Fungal growth on Guinea Pigs nose

[PeggyPudding]

Hello!

I have 2 guinea pigs & for the last 2 winters they have developed what looks like some sort of fungal / dry skin condition on their noses. It cleared up during the summer but has now returned.

One has it worse than the other, but it doesn’t seem to causing them pain.

If anyone has seen this before, I would be grateful if you could tell me what may be causing it & how to treat it. I have shown a vet who doesn’t know what it is & I can’t find anything similar when researching it.

(Image below of my piggie with said thing on nose).

Thanks for your help!

 

[Gem789]

My pig George had this and the vet did prescribe cream but I ended up loosing it so left it in the end as it didn't seem to bother him. It eventually went on its own.

 

[PeggyPudding]

My pig George had this and the vet did prescribe cream but I ended up loosing it so left it in the end as it didn't seem to bother him. It eventually went on its own.

Thanks! Good to know that someone else has seen it too. Like you say, it doesn’t seem to bother them or cause pain at all. Hopefully it will clear soon.

 

[Swissgreys]

It is actually know condition in guinea pigs called 'teddy bear nose' and is a self limiting fungal infection.
Unless it gets worse or seems to be troubling your piggy (who is just beautiful) then you don't need to do anything.

There is a good thread about it here:
What is on Tiana’s nose?

 

[VickiA]

With @Swissgreys. It’s a self limiting condition called teddy bear nose. Nothing to worry about unless it gets worse or causes the piggies distress.

 

[Betsy]

Meg has this on her nose and it doesn't cause any distress. The vet isn't worried about it either.

 

[rhymer]

One of my piggies had this and it didn't bother him either. Gorgeous looking piggy.xx

 

[PeggyPudding]

Hi everyone,

My pigs also have this fungal nose stripe / teddy bear nose. I posted back in December about it & have since read that ‘Daktarin gold 2% cream’ can be used to treat it. I have been using it every day for the last 10 days but there has been little to no improvement.

Can anyone recommend any other topical ointments to try? It’s not spreading or causing them distress, but it looks horrible! Here is a pic from today.

 

[VickiA]

Hi everyone,

My pigs also have this fungal nose stripe / teddy bear nose. I posted back in December about it & have since read that ‘Daktarin gold 2% cream’ can be used to treat it. I have been using it every day for the last 10 days but there has been little to no improvement.

Can anyone recommend any other topical ointments to try? It’s not spreading or causing them distress, but it looks horrible! Here is a pic from today. View attachment 108018

Hello @PeggyPudding i have moved your post from today to your previous thread so that all the info and photos are together.

As a forum we do not advocate home treating.

To my eye, the stripe looks worse in this latest photo than in the earlier one. I would wholeheartedly recommend seeing a vet for formal diagnosis and the correct treatment.

 

[PeggyPudding]

Hi @VickiA
Thank you for moving my thread - I am still a bit new to the forum!

I will arrange an appointment because it is worse. I will keep you posted :-)

 

[Bill & Ted]

Hello and welcome, hope your piggie recovers soon, what a beauty

 

[Betsy]

That looks like Meg's nose. It doesn't worry her, the vet didn't seem worried so neither am I.

 

[VickiA]

Hi @VickiA
Thank you for moving my thread - I am still a bit new to the forum!

I will arrange an appointment because it is worse. I will keep you posted :-)

Don’t worry - that’s what we mods are for - to move posts and threads as needed. It’s just easier if you add updates etc to your existing thread rather than posting on someone else’s thread.
If you ever have trouble finding one of your old threads , there are several ways to search the forum.

If you are relatively new and have a small post count, click on your profile next to the post you are making or reading- it lists the number of posts you’ve made. If you click on the number of “messages” it will bring up a list of your old posts and you can find them again.

If you’ve got more than a few pages of posts, then you can use the search facility at the top of the page. You can search by key word or by typing your username in the relevant box.

Hope this helps

 

[Freela]

Leela has fungal nose stripe (I like 'teddy bear nose' better- I am going to start saying that!) We first noticed it around Christmas. So far I haven't taken her to the vet for it because I have read here that it's unlikely to spread and possibly self-limiting, so I haven't thought it was worth taking her to the vet in the freezing cold and constant snow that we are having here in Ontario right now, but I will likely get it checked out in the spring if it's still present then.

 

[PeggyPudding]

Hello again everyone! I have an update with my piggies' noses. After taking them to the vet, he took a sample & sent it for testing & it came back as a bacterial infection, not fungal.

First of all, the vet gave me some liquid antibiotics (Enrobactin) which I had to administer twice daily for 10 days. There was no change at the end of the course, so he then gave me a course of different antibiotics in tablet form (Ronaxan) to be administered twice daily for 4 weeks.

I am really struggling to encourage them to ingest a tablet. Each dose is only 1/4 of a tablet which is very small - so I have had some luck with wrapping it in a piece of spinach / dandelion but this doesn't work every time & I am on a time limit in the morning before having to leave for work - sometimes I have had to sit with them for up to 45 minutes.

I have tried crushing the tablets & mixing with water to syringe it, but it's quite lumpy & gets stuck in the tip of the syringe. Has anyone had any experience using pill poppers for guinea pigs? I am just struggling to find a time efficient method which will be consistent for 4 weeks, and a method which doesn't stress them out!

I have done some further research on antibiotics for guinea pigs & have read that their appetites can be suppressed, which I have noticed. They barely touch their daily fresh veg or hay. I know that if a guinea pig loses its appetite, it is a cause for concern.

Very grateful as always for any advice!