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Is this ringworm?

  • Thread starter Thread starter harryandco
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harryandco

Hi, sorry this is a long post.
I was hopeing someone could help me with this. I have an 8week old piggie who I have had since she was 6weeks old. When I got her I noiticed that she had a small scabby lump on the top of her head and one next to her mouth. I still took her home because I was worried that the owner wouldnt look after her if I didnt take her, she was covered in lice to. I took her straight to the vet who said it was mites and gave her topical ivomectin. I thought it was fungal so asked the vet to get a second opinion, and she did but still told me it was a mite problem but gave me an anti fungal wash called sporal D just incase. Anyway its now two weeks later and my poor little maisy has had two lots of ivermectin and I have been washing her in the shampoo and using GG lavender and myrr lotion on the sores. I'm really worried now though as I have just had a really good rumage through her coat (shes long haired) and she has three new sores.:... That means she now has a total of 6 on different parts of her body and I feel so sorry for her. The sores are bald pathes of skin that are scabby and flakey, when I washed her I noiticed that one has a red ring in the middle of it, does anyone know if this is ringworm? I am getting really depressed with it now as I just dont seem to be able to get on top of it. :0
 
Sounds like it could be ringworm - if so then it's essential you use gloves as it can spread to humans (and other animals) and keep the pig in quarantine away from others. If it is ringworm it should be cured with bathing in Malaseb (from vets) every 3-5 days initially. If the pig is in a wooden hutch, spores can stay in the wood for years so it is essential to treat this as well with something like Virkon (available in tablet form from sph supplies online) which kills fungal spores.

If it is ringworm your vet should be able to diagnose it. I've had two lots of pigs with ringworm, one from a petshop and one from an auction. Are you able to show us some pics?

Sophie
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Hi

here are some pics. My vets are open at 7 till 8 tonight. However I dont want to go to them again without some of you guys telling me what you think it is as they may have dioagnosed incorrectly in the first place. Just signed up for a photobucket account hope this one works



HPIM1648.jpg


HPIM1650.jpg


HPIM1651.jpg
 
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In the last IMG tag, throw a forward slash in, it will work once it reads [/IMG]. :)
 
links working now see above post by me just waiting for photobucket to upload the next one
 
I'm no expert but it looks like it to me. The big pale patch looks like when my guinea Feather got it. The angry raw patch looks like when I got it! :{
 
thanks daisyd. What does everybody else think? Here is the picture of the same sore on her side as yesterday, also one that is on her head which was the first one. The one's on her rump look the same as yesterday. the skin is dry and Flakey apart from the scabby one on her rump.

HPIM1663.jpg

HPIM1662.jpg
 
Good pics but hard to tell... ringworm is commonly found as scabby bits around the eyes, ears and mouth?

But this looks very sore and definitely a visit to the vet, I think! If it's mites they should be able to see them through a microscope, usually do a 'sellotape' test then and there

Sophie
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The thing that is throwing me is that the only ringworm I have seen is more bumpy and crusty and they have started on the face. These look like localised patches of hairloss and sores, which can occur with either parasitic or fungal infection. I do see the red ring but whether this could be ringworm I really couldn't say.

What routine of treatment did you give? You mention Ivermectin and Sporal D, as well as the GG lotion, how often did you bathe, leave between treatments etc.?
 
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throwing me to about it not been a 2heavy" scab however on a couple of the pics there is a definite round patch that looks a little dry which is how ringworm looked on myself when i caught it off a pig that came in (was very naieve at that time and didnt realise it was fungal till too late) so it looks more like how ringworm apears in humans, very odd
 
harryandco said:
Hi

here are some pics. My vets are open at 7 till 8 tonight. However I dont want to go to them again without some of you guys telling me what you think it is as they may have dioagnosed incorrectly in the first place. Just signed up for a photobucket account hope this one works



HPIM1648.jpg
Click to expand...

this is the area I'm talking about looks just like to sores I got when I caught ringworm
but other than that pic it looks like sores of some sort apearing, i wounder if shes had an alergic reaction to one of the treatments possibly?
 
She had a small lumpy scab on top of her head and a small scab at the corner of her mouth. Both of these grew we picked off the scabs and pulled out loose hair and used canesten (horrible to do). She did have static lice when we got her home but we used lice and easi and then ivomec two days later. Two more sores then appeared on her tummy and back leg we did the same to both of these and went to the vets.

They said it was mites and since we had already used ivomec she should be fine. I questioned ring worm but their uv light was broken so she got a 2nd opinion and they agreed mites. The vet gave us sporal D shampoo to use weekly just in case as well as the good old baytril just in case:)).

The canesten hadn't made any difference so once we'd bathed her in sporal D we used lavender and myrr instead. She was ivomec on day two and then day nine and we have done it again yesterday (day 16 ). Lavander and Myrr used twice daily since day 6.

Although the original sores are improving more new one's keep appearing. Hope this makes sense, she was always shampood two days before using ivomec. Hope this makes sense, thanks to all who have replied.
 
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Blimey, she's been treated for almost everything! I would go back if their UV light is working and get them to check for ringworm, to rule it out if nothing else. In my experience ringworm is scabbier than this but each case is a bit different.

Canasten should have helped if it's fungal.

Poor girl looks so sore!

Did they inject the ivermectin?

Sophie
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no i have it in anyway its ivomectin 0.8% topical. I use it on my piggies every six months just in case.
 
how often has she had the ivermec, howlong between the doses?

just wundering if its worth just trying 1 treatment on its own for say 2 weeks and if that doesnt work the same again with another for 2 weeks so that 1 treatment is getting used instead of 3 at once just in case it is some sort of skin iratation? as its odd it keep apearing during her treatment.

the malasab shampoo is very very very good for fungal and seems soothing aswell.
 
0.8%?! that seems pretty high, cant got look at the stuff I use as its run out but I'm sure its only 0.1%
 
she has had one drop per week for three doses. Thanks for that and I understand were you are coming from. I dont want it to get any worse its irritating her enough anyway. I have rang the vets today and they dont have the uv light. There going to ring the repairer tomorrow and see how long before they'll have the light back. What treatment would you go for? Is this shampoo you mention POM? Vet said 0.8% would have been the strength they would have used
 
Malaseb I think is prescription only, but if the vets have already seen her they might let you have it anyway - worth asking, and handy to have. The drawback is they only seem to sell it in dog-size bottles!

Have you tried emailing pics to Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas? She's very good!

Hope the poor girl gets some relief soon

Sophie
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To be honest I cant be 100% sure re dosage of ivermec.

malasab i couldnt tell you if its POM we just ring the vets and say we need it and we get it ive used it and was recomended by a rodentologist its very simple to use, just shampoo leave 10 mins before ringsings off and we let them "air dry" so best to do it in the morning, the vets should be able to get it.

To be honest we went down the same line you are, the vets were convinced it was mites but the pig ahad aleady been ivermected twice before any scabs came up and they took us on a right run around before we said look just give us the shampoo and it was the best thing to use really.
 
Malaseb is prescription only - but I'm sure they'd let you have it if the other treatments haven't worked. Looks so sore, and as kirsty says it's very soothing.

Sophie
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thanks, I think the solpal D is near enough the same stuff. It says on the bottle effective against ringworm. I dont know what to do. If my vets dont get back to me about the new light I'm going to ring round some other local one's to see if anybody has one that works.
 
An update:

Been to a different vets today, checked the sores with the uv light and the sores aren't fluresing so probably not ring worm. Did a skin scrape and there were no mites or eggs. Incase there were any deeply burrowed mites he gave a dose of injectable ivomec. Other than that doesn't want to use anything internal as there not very safe and can stunt growth. Wants us to go back if any new one's appear and send off for cultures. Other than that he said it could simply be an allergy to one of the products we are using or even the megazorb as she was kept on shavings previously. One of the others kept with her (all three came together they are in isolation in the garge) has a sore this moring.

What I dont understand is we keep bathing them and ivomecing them but yet again this morning we have noticed them doing the little jump and flick(twitch) thing they did when we first got them. No static lice have returned. We are really lost for what to do next.:(
 
The 'jump and flick' could just be what pop-corning- something piggies do when they're happy!? Mine do it when they get new hay...

I'd have thought it was unlikely that Megazorb would cause irritation, generally it is thought to be better than shavings.

It could be a reaction to the various creams etc - are you going to try leaving it for a few days now they've had the ivomec injection and see how it goes?

Good news it's not ringworm. Have you sent recent pictures to Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas?

Sophie
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Oh thats what popcorning is. They did just have some new hay I thought it must have been some sort of irritation. No I haven't e-mailed Chrissie. As you said we're just going to leave them be for a week or so and see how it goes. If there's no improvement we'll e-mail Chrissie. I just wish we could be told it is something rather than it isn't lots of things. The vet said mites was most probable but as weve used ivomec there appears to be none left now.
 
At least you've ruled some things out - and if they're popcorning they must be happy! :)

I would email the pics to Chrissie now anyway - can't do any harm, and she might be able to suggest something, you've already got good pics.... see what happens!

Good luck

Sophie
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Hi guys,

below are two pictures of the same sores four days apart. It's getting worse but our vet refuses to treat systemically unless she's next to dead as he says its too dangerous. Really at our wits end and not getting anywhere. We are waiting on a GG delivery as a last ditch atempt. This piggy is still eating and drinking but I feel she wont for much longer if this problem continues to worsen.

Four days ago:

HPIM1651.jpg


Today:

HPIM1693.jpg


In my mind there's no doubt it isn't ring worm anymore. This is only a nine week old pig and these two sores are the majority of her rump. she also has a nasty one on her side which takes up the majority of the area between front and back legs. What is everyone's advice on treating ring worm? I wouldn't keep posting but we are just not winning.
 
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Oh dear lord, that's AWFUL! Poor pig. Can you get a second opinion from another vet? Have you tried contacting Vedra at Cambridge Cavy Trust? Even if she's not near you she might be able to advise of someone near you with more experience.

Can't believe how much worse it's got!

Sophie
x
 
gordon bennit! that looks so sore! seems to look like some sort of burn? really daft question but is it possible for pigs to be alergic to ivermec do you think?
If you can get hold of somealovera gel that might help to take out the sorness, cants believe how bad it looks and after all the treatment, really looks like a burn thats spread but in the pics the middle of the sores look healthy and the skin looks less irtirated?
 
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