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Possible Fungal ?

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asdash

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I noticed yesterday that Smudge has a scabby patch on his tummy - I weighed him and clipped his nails on Sunday and didn't notice it but it may have been smaller and missed. Will try to take a photo.

We have a new girl who is still in Quarantine - had a good check of her and can't see anything at all. Also Jasper his cage mate seems clear at the moment

Looking up fungal infections lots of them seem to start on faces, or can they start anywhere ?

Have a vets appointment this afternoon but just wanted to try and get an idea of what I might be dealing with.

Thanks

Andrea
 
It is great that you have a vet appointment.

A photo would be really helpful but to answer your question; fungal infections can start anywhere. Buddy's started on his ears, Bingo's on his face and my friend's piggy had hers start on her piggy's back.

It really does vary. Just in case it is fungal you may want to see if you can wear disposable gloves or wash your hands throughly between handling piggies and also wear different clothing to minimise the spread.

I'm going to give you a couple of links which might help.

This is about hairloss - http://www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html

And this is about fungal and it's treatment - http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html

I hope this helps and we can help more when we have seen a photo.

Amy
x
 
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Not the best pictures - very difficult to get a picture of a guinea pigs tummy !

Andrea
 
Good that you have him seen by a vet. By the looks and size of it, it can have been there for long.

Although fungal starts typically in the face, not all cases do (and neither do all mites cases start in the middle of the back).

Best of luck!
 
Been to the vets this evening - he feels it is fungal, Possibly ringworm. He discussed doing a skin sample but as he said the treatment would be the same either way, we decided against it.

Have got Surolan to put on it twice a day

Have also ordered a few bits from gorgeous guineas, was planning to bath the boys when I brought them in for the winter so needed some bits. Have got some Trigene on order and will use that on the hutch, anything else I need to do ?

Thanks

Andrea
 
Yes - if you are treating ringworm, you need to disinfect everything thoroughly with an antifungal disinfectant like F10. Total hygiene is a must; ringworm is one of the few things that can transmit to all mammals (cats, dogs and rabbits), including humans. iI can take 10-14 days for it to appear.
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Ringworm/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

I also use F10 hand gel. Have a special pullover or apron which you can wash at a minimum of 60 C and use disposible gloves. Also wash any piggy bedding, cosies and any towels you use during the fungal baths at a minimum of 60 C.

Ringworm will look worse before it gets better as the hair around the affected area needs to come out too. I use imaverol for dips as it is very good at removing affected hair.

You also need to bathe all piggies in the same group three times (once every three days) with an antifungal bath to prevent them coming down with it.
 
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I have the gorgeous guineas manuka & Neem shampoo on order - will this be ok to bath them in ? I also got the melt to go with it.

The vet clipped the hair round the area so he could have a good look at it so that should help

Have banned the children from handling them for now. They have some fleece in the bedroom of the hutch I was going to wash this at 60 - I also have some nappy sanitiser http://uk.bambinomio.com/uk/our-products/accessories (miofresh) which I used when the children were tiny - do you think this will be ok to add to the wash ?

Andrea
 
Final question - I am pig sitting for a friend, her pigs are in the bottom half of the hutch and my boys in the top, everything was cleaned before they went in yesterday and they have not been in direct contact (my boys rarely go in the bottom anyway)

I am dealing with her boys first and then mine so that I keep contact down, any other suggestions of what I can do to reduce the risk

Thanks

Andrea
 
Well it is looking much better already today, although this is probably the steroid in the drops settling everything down, but there no scabs today. Luckily because of where it is he can't really scratch it so that helps.

Got the gorgeous guineas shampoo etc today so will get them bathed over the weekend

Andrea
 
I hope that GG shampoos are enough; you will have to see.

I would give all piggies a fungal bath to be on the safe side.

You are right to always service the other piggies first; even with baths, I always did my fungal piggies last and washed their towels and stuff separately and also disinfected the sink etc afterwards.

Make sure that you wash your hands well (and if possible disinfect them) before and after you handle each lot. It is a real pain but worth it if you can keep it from spreading. By the looks of the patch it can't have been there for longer than a day or two, so you are in with a good chance that it hasn't spread too much yet.

I have found that a wash at 60 or 90 C was enough. Most standard disinfectants are antibacterial, but not antifungal.
 
Well the patch on his tummy is looking much better, but I have spotted another smaller patch under his chin - I have put the surolan on that too.

Is it worth ordering some imaverol ? Have seen it online which would mean I probably won't get it until Tuesday or I could ring the vets on Monday and see if I can get some.

I am still hoping to have caught it before it has taken a proper hold - so far his cage mate appears clear, but will keep an eye on him.

Still waiting for the heavy duty disinectant to arrive - hopefully Monday, then I can sterilise the cage and bath them both

Andrea
 
His skin is looking much better now, no redness, scabs etc - just looks like normal skin in that patch, but the hair is not regrowing yet. The vet said to treat for 2 weeks, which meand I have to treat until at least Thursday, should I then carry on until the hair regrows or stop it and see what happens ?

The patch under his chin never got any scabs and just looks like a bald patch but I have been treating it anyway.

His cagemate has not shown any signs, they have both been bathed and treated with GG melts twice. They are also inside in a new cage with either new or disinfected toys and hideys. The outdoor hutch has been disinfected with Vikron S ready for next summer

Thanks
Andrea
 
just keep an eye on the other one for another week hun, mine have got it now and one seemed to have cleared up so thought the other one had got away with it but then i found it on the other one :( its turning into a nightmare
 
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