Frustrating Unknown Skin Problem, Argh!

[Dilly's Piggies]

All of my 10 pigs have 'dandruff', some just have small specs and others have larger flakes, I have no idea what's causing it and how to fix it. They have been to the vet and nothing was found, however Ivermectin was prescribed just incase and the course was given to all pigs as directed by the vet. They have been through the course twice over the past 6 months and have also had 2 rounds of gorgeous guineas lice n easy shampoo, however there is absolutely no change, the itching and 'dandruff' still persists. I've even tried GG's manuka and neem shampoo and their coconeem oil on a couple of my worst pigs and it didn't help that much. Bathing does help but not for very long, it comes back in a matter of weeks.

The location of the itching and 'dandruff' is on their back, sides and stomach. Since it's not mites or lice, the only thing I can think of now is fungal, but my pigs have been like this for 8 months and there is no hair loss, red patches, scabs etc, and they certainly don't look like all the pictures I've seen of piggies with fungal, so I don't understand? They're just itchy and flaky and it's really bugging me, I want to fix it for them. Some people have recommended Nizoral shampoo, I have purchased some but I'm not 100% yet on whether to use it or not, is this a good idea?

Does anyone know what this might be and what I can do to rid the 'dandruff', dry skin and itching? Do you think it sounds fungal or something else?

Bedding - Fleece liners (washed at 60c in non bio, non scented gel)
Hay - Oxbow and alfalfa king timothy hay
Pellets - Oxbow adult guinea pig food

 

[Deleted member 114675]

Could you post a picture ?

Also, could you give us an idea how much and how often your guinea pigs are scratching ?

 

[Wiebke]

All of my 10 pigs have 'dandruff', some just have small specs and others have larger flakes, I have no idea what's causing it and how to fix it. They have been to the vet and nothing was found, however Ivermectin was prescribed just incase and the course was given to all pigs as directed by the vet. They have been through the course twice over the past 6 months and have also had 2 rounds of gorgeous guineas lice n easy shampoo, however there is absolutely no change, the itching and 'dandruff' still persists. I've even tried GG's manuka and neem shampoo and their coconeem oil on a couple of my worst pigs and it didn't help that much. Bathing does help but not for very long, it comes back in a matter of weeks.

The location of the itching and 'dandruff' is on their back, sides and stomach. Since it's not mites or lice, the only thing I can think of now is fungal, but my pigs have been like this for 8 months and there is no hair loss, red patches, scabs etc, and they certainly don't look like all the pictures I've seen of piggies with fungal, so I don't understand? They're just itchy and flaky and it's really bugging me, I want to fix it for them. Some people have recommended Nizoral shampoo, I have purchased some but I'm not 100% yet on whether to use it or not, is this a good idea?

Does anyone know what this might be and what I can do to rid the 'dandruff', dry skin and itching? Do you think it sounds fungal or something else?

Bedding - Fleece liners (washed at 60c in non bio, non scented gel)
Hay - Oxbow and alfalfa king timothy hay
Pellets - Oxbow adult guinea pig food

Have you and your vet considered a fungal issue? Before you use nizoral, I would recommend to speak to your vet. Nizoral is pretty harsh on the skin (its advantage is in its wide and easy availability as a human antifungal hair shampoo), so it is not something I would recommend to use just on spec on already stressed skin.

If the dandruff has been going on since the summer, a mild fungal skin infection is a distinct possibility. As lab tests search only for ringworm, other forms of fungal won't show up.

 

[Stayc1989]

This sounds like what my Guinea pigs have too, we've been to 3 different vets and all have said they are very healthy, no mites, lice or anything. They have all been treated with ivermectin and have being bathed in lice and easy. And like you say there's no hair loss or anything like that. I'd like to know what it is because the last vet put it down to having the heating on in the house drying their skin out but I'm not sure

 

[Wiebke]

This sounds like what my Guinea pigs have too, we've been to 3 different vets and all have said they are very healthy, no mites, lice or anything. They have all been treated with ivermectin and have being bathed in lice and easy. And like you say there's no hair loss or anything like that. I'd like to know what it is because the last vet put it down to having the heating on in the house drying their skin out but I'm not sure

It can be just dry skin, but that is usually a diagnosis by default. Before you arrive at that conclusion, I would consider a mild fungal treatment and discuss the option with your vet.

The original poster's problem obviously go back to before any heating; I have taken that into account in my advice.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

It can be just dry skin, but that is usually a diagnosis by default. Before you arrive at that conclusion, I would consider a mild fungal treatment and discuss the option with your vet.

The original poster's problem obviously go back to before any heating; I have taken that into account in my advice.

Oh right okay, so there is a type of fungal that can cause these problems but not cause hair loss or sores? I remember my very first pair of guinea pigs, they were rex piggies and they had the same kind of issue, although this was 15 years ago, I remember we took them to the vet and they gave us this green shampoo, we bathed them in it and it worked, I don't remember the name of the shampoo (might begin with 'S') but it was in a white bottle, a medicinal shampoo. I will go back to my vet and talk about fungal possibilities, do you think I should ask for a skin scraping to diagnose? What is the typical treatment for a mild fungal problem so I can make sure they are giving us the right stuff?

I'm also about to order some F10 disinfectant, this should really help I hope, heard it's the best disinfectant especially for fungal issues.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

It can be just dry skin, but that is usually a diagnosis by default. Before you arrive at that conclusion, I would consider a mild fungal treatment and discuss the option with your vet.

The original poster's problem obviously go back to before any heating; I have taken that into account in my advice.

I've just noticed a rectangular shaped bald patch on Delilah, it certainly wasn't there before when I last did a thorough skin check about 3-4 weeks ago, it's turning red and is very painful for her, she is squealing when I touch it gently, I'm so annoyed with myself for not noticing this sooner. The patch is in the very spot in the back/hip area where all of my pigs are constantly scratching and have flakes of skin, a tuft of hair came from Delilah with skin attached at the end, it really does look fungal now after learning this new development. I have my worst piggies booked in to see the vet tomorrow afternoon, if they agree with fungal then all my 10 pigs will get treatment also.

I'm mostly sad because I've noticed drastic behaviour changes in almost all of them, they don't want to be picked up or handled at all, some are very squealy when I hold them, I thought for so long that maybe they just don't like me or aren't cuddly piggies, but now I see they are like this because they are in pain whenever they're touched.

After finding out Delilah has a bald area I looked thoroughly through all the pigs skin, couldn't see any bald areas on the others *yet* but all of them do have thinned hair, so I believe it's just a matter of time before the rest get bald patches too.

My Guinea Pigs did have a lice outbreak about 6 months ago, ties in with the 8 month period where I noticed them scratching more, I've read that parasitic problems often lead to fungal infections, that's probably what has happened here? They don't have mites and they have been lice free for 4 months now, but there is still a problem and they haven't been treated for fungal at all, it seems highly likely like you said.

I will let you know how we get on, it's so sad to see this, especially right before christmas. Plus my UTI sow Tizzie still has her UTI, it hasn't gone away after 1 week of baytril and 2 weeks of septrin, she will be seeing the vet again tomorrow too.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Could you post a picture ?

Also, could you give us an idea how much and how often your guinea pigs are scratching ?

Here are some pictures of Delilah, I found yesterday she had this small patch of hairloss, it's also red and very painful and itchy for her, some hair fell out with skin attached at the end also. Fungal? She is the only one that has this, my other 9 don't have patches, although it's most likely coming soon given that Delilah has one now. They're all at the vet tomorrow, I hope these pictures are helpful

 

[Deleted member 114675]

This thread will help ...


www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/balding


Will tag @Wiebke

 

[Swissgreys]

I feel for you and your piggies - I really do.

I went through a similar thing (on a much smaller scale) recently.

All of mine seemed itchy to me, but only Eddi presented with small sores on his back and shoulder area.
They were all treated with a full course of Ivermectin prescribed by the vet.
At the end of the course the girls seemed fine, but Eddi still seemed itchy.
I lost count of how many skin checks and examinations he had, and all the sores on his shoulders cleared up with a few days of the Ivenrmectin.
The vet actually commented what beautiful condition he was in every time we went in for a check up!

But finally (after about a month) he developed a few small sores and 1 tiny bald patch on his bottom.
We went straight back to the vet and he was diagnosed with very mild fungal.
She did take a culture to rule out ringworm, and it wasn't ringworm - just non specific fungal.
He had 15 days of treatment (cream applied to the affected area twice a day) and touch wood he seems fine now.

I really hope you get your piggies sorted soon - it sounds as though you are doing everything you can for them.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I feel for you and your piggies - I really do.

I went through a similar thing (on a much smaller scale) recently.

All of mine seemed itchy to me, but only Eddi presented with small sores on his back and shoulder area.
They were all treated with a full course of Ivermectin prescribed by the vet.
At the end of the course the girls seemed fine, but Eddi still seemed itchy.
I lost count of how many skin checks and examinations he had, and all the sores on his shoulders cleared up with a few days of the Ivenrmectin.
The vet actually commented what beautiful condition he was in every time we went in for a check up!

But finally (after about a month) he developed a few small sores and 1 tiny bald patch on his bottom.
We went straight back to the vet and he was diagnosed with very mild fungal.
She did take a culture to rule out ringworm, and it wasn't ringworm - just non specific fungal.
He had 15 days of treatment (cream applied to the affected area twice a day) and touch wood he seems fine now.

I really hope you get your piggies sorted soon - it sounds as though you are doing everything you can for them.

That does sound really similar to what I'm going through. My piggies live in C&C cages with fleece liners as bedding and it's all washed every 2-3 days, I poop scoop and remove soiled hay every day, I really do keep it as clean as possible. The fact they most likely have a fungal infection just broke me, like all the work I put in to make things good for the piggies isn't good enough, I just feel very dirty now! My pigs do have lots of wooden items however, like houses, logs and chews etc, they've had these for about a year so I think it's about time I threw them out, especially when it could be those harboring the fungus. Killed me to throw out hundreds of pounds worth of wooden items but it needed to be done! All of their liners and fleece items are in a 60c wash, takes 3 hours just to do 1 load, it'll take days to get everything washed and fugus free, I'm really thinking about going out and buying new! Need to replace all their wooden houses with fleece houses which is expensive and can't buy new wood chews until the infection has completely gone. I still have a bottle of Ivermectin from the vet last time so I've given them all another round, just incase of mites/lice as well. My F10SC disinfectant came today so I'm in the process of disinfecting everything, just waiting for the washing to finish so I can strip their cages, disinfect it and then put new fleece in. Gosh it's terrible

 

[Stayc1989]

Did the vets say it's definitely fungal and did they give you anything for it? I really feel for you it's awful when your trying your best and feel like it's not enough but you've done the right thing and to get help for your piggies

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Did the vets say it's definitely fungal and did they give you anything for it? I really feel for you it's awful when your trying your best and feel like it's not enough but you've done the right thing and to get help for your piggies

I took 4 of them to the vet and she did a skin scraping and hair sample from 2 of them, the worst ones, I got the results within a few hours and to my amazement they actually have mites! I was gobsmacked because I really thought it was fungal, I was giving them ivermectin this whole time and it wasn't improving so I honestly thought mites were the last thing they had! Turns out though ivermectin loses it's effectiveness after 3 months of opening, I didn't know that so when I was giving them 6 month old ivermectin it was shooting blanks and doing nothing for them. However this is really good news, I'm happy it's mites, they have a fresh course of ivermectin now to give over 3 weeks and then 1 month afterwards for prevention, I'm so happy it's not more serious! Luckily the type of mite is the less harmful one, I don't remember the name of the mite, she just said it wasn't the nasty mite. My pigs have their treatment now and will hopefully have clean healthy skin in a month, I feel a bit silly really!

 

[Stayc1989]

I took 4 of them to the vet and she did a skin scraping and hair sample from 2 of them, the worst ones, I got the results within a few hours and to my amazement they actually have mites! I was gobsmacked because I really thought it was fungal, I was giving them ivermectin this whole time and it wasn't improving so I honestly thought mites were the last thing they had! Turns out though ivermectin loses it's effectiveness after 3 months of opening, I didn't know that so when I was giving them 6 month old ivermectin it was shooting blanks and doing nothing for them. However this is really good news, I'm happy it's mites, they have a fresh course of ivermectin now to give over 3 weeks and then 1 month afterwards for prevention, I'm so happy it's not more serious! Luckily the type of mite is the less harmful one, I don't remember the name of the mite, she just said it wasn't the nasty mite. My pigs have their treatment now and will hopefully have clean healthy skin in a month, I feel a bit silly really!

Awww that's good news that it's nothing serious, I didn't know that it looses affectiveness once opened either, glad they are all on the road to recovery