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edge of ear crusty

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biscandmatt

biscandmatt

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noticed last night that ches has a crusty ear. it's on the outside edge of the ear. obviously making a vets appointment but has anyone else dealt with something like this? does it sound like a fungal problem? the heating has been on higher the last week or so, so this may have flared something up i suppose. :{

he's fine in himself, not scratching or anything like that, and it isn't anywhere else. thanks.
 
just checked ches again and it's a dry edge of ear and there are three small lumps there. they are white. they look like white boils/spots? i can't find anything online that looks the same!
 
biscandmatt said:
just checked ches again and it's a dry edge of ear and there are three small lumps there. they are white. they look like white boils/spots? i can't find anything online that looks the same!
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eta - it looks like three little sebaceous cysts.
 
Crusty, lumpy ears are a common symptom of a fungal infection starting up. A pic would help :)

Suzy x
 
Weirdly, I have just spotted little whitehead type spots on Cassie's ears just last night. They aren't crusty at all.
 
it definitely looks like fungal now. it's kind of flakey and white. we have a vets appointment tomorrow so i'll update after.
 
I'd have been tempted to treat it with coconut oil first - that's brilliant for fungal infections.
 
i've heard that aswell, and also gorgeous guineas do some products for it aswell. but i think because it's the first time he has ever had this, i would rather the vet checked it out to be on the safe side. :)
 
we went to the vets and ches does have fungal on his ear. he's now on some medication - terbinafine 0.2ml twice a day, and also lamisil cream aswell to apply to the ear twice a day. this will be for 4 weeks.

he also had a culture taken aswell and we will get the results in about 12 days, just to be sure it is a fungus.

i also got maisie checked over whilst we were there and she has some ovarian cysts on both sides. they are only small now but we have to keep an eye on them obviously and watch for any changes with her weight, any hair loss on her sides, and also any growth to the cysts. but she is fine for now.
 
well ches wasn't impressed with having meds last night! then maisie thought the cream on his ear was there to eat! so i had to watch them closely for a bit until she left it alone. luckily this morning ches was good with the meds and he seems to like having the cream applied. the fungal looks much less dry already so that's good. and maisie wasn't interested in the cream today, so it might have been because it was new last night.

i meant to add yesterday, we have thrown all wooden items away from their cage and also all bedding washed at 60 and the cage sterilised aswell.

eta: for anyone interested in future - the fungal started off as a tiny dry looking area on the edge of the ear with three tiny 'whiteheads'. we had a vets appointment two days later (it was weekend typically) and the area had spread in that time to another third of what it was, and also onto the inner edge of the ear aswell. so it does spread quickly.
 
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Glad you got Ches's ear sorted out & caught it before it spread any further, it really can spread quickly just as you describe.

I find it easier to apply the fungicidal cream with a baby cotton bud to the outer ear so I don't have to get the cream & the infective area on my hands too much - these things can be quite contagious. I would keep a separate towel for hand washing after applying it too.

The really important thing about these infections is to keep applying the cream for the full length of the course; before too long it will look completely better but if you stop then before the course is up, you risk it coming back & you have to start the whole process again. I'm not saying you were going to do this or anything, just passing on this info as a point of interest :).
 
Sounds fungal to me, as others have said. My piggies have been fortunate with this, but when I used to have African Pygmy Hedgehogs they were plagued with fungal ear infections. I used to treat it with a prescription antifungal from the vet. Keep using the cream for a week or two after the area looks clear, I always found if I stopped too soon they would relapse very quickly. HTH!
 
ches is being difficult! lol. i've always got them out of the cage by putting their carrier in their and then they hop into it. they don't like being picked up straight from the cage so i've always done it this way. then i bring the carrier over to the settee and lift them out and onto my knee which they are fine with. then they like cuddles. anyway, ches point blank refused to get into the carrier this morning. and i couldn't make him! i'm probably too soft but i don't like trapping them in a corner or picking them up because i know how much they don't like that. i hope he doesn't do this everytime for the next four weeks! just going to try again and then if he won't get in then i will have to pick him up but i'll be more upset than him probably! lol.

i don't understand why he wouldn't because he takes the meds fine and he likes having the cream applied. maybe he needed a wee and didn't want to be touched? he can be quite touchy that way.
 
ches has decided to co-operate now! his ear is looking so much better already. :)
 
just to update - his ear was near enough completely clear when we got the culture results back. they tested positive for ringworm! luckily none of us caught it, and neither did maisie and ches is completely clear now, although we are obviously carrying on treatment for the full time to make sure. hopefully it won't come back again.
 
Hi, sorry to hear about Ches's problem, but glad he is doing better. Sorry to be ignorant, but I was just wondering if you or anyone knows how guineas get fungal problems (or ringworm in this case) in the first place? Does something have to be brought in that passes it on, or can they just develop it? I ask as you mention throwing away the wood ... Thanks!
 
sorry for the late reply - they can get fungal from the spores in hay and i think just from the air aswell. the reason i threw the wood away was because the fungal spores are hard to remove from wood, whereas bedding can be washed at 60 to kill them, and cage cleaners will kill any spores in the cage.

i caught it off ches and now he has a small patch again, after being clear. thankfully maisie hasn't got it.
 
Sorry to hear the ringworm has been doing the rounds, it can be quite hard to shift sometimes. We just had a case of ringworm on a guinea's nose & now the treatment is finished I am watching them all really carefully in case it appears again anywhere else. If you have any tiny scratches or cuts then those areas are just right for the ringworm to get into to make another patch. Keep going & I'm sure you will get rid of it eventually :)
 
thanks. the vet did say i am a good target for it because i have eczema which obviously cracks. so i thought my eczema had just got worse at first then realised i had a little patch of ringworm. thankfully mine seems to be clearing up well with just cream, and ches only has the tiniest new patch on his ear again so he's having cream on that. i think it will clear up again. i feel like it's my fault he's got it again though. but he enjoys having the cream massaged in and gets all sleepy and relaxed lol. i'm so glad maisie hasn't got it.
 
Sorry to ask but can I get your vets details 2 of my girls have the same symptoms and I have been told by 2 different vets it was an irritated scratch and the second said it was mites, it seems to be spreading fairly quickly, sorry to put it here didn't know where else to put it
Many thanks lu
 
lu_lu said:
Sorry to ask but can I get your vets details 2 of my girls have the same symptoms and I have been told by 2 different vets it was an irritated scratch and the second said it was mites, it seems to be spreading fairly quickly, sorry to put it here didn't know where else to put it
Many thanks lu
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yes, course. it's ashleigh vets in whalley range. we see aidan there and he is fantastic. :)
 
Thank you very much I shall call first thing in the morning, since writing earlier I have noticed it on another rosie who lived with serina and lucie till 2 weeks ago, the vet advised me to split them incase it was a scratch from a scuffle and we put the infection down to a bad batch of hay (I forgot to use gloves one time and came down with server dermatitis on both hands so stopped using it but was half way through the bale!) hopefully they can fit the four girls in, Gaia, Rosie's friend doesn't seem to have symptoms but worried if I don't take her she'll have something dormant waiting to strike
Cheers again lu
 
lu_lu said:
Thank you very much I shall call first thing in the morning, since writing earlier I have noticed it on another rosie who lived with serina and lucie till 2 weeks ago, the vet advised me to split them incase it was a scratch from a scuffle and we put the infection down to a bad batch of hay (I forgot to use gloves one time and came down with server dermatitis on both hands so stopped using it but was half way through the bale!) hopefully they can fit the four girls in, Gaia, Rosie's friend doesn't seem to have symptoms but worried if I don't take her she'll have something dormant waiting to strike
Cheers again lu
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hope the vets goes well. :)
 
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