Ringworm! Help!

[newbie2013]

Hi everyone,

I have had my guineas for around a month now and have just noticed they had bald patches which was diagnosed as ringworm after a trip to the vet.

Does anyone have any advice on this? They had there first lot of treatment today and really struggled when I attempted to get the syringe behind their front teeth

I'm also a bit worried about the cage/bedding about how to stop the ringworm lingering behind! Poor piggies.

Any advice would be appreciated thank you.

 

[helen105281]

Hi, has your vet given you oral fungal medication then? such as Itrafungol? if so that's good. How long do you have to give it for and have they said to have a week's break between each course?

What bedding are you using? is there anything wooden? if so it will need to be removed and you will also need to clean the cage with an anti-fungal discinfectant such as F10 and you can get handgel and handwash too. Also, you need to be very careful between handling your 2 pigs and any other animals that you have as it can spread to other animals and to you too, so it is best to change your clothes after handling.

Please note that ringworm will look much worse before it gets better.

Has the vet prescribed anything else? Imaverol is a good product that you use as a dip and then leave on, and works well alongside oral fungal medication.

Can I ask where the pigs came from originally?

 

[newbie2013]

Hi, yes it's itrafungol, once a day for 7 days, 7 days break and then last course for 7 days.

I am using carefresh bedding, I had a mini house made of hay that I have now binned to try and prevent spreading. Should I be disinfecting the cage every day? I have a pack of disposable gloves and an apron for handling the pigs while they have ringworm. I also kept them wrapped in a small towel to try and help them feel more secure.

My vet did not prescribe anything else however this is something I will look into thanks! I got them both from pets at home, I feel they haven't had much time to settle in as in the first week they were also on an antibiotic for sneezing and coughing, and now have developed this, I hope they get better soon.

 

[helen105281]

Oh poor babies, sadly we are seeing more and more cases of poorly animals coming from Pets at Home. Glad it is Itrafungol, you may find you need to do a third round of it if it doesn't clear up after the 2 rounds.

I would say yes to cleaning the cage every day and make sure that you wash the towels on the highest temperature possible.

The Imaverol is usually very effective and can be bought online. Let me know if you need a link.

Please could you add your location to your profile as any advice we give sometimes needs to be tailored to where the member lives.

 

[Wiebke]

It sounds like your vet has put them on a systemic fungal treatment, which should clear it out completely. Itrafungol doesn't taste great, so giving meds when you are new to piggies is not too much fun! Ringworm is sadly not all rare in stressed out shop piggies. They often come down with it only after they have left due to the longer incubation period of 10-14 days.
Here are some tips: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-administering-medications-and-wrapping-piggies.36533/

The trick with getting on top of ringworm is strict hygiene for the next 3-4 weeks, as ringworm is one of the very few things that can jump species and affect both other mammalian pets as well as humans.

Please always wash your hands before and even more so after you are in contact with them or any of their stuff. When handling or bathing them, disposable gloves also come in handy! Use an antifungal disinfectant like F10 and be very thorough when cleaning everything. F10 is also available as hand gel. Make sure that you wash any fabrics in contact with the piggies at a minimum 60 C, any cosies of theirs, towels and your clothes. Soak anything wooden in F10 solution. Repeat this at the end of the treatment when your piggies are in a 2 week remission period to prevent re-infection.
You do not need to clean them out daily; 2-3 times weekly will do.

On top of itrafungol, you can also use imaverol dip at the recommended solution. This is very good at getting at the infected hair around the bald patches out without you having to pull it, which is very unpleasant for the piggy. All these hair roots unfortunately need to come out first before things can get better. You will find that ringworm looks a lot worse about a week into treatment than now as the bald patches are spreading. But if you are careful and conscientious, you can get through it pretty straight forward!

I have had good success with itrafungol in a ringworm piggy that was struggling with topical treatment due to an irregular heartbeat at the time. So it is worth the struggle!

 

[biscandmatt]

my ches got ringworm at one stage and was treated successfully with a fungal cream, and some medication aswell. luckily maisie didn't catch it even though she was in the same cage, but i caught it from him. throw all wooden items away as the spores can linger in those, and i cleaned the cage everyday as normal, but wiped it down everyday with a cleaning spray. i just used my normal one which is confi2clean, but i think you can use stronger ones, like f10, or even white vinegar.

agree with it looking worse before better. chesneys quickly became bigger areas but he was fine after the few weeks of treatment. i caught it because i have eczema which the vet warned me about, but mine cleared quickly aswell.

good luck.