Fungal Skin Infection Confirmed By Vet - Bathing Tips?

[Dilly's Piggies]

Dolly went to the vet today to have her skin problem diagnosed, the vet took some hair from the affected site and looked at it under the scope, he couldn't see anything but has diagnosed her with a fungal infection anyway and we will treat her for that.

He is aware that Dolly has always had a mystery skin problem and even though it has been 8 months since we first noticed dry skin on her ears and feet, it could've been dormant this whole time and just decided to flare up now. Thankfully none of the other piggies we have are showing signs, but that's not to say they won't get it, so we will continually check them until Dolly is cleared up. Dolly will not be separated as it's pointless at this time, the other pigs have already been in contact, I don't want to cause her more stress which could potentially prevent or delay healing.

As for treatment we've been advised to use Malaseb shampoo directly on the affected areas every 2 days for the next week, if no better or if another piggy shows signs, we will be using Intrafungol. Throwing all wood out of the cages, F10 disinfecting everything and washing fleece on 60*c for a while. We were told not to use human antifungal cream as there's not enough research to say that it is safe for Guinea Pigs although it may be something we can try later on.

Dolly came up with 2 new scabs today, one on her forehead and one on the ear, so we were advised to shampoo her everywhere from the shoulders forward. Does anyone have any tips on how to thoroughly wash her face without getting the shampoo in her eyes or ears? I was thinking about covering her eyes with a towel or something and washing around it.

 

[Wiebke]

Dolly went to the vet today to have her skin problem diagnosed, the vet took some hair from the affected site and looked at it under the scope, he couldn't see anything but has diagnosed her with a fungal infection anyway and we will treat her for that.

He is aware that Dolly has always had a mystery skin problem and even though it has been 8 months since we first noticed dry skin on her ears and feet, it could've been dormant this whole time and just decided to flare up now. Thankfully none of the other piggies we have are showing signs, but that's not to say they won't get it, so we will continually check them until Dolly is cleared up. Dolly will not be separated as it's pointless at this time, the other pigs have already been in contact, I don't want to cause her more stress which could potentially prevent or delay healing.

As for treatment we've been advised to use Malaseb shampoo directly on the affected areas every 2 days for the next week, if no better or if another piggy shows signs, we will be using Intrafungol. Throwing all wood out of the cages, F10 disinfecting everything and washing fleece on 60*c for a while. We were told not to use human antifungal cream as there's not enough research to say that it is safe for Guinea Pigs although it may be something we can try later on.

Dolly came up with 2 new scabs today, one on her forehead and one on the ear, so we were advised to shampoo her everywhere from the shoulders forward. Does anyone have any tips on how to thoroughly wash her face without getting the shampoo in her eyes or ears? I was thinking about covering her eyes with a towel or something and washing around it.

Use a cotton pad or a syringe around the sensitive areas - that is the reason why I so much prefer itrafungol! You still need to make sure that you get the malaseb down to the skin. The fungal infection sits on the hair roots and all affected hairs in a much wider circle than you'd think need to come out before it is over.

Once you have been through the whole bathing routing with 16 piggies... just washing all the towels, bedding and clothing at high temperatures, not to mention the time that bathing takes with 15 minutes in which the fungal shampoos and dips have to be allowed to get to work.

 

[sport_billy]

tagging @Wiebke @helen105281 they are both highly knowledgeable on fungal issues

I wouldn't shampoo her face - high chance of getting shampoo in eyes and ears which will irratate badly like when we get shampoo in our eyes I think the fact two new scabs have arrived I would be going back to the vet and going down the Itrafungal route now....

If I had to go topical our vet would often recommend Imaverol applying this topically with a cotton pad to affected areas on face and head

 

[sport_billy]

thanks Wiebke, good tip on the Malaseb on a cotton pad

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Use a cotton pad or a syringe around the sensitive areas - that is the reason why I so much prefer itrafungol! You still need to make sure that you get the malaseb down to the skin. The fungal infection sits on the hair roots and all affected hairs in a much wider circle than you'd think need to come out before it is over.

Once you have been through the whole bathing routing with 16 piggies... just washing all the towels, bedding and clothing at high temperatures, not to mention the time that bathing takes with 15 minutes in which the fungal shampoos and dips have to be allowed to get to work.

Oh god I know, I have 10 piggies and avoid bathing them at all costs, it's such hard work to do all of them and takes all day, such a stressful thing for myself and the pigs! I would've preferred to take Intrafungol today but they didn't have any in stock, they're going to order some in so if I need it in a weeks time they will have some ready.

He did give me a syringe today to apply the shampoo which is a great idea, will use the cotton pad method too with her, I'm dreading the bathing lol!

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

The vet told me to shampoo everywhere from the shoulders forward, do you think this is enough or should I shampoo all over just to be safe?

 

[Wiebke]

Oh god I know, I have 10 piggies and avoid bathing them at all costs, it's such hard work to do all of them and takes all day, such a stressful thing for myself and the pigs! I would've preferred to take Intrafungol today but they didn't have any in stock, they're going to order some in so if I need it in a weeks time they will have some ready.

He did give me a syringe today to apply the shampoo which is a great idea, will use the cotton pad method too with her, I'm dreading the bathing lol!

Make sure that you do not bathe in a sink, but in a large bowl on a towel in your shower or bathtub. that way they cannot injure themselves if they blind jump, but are still in a confined space.

 

[Wiebke]

The vet told me to shampoo everywhere from the shoulders forward, do you think this is enough or should I shampoo all over just to be safe?

All over please - fungal affects especially the face, which is the most sensitive area. Ask your vet clinic to let you know as soon as the itrafungol has come in, so you can switch to treat the acutely affected piggies with it. The area just by the eyes and the inside of the ears is the trickiest area. I prefer to just give these areas a gentle wipe with a cotton bud that is not dripping.

Normally 2-3 baths should be enough to prevent not yet acutely affected piggies from coming down with it.

If you can, please remove your acutely fungal piggies from the room and put them in quarantine to prevent fungal spores from travelling across. it is useful to have a smaller hospital cage (even if it is too small for normal care) for these occasions if you have a larger number of piggies. After several ringworm episodes, I even have a bin bag full of old towels, old fleeces and cosies just for fungal outbreaks that I wash at 90 C before they go back in the attic again.
Always bathe any acute piggies last, again in order to minimise the risk of transmission. Give yourself a nizoral scrub afterwards. Most of it are just commonsense strategies in minimising any risk of transmission, but they are very effective.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

All over please - fungal affects especially the face, which is the most sensitive area. Ask your vet clinic to let you know as soon as the itrafungol has come in, so you can switch to treat the acutely affected piggies with it.

Normally 2-3 baths should be enough to prevent not yet acutely affected piggies from coming down with it.

If you can, please remove your acutely fungal piggies from the room and put them in quarantine to prevent fungal spores from travelling across. it is useful to have a smaller hospital cage (even if it is too small for normal care) for these occasions if you have a larger number of piggies. After several ringworm episodes, I even have a bin bag full of old towels, old fleeces and cosies just for fungal outbreaks that I wash at 90 C before they go back in the attic again.
Always bathe any acute piggies last, again in order to minimise the risk of transmission. Give yourself a nizoral scrub afterwards. Most of it are just commonsense strategies in minimising any risk of transmission, but they are very effective.

The vet told me not to quarantine and just treat any pigs that get it as well... Can Intrafungol be used for piggies that don't appear infected as a prevention?

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Also, can fungus live in hay or is it strictly transmitted through direct contact? I bought alfalfa king timothy hay this month as the store was out of stock of my regular oxbow timothy, very funny how this happened since switching hay.

 

[Wiebke]

Also, can fungus live in hay or is it strictly transmitted through direct contact? I bought alfalfa king timothy hay this month as the store was out of stock of my regular oxbow timothy, very funny how this happened since switching hay.

Ringworm and fungal spores are in the environment and they are pretty long lived. Most often they are carried in by infected piggies or piggies in contact with infected ones/places with acture infections.

Sometimes they just happen out of the blue and you are left to wonder. You will never be able to eliminate fungal spores or skin parasites completely. As long as you are prepared to step in, quarantine, deep clean and treat promptly as soon as you notice it is not getting past nuisance level into becoming a major headache and it is not getting to the stage where it is affecting all your piggies. The trick is to catch it early on and deal with it before it can spread further so the other piggies only need preventative treatment (one fungal bath or 1-2 courses of easimec) to keep them from catching the bug.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Ringworm and fungal spores are in the environment and they are pretty long lived. Most often they are carried in by infected piggies or piggies in contact with infected ones/places with acture infections.

Sometimes they just happen out of the blue and you are left to wonder. You will never be able to eliminate fungal spores or skin parasites completely. As long as you are prepared to step in, quarantine, deep clean and treat promptly as soon as you notice it is not getting past nuisance level into becoming a major headache and it is not getting to the stage where it is affecting all your piggies. The trick is to catch it early on and deal with it before it can spread further so the other piggies only need preventative treatment (one fungal bath or 1-2 courses of easimec) to keep them from catching the bug.

We babysit our 3 year old niece multiple days a week and last week we noticed some ringworm like marks on her legs although it's not certain. My niece loves the piggies and did handle Dolly the day before Dolly came up with this infection, mostly she touched her head, where the scabs are coming up, perhaps this can explain how Dolly caught it?

 

[Wiebke]

We babysit our 3 year old niece multiple days a week and last week we noticed some ringworm like marks on her legs although it's not certain. My niece loves the piggies and did handle Dolly the day before Dolly came up with this infection, mostly she touched her head, where the scabs are coming up, perhaps this can explain how Dolly caught it?

Yes, she will have likely picked up spores. I am very sorry; children are very susceptible to ringworm.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I just gave her the first malaseb bath, she was really well behaved but she's a sweetie anyway, wouldn't expect any less of her. Scrubbed her infected areas really well and got a little bit of infected hair out. The skin looks better already, it was bright red before but looks like it's turning pink again now. Poor baby that nose patch is so huge and nasty!