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Ringworm?

R

Rumblestiltskin

Junior Guinea Pig
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My piggys had a bad infestation of static mites on adopted about a month ago. The vet treated them with 2 x salemectin and I have been using f10 cleaner or their weekly cage clean.

A few days after the 2nd salemectin treatment one of them started losing fur around her eye. I rang the vet who said if its just fur loss monitor for a week it could be the last mites but if it looks flaky bring them in. That was on a Friday. On the Monday I decided to take them in as my sow had scratched her eye a bit bloody (first picture).

Unfortunately the first vey was on holiday all week so I saw another supposed cavvy savvy vet. She said the eye looked suspicious for ringworm and took a hair sample from it to grow a culture inhouse (this is a newly available test apparently). Results in 3-5 days.

I rang the vet practise on Friday just gone and asked if any cultures had grown as had agreed to look after a friends dog on Saturday. Not as yet apparently although it was only day 4.

I gave both pigs their weekly weigh yesterday and took a closer look at her eye. The bald patch does seem to have been growing but also it looks like some areas have been improving.

I'm hoping to hear from the vet today. My question is even if the culture is negative should I just ask to treat as a fungal infection? Can this do any harm?

Or do i take them back in to see the original vet when shes next in?

Ive read here that 3 rounds of salemectin is recommended for mites but my vet nurse friend confirmed the rvc guinea pig manual 2026 says 2 rounds as was given.

I'm a little reluctant to sit on my hands because I plan to look after another dog in 3 weeks and although theyll be completely separate it makes me slightly uneasy.

Pic 1 from Monday week. Pics 2 & 3 yesterday
 

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Generally you wouldn’t want to treat if it is not diagnosed.
It does look carry a look of ringworm/fungal to me.
Hopefully you will her from the vet and can know what steps need to be taken.

Ivermectin and selamectin treatments are product specific in terms of how many treatments and how long between each treatment. Three is advised though as it is a catch all - to ensure that any stragglers (eggs which hadn’t yet hatched) are caught.
You can only be guided by your vet though.

Let us know how things go
 
So I ended up taking the pigs to the vet this evening so they could have another look and we could talk things through. They’re certain enough it’s ringworm (cabby savvy vet worked at vets for pets for a while and said they all had it and would often develop symptoms following rehoming due to stress) so we will be treating her orally, as the ringworm is around her eye.

The sporanox is £170 from the vet so I’ll be enquiring at a human pharmacy tomorrow or get a prescription for an online pharmacy although it’s still £100 without the prescription. But needs must.

I’ve read the ringworm guide on here and will soaking all their brand new wooden houses for their outdoor run in F10 solution. Their cage and hides are cleaned in f10 every week. Not sure when I hotwash towels etc - like those in their carrier - weekly?
 
I’m glad you have a diagnosis - I am not surprised they’ve said ringworm, it certainly it does look like it

Do keep in mind that F10 needs to be made at a stronger dilution for ringworm than that used for general cleaning.

Are you using the carrier and its towels regularly?
Is this the one you use to transfer piggies for run time.
If so, then I would wash them now, and then wash them again whenever the piggies are in contact with them. You don’t want to risk transfer of spores.
It may just be easier to keep them in their cage rather than give them run time while they are under treatment - it would minimise the amount of cleaning you need to do of other areas
 
Yes I use the carrier to move the piggies to their outdoor run

I will look up your recommended dilution of f10 for ringworm

Aww poor piggies missing out on run time but that makes sense I cant be washing everyday.
 
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