Scabs, hair loss, sore patches

[Haggis]

I have a 6 month old boar who lives with his brother, they get on very well and live in a 6x2 c&c cage with a 2x2 loft. They live on fleece bedding and are fully cleaned out every 2nd day.

I went on a two week holiday and the guinea pigs went to a boarding place where they are kept in wooden hutches. When I got them back, I noticed one of the guinea pigs had small patches of scabbing and hair loss around his face and crest.

I took him to the vet the next day, who treated him for mites and took a skin scraping. The results for that came back negative for mites the next day. The vet said she could do another skin scraping for ringworm or any fungal infection, but it would take 4 weeks to come back (I live on a small island) so she would rather just treat him as if he has ringworm etc. We have been putting cream on all the scabs and bald spots twice a day for over a week now, and if anything he is getting worse, more scabs, more bald patches, more sore areas, which have travelled down his back and one leg. The vet is on holiday so I am continuing the cream until she is back and I can take him there in 3 days.

Does anyone have any experience with this? It seems like the two main contenders of what can be causing this have been ruled out, also his brother is completely fine, not a mark on him. The guinea pig with the scabs is acting normally, eating, running around as before. Any advice or similar experiences would be very much appreciated, I’m worried about him!

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

I'm sorry your piggy has come back from boarding with unwelcome addition which may be ringworm.

I haven't personal experience and I'm not a medical expert, so I'll attach the forum's Ringworm guide for you to read, it may help confirm whether or not it is indeed ringworm as well as give you info about what you will need to do.
Ringworm-hygiene-care-and-pictures

One thing I have learnt from this forum though is that oral antifungal medicine is more effective - as well as easier to use - than creams, if you can get it. ( I had oral itrafungol prescribed for oral thrush in one of my pigs and the effect was noticeable within a few hours - though with ringworm I've heard it takes time to work and can appear to be still getting worse before it gets better)

I hope you can get on top of the problem quickly for your boys.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.

Creaming ringworm is very ineffective at treating it. Oral medication is the best type of treatment but shampoos being the next best thing as at least the whole body is being covered.

The spores are shed from a much wider area than the scabbed areas you are applying the cream. Therefore shedding of the spores continues to occur and the infection continues.

You also have to thoroughly disinfect the cage and its items and clean anywhere else your piggies come into contact. Ringworm spores can live in the environment for up to two years so any that are left can just start up another infection.

His cagemate will also need to be treated/bathed ( treated if he also starts to show signs) as he will also carry spores. There is a 10-14 day incubation period in which he may also start to show signs but if you can get him bathed with appropriate products in that timeframe then it can mean he never catch it.

Qualcast &Flymo has linked in the ringworm guide so I won’t do it again but please give it a read as it explains how to deal with ringworm. It really needs to be hit hard and properly from the beginning to stop it becoming a long running saga

I hope they are ok

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry your piggy is poorly. I hope it clears up quickly.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

I am really sorry about the ringworm. It is the most contagious and persistent species jumping issue that we can encounter. Please do not underestimate it and undertreat it. Creaming doesn't catch the thousands of invisibly tiny spores that are shed in their thousands, stay live for up to over 2 years and can be picked up from the bedding or their companions' coats. Humans and other pets can also catch it from or transmit it to piggies.

Because it takes 10-14 days between infection and actual outbreak, it is crucial in getting on top of ringworm during this period in order to prevent further outbreaks. By creaming you are basically trying to catch scraps from exploding grenades shooting off in all directions by coating the bombs with a gel - this will never quite reach all corners and never completely coat the flying scraps as the infection sits at the bottom of the hairs - including those that have not fallen out yet.
By systemic oral treatment or by bathing all your piggies, you can defuse the ticking bombs before they can go live during that 10-14 day period, you can catch them before they go infected and prevent them from ticking in the first place and you can also stop creating new scraps (spores) that are mini-bombs waiting to go off themselves at some point in the coming 2 years...

The other most important line of attack for you is comprehensive hygiene - I cannot understate how important comprehensive hygiene is and how vital it is to cut off all possible transmission angles in order to remove any mini-bombs and to stop them from going off. All it takes is quite literally one live spore reaching skin to start the whole circus again.
This is really the time to throw the kitchen sink at it in terms of hygiene and overdoing it.
If you do it right - and our forum members and other readers have shown that it can be done (as well as showing over the years the many ways in which transmission can happen) - then the comprehensive step-by-step advice and information in our ringworm guide does really work.

PS: If your vet is willing to prescribe an oral fungal, then the blind spot of it is any spores sitting loosely in the coat, so you need to remove them ideally with two baths; one at the start and most importantly one at the end of treatment. If your vet prefers bathing with a medicated dip, then you won't of course not need those two extra baths but you will need to keep bathing and deep cleaning/disinfecting the whole cage and bathing area every 3 days until the acute outbreak is over.

I had carried ringworm in twice by treated but not bathed piggies. The second time I could prove that the tips in my own ringworm guide really work by confining the outbreak to that one piggy, even if it meant deep cleaning the whole piggy room with 30 more piggies!

Here is the link again. Please take the time to read it and follow it. It is the best thing you can do:
Ringworm: Hygiene, Care And Pictures
Bathing (including cleaning grease glands)

We are here to support you with practical tips for any questions you have along the way as well as providing moral support.

 

[Haggis]

Thank you so much for your incredibly helpful responses. As soon as I saw it I thought it was ringworm but the vet didn’t think so due to the other pig having no symptoms. I am getting the shampoo and cleaning products today, and I am taking him back to the vet (different vet) today at 2pm to try and get the oral medicine. I will bathe all the pigs tonight and keep my fingers crossed that it hasn’t gotten to the point of spreading.

 

[Haggis]

Unfortunately due to island life, they do not keep the oral medication, and due to cost will not order it in without first trying the medicated shampoo they have given me. I will stick to the rest of the plan and keep everyone updated!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Bathing is better than cream so if it is ringworm it will hopefully help.

We recommend disinfecting everything in the cage with F10. It is a vet grade disinfectant and will kill ringworm (other cage cleaners won’t necessarily be strong enough).

Let us know how things go

 

[Haggis]

Quick question/update: His brother now also has a small patch of missing fur. They have both had their baths and a full extensive clean this evening

I have a 3rd guinea pig who lives solo but in the same room, should he be bathed as well? He’s an alpaca guinea pig and unfortunately had to have his leg amputated around 6 weeks ago, so if it’s not 100% necessary, I’d like to avoid it