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Is This Fungal?

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Liv

Liv

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone,
I just discovered that my Bhalu's left eye has little brown crusts around it and there is a small bald patch beneath the eye. Closer inspection also revealed several small bald patches around his nose. He's been at a piggy boarding house over Easter while I was away so I think he may have either caught something there or has developed an infection due to stress (he's a sensitive soul). He's active and eating voraciously as normal. See the pics below. Because he's a teddy his fluff makes the bald patches hard to see. Googling his symptoms makes me believe it could be fungal and he has previously had scurfy ears due to an early stage fungal problem which went away after treatment with Gorgeous Guineas CocoNeem melt and Kwench lotion. Should I try treating him with these again or do I need to see a vet? The eye worries me... Thanks.
20170420_195209[1].webp 20170420_195307[1].webp
 
I would definitely get him along to a vet.
It does look like fungal, and if so it might need something a bit stronger than the GG products.
If you try and treat on spec you might make it harder for a vet to diagnose.

On the plus side when Eddi had fungal, it was treated quite quickly with a topical cream from the vet.
Fingers crossed yours is also a simple one to treat.
 
At first I thought it might have been a bite but looking at the underneath part of the eye, looks like the start of fungal, it's exactly where I found it on my crew.
I think even before you get vet confirmation, I would treat it as so, so full quarantine, wear gloves when handling, plastic apron when holding to the chest, once you treat one you will have to treat them all because it's so contagious.

Good luck.
 
OK. His cagemate Puck doesn't show any symptoms but will def take both boys to the vet!
 
Liv said:
OK. His cagemate Puck doesn't show any symptoms but will def take both boys to the vet!
Click to expand...

It could be the very beginning of fungal if it is also around the eye. otherwise, it could be an irritation from the eye that has resulted in increasing watering - your vet may want to check that option, too.

If it is fungal, you need to give the companion a fungal bath to prevent an outbreak on them and again at the end of the treatment. That should take care of the companion.
Ringworm is the most aggressive and transmittable form of fungal, but while the other forms don't transmit to humans, they can still affect the companions.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
 
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UPDATE: went to see the vet this morning. He said he thinks it's bacterial, not fungal, so prescribed Bhalu some baytril for 2 weeks. He said ringworm looks different and would make Bhalu's hair come out easily, which it doesn't. Also said ringworm is rare in adult guinea pigs. He gave me the option of sending a skin sample to the lab to test for fungus but this would take 3 weeks! So he advised trying the antibiotics first. He thinks it's an infection of the eyelids rather than the eye itself - hence the brown crusts all around the perimeter of the eye. I suppose the little bald patches could be self-inflicted from Bhalu trying to scratch his eye. Will start him on the antibiotics tonight. Any thoughts?
 
Seems like a reasonable place to start, and that eye does look nasty.
My only advice would be to try and get hold of a probiotic to give Bhalu a couple of hours after he takes his antibiotic.
Antibiotics can be rough on their stomach and the probiotics will help keep everything moving.
Plus closely monitor his eating and weight, and step in with supplemental feeding if needed.
Good luck and I hope the antibiotics do the trick.
Well done for getting him to the vet so quickly.
 
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Swissgreys said:
Seems like a reasonable place to start, and that eye does look nasty.
My only advice would be to try and get hold of a probiotic to give Bhalu a couple of hours after he takes his antibiotic.
Antibiotics can be rough on their stomach and the probiotics will help keep everything moving.
Plus closely monitor his eating and weight, and step in with supplemental feeding if needed.
Good luck and I hope the antibiotics do the trick.
Well done for getting him to the vet so quickly.
Click to expand...

Thanks, will do. I do have some unopened AviPro Plus so will give him some of that as well. Poor little munchkin, hopefully the antibiotics will help!
 
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