Fungal infection in new baby piggies

[ariel&oscar]

I reserved some baby guinea pigs from a breeder several weeks ago and went to collect them on Thursday evening. One of the two had a fungal infection (they lived together) and the breeder said I could leave them both with her till it cleared up or I could take them home. She siad that she had given them some treatment and the infection wouldclear up in a few days. I took them home thinking it would be straight forward and would clear up in a few days.
On saturday I noticed the infected one had been scratching quite badly and had dried blood on the wounds. She has a round patch on the head, several patches over her body and a large bald spot down her back. The areas are scabby, flaky and bloody. I thought the infection would have started to clear up by now. I have kept them seperate ffrom my other piggies and washed my hands after handling them.
I am worried cos it doesn't seem to be getting any better and I think I am finding new areas as the days pass. I have been treating her 3 times a day with a cream called Daktaril (?) but I'm wondering what I should do next. If it was one of my girls outside I would have taken her to the vets as soon as I saw something was wrong, but DH says that that is the breeders responsibility and I should take them back and ask for a refund.
I do not want this to spread to my outdoor girls, I feel so sorry for the infected one, and I don't mind traeting her and caring for her, but I understood this was a simple complaint to deaql with and thought after a week it would be gone and I could bond them to my others. I now feel thsi will be an ongoing problem and after researching this, it doesnt look good.

What should I do?

 

[clairelove]

first off fungal infections need weeks of treatment every single day no one off treatment will clear it, so the breeder lied to you, what did she treat them with?

what you need to do now is.

go to the vets and asked for malaseb shampoo they both need to be bathed in this every 5 days for around 3-4 treatments,.

They will also need to be treated for mites so they need injected ivermectin its not normally given to guineas under 12wks old BUT it can be used where mites are server.

only bed guinea guineas on newspaper and hay no shavings until the hair has re grown.

its also worth asking the vet for itrafungol oral meds .

i would then bill the breeder for this and gather all your vet info of the treatment they needed if the breeder doesnt agree to pay i would then contact the trading standards to see where you stand.

if these guineas go back there is a chance she will not treat them as she does not sound like a reputable breeder and just a breeder for profit as a reputable breeder would not sell guinea pig/s in this condition x

oh and wash every thing that they have been in contact with and use very very good hygiene standards

time scale is around 4-12wks depending on how bad the fungal is if its ringworm then you can catch this too and any other person or pets in your house to its extra important you feed clean treat these after all your other animals have been done, wear rubber gloves and wipable apron and change clothes after handlingxxx

 

[Glynis]

I reserved some baby guinea pigs from a breeder several weeks ago and went to collect them on Thursday evening. One of the two had a fungal infection (they lived together) and the breeder said I could leave them both with her till it cleared up or I could take them home. She siad that she had given them some treatment and the infection wouldclear up in a few days. I took them home thinking it would be straight forward and would clear up in a few days.
On saturday I noticed the infected one had been scratching quite badly and had dried blood on the wounds. She has a round patch on the head, several patches over her body and a large bald spot down her back. The areas are scabby, flaky and bloody. I thought the infection would have started to clear up by now. I have kept them seperate ffrom my other piggies and washed my hands after handling them.
I am worried cos it doesn't seem to be getting any better and I think I am finding new areas as the days pass. I have been treating her 3 times a day with a cream called Daktaril (?) but I'm wondering what I should do next. If it was one of my girls outside I would have taken her to the vets as soon as I saw something was wrong, but DH says that that is the breeders responsibility and I should take them back and ask for a refund.
I do not want this to spread to my outdoor girls, I feel so sorry for the infected one, and I don't mind traeting her and caring for her, but I understood this was a simple complaint to deaql with and thought after a week it would be gone and I could bond them to my others. I now feel thsi will be an ongoing problem and after researching this, it doesnt look good.

What should I do?

I'm sorry you've gone thru this
clairelove spelt it out really well........ :...
GOOD LUCK XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
and let us know how things go............. i hope you have a really good savvy cavy vet cause this little one needs help :...
Healing loving wheeeeeeeeeeeks for the little one and probably her mate too xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[ariel&oscar]

Thank you both for your help. The breeder gave them both a dose of Lufenuron, I don't know what that is. I contacted her to let her know the situation and she has offered to take the piggies back and refund me and treat them with another dose of the Lafenuron. My DH thinks I should do that.
I have bedded them on fleece and hay, they are eating and pooping and seem well in themselves. I am going to phone my vet for advice too, they are good with rabbits so I'll see how they are with piggies.
I just want the poor itchy scabby one to be comfortable. I have constructed a wooden run so they can have some grass time outside. Will this be ok? I will put them where none of the others have their grass time, and how should I scrub the run afterwards when this is all gone? Will bleach solution be ok?

Thanks for your help so far x

 

[Glynis]

re the cleaning........... i use vinegar and water.........but for fungal i'd use a mild bleach but be very very careful to rinse well and dry thoroughly
the fleece you've used will also have to be washed in hot water and separate to the other fleecy's used by your other piggies, i'd also put a hot wash thru the machine between each wash with bleach in it........to kill off any bugs.....
What concerns me is that if you take them back........:{
Chat to your vet (GOOD ON YOU XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX) and see what they say and then i'd present the so said person with a bill or at least agree with them about treatment! poor pigglies it's not their fault they were bought up in the wrong conditions

 

[clairelove]

i dont think ive used Lafenuron in fungal pigs we have had in but from reading up on it, it sez they need treatment for 5 days so it builds up in their body and it can take a further 5-6 wks to see results, personally i feel in guineas this young this isnt the type of treatment i would use in fungals.

I had a fungal pig come in yesterday with server scabs and bloody mess on his facr and neck and going down his head and back, he has had a malaseb bath, metacam and ivermect injected, he will have another malaseb bath in 5 days and ivermec again in 7-10 days and again 7-10 days later, if he continuse to scratch his scabs, i will use microporus tape to cover his back toe nails so he cant do anymore damage.

and lastly fungals live in wood so anything wood that they have been used in will really need treating x

 

[Kringeldec]

My piggie had Xeno for her skin complaint, a fungol cream and then itrafungol medicine.

Word of warning, it cost me nearly £200 to get my piggie better, what with treatment, hair tests etc.

I have since changed vets as he didn't really know what was wrong with her. Plus he just ordered tests meds etc and didn't advise me how much it was going to be before hand. Luckily I had enough money on me, but they do just tend to assume it's ok to go ahead.