Ringworm dip & disinfectant help

[Tani]

Morning all,

Having a nightmare here with my girls. 3 of 4 have ringworm (all different places ie one on the eye and head, one nose strip and ear and one on the back!) and before I realised what it was, I managed to get it also on my neck (big nasty red patch!)

Have been using the caneston whilst waiting for the imaverol to arrive and bathed them in nizerol and got some F10 disinfectant in.

Anyway, so when the imaverol comes (hoping today!), I want to know the order in which to do everything?

Ie should I start washing the bedding before I bath them and get it dried so that when they are dipped, they have clean bedding? Or should I just spray it all with F10 for now because one wash won’t get rid of all the spores?
How does it work? Lol.

The other stressful thing is that I go on holiday in a week and they are due to go to a sitter who has them in their enclosed barn. What the heck should I do ie tell her now? Or if I start the dip now, will the ringworm have gone by next Friday? I don’t have anyone to sit them in my own home so I’m really stressed now.
Thank you

 

[Wiebke]

Morning all,

Having a nightmare here with my girls. 3 of 4 have ringworm (all different places ie one on the eye and head, one nose strip and ear and one on the back!) and before I realised what it was, I managed to get it also on my neck (big nasty red patch!)

Have been using the caneston whilst waiting for the imaverol to arrive and bathed them in nizerol and got some F10 disinfectant in.

Anyway, so when the imaverol comes (hoping today!), I want to know the order in which to do everything?

Ie should I start washing the bedding before I bath them and get it dried so that when they are dipped, they have clean bedding? Or should I just spray it all with F10 for now because one wash won’t get rid of all the spores?
How does it work? Lol.

The other stressful thing is that I go on holiday in a week and they are due to go to a sitter who has them in their enclosed barn. What the heck should I do ie tell her now? Or if I start the dip now, will the ringworm have gone by next Friday? I don’t have anyone to sit them in my own home so I’m really stressed now.
Thank you

Hi! You change the bedding at the same time you do a dip (which you do not rinse off but let dry on the skin), so your treated piggies won't be confronted with any new spores. Please also deep clean all their huts and the whole cage, including grids, connectors or bars etc. Unless you have F10 concentrate to dunk any wooden implements in, best throw them away as spores can survive for a long time in any cracks. Wash any fabric at at laest 60 C to kill any ringworm spores.

The nizoral bath should have stopped the ringworm already (it IS antifungal and perfectly effective, if rather harsh on the skin) but if you haven't changed the bedding it will only count towards the ringworm treatment but not towards a deep clean because of the risk of re-infection. Please always wait 2 days after any bath/dip or mite treatment to allow it to work fully before you treat again.

Unfortunately, the open ringworm patch will have to run its due course and will require treatment during this time as long as it is acute. In a healthy piggy with a fully working immune system, that takes about 7-10 days depending on the severity. At the end of the acute phase, you will need to do another bath and deep clean to make sure that no spores are carried across before your piggies need to be kept in quarantine for 2 weeks.

I am extremely sorry for the awkward timing, but you will need to inform the sitter ASAP about the problem. You cannot turn up with ringworm piggies and simply dump them on the sitter while they are still under treatment and not safe to go anywhere near any other piggies or her usual boarding hutches/pens.
No boarder wants their business to go under just because they have been handed highly contagious pets without notice. They live by their good reputation, first and foremost.
If you are polite, considerate of her interests, you may be able to work out a solution with her that is safe for her but allows you to board your piggies in a different space away from any other animals. But you may have to accept that your pet sitter will decline taking them.

Can you get your vet to prescribe oral itrafungol and find somebody who is willing to come into your home to look after your piggies and medicate them there? If they are on itrafungol and you give their a proper full-deep clean before you leave, you may just get by.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Firstly, I’d be getting them to a vet and asking for itrafungol, which is an oral solution and works much better, especially as you have piggies with lots of patches of ringworm. Then look for a petsitter, who can do home visits. It would not be fair to expect a boarding facility to take Guinea pigs with ringworm.

 

[Tani]

Hi both!

I’ve already spoken to the sitter and explained and they can’t go there as I would feel awful if it got passed on. I just wasn’t sure how contagious it was but not worth risking it as her area is all wood.

Spoken to some family and friends and they might be able to work it between them to come in twice a day and feed them without having to handle them too much.
None are piggy savvy though so wouldn’t like to ask them to start giving meds whilst I’m away.

I have F10 concentrate for the wood items but I can leave these out for now as it was only a couple of hideys.

I’m moving them to another room as the imaverol arrived and I’m setting up a new space with Correx tray base (easy to clean) and so I will clean all their metal fencing and bedding again today so after their dip it will be super clean.

The piggies don’t have many fungal areas each (I have the worst red patch sorry - not the pigs! Lol) that are infected. One only had it on her ear and that is clearing up - the one with the eye has hair already growing back and I’ve removed any lose hairs already, ready for the treatment today. Another just has a bit on her lower back but it’s not a ring as such - just dry skin. Hard to know if it’s from that or something else irritating her!
........

So just to confirm:-

I can do the dip every 3rd day and at the same time, replace all bedding with clean bedding and disinfect their cage area the same day before I put them back in?

Once I’ve washed the bedding in 60degrees, should I spray it with the F10 solution as well before tumble drying it to make sure it’s extra clean?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi both!

I’ve already spoken to the sitter and explained and they can’t go there as I would feel awful if it got passed on. I just wasn’t sure how contagious it was but not worth risking it as her area is all wood.

Spoken to some family and friends and they might be able to work it between them to come in twice a day and feed them without having to handle them too much.
None are piggy savvy though so wouldn’t like to ask them to start giving meds whilst I’m away.

I have F10 concentrate for the wood items but I can leave these out for now as it was only a couple of hideys.

I’m moving them to another room as the imaverol arrived and I’m setting up a new space with Correx tray base (easy to clean) and so I will clean all their metal fencing and bedding again today so after their dip it will be super clean.

The piggies don’t have many fungal areas each (I have the worst red patch sorry - not the pigs! Lol) that are infected. One only had it on her ear and that is clearing up - the one with the eye has hair already growing back and I’ve removed any lose hairs already, ready for the treatment today. Another just has a bit on her lower back but it’s not a ring as such - just dry skin. Hard to know if it’s from that or something else irritating her!
........

So just to confirm:-

I can do the dip every 3rd day and at the same time, replace all bedding with clean bedding and disinfect their cage area the same day before I put them back in?

Once I’ve washed the bedding in 60degrees, should I spray it with the F10 solution as well before tumble drying it to make sure it’s extra clean?

F10 should not be used in a washing machine, and the wash at 60 C will kill the spores, so more disinfection needed.
You do not have to deep clean everytime, just at the start and at the end of the acute phase or if anything turns up during the quarantine when you start it all from scratch. You can only stop imaverol dip once the last open patch has stopped making crusts again; as long as crusts and scales form, the ringworm is active.

Sorry to harp on about imaverol - but it is much easier to give and comes with a much smaller risk of infection for people because there is a lot less contact. All you need it a towel for the lap and disposable gloves to do the once daily syringing.

 

[Tani]

Ps if I can get them on the oral itrafungol in the next day, how long is treatment for? Ie would I be better waiting to do this when I get back (currently still using canesten on any visible white areas on them)
I have 8 days before I go ...

 

[Tani]

Sorry - did you mean imaverol on this paragraph or the oral meds?

“Sorry to harp on about imaverol - but it is much easier to give and comes with a much smaller risk of infection for people because there is a lot less contact. All you need it a towel for the lap and disposable gloves to do the once daily syringing.”

- when I first noticed they had it, I gave them all a bath with the nizerol and completely changed them to a new cage, new bowl/water bottle and bedding as I had spares that they hadn’t used whilst having it. Changed their bedding once since but will of course do a deep clean with their bath as well today.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Sorry - did you mean imaverol on this paragraph or the oral meds?

“Sorry to harp on about imaverol - but it is much easier to give and comes with a much smaller risk of infection for people because there is a lot less contact. All you need it a towel for the lap and disposable gloves to do the once daily syringing.”

- when I first noticed they had it, I gave them all a bath with the nizerol and completely changed them to a new cage, new bowl/water bottle and bedding as I had spares that they hadn’t used whilst having it. Changed their bedding once since but will of course do a deep clean with their bath as well today.

I think she meant Itrafungol.

 

[Tani]

I thought so too but wanted to double check
It would have to be done for 3 piggies though so I just need to check how long the treatment is ie if 8 days is long enough to get them through the worse stage for now.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

It depends on the severity. We normally do about three weeks. It’s a once a day dose.

 

[Tani]

Ah ok. Just I’ve read all sorts of doses ie twice a day for 7 days then 7 days off then again - over a 6 week period. Then some do once a day for 10 days etc argh.

I honestly cannot ask all the different sitters I will have coming to dose all three of my pigs up. It’s hard enough having to get them to drive to mine to look after them twice a day as none of them live nearby so I don’t want to inflict more work on them.
The pigs aren’t bad to be honest - no scabs or sores now as been treating them regularly. Most hairs have grown back so I’m hoping the imaverol and clean cage will get most of it until I go away.
If I could change the holiday I would but we can’t as didn’t book a package so wouldn’t be covered for it.

 

[Tani]

Ps can I spray F10 on fabrics as well does anyone know?

 

[Tani]

Pps (sorry for all the questions!) my mum also has some F10 germicidal barrier cream suitable for Guinea pigs that is supposed to stop spreading when applied to the lesions and works up to 5 days.

Is it worth also applying this on top of the canesten or instead of?