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Systemic Fungal Infections...

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Laura-CCC4

Laura-CCC4

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...don't always mean there has to be a blatantly obvious external fungal problem.

Recent medical history coming up now that my two boys, Elijah & Errol, have been diagnosed with systemic mycosis. Hoping it might help others who might ever come across some of these symptoms.

Elijah pig became very withdrawn and reluctant to eat about 2 months ago. A faint and occasional click in one lung could be heard. A dental exam showed no dental issues so on discussing things with a rodentologist friend, we considered oral fungal infection. Started him on Daktarin Oral Gel and Nurofen, instant improvement, I naively stopped the treatment after one week as he was fully recovered.

Wrong thing to do, it came back with a vengeance (main symptom: heavy dribbling of stale-smelling saliva) two weeks later and he's not long been off the full course of Daktarin and Nurofen.

He had been doing fine since, but over the last few days this faint click in the lung has returned and he seems a little quiet in his behaviour again.

I now move onto Errol, Elijah's brother who lives with him. Both brothers are fond of eating each others hair - saves me trimming their hair but I'd really much rather they didn't go to such efforts. Errol is the pig with lens luxation (slipped lens) and who has lately developed a strange "drifting" movement: whenever he stands still, his head drifts towards the left. Not imbalance, but rather like we drift when we feel dizzy. Again, rodentologist friend and I suspected neurological.

Errol has also had a scab on his back foot for the past month that is not healing, and for the past few days he has been very quiet and much unlike his normal self. Upon bathing him yesterday I noticed he had developed flaky/crusty skin on his toes and along his leg.

Both boys have now had an anti-fungal bath and will be bathed again next week and the week after.

To summarise, the boys combined symptoms have included:

- Withdrawn, quiet behaviour;
- Reluctance to eat;
- Dribbling (dro-oling);
- Stale-smelling saliva;
- "Drifting" movement of the head;
- Faint and occasional click in one lung;
- Scab on foot pad that won't heal (not bumblefoot, but bumblefoot can be a problem with fungal infections);
- Flaky skin on feet.

The barbering (eating each others hair) is a major contributor to the continued problem with this; clearly the fungal spores have been on the boys hair, and the more of each others hair they have eaten, the more fungal spores they have ingested. It just surprised me that there were barely any symptoms externally, given how long Elijah pig has had issues.

Errol's drifting problem is likely to be a result of ingesting the fungal spores; the fungal problem infects them systemically which includes the central nervous system, hence Errol's symptoms. It can't be undone but treatment will stop it getting worse.

All this overwhelmingly points to systemic fungal infection, I have had a discussions with rodentologist friend and Vedra and I have quarantined the boys downstairs, away from my other pigs and away from any inpatients. They will stay in quarantine for around 4 weeks.

I am starting them on Itrafungol today and am hoping that it does the trick!
 
I used diluted Povidone Iodine (P.I) - around half P.I and half normal shampoo - and let it soak for five minutes. I would normally use Nizoral but I'm all out of everything other than P.I.

I do have T-Gel but I find it harsh on me, I wasn't keen on using it on the boys!
 
I am so sorry for your problems; but at least your two gorgeous boys couldn't be in better hands! I hope that you can get on top of their fungal effectively!
 
There seems to be a trend in piggy healthy. Mites and lice season are truly on us.

Now fungal season. I have been extra careful about how I store the hay. As warm damp places allows fungus to grow. Piggy hay is now inside with us.
 
Thanks Wiebke. :)

I have been giving Dust Free Hay for the past couple of months, instead of exclusively Oxbow. The timing of the systemic fungal and the change in hay is too coincidental for me, they are back to Oxbow and Just Grass.

The boys have had their first dose of Itrafungol, was rather concerned earlier as Errol's breathing had become very noisy, but that did clear up very quickly.

Now have huge piles of poop in the cage! Not sure that's supposed to be the effect but the Itrafungol is definitely improving the boys condition.

Each pig is on 0.3ml 2x daily, only got a few days worth at the moment but the normal course duration is 10 days, so will aim for that for now.
 
Sorry to hear that you have all this going on but I'm glad that you seem to have discovered the cause and can therefore treat it. Really hope that you can nip this in the bud now and get them back up with the others very soon x

Btw thanks for sharing - very interesting discovery :)
 
Thanks for the good wishes, felt it was time for an update on these lads.

The boys seem to be a lot better, skin and hair feels lovely and they are both bouncing around and eating as normal. Vedra only prescribed 6 days of Itrafungol (0.3ml 2x daily) for each pig, saying it's a full course, so they finished their meds on 21 May. I was concerned it wasn't a full course as recommended by Vedra and other rodentologists, its usually a minimum of 10 days, but I had a chat with Vedra and she took a look at the boys yesterday and felt there's no point giving them more. There are no signs of fungal infection externally, but if the symptoms to return the only other thing to consider is Nystatin - unlikely to be prescribed at the moment as there is no sign of fungal on them! So it is just a case of watch and wait.

Unfortunately due to safety reasons (i.e. the guinea-pig-obsessed-dog and the twins) I couldn't keep them in quarantine. The only totally safe place for them is in my bedroom so I decided to move them back. Maybe the wrong thing to do, I do understand the concerns and I'm not doubting the reasons for wanting them in quarantine for 4 weeks - but weighing up various risks I felt that they would be safer in my room, in their penthouse apartment above all the other pigs.

So all is quite normal at the moment with the boys, lovely to see them back to their usual selves. :rose
 
Two months later, and Elijah pig is dro-oling again. I believe the source of the problem is a brand of hay, whether it's just the individual batch I don't know but for this to happen twice is more than coincidence. My pigs were on Dust Free Hay (soft meadow hay) for a while earlier in the year, and Elijah developed his problems while on this hay (as did Errol, as earlier in the thread).

Last week I was out of Oxbow and just about out of Just Grass, so while waiting for those deliveries I figured they'd better have the one bag of Dust Free Hay that was left - preferable to no hay at all. Lo and behold, guess who now has a sopping wet chin once again. He has also lost 70g in weight, although having missed a couple of weekly weigh ins I can't fully attribute this weight loss to the hay/fungal issues. Also, Errol had soft poops while on the Dust Free Hay. The hay is the only thing that changed.

They're back on Oxbow and Readigrass now, they had the Dust Free Hay for only two days, but it was clearly enough. No other pigs affected though, so whether E&E are just sensitive, somehow, to fungal problems I don't know.

Oxbow and Just Grass all the way here, even with the price increase in Oxbow next year I've found what works and suits my lot. :)
 
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I sadly come back to this thread yet again. Elijah again, this time it's a bit worse than last time:

- Dro-oling
- Lost over 100g in four days (from 1015g to 891g)
- Refusing to eat pellets and hay (did eat veg last night, am going to try him on some veg next)
- Refusing syringe-feeds (not that he is getting the satisfaction of winning that battle).

He looks completely miserable. He was very quiet yesterday but nothing else notable, then the drooling started up again overnight, he is just really not himself at all.

I have him on Nurofen and Daktarin Oral Gel. Have checked him thoroughly, no lumps and bumps, no signs of cystitis or bloat. Poop and pee is fine although I will run a urine test on the off chance it shows anything suspicious. I have had a long look in his mouth, lovely clear view, his mouth is very clean and healthy looking. Lower left molars are a touch longer than the other sets, leaning in towards the tongue a tiny bit, although nothing major. It might explain his problems.

Vedra is away as of today so can't get him checked by her, Karen (a rodentologist friend) is visiting on Tuesday and she's going to see if she can get to the bottom of it, if he's no better by then. Of course, should anything more urgent crop up that can't be managed this way, we will have to consult a vet.

Please, if anyone has any spare healing thoughts they could send to Eli they would be welcome. I'm very worried about him, trying to be reasonable and give the meds time to kick in, but I've not seen him in this miserable and "ill" before. :(
 
I am so sorry about poor gorgeous Eli! Big vibes from me!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Poor Eli! Me and my boys send healing vibes (and my boys are very grateful for your previous advice about their fungal problems even though it meant more shampooing, which they hate!)
 
Thanks for the well wishes. A bit of an update for you all.

I ran a urine test (after waiting for 3 hours for him to pee!). I have checked the results....

pH - 6.0 (lower than normal)
Specific Gravity - 1030 (higher than normal, I believe)
Protein - 3 / 300 (should be neg)
Glucose - 14 / 250 (should be neg)
Blood - neg
Ketones - neg
Leucocytes - neg
Nitrates - neg

...with said rodentologist friend and basically, we could be looking at kidney issues. No signs of UTI/cystitis to go with those results and some results are negative for what would normally suggest an infection (leucocytes, nitrates).

For now I am upping his pain meds a little as he is showing signs of pain - shuddering/shivering when stroked on occasion, and puffed up hair on face - and giving him plenty of fluids. I may run another urine test tomorrow to see if the results are the same. Other than that, plenty of syringe feeds until he is eating again, and see how things go.

Errol is keeping a distance from him as well, which is sad to see but he knows something's up. :(
 
Poor piggy... :( I really hope it isn't serious.

It does sound a lot like Holly. I think the only difference in the sorts of urine results you've got there is that Holly has had blood and protein in her urine, but never any real signs of more glucose than there should be.
 
My mind is wondering about similarities, Sarah, things are starting to add up a bit more wih my thoughts (well, lack of ideas lately!) on Holly. I will think on it for you as Elijah's illness pans out.

If I can just get him eating again, I would be a lot happier, so would he.
 
I will let your mind wander away (!), Laura. :)) Seriously, any thoughts/ideas would be a bonus!

Have you got him on bottled water? I've switched my two over to the Deeside to try...
 
This may sound a bit weird but in view of the current weather...(and a longshot ) - droolling, if it isn;t teeth, is normally associated with heat stroke ...he is an indoor piggie methinks?

Is he ever in the sun;s path indoors? Have you put on the CH yet - Have you recently had a big/sudden temp drop overnght ( i had one two days ago) thst triggered the CH thermostat unawares?

Hope he recovers soon Hun - will carry on racking my brains

Urine being negative for leucocytes doesn;t rule out infection elsewhere in the body .....kidney issues would normally maifest as elements of blood on the dip stick.......


Is he nibbling the fleece/towelling/balnkets (mine do).......

Try him on newspaper and hay for a bit.......

x
 
Thanks for the well wishes. This morning he is worse again. More excessive drooling, sunken eyes, puffed up. Mini "heaves" every so often, like when they eat too much - this is much less severe but noticeable and seems to be tied in with the drooling. Slushy feeling abdomen, like Gwenny had. He did eat a piece of pepper last night but refused parsley, a favourite, and still refusing hay and pellets.

Just got to keep going with the fluids and syringe feeds, also still on pain relief and he has had a diuretic this morning as well. I just hope he responds to it soon, I'm very worried about him.

Pebble, good ideas and thank you for raising them, but none of it matches up in Elijah's case. Cage is never in direct sunlight and not near a radiator. Temperature has been steady in the house. Not nibbling fleece, he has a large hay and newspaper section but is ignoring it.
 
Sending Elijah all my best healing vibes.

This thread has really helped a fabulous pig that I rehomed 4 years ago - lately he'd been off, nothing that could be pin pointed down to any illness but just not right. I had him back for observation and then this thread popped up - it all fitted and he went on the itrafungol treatment. He's a different pig now fit, well and stacking on the weight and it's all thanks to you Laura.

Suzy x
 
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