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Help. Fungal infection on pregnant sow.

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joenix

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Help. Our Mollywobbles was fine in her first month of pregnancy. Then I started to notice hairloss and shampoo'd her with anti-fungal and anti-mite shampoos. It didn't improve so I took her to the vet who took a skin scraping and said it was a fungal infection. Then he told me to get griseofulvin. Horribly harmful to unborn young. When I refused he acted like I didn't want to make the effort to cure her! I don't know if griseofulvin is used the in UK. I'm an ex-pat in Belgium. But it's pretty strong stuff.
While I'll definitely use the systemic cure once her babies are weaned there's no way I'm going to give her the stuff while she's in her last week of pregnancy.
But look at the photo's. Poor thing. I use calendula cream to stop the itch which helps a lot. Her skin feels hot. But she doesn't go mad if I touch it. It's shiny and not flaky at all unless I 'pluck' her of all the infected hair which I do regularly. It just doesn't seem to be getting any better. Her appetite's fine. She's still squeaky and normal. Do I just have to wait it out until the babies are weaned and I can treat her more aggressively?
Thanks
Sarah
:laluot_08:
 

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Oh my word, I can't offer advice, I am not well up on this but I'm sure other will be able to help. Hope all goes well with the pregnancy and you can sort poor Mollywobbles out. Best of luck, you have come to the right place. x
 
thanks

Thanks. I should mention I've been bathing her every 5 days for the last 3 weeks with Imaverol. The vet also gave me Ivermectin. Again, I don't know if these are the same names as british meds, but the first one's anti-fungal and the other one's anti-mite.
 
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I haven't heard of Imaverol but we use Ivermectin for mite treatment. I don't think there's any point using this if it deffo isn't mites.

Can I just say well done on thinking before using the treatment your vet gave you! So many people just accept what the vet prescribes without thinking.

I think you should email Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas [email protected] enclosing the pics. She should be able to suggest something gentle enough for a pregnant mum
 
thanks

thank you. i've just mailed her. but all advice is gratefully received! i'm really at my wits end here. at this rate by the time the babies are weaned she'll be mistaken for a hairless breed...
 
Hi Sarah, welcome to the forum.

All the names are the same here so far. Griseofulvin is usually a last resort in most pigs, so should definitely be avoided in prgenant sows. More usually Intrafungol or Dida is used to treat systemic fungal, sometimes an intensive course of wormer (Panacur/Valbazen) as an alternative. Imaverol is an antifungal dip, if I remember correctly. Ivermectin is the primary treatment for mites. It is interesting to hear that your vet in Belgium offers better treatment than many UK vets do!

Good idea starla on thinking of Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas. GG does a range of products for pregnant sows so should be able to help.

Good luck with Mollywobbles, keep us updated!
 
This certainly looks very unusual. It does not look like mites; it would not be a common area for mite infestation to start.
.
You said she was OK before her pregnancy; do any of your other pigs have anything similar?
I am thinking that it may be hormonal. If it is, it could resolve spontaneously after she has littered. The vet may have found evidence of fungal infection, but fungal infections are ‘opportunistic’ …they will find damaged/exposed/damp skin. That could therefore be bit of a red herring.

Any idea exactly how soon she is due? If she is eating well and is due very soon (days) it would be safer just to keep her comfortable rather than stress her with a lot of travelling and vet investigations/medication. After she litters it may quickly disappear.
 
I didn't think of that. But the other sow she was with at the beginning of her pregnancy had a tiny bit of hair loss, too. So I put two and two together and thought infection. But yes, it could be hormonal.
She hasn't minded the dips. They were in warm water with the heating on and they actually seemed to soothe her. I've had advice back from Gorgeous Guineas already with a couple of tips to keep her skin soft until she improves, but the hormonal idea is a definite possibility.
I'll perhaps give a couple of dips between now and weaning, just to keep fungus at bay if it is indeed fungus, but otherwise I'll take your advice (much appreciated) and just let her rest. She doesn't seem too bothered much by scratching, anyway.Thank you everyone. I'll definitely come back here for more advice!
Sarah
 
I know this might be a long shot but when my sow was ill (old age) she lost the use of her bacl legs and she used to lie on her left side all the time. Eventually the fur all fell out along her one side and I was told it was probably hair shafts snapping due to hormones/illness. There were no scabs/dry flakey skin, just bare smooth skin. It was warm to the touch. I wonder if this could be the same type of thing? I used vaseline to protect the skin from urine scald but you could also use neem cream which would help to stop any irritation. I hope things improve for her and the birth goes well :)
 
The hair shafts definitely aren't snapping, they're coming clean out at the root. I stopped Imaverol for a few days hoping it was hormonal. Inbetween she had four beautiful babies! But the hair loss is worse. And I still can't treat her aggressively until the babies are weaned.
So my next question is: would an iodine based gel/cream be harmful to a guinea pig? Has anyone used it with success? It works on fungal infections on people....
Anyway, her bare skin is now a nice yellow colour from the iodine cream (called isobetadine over here in belgium). Just waiting to see if it has any effect.
 
I used savlon in spray form on my sow's foot when it became ulcerated as this contained iodine in it. I'm not really sure to be honest. Congratualtions on becoming a new mum. Hope things improve xx
 
At last!
Her hair is growing back!
It was definitely a fungal infection, but pregnancy made it really take over. The babies are now 3 weeks old and she's got a fuzz of new hair growth.
I started to really lose hope after she'd given birth. I didn't want to use anything too strong on her, but at the same time the fungus was really taking over. I would use calendula oil on her back to moisturise. But if I didn't do this daily, she would develop very flaky, dry skin. I put in drops of tea tree, lavender and clary sage essential oils in the calendula.
I bathed her every four to five days with an anti dandruff shampoo (to stop the skin becoming too dry) and at the end of every bath had a 'plucking session', pulling gently at the hairs so all loose hairs came out by the roots. It wasn't very pleasant for her, but I noticed that if I didn't do this the fungus spread very rapidly.
However, this didn't help much and the fungus stayed.
Then I decided to use isobetadine gel. It's an anti-fungal disinfectant mostly used for open wounds. I didn't want to use it too often as it contains iodine which could effect the thyroid. But by this time I was getting desperate!
I would coat her skin every three days. There was obvious improvement by the second day! The open wounds were almost immediately healed. Her itching improved. And the skin looked smooth and no longer flaky.
If I stopped using the gel for more than four days the skin went back to the flaky, itchy condition it was in before.
So I have been using it every three days for the past two weeks and at long, LONG last her hair is growing back! Phew!
I don't know how much this is to do with the fact that her hormones are getting back to normal as opposed to the medical side of things, but I really don't care!
I thought I'd write and let everyone know in case they come across the same problem.
I really thought she wouldn't recover without using some harsh chemicals.
I still believe she has a fungal infection. But at the moment it's reduced enough for her to fight with her own immunity.
If it comes back after the babies are weaned I shall take her to the vet for something stronger.
But at last....it's over!
Thanks for your help and advice!
Sarah :(|)
 
I'm glad to hear that things are improving and that the babies are all fit and well :)
 
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