Guinea pigs with a fungal infection: Should I apply some cream to the infected areas

[Squeaky_Ewok]

Hello I'm the proud owner of to two new young guinea pigs and have had them for about a month now they are doing well but unfortunately 6 days ago the vet confirmed they had ringworm treatment is for the next two weeks and they are doing well with this and there cage is being kept clean with some sort or liquid the vet also gave me to was out their cage. I just wanted to ask if it would be good to add a cream on really dry and hard patches and I have recently purchased a cream off
http://www.gorgeousguineas.co.uk

Super Souffle Cream:
A rich, moisturising cream with Avocado and Calendula Oil. Designed to soften hard crusty skin where there is a bad fungal infection. It can also help to keep the skin moist and prevent the dry skin / fungal spores spreading everywhere.

I feel this would help as one of my guinea pigs has nearly his whole ear covered in crusty skin and around his eye, the vet never said anything about putting creams or whatnot around these areas so should I leave that kinda stuff until the two weeks are up? Any help would be appreciated Thank you

Lauren, Scruffy and Ginger x>>

 

[Squeaky_Ewok]

Someone also mentioned to me on here that Imaverol is what they used to treat their guinea pigs, I have been researching it some people say that you do not rinse them off and let it dry on the guinea pig I would be worried about this as the guinea pig might get too cold but if I kept them warm would this be a good solution? Excuse my many questions new to this site and very worried about my guinea pigs :/ Even though they don't seem to be in any pain whatsoever and eat and eat and are drinking

 

[AbbyGuinea]

Hello! It was me about the imaverol - When I am letting them drip dry, i place them in a box lined with kitchen roll and keep them in the kitchen so it's abit warmer and easier to clean surfaces When they are just about dry mine go back into their cages.

Are yours housed outside? If so, they need to be completely dry before they go back in their hutch.

x

 

[Floydie]

You also need to dip the whole pig aswell! Head under the water quickly otherwise you will just leave an area for the fungal to grow back/be untreated (Its a good idea to treat all cage mates at the same time to limit spread). Canesten cream (athlete's foot cream) will help too applied twice a day with a cotton bud. You can also bath in sporal D shampoo every 3 days leave on for 5/10 mins then rinse (Again treat all cage mates). It may be an idea to treat for mites too as pigs can have both at the same time.
Clean the hutch/cage/bedding with virkon or similar to kill the spores.
Also wash your hands very well between handling/feeding etc pigs to limit spread.

 

[Squeaky_Ewok]

Oh okay then thanks very much as long ai keep the heater on they should be fine then Nope they are inside so I can keep a close on them

 

[Squeaky_Ewok]

To Floydie thanks for replying is the sporal D shampoo another seperate treatment for this infection and is the canesten cream also a seperate form of treatment or would these need to be combined in way? And my pigs are both being treated although one seems to have reacted to it more seriously but is doing well just his luck I suppose poor thing I suspected the whole infection was mites and they were treated with beahpar spot on which offers 4 weeks protection from mites and it seemed to clear up a patch but then the infection spread to the face and the vet confirmed it was ringworm so would I need to still treat them for mites after this treatment is done?
Thanks for the help

 

[Suzygpr]

Hi there

I hope I can help a little and save you some confusion over the treatment of ringworm and mites.

As your pigs are young I would strongly advise against layering up on treatments. Beaphar is a poor product in regards to mite treatment and I would not use it on guinea pigs of any age.

Stick with the Imaverol - if you could give the treatment regime it would help to know that you have been given the correct info by the vet. What mix (imaverol to water) are you using, how often are you treating the pigs, are you soaking the entire body (inc ears) or just the affected parts?

Mite treatment - Xeno 50 for pigs weighing less than 800g is the only product I would recommend for young pigs, treat every 7-10 for three treatments. Please ensure that you allow 48hrs before/after bathing before applying the Xeno.

The best product for cleaning cages etc is F10 - it is one of the very few products that is able to kill fungal spores which are the cause of re-infection.

While handling the pigs please ensure you wear gloves/protective clothing as ringworm is transmissible to you and other members of your family.

HTH

Suzy x

 

[Floydie]

To Floydie thanks for replying is the sporal D shampoo another seperate treatment for this infection and is the canesten cream also a seperate form of treatment or would these need to be combined in way? And my pigs are both being treated although one seems to have reacted to it more seriously but is doing well just his luck I suppose poor thing I suspected the whole infection was mites and they were treated with beahpar spot on which offers 4 weeks protection from mites and it seemed to clear up a patch but then the infection spread to the face and the vet confirmed it was ringworm so would I need to still treat them for mites after this treatment is done?
Thanks for the help

The canesten cream can be used to help clear up small patches, id leave it a while (Couple of days) after using the dip use it between dips, Use at least for a week after the infection has cleared up on infected areas. Sporal D can be used after you have finished with the dip treatment as a preventative.
Fungal always looks worse before it gets better too! Just keep going with the treatment.

 

[Squeaky_Ewok]

Hello thanks for the help

They seem to be less itchy as before so I think that the mites are gone now and maybe the ringworm is calming down a little because they aren't running about and twitching their heads which is a good sign? If it was them in the first it's so frustrating to tell what's what, but as for your question I haven't been using any other treatment except the oral treatment of Itrafungol I think it is which I administer 0.5ml everyday for two weeks and it their 8th day of treatment today, I also have a cage cleaner that the vet gave me to diluter 0.1ml in 50ml of warm water to wash out the cage and it's called (oh my I am shocked now I have just checked what it has been all along haha) Imaverol! Well is it suitable as a cage cleaner as well by the looks of this? But because of how far they are in to their two week treatment is it still possible to start another form of treatment I do plan on going back and having a consultation with vet again once the two weeks are up Oh ever since I was told they had this infection I have been a clean freak ever since haha

Thanks a lot I feel much less confused now xx

 

[Squeaky_Ewok]

Yes I've noticed since I started giving the treatment it seems to look much worse Poor things and I will have a look into the stuff you have recommended thanks for your help again