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Pickles has the dreaded ringworm :(

Emmamarie123

Emmamarie123

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Today I found a patch of dry flaky skin under his Rex fur so took him straight to the vet where they found two more :( luckily it has been less than two weeks so pets at home are liable to pay.

He is being treated with itrafungol and hibiscrub medical.

My main worry is that while he is not in with the group there cages are connected but they are seperated by c and c grids and Correx so wondering whether I need to treat the herd too?
 

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Emmamarie123 said:
Today I found a patch of dry flaky skin under his Rex fur so took him straight to the vet where they found two more :( luckily it has been less than two weeks so pets at home are liable to pay.

He is being treated with itrafungol and hibiscrub medical.

My main worry is that while he is not in with the group there cages are connected but they are seperated by c and c grids and Correx so wondering whether I need to treat the herd too?
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You certainly need to deep clean the whole area with a vet strength disinfectant like F10, which the only one proven to also kill ringworm spores, including washing all the grids and connectors and the floor underneath the cages.

I know - I have been through it in a room with 30 piggies, but with strict hygience and and the tips from our ringworm guide, I have been able to keep the outbreak to the one affected piggy. His companion Briallen needed some itrafungol as well, mainly because is she a severely traumatised ex-toddler's pet and has a real thing about being handled, so I had to try my best to keep the stress to a minimum for her.

You will have to give your piggies ideally one fungal bath to prevent them from coming down with it and to wash any spores sitting in the coat from causing a re-infection, which is the cause of how my latest outbreak has been carried in.
The affected piggy and their companion (please do not separate unless it is a group and rather treat both) will require their bath at the end of their treatment as well. It is OK to use nizoral or another dandruff shampoo for a one-off fungal bath although it is very harsh for repeated treatment. You can also give yourself a full body shampoo to prevent infection.

Please read our very detailed tips; they have been learned the hard way, that is why they really work! Your hygiene is as important as the medical care to get on top of it once and for all and to prevent any further spread. It is going to be a rough two weeks, but well worth trying to do it properly. If you can, remove your boy (and any bonded companion) from the piggy room for the duration of the treatment and a 2 week quarantine afterwards.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
 
Thank you @Wiebke :) i have some f10 in order now so will be deep cleaning tomorrow! is it safe to use Nizoral on my herd? I am thinking of giving them a bath with it.
 
Emmamarie123 said:
Thank you @Wiebke :) i have some f10 in order now so will be deep cleaning tomorrow! is it safe to use Nizoral on my herd? I am thinking of giving them a bath with it.
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Yes, it is. It is very harsh on sensitive guinea pig skin if you do a full several times course (which is not necessary with oral itrafungol), but a one-off is OK. I also use nizoral shampoo on my whole body during this time to minimise the risk of infection on exposed skin. But I have twice had a ringworm outbreak carried into my house by a spore in a piggy coat, so I have learned to better close out this angle aand to make sure that there are no more spores in the piggy room that could cause future trouble.

If you give your herd a bath once you have removed your infected boy and deep cleaned all the cages, then you can be sure that no ringworm spores are going back when the bathed herd returns to their deep cleaned surroundings.

Best plan to this on the weekend, as it is going to take a few hours! But it is well worth doing it properly. I use a basin on the shower floor with a large towel for grip (or you can use the bathtub) for bathing. that means that the shower/bath can be easily cleaned afterwards and your piggies cannot escape or injure themselves with a mad blind jump in a panic. Put the bathed piggies into a clean carrier so they don't come into contact with washed out spores if you do it as a group bath so they have company at all times and are less stressed out.
 
So sorry that you’re going through this but well spotted and well done for taking all the advice on board. It’s hard work getting on top of a fungal outbreak, but it’s so worthwhile doing everything recommended as you’ll nip it in the bud and prevent spread.
 
Sending healing vibes! We've just completely gotten over a bought of ringworm our two girls came with and it's a right pain! I followed @Wiebke 's advice which was amazing and they recovered :) I also washed myself with Nizoral shampoo to make sure I didn't get it!
 
So little Pickle isn’t looking much different yet. Still patches of skin but it doesn’t look as red :) he is taking his meds’ fine which is a huge relief!

However he is becoming a little bitey when I clean his patches :( he keeps trying to climb onto me but obviously I’m not holding him as often just with gloves during med time. Really hoping I don’t lose the bond we have!
 
Emmamarie123 said:
So little Pickle isn’t looking much different yet. Still patches of skin but it doesn’t look as red :) he is taking his meds’ fine which is a huge relief!

However he is becoming a little bitey when I clean his patches :( he keeps trying to climb onto me but obviously I’m not holding him as often just with gloves during med time. Really hoping I don’t lose the bond we have!
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The procedure is not pleasant for him. make sure that all infected hairs come out as the fungus is sitting at the hair roots.

Pickle will become friends again once he is healed and feeling so much better in himself.
 
Just to add some words of encouragement - one of my pigs had this a couple of months ago and with the intrafungol and a strict cage cleaning regime it went away within a few weeks and her companion pig did not get it. You won’t see much visible difference at first but carry on and towards the end of the course you will suddenly realise the patches are disappearing.

As to the bond - it was a difficult time, especially the cleaning, and it upset me a bit the way she would obviously withdraw when she heard me coming. I found that breaking up the routine as much as possible helped so I wasn’t doing too many things to her at one time, and having a couple of favourite veggies saved for straight after also calmed things down.

She went back to normal very soon after I stopped manhandling her, and wheeks when she hears me instead of chattering at me - all forgiven!
 
A little update on the little man!
His patches are definitely looking better and the vet checking him over under uv light and some are completely clear 😊 he has put on weight so she has increased the meds.

He has been moved into a slightly bigger cage ready for his neutering in a few months time. Hopefully I can soon put the cages side by side again so he can chat to his ladies lol
 

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I’m pleased it’s clearing up, it’s such a pain
 
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