So Desperate At Wits End!

[Ljo84]

Any help please i'd be so grateful.
My Peruvian has had a red line round his ear for about 2 months now, soon as I saw it I went to a vets in Essex, highly recommended who is a rodentologist and have seen ppl on here rave about him so thought he'll sort my baby out. Did uv ringworm test, couldn't see anything. Lots of silence, clearly no idea...
Got given 0.4ml a day of intrafungal as vet didn't know what it was and other guineas didn't have it. Parted him and his housemate from my other pair in different rooms. Others not affected. Vet told me to use canestan on area everyday to soothe itching altho piggy isn't crazy scratching but very red in places and coat looking awful. Anyways, didn't work, then 3 weeks ago told by vet to carry on intra fungal and give 3ml imaverol leave in shampoo with 147ml water mixed together every 3 days. Slightly worked, redness goin down but not cleared up & in the meantime vet called to say skin sample came bk positive for ringworm but continue with meds as he told me. Mentioned about clipping guineas so bought clippers, gave all Peruvians number 1s which was v. Hard work. Anyways today is shampoo day and today both my Peruvians are in a state worse than ever. Have attached pics. I have fleece bedding, washed weekly at 60 with non bio fairy detergent, gp house washed weekly with boiling hot water, v10 and pets at home antibacterial cleaner. Twice weekly I vacuum out their poos and fresh hay everyday.
My big worry is I am going on holiday in 3 weeks and have paid to put piggies at an animal care place and I know they won't take them in this state incase the ringworm passes to others... What should I do? I keep seeing things like athletes foot cream etc being used on ringworm, should I try it? I've given up with my vet who again, is a rodentologist etc etc..have lost faith 2bb.. Please any help would be so appreciated. Thank u x

 

[Cookies&Glitter]

I'm assuming you read the ringworm links on here if not I'll put it at the bottom. It's good that it's just ringworm but it's a darn near invincible fungal spore and hard to rid completely. I rescued 2 abandoned pigs and between that and me working at a pet store (sometimes the rescue cats or small animals got it) my Guineas got ringworm on and off for 2 years it was terrible. I got it myself twice from kittens :/ anyways I always had the best luck with a combination of things. Oral griseofulvin was the name of it and then clear drops of miconazole topically, used them together. Never had much luck with the baths and hated when the vet prescribed them. Also I found after having myself, nice red ring on my neck, that hydrogen peroxide on a cotton swab greatly helped because its causes the spores to destruct more than anything else. My final treatment with my piggies I used both oral and topical 2x daily and before applying the topical I gently cleaned the area with hydrogen peroxide.
I sweep daily and would wash ALL toys and hides with hot water and industrial cleaner I took from work, was strong and safe like v10. The fleece I think I washed hot water with vinegar and washed each load twice, sometimes stopping it after it filled to let it sit for 10 minutes. Don't give up you can beat it.
As for your vacation you may want to post for a sitter to come in and take care of them because you may be refused at pet hotels.
Sorry for the long post, hope this helps some.

Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

 

[Wiebke]

@helen105281 @Abi_nurse

Hi! Ringworm on the ears can be a bit more difficult to get rid of. Normally the fungus sits on the roots of the hair, so letting the ringowrm run its due course and getting the affected hairs out usually does trick within a week or two.

Has your vet checked for any underlying issues that could lower the immune system and prevent him from getting rid of the ringworm, which should have normally happened with the itrafungol by now?
The latter did the trick with my Ceri as a one week on one week off interval course (like for cats) for at least three on-intervals when she struggled with getting on top of her ringworm due to an irregular heartbeat at the time; it just went on affecting adjoining areas until it ended up on her ear despite my following all the rules. She was the first piggy to trial itrafungol for that vet when it started to be used for guinea pigs some years ago.

 

[helen105281]

I usually recommend Itrafungol and Imaverol so I would say continue with these. Usually for Itrafungol I dose for 1 week then have a weeks break and continue like this for 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off. I know this is different to what a lot of vets recommend though, but is actually in line with the treatment for a cat. The idea is that the Itrafungol carries on working on the weeks off so it is actually an 8 week treatment. I am not sure if I know the vet you are seeing, I used to help at a piggy clinic on the Hertfordshire/Essex border. The lady that ran it was very knowledgeable on all things fungal but has recently retired. The clinic did involve a vet too but they weren't a rodentologist and neither was the lady that ran it.

I also use Imaverol weekly as it carries on working between dips. I dip at least 4 times so it is a 4 week treatment.

Is the cage cleaner you use F10?

 

[Ljo84]

Hi, thanks for the replies. Vet has recommended giving piggies 0.8ml instead of 0.4ml a day of the intrafungal. I said about the shampoo & he said I could try doing this everyday, anyone tried this? Also wanted to ask, I bought some new wood hay houses 2 weeks ago, do I have to throw them or would boiling water do the trick? May sound silly but my piggies love them and they weren't cheap :/

 

[Patches16]

Any help please i'd be so grateful.
My Peruvian has had a red line round his ear for about 2 months now, soon as I saw it I went to a vets in Essex, highly recommended who is a rodentologist and have seen ppl on here rave about him so thought he'll sort my baby out. Did uv ringworm test, couldn't see anything. Lots of silence, clearly no idea...
Got given 0.4ml a day of intrafungal as vet didn't know what it was and other guineas didn't have it. Parted him and his housemate from my other pair in different rooms. Others not affected. Vet told me to use canestan on area everyday to soothe itching altho piggy isn't crazy scratching but very red in places and coat looking awful. Anyways, didn't work, then 3 weeks ago told by vet to carry on intra fungal and give 3ml imaverol leave in shampoo with 147ml water mixed together every 3 days. Slightly worked, redness goin down but not cleared up & in the meantime vet called to say skin sample came bk positive for ringworm but continue with meds as he told me. Mentioned about clipping guineas so bought clippers, gave all Peruvians number 1s which was v. Hard work. Anyways today is shampoo day and today both my Peruvians are in a state worse than ever. Have attached pics. I have fleece bedding, washed weekly at 60 with non bio fairy detergent, gp house washed weekly with boiling hot water, v10 and pets at home antibacterial cleaner. Twice weekly I vacuum out their poos and fresh hay everyday.
My big worry is I am going on holiday in 3 weeks and have paid to put piggies at an animal care place and I know they won't take them in this state incase the ringworm passes to others... What should I do? I keep seeing things like athletes foot cream etc being used on ringworm, should I try it? I've given up with my vet who again, is a rodentologist etc etc..have lost faith 2bb.. Please any help would be so appreciated. Thank you x

View attachment 47676

Try a Triple fungal/ bacterial athletes foot cream. Use it on my gelding before I moved him into boarding when he would end up with seedy toe during mud season every spring.

 

[Cookies&Glitter]

I've done the daily bath with piggies, just depends on your comfort level and the piggies with the bathing process. The shampoo has to sit on them for a bit to be effective, I would use a lil tub with warm water and then use lots of towels and low lighting to make it as relaxing as possible. If it's too stressful I imagine it would be counterproductive

 

[Ljo84]

Thanks guys. I don't have any f10 left, ordered but will take 6 days to come so I've used bleached, thoroughly cleaned and dried. Is it OK to use athletes foot cream as well as doin the imaverol dips? I'd been using normal Caniston of the ear area but it didn't do anything. I've tried clipping them but their hair is still so long it'sit's hard to get all the cream on them.

Thanks for all the advice xx

 

[helen105281]

I have used Imaverol daily as it can be used as a topical treatment aswell as a dip. I would not do that at the same time as a cream though as the Imaverol needs to stay on to keep working.

 

[Cookies&Glitter]

The stuff our vet loved prescribing is this strange clear oily stuff. It comes out as drops but is oily so stays out daily well. It is miconazole but idk what the brand name would be I have an old bottle but the label is too faded

 

[Ljo84]

A week on and no improvement... Going on holiday 2 weeks today. I really don't know what to do. Am using disposable gloves, cleaning cages 2/3 times a week with bleach now as vet said that'd kill the ringworm plus got rid of all bedfingbedding. Guineas just have puppy pads & cardboard boxes for shelter now so I can dispose of them easyeasy. I think the stress of the cleaning and changes may be making him worse intrafungal 0.8ml everyday & imaverol dip every 3 days. Using canestan in between. Vet said he's never had such a difficult case..... Really don't know what to do..... I have No1 to care for them while I'm away

 

[eileen]

i am sorry to hear you have a difficult case of ringworm.i have used bleach 20 parts to water eg 20mls of water would be,iml bleach to 19mls of water ,soaked my wooden stuff in this to rid fungal spores,has your checked immune levels in your piggies?maybe extra vitamin c may help.i do hope you get on top of this.

 

[Stayc1989]

What do the patches look like now? Have they spread? And has he been checked for mange mites because I've just had the same problem with ringworm and it was spreading all over my 11 week old baby even though I have been using the canesten cream twice a day and the imaverol every 3 days. When I first took her to the vets they said she had mange and when I took her 2 days later they said she had ringworm too. I noticed bloody scabs on her back (where the ringworm was) and the vet said this could be caused by the mange causing her to scratch herself and making me think she's still got ringworm.

 

[Cookies&Glitter]

I had a pig that we had to treat for 8 weeks poor little thing, it was awful stubborn. I hated the shampoo aspect though. I think it was her immune system was too stressed. Maybe keep going but try extra relaxation therapy to reduce stress, classical music, calm, low lights, favorite treats etc. half of healing is due to overall health. Idk what else to recommend