• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Nizoral shampoo - how often to repeat treatment?

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Sodapops

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Feb 4, 2010
Messages
1,684
Reaction score
1
Points
440
Location
With My Piggies :)
Hi there,

After treating one of my younger boys a few weeks ago for a fungal infection on his back end - i noticed yesterday the other boy whom he shares a cage with has a small area just underneath his eye that looks very much like a fungal infection.

I bathed both pigs yesterday in nizoral shampoo - but am unsure of how often or indeed when the next bathing should be? The box states every 3-4 days for the first two weeks - but i'm guessing that is human use - so when should i bathe them both again?

Can i put any cream/ointment on the area in addition to the Nizoral? I did treat the first piggie with Surolan which was provided by the vet - however as it's a liquid type ointment and the pig concerned is only about 8-9wks old - i'm not so sure he'll sit still enough for me to put some on (and i wouldn't want to risk it going in his eye)

Since bathing him in the Nizoral shampoo yesterday evening, the area today is much more visible (you couldn't really see it yesterday unless you really looked for it)

Any advice is greatly appreciated :)
 
It can depend on the severity of the problem, but the general advice tends to be to bath once weekly for 2-3 weeks. With more severe problems - where the skin is notably sore or crusty - bathing can be done every 3-4 days for a couple of weeks.

You can apply an anti-fungal cream as well, Daktarin cream tends to be effective applied 2-3x daily. Gorgeous Guineas also sell a few good anti-fungal creams - Manuka lotion is the most specific anti-fungal lotion, I think.
 
Hi Laura,
thanks for the swift reply.

I have some Daktacort cream which was sold to me by the chemist a few wks ago when i inquired about Daktarin - i was told it the same thing.

Other than that i do have some Canesten cream - i do also have the Surolan ointment - but like i said it's tricky to apply because the infection is so close to his eye.

The area infected itself is about the size of a pea - it doesn't look severe - however with him being only 8-9wks old he can't sit still for 5 mins lol - this makes application of creams very difficult - we will however persevere :p
 
Daktacort does contain miconazole like Daktarin, and it also contains hydrocortisone, which is a steroid to reduce inflammation. I've no experience of using this or Canesten on piggies but if it's a choice between those two, I'd choose the Daktacort as I am more familiar with the use of the ingredients of this on piggies. I would apply sparingly e.g. just enough to give a very thin layer on the fungal patch.

It sounds like you've caught the problem very early, hopefully it'll clear up very quickly and easily. :)
 
Hi Laura,

I'll apply the Daktacort cream 2-3 times as directed and will also give him and his cage mate another bathing in Nizoral in one weeks time.

Just out of curiosity - what causes fungal infections in guinea pigs? After all my reading up on it i cannot find an explanation of how it's contracted?

Having my sow just give birth 5 days ago - i'm at the moment checking all piggies multiple times a day (i bet they are getting sick of the sight of me) - hence my reason for noticing it so quickly :)
 
Theres only one source of fungal contamination that I am personally aware of, and that is the hay. There must be other sources of it as well though, it is something I will have to look into a bit more.
 
I have just applied some more daktacort cream this evening and have noticed an area of dry skin around his ears (similar to what he has just underneath his eye). When i was applying cream to his ear and under eye area i noticed that he didn't want to be touched.

I then tried to have a quick look through his fur (he's a sheltie - so this takes a while) and whilst trying to part his fur he squeaked and sort of jumped out the way. He didn't want me to look through his fur at all - any idea's what this could be?

When his cage mate visited the vets a few weeks ago for his fungal infection, he was checked for mite/lice - and although the vets couldn't see anything she gave him treatment for it as a precautionary matter.

I thought i'd caught the fungal infection early - but since the initial Nizoral bathing he now appears to have 3 area's on his face/ears that look fungal.

Not sure what the squeaking is when i go to look through his fur?
 
When the vet treated my guinea pigs for mites they had to have 3 injections in total. So if it is mites, maybe the one treatment wasn't enough. I also had to throw out the hay I'd been using and start again.

Do you have a picture of the sore patches on his face?
 
Elvis (this first pig to come down with the fungal infection) was looked at by the vets and she couldn't see any signs of mites - but treated him as a precautionary measure.

Ive never witnessed any scratching from any of my piggies, but shadow (the one who has the suspected fungal infection now) doesn't wasn't to be touched (well neither one does since i gave them a bath in Nizoral)

I will try and take a picture of the sores - but to be honest you really have to look for them - plus he pure black (with a little white stripe around his neck) - so photo's in general of him never turn out very well
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top