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Feel i am letting my piggies down

A

Abirose

Adult Guinea Pig
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I rescued my two girl piggies just over a year ago, Abi is about 4 to 5 years old and Rose is about 2 to 3, they have quite a sad background of neglect before we got them. Abi had a fungal infection on her ear a couple of months ago which took a few weeks to clear with medication. A few days ago I noticed a bald patch at the bottom of her back, and Rose had a small bit of dried skin in one of her rosettes. Took them to see Simon (thank goodness I live reasonable near to this vets) he said he couldn't be sure but said it was most likely Ringworm again, we discussed with him different options and we decided for him to take samples of fur near the infected area to send away. I just don't know what I am doing wrong for my girls to get it again, I have OCD on cleaning anyway, I clean their cage out twice a week with F10 and every day I take out any wet Fitch wash everything in their cage ( pigloos, bowls, tunnels and playpen) with F10. They are indoor piggies so just don't know what I am doing wrong for them to get this back again. I suffer from anxiety and don't know what to do for the best for them. Sorry for the outpour just feeling really low at the moment.
 
Abirose said:
I rescued my two girl piggies just over a year ago, Abi is about 4 to 5 years old and Rose is about 2 to 3, they have quite a sad background of neglect before we got them. Abi had a fungal infection on her ear a couple of months ago which took a few weeks to clear with medication. A few days ago I noticed a bald patch at the bottom of her back, and Rose had a small bit of dried skin in one of her rosettes. Took them to see Simon (thank goodness I live reasonable near to this vets) he said he couldn't be sure but said it was most likely Ringworm again, we discussed with him different options and we decided for him to take samples of fur near the infected area to send away. I just don't know what I am doing wrong for my girls to get it again, I have OCD on cleaning anyway, I clean their cage out twice a week with F10 and every day I take out any wet Fitch wash everything in their cage ( pigloos, bowls, tunnels and playpen) with F10. They are indoor piggies so just don't know what I am doing wrong for them to get this back again. I suffer from anxiety and don't know what to do for the best for them. Sorry for the outpour just feeling really low at the moment.
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Hi!

Please follow the tips in our ringworm hygiene guide. Many people overlook the fact that long lived spores can be carried in the coat and can cause a new outbreak months later. Piggies with a weaker immune system (which includes piggies that have internalised their mother's high stress levels during pregnancy and the nursing period as their normal life-long default setting) are more prone to another outbreak. All it takes is one persistent little spore, unfortunately.
Most occurrances and reoccurrances of ringworm in my own piggies have come from spores sitting in the coat of either piggies with previous ringworm or from piggies in contact with a ringworm piggy, even though they have not contracted it themselves.

Here is the guide: Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

Please take a deep breath and follow all the tips, including a fungal bath at the start and one at the end to wash out any spores in the coat in all piggies in contact with ringworm carriers as well as the ringworm carriers themselves.
Ringworm can sometimes mean that there is a second round. Please don't beat yourself up about it and just get on with it. It is perhaps the most tricky problem for anay piggy owner to get on top of because ringworm spores can stay live to up to or even over 2 years - and they are shed in their thousands in an acute outbreak.
In terms of nuisance value it is right up there, but the one good news is that it is just a major pain in the behind and not a fight for a life. Try to see it from that angle!
 
Thank you so much Wiebke and @Betsy for your help and support. Is there any foods or suppliments I can give to help their immune systems? I feed both timothy and meadow hay from Haybox, pellets I feed are Science select grain free nuggets and a good supply of fresh veg.
 
You are not letting them down, you are doing all you can. It's soul destroying when these things return after you have battled so hard to get rid of them. Sending you hugs, those piggies are very lucky to have you to love and help them.
 
piggieminder said:
You are not letting them down, you are doing all you can. It's soul destroying when these things return after you have battled so hard to get rid of them. Sending you hugs, those piggies are very lucky to have you to love and help them.
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Thank you so much for your kind words. I just hope I can get rid of it for good this time, I was really shocked Abi and Rose got it back after being clear for over a couple of months. I am so lucky to have Kim and Simon as vets and the lovely people on this forum for help and support.
 
Hope you can get on top of it and have no more outbreaks. You’re definitely not letting anyone down and care for your piggies brilliantly x
 
Abirose said:
Thank you so much Wiebke and @Betsy for your help and support. Is there any foods or suppliments I can give to help their immune systems? I feed both timothy and meadow hay from Haybox, pellets I feed are Science select grain free nuggets and a good supply of fresh veg.
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if you want, you can give them added 2-3 week vitamin C booster, but there is only so much you can do with natural stressers.
Please do not be tempted to give added vitamin C all the time as the body will get used to high levels, which means that you are confronted with signs of scurvy as soon as they are lowered for some reason. A booster should be just that for full efficiency.
 
You seem like a good GP parent to me. You had the sense to take them to the vet the first time and vigilance to spot a reoccurrence and book a vets appt again. You’ve just been unlucky that’s all . Don’t be hard on yourself x
 
Sorry you are going through this, it sounds like all this is just one of those sad things that piggies from a bad background unfortunately bring with them to a nice new home and you as the nice new owner have to deal with! Try to stay calm and just follow the hygiene guides, ringworm can cause much more harm to the mental health of diligent caring piggy slaves than it does to their piggies I think, as you have obviously done everything you can to get them the very best vet care and treatment! Sending anti-fungal hugs :) x
 
Abirose said:
Thank you so much for your kind words. I just hope I can get rid of it for good this time, I was really shocked Abi and Rose got it back after being clear for over a couple of months. I am so lucky to have Kim and Simon as vets and the lovely people on this forum for help and support.
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You are by far not the first member struggling with recurring ringworm; I've learned quite a few lessons in the ringworm guide the hard way over the years by the way. As any vet can tell you, it is not an easy battle!

The longer Abi and Rose are in your good care, the stronger their immune system and their health will become. It is just not a quick process that can be measured in weeks rather than in months and years. But with your good care they have that precious chance to make the best our of the bad hand they have been given. :tu:
 
Abigail and Rosie update - As Simon was not 100% sure it was ringworm we decided to have a fur plucks from both to be sent away for testing and for a culture growth, these have come back negative ( so pleased). They were both itching a lot so we discussed this with Simon and had mite/lice injection ( cant remember name ) they have another one this Wednesday. Abigail is nearly bald at her back end and Rosie has a medium bald patch, Simon did also mention to us that they could also be barbering each other, we didn't think so at the time as they never have liked to be close to each other staying at different areas of the cage, the last few days I have seen a bit of fur pulling by Rosie around Abigail's back and a few squeaks from both, They have lived together for over a year and this has never happened before. Do you think I need to separate them? as poor Abi will not have much fur left if this carries on. Thank you
 
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