
I think HQ would HATE to be seperated so I'm going to do the bathing of all the crew, cream her bald spot and pray it doesn't spread. I'd always rather they were a happy herd than make her miserable just to save a possible spread, which as you say may happen anyway.

It seems this ringworm has just sprung from nowhere! 😳
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It could have come in on a new wooden toy or house?
I would bin all wooden toys and wash all soft cage wares at 60degrees.
 
Awesome, that's exactly what I was planning on doing! They'll have to go without houses for a few days but I'm going to order F10 tonight and have made a new temporary cage so they don't have to go back into the old one until it's fully disinfected.
 
TheWillowPigs said:
Awesome, that's exactly what I was planning on doing! They'll have to go without houses for a few days but I'm going to order F10 tonight and have made a new temporary cage so they don't have to go back into the old one until it's fully disinfected.
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Great idea to have a separate enclosure. As for houses, you can use an old cardboard box for a house. You can bin them regularly until you’ve got the outbreak under control.
 
VickiA said:
Great idea to have a separate enclosure. As for houses, you can use an old cardboard box for a house. You can bin them regularly until you’ve got the outbreak under control.
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Planning on raiding my boyfriend's cardboard box supply!
 
There is no point in separating as ringworm has a 14 day incubation period which means that if they are going to come down with it it could be too late anyway. I left mine altogether the second time I had an outbreak and only Donald was ever affected. The first time was right before I went on holiday and I did separate daisy but still came back to two of the other three infected
 
Betsy said:
@Wiebke is the best to advise on Ringworm. Here is the Ringworm thread.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

@PigglePuggle also had a case of ringworm recently.
Click to expand...

Hi!

Yes, ringworm is highly infectious, including for humans and other species pets. Please follow our hygiene advice. We have had over a decade of working out what works and in which way you can transmit/re-infect. It is really worth investing in a vet grade antifungal disinfectant like F10 (the best investment you can make!) and to rather go on overkill. I had a ringworm outbreak in my own piggy room with about 30 piggies but was able to keep the acute ringworm to just the one single affected piggy (which had to spend 3 weeks in the hall in quarantine with his companion), so I know that our tips really work!

You can keep your piggies together, but that means that you need to give any companions at least two anti-fungal baths - one shortly after you have started ringworm treatment for the infected piggy (the ringworm outbreak has to run its due course once it is acute and will get worse before it gets better) in order to prevent the companions from coming down with it and one bath for all piggies at the end of it to make sure that no spores are carried across in the coat. That should do the trick.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Yes, ringworm is highly infectious, including for humans and other species pets. Please follow our hygiene advice. We have had over a decade of working out what works and in which way you can transmit/re-infect. It is really worth investing in a vet grade antifungal disinfectant like F10 (the best investment you can make!) and to rather go on overkill. I had a ringworm outbreak in my own piggy room with about 30 piggies but was able to keep the acute ringworm to just the one single affected piggy (which had to spend 3 weeks in the hall in quarantine with his companion), so I know that our tips really work!

You can keep your piggies together, but that means that you need to give any companions at least two anti-fungal baths - one shortly after you have started ringworm treatment for the infected piggy (the ringworm outbreak has to run its due course once it is acute and will get worse before it gets better) in order to prevent the companions from coming down with it and one bath for all piggies at the end of it to make sure that no spores are carried across in the coat. That should do the trick.
Click to expand...
I have ordered some of the F10 disinfectant ans the hand gel and the vet gave me gloves to use for when I treat Harley. When the F10 arrives I shall give their actual cage a thorough clean (I've built them a temporary cage with spare, hopefully unaffected c&c grids while I wait to give their actual cage a blast).

I got rid of all their wooden houses which I will go out and replace once the infection has run its course. I'm being as careful as I can be in the circumstances I have so here's hoping I haven't caught it! I hoovered the carpet underneath the cage and have now placed down plastic underneath (I am unable to move them from the room due to agreements with my landlord.)
 
TheWillowPigs said:
I have ordered some of the F10 disinfectant ans the hand gel and the vet gave me gloves to use for when I treat Harley. When the F10 arrives I shall give their actual cage a thorough clean (I've built them a temporary cage with spare, hopefully unaffected c&c grids while I wait to give their actual cage a blast).

I got rid of all their wooden houses which I will go out and replace once the infection has run its course. I'm being as careful as I can be in the circumstances I have so here's hoping I haven't caught it! I hoovered the carpet underneath the cage and have now placed down plastic underneath (I am unable to move them from the room due to agreements with my landlord.)
Click to expand...

Get some nizoral anti-dandruff (i.e. anti-fungal) shampoo from the pharmacy and use it not just for your piggy baths but also as a whole body shampoo for yourself. You get ringworm less on your hands in my own experience but usually on your neck, your arms (and in summer) on your legs - where you touch/scratch yourself without thinking and in the gaps between your clothing and your gloves (use fresh ones each time). Nizoral is quite harsh on the skin for a full treatment course on guinea pigs but it is effective for the preventing the spread to others - human and piggies at the onset and at the end. ;)
 
Wiebke said:
Get some nizoral anti-dandruff (i.e. anti-fungal) shampoo from the pharmacy and use it not just for your piggy baths but also as a whole body shampoo for yourself. You get ringworm less on your hands in my own experience but usually on your neck, your arms (and in summer) on your legs - where you touch/scratch yourself without thinking and in the gaps between your clothing and your gloves (use fresh ones each time). Nizoral is quite harsh on the skin for a full treatment course on guinea pigs but it is effective for the preventing the spread to others - human and piggies at the onset and at the end. ;)
Click to expand...
The vet gave me some Malaseb for the guinea pigs, is that suitable?
 
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