Eriathwen
Senior Guinea Pig
We've had fungal issues on and off with Brambles ears since 2 weeks after we got her, so coming up to 2 years now. I am starting to question if it's actually still ringworm/fungal anymore at all given how weird her ears actually are due to her head tilt.
Basically, we've tried Surolan, Intrafungal (not sure of spelling) Canestan cream and Daktarin oral gel (ok'd by a vet) all the while cleaning her housing with f10.
Now, I'm starting to wonder if it's purely dry skin? The hair is not coming away, this is about as scurfy as it gets lately and she is not itchy at all, ive tried coconut oil to moisturise but that seemed to irritate her skin so stopped. I'm thinking of taking her in again to have a light test thing done to actually make sure it's still fungal, but given I need to limit her stress levels due to her e.cuniculi, if I can get some answers from you guys and avoid having to take her in, I'm sure she would appreciate it!
Basically, her left ear has always been the worst, this is the one that is closest to the ground from the direction of the head tilt. I'm concerned the multiple use of the steroid cream Surolan has maybe weakened the skin? I've had to regularly use steroid creams myself for my eczema and it's certainly caused issues for my hands.
She also gets really, really bad build ups in her ears, I wipe them out gently each day, never sticking anything down them. She did once have drops, but again, they irritated the skin and had to be stopped. So now I have to massage the ears and then gently pick the wax out..which she doesnt mind at all, luckily. As you can see, they're quite a size! Again, left side is always worse due to being so close to the ground so often with the head tilt. (just a note, the cotton buds were not stuck down the ear, it's just easier to get the wax out from under my nail with them!)
So yeah...ear advice! Opinions on whether we're still dealing with fungal are appreciated, as well as any very gently moisturisers I could use for her ears? Or anything to make them less of an issue for her.
I'm so sorry this turned into such an essay..I'm just at a loss to what to do as our vet only offers a very small selection of fungal treatments, none of which seem to actually be fixing the dryness. Oh and the darkened build ups on the pink ear are where I didnt rub her cream in properly this morning and it's gone a bit grimy while she's been going through the hay etc. She wriggles when the cream goes on so it's easy to miss bits. It doesnt normally look like that.
Basically, we've tried Surolan, Intrafungal (not sure of spelling) Canestan cream and Daktarin oral gel (ok'd by a vet) all the while cleaning her housing with f10.
Now, I'm starting to wonder if it's purely dry skin? The hair is not coming away, this is about as scurfy as it gets lately and she is not itchy at all, ive tried coconut oil to moisturise but that seemed to irritate her skin so stopped. I'm thinking of taking her in again to have a light test thing done to actually make sure it's still fungal, but given I need to limit her stress levels due to her e.cuniculi, if I can get some answers from you guys and avoid having to take her in, I'm sure she would appreciate it!
Basically, her left ear has always been the worst, this is the one that is closest to the ground from the direction of the head tilt. I'm concerned the multiple use of the steroid cream Surolan has maybe weakened the skin? I've had to regularly use steroid creams myself for my eczema and it's certainly caused issues for my hands.
She also gets really, really bad build ups in her ears, I wipe them out gently each day, never sticking anything down them. She did once have drops, but again, they irritated the skin and had to be stopped. So now I have to massage the ears and then gently pick the wax out..which she doesnt mind at all, luckily. As you can see, they're quite a size! Again, left side is always worse due to being so close to the ground so often with the head tilt. (just a note, the cotton buds were not stuck down the ear, it's just easier to get the wax out from under my nail with them!)
So yeah...ear advice! Opinions on whether we're still dealing with fungal are appreciated, as well as any very gently moisturisers I could use for her ears? Or anything to make them less of an issue for her.
I'm so sorry this turned into such an essay..I'm just at a loss to what to do as our vet only offers a very small selection of fungal treatments, none of which seem to actually be fixing the dryness. Oh and the darkened build ups on the pink ear are where I didnt rub her cream in properly this morning and it's gone a bit grimy while she's been going through the hay etc. She wriggles when the cream goes on so it's easy to miss bits. It doesnt normally look like that.
Can't believe how long it's taken to shift, poor girl. Small comfort in the fact it did not spread to the other 6 at least.