Please help,New Guinea Pigs with ringworm-Mycozole

[Carly and co]

I was hoping some of you more experienced Guinea Pig owners could give me some advice please. Ive had 2 Guinea Pigs for over a year now and have recently got 2 more, they live seperate from my other 2. not long after getting them i took them to the vets as one of them had a white scabby looking thing on her ear and nose the vet said it was ringworm and prescribed Mycozole which i paid £33 pounds for.ive been putting it on for the last 2 days and it seems to be working.only thing is shes 12 weeks old and the Mycozole said do not use on animals under 200g, the vet did not weigh buttercup so i put on the smallest dose -1 pump.ive got her out today and she has another patch on her ear but its a yellow crust this time,ould this be the ringworm spreading as the first was white? also ive noticed a really big swollen lump behind her ear, I'm a bit worried that the Mycozole has done something to her as i was not sure of her weight, ive already paid over £50 in vets fees and they charge £20 consultation fee each time you visit, also i researched the net and you can buy Mycozole for £17, so why are they charging me £33. could any one help please? xx

 

[Wiebke]

Sorry, I have never had to treat a guinea pig with ringworm, but hopefully later on some more experienced rescue people are coming along to give to tips on how to treat a youngster.

 

[Carly and co]

Hi thanks
The ring worm seems to have already started to clear up since i put the Mycozole on but its that lump behind her ear thats worrying me. any ideas on how i can get her to keep still to put the Mycozole on? she struggles and squeels so badly when i have to do her face and i dont seem to be getting much on.

 

[elle100]

You could try to towel wrap her, but its a bit of an art and I have yet to master it mallethead

The instructions are here:

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36533&highlight=towel+wrap

 

[Claire W]

I had a pig with fungal not long ago and when I took her to the vets, the vet was very reluctant to prescribe Mycozole as my girl was a small baby. She recommended that I use Daktarin Gold which is an anti fungal cream for humans brought from almost any pharmacy. I was also prescribed an anti fungal shampoo. The Daktarin Gold did a great job in clearing up the infection and it had more or less gone with in a week. I'm afraid I can not help regarding the lump. Could it be the start of a new scab as my girl developed a scab on her back and that felt like a lump to begin with? If you are concerned, I would phone the vet and see what they say xx

 

[Carly and co]

Hi Thanks
I'm going to go back to the vets tomorrow and get her weighed as I'm not happy that they didnt do this the first time round I'm not sure wether to carry on the Mycozole as it does seem to be working and i dont want it to get any worse, the lump seems to be moving around under the skin and her fur is sticking out if you look at her, its just the charges everytime you go to the vets and i cant see how they can justify charging £33 for the medication, there supposed to be helping us, its no wonder people chose not to take their pets to the vets.

 

[Claire W]

My vet charged me £30 but that was for the first consultation, a health check and the biggest bottle of shampoo I have ever seen. My vets tend to charge about £20 for the first consultation and then the price go down after that. I once took my girls to the vets as I thought they had mites but there was nothing wrong with them and the vet said it was just dry skin. I wasn't charged a penny. I suppose all vets are different.

 

[Tracyxx]

It might be worth asking for a 'follow up' appointment as sometimes these cost less than the first? Especially as you already paid quite a fee already. Vets (and human pharmacies) do charge more for meds than cost. That's how they make money. They also charge for consultation fees.

 

[Carly and co]

Ive taken her back to the vets today, I'm so upset ive had to seperate the 2 pigs, the vet said the lump in her neck was an abscess and the other crust thast appeared was not any more ring worm but wounds from fighting and the abscess has also been caused by the other pig. the vet drained the abscess and gave antibiotics and also some medicated wash for the wounds. cost me another £25 and she wants me to take her back again next week. I asked for a follow up appointment and they knocked £2 off! i also asked why the mycozole was so expensive and they said it was a handling fee. ive got to say though how good it is the ringworm had improved massively. its such as shame though now they are both alone, what should i do?

 

[Carly and co]

The vet said the lump is an abscess caused by the other pig, she also has some wounds on her body also caused by the other pig, ive had to seperate them its such a shame they look so lonely and sad. the vet drained the lump and prescribed antibiotics and some medicated wash for the wounds.i feel really bad that i let her get into this state, but the ring worm is much better, the mycozole worked wonders! xx

 

[Pebble]

Awwww...Big Hugs Hun - you sound quite distraught - and no wonder!

Fungal infections do not cause lumps "per se". If the pig scratches or the two don;t get on and fight, then abcesses can form from infected wounds which unfortunately seems to be what has happened here..as an extension to the fungal infection. It IS reasonable for you Vet to charge for this additional treatment .

A 12 week old animal will not weigh less than 200g unless they are very very tiny for their age. Yes - the vet should have weighed her to calculate dosages - but perhaps you now might want o invest in a set of scales to record your animals weight, especially when they are ill. Weight loss can be the first signs that anything is wrong.

I always challenge my vets on weight vs dosage (hindsight is a wonderful thing!)

You can;t source prescription drugs over the internet unless you have a vet's prescription and I think you will find that the cost of a private prescription plus the supply of the drugs is slightly more to what you have been charged by your vet already.

I really do understand your angst -vest fees etc can be a total shock to the system - and to also find out you have to separate your piggies must be very distressing....especially as they are two sows.

For what it;s worth - I have a sow who will not entertain any other piggie - be they male or female. You now (presumably) have two sows - you need to find two baby sows to pair with each if that is possible.

Having said that - most of my piggies now have to live singly after having had to be separated - and as long as they can smell/wheek to each other - they seem to be quite happy

HTH - sending big hugs

x

 

[Carly and co]

Thanks for the good advice, the vet has been really good and treated her well, like you say its a big shock when the fees start building up. I'm finding it quite hard now with the pigs being in different cages, i have 2 in the living room which get along lovely ive had them for over a year, no problems, ive now got the injured pig in my sons bedroom and the other pig outside, i work full time and dont get in until 5.30pm and i am now finding myself cleaning out 3 seperate cages every day and its all a bit much. i dont quite now what to do, if i buy more baby sows i could end up with even more cages if it doesnt work out. i feel like ive let them both down! xx