View attachment 80782 Our 4 week old Female guinea pig, Minnie, has started to develop this odd white growth on her upper eye lid which is surrounded by white crusty patches. There is discharge that we can see and there’s no smell present. She is still eating just fine and getting along with her guinea buddy, Sally, just fine. But she does occasionally scratch at the eye. We are thinking fungal infection? Does this require a vet to treat it or can this be managed at home?
View attachment 80783
View attachment 80784
Hi! It looks like ringworm. It is unfortunately rather common in new shop guinea pigs. If you see a vet for treatment within 2 weeks of purchase, you can reclaim the vet cost from the pet shop by presenting the vet bill together with the sales receipt as exposure and infection must have happened at the shop. It is not quite as easy to get the money back from a backyard breeder, but you can report either to your local council over trading standards, especially if they refuse to pay up.
Please see a vet. We can only advise but are legally not allowed (nor are we qualified enough) to diagnose without a hands-on examination. This goes for any online place.
Vet care is going to make the largest post of any pet budget over its lifetime. It would be good if you saved up for a vet fund on a weekly or monthly bases right from the start as an integral part of your pet keeping budget. Illness and emergencies never happen at a good time, and they can quickly climb into the hundreds of pounds or dollars. Seeing a living being suffer and knowing that it is because of you is something that is hard to come to terms with and can cause major rows and rifts when it happens. There are no cheap pets.
Please use VERY good hygiene and invest in a vet-strength disinfectant that is antifungal and not just antibacterial, like common shop brands. Ringworm is the most aggressive and transmittable form of fungal; this includes humans and other pet species!
The period between infection and outbreak is 10-14 days. Ringworm spores (which are shed intheir hundreds or thousands) can stay live for up to 18 months - hence why paying for a product that is proven to kill ringworm spores is the best investment you can make!
Please take the time to read our guide; the tips in there have all been learned the hard way. That is why they work!
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
(Contains tips for the most effective disinfectant brands which are widely available online.)
The most effective and least stressful product for ringworm (oral treatment with a product that contains itraconazole, like UK brand irafungol) is prescription-only - especially when the outbreak is right next to the eye, which can swell up quite badly from topical treatment. Please be aware that you also need to treat the companion in order to prevent an outbreak.
Our 4 week old Female guinea pig, Minnie, has started to develop this odd white growth on her upper eye lid which is surrounded by white crusty patches. There is discharge that we can see and there’s no smell present. She is still eating just fine and getting along with her guinea buddy, Sally, just fine. But she does occasionally scratch at the eye. We are thinking fungal infection? Does this require a vet to treat it or can this be managed at home?
