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Treating fungal infection

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wind1

wind1

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I have just been reading Lauras vet thread (so sorry you lost Tuppence) and she mentions using Panacur for systemic fungal infection. I have a guinea with what I think is a fungal infection although the vet thinks it is mites and is treating with xeno 450. I treated the same guinea a few months ago with gg coconeem melt and manuka and neem shampoo which cleared the skin completely or so I thought. It then started coming back. I bathed him the other day but while I was shampooing him he had a fit which frightened the life out of me. I took him to the vet to see if he could be treated with something orally or by injection as I didn't want to put him through bathing again but the vet didn't agree with me thinking it is fungal. So can I use a wormer? Will it work? Or should I wait and see if the xeno 450 works, he has only had one dose so far.
 
Generally speaking, one should treat for mites first. It can be difficult to spot the difference, but have a look here:

http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/indentification.html

48 hours after his treatment for mites, you can treat him for fungal. Depending on the size/severity of hairloss, sores etc...the coconeem melt and shampoo combination is ok but may be stressful for him. Do you have any manuka lotion from GG? Personally, I would get photos if you can and email Chrissie and ask her.

Normally, the treatment for systemic fungal is itrafungol....I think the pancur for Tuppy was a pre cursor to Laura trying that. I wouldn't start any treatment without vet advice.

You should be able to tell in a few days if the mites treatment is starting to work in any case!
 
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I would leave the bathing of your pig for a while. Keep with the xeno for at least 3 weeks and see if there is any improvement. It could be fungal, but give the xeno a chance first.
 
Thanks for your replies.
I have been using lavender and myrrh around his eyes and ears which are particularly bad on the advice of Chrissie at GG. I have also printed off the identification page on her website to take to the vet with me if I need to go back as going by the symptoms I am quite sure it is fungal. The other thing I read with systemic fungal conditions they lose weight which my guinea has even though he is still eating loads. I will stick with the xeno, he is due a second dose next Tues. The vet told me to do them 2 weeks apart but I have read on here it can be done 10 days apart so I will do that I think. If there is no improvement after that I will have to go back.
 
If he has hairloss, scabbing etc round his eyes, it is definately fungal-possibly ringworm and the lotion you are using should clear it up. You need to continue with the lotion for about 10 days after it is better as it can come back. Again, Chrissie can advise you better than I!

With mites, hairloss and lesions occur first towards the bottom of the back and are mainly concentrated in that area- see example below: 2nd page; 3 bad cases of mites-note the area of hairloss etc
http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/documents/Gorgeous Guineas Chamber Of Horrors.pdf

Guineas can and often do have mites and fungal together, so I would do what you are already doing with the xeno and the lotion round the eye area. Let us know how he gets on :)
 
Yep Xeno needs to be done every week as this is approx the life cycle of a mite. As long as you are leaving 48 hours between washing and applying xeno then I guess both treatments should work ok alongside each other.

If you're sure it's fungal then as LJ said, GG is best (which is what you've been doing!) all I can wish is good luck and healing wheeks to your pig x
 
He does appear to be marginally better but this morning when I was rubbing the lotion into his head he had another fit. I am so worried about these fits it's making me scared of using the lotion. Tonight I was rubbing some in but didn't really do it properly because I was so scared he would have another one. Should I use the xeno 450 now which is a week after the first dose or wait until 10 days is up? He does also have hairloss on his rump and it is very sore where he has obviously rubbed it on something. I have put some sudocrem on this which seems to have dried it up.
 
I would really email Chrissie at GG with some pics, say on the email header that it is urgent....if he keeps fitting, he could suffer a heart attack and die. What does your vet say? it does sound very worrying...


[email protected]
 
Is he only fitting when you bath him or when rubbing lotion into his skin? I'm thinking it would probably be best to give the xeno 450 a chance to work before doing anything else. I've got a lot of piggies and i've never had a pig with a fungal infection although they have had mites from time to time. Xeno 450 has always cleared it very quickly. My vet, who is a guinea pig and rabbit specialist, was also saying how many skin complaints which are thought to be fungal aren't, and clear very quickly once a treatment for mites has been given.
 
Yes he is only fitting when having a bath or lotion rubbed in. Me rubbing his skin obviously sets off the itching, he then starts scratching with his leg then goes into a fit. Can I use the xeno 450 now, 8 days after the first dose or should I wait a bit longer? Thankyou
 
Yes, he is obviously in a lot of pain and being touched sets off a fit.
Use the xeno again 10 days after the first and then 10 days again after the second. This is the "life cycle" of the mite as any eggs hatch 10-11 days after it is laid. Applying it before they hatch would be a waste. You should see a noticable improvement by now though.

You could ask your vet for some metacam painkiller for him as he must be in severe pain. If you give him one drop of metacam half an hour before applying any lotion, this would help. The fact that he has it on his head/face means it could well be fungal. Good husbandry is crucial right now. You need to get an antifungal and antibacterial disinfectant for his cage and hand cleanser for you (hibiscrub, hydrex or virkon are some). Throw away any wooden toys etc if he has any and completely disinfect everything. Throw out your recent batch of hay and buy fresh-avoid pet shops type hays if possible as they can often be mouldy.

If he does have a fungal infection, he could easily be reinfected from you or from his surroundings so this is very important. A positive diagnosis of fungal needs to be made so he can get the right treatment. If it is left to go on, he could well get it systemically and this is even harder to treat.
 
Could I but in on this thread Lavenderjade and ask you about good husbandry. If a piggy has ringworm and is being treated with itrafungal over 5 weeks, at what point would you throw away wood toys and log houses etc. Or would you do this at the beginning and not put in anything wood until completely cleared. Thanks. x
 
Upon diagnosis, I would then throw any wood items away. Anything wooden is very hard to disinfect and could still harbour fungal spores. I would throw away the batch of hay also and disinfect everything with one of the products I mentioned earlier or there are others too.
Ringworm is very contagious to humans too, so wearing a plastic apron and using an antifungal hand cleanser before and after handling your pig is a good idea!
Itrafungol is to treat a systemic fungal infection but normally if ringworm is caught early, one of the lotions from Gorgeous Guineas (lavender & myrhh or manuka) should do the trick.
 
Thank you for your reference and condolences on Tuppence.

Tuppy was being treated with Panacur as systemic fungal infections can sometimes respond to that. Intrafungol or Dida would have been preferable, but the Panacur (or Valbazen, as an alternative) can sometimes help piggies who are unable to maintan or gain weight.

Treating for both parasitic and fungal infection would be wise in your case. There's no point treating internally if there are only signs of an external problem, though depending on your own thoughts on it you can worm your piggies routinely (using Panacur/Valbazen and Ivomec).

For treating your piggie now, I tend to advise:

- Day 1 - Xeno 450
- Day 4-6 (halfway between Xeno treatments) bath in antifungal shampoo. You could use Gorgeous Guineas, but I do prefer to initially use Nizoral prior to repeating the shampoo with Manuka & Neem or another GG shampoo.

When you bath him, you should pull all the loose hairs out - you know it is a fungal infection if, when you tug the hair, it slides out easily often with scales of skin attached to the bottom of the clump. If this is the case, you need to remove all these affected hairs while bathing. According to the Cambridge Cavy Trust, the fits usually stop once all the hairs have been removed. While plucking the hairs you can hold him under a mixer tap to lessen any discomfort.

- Day 11 - (ten days after first dose) Xeno 450
- Day 14-16 - Bathe again.

Depending on how he's doing, another round may be necessary.

Good luck, keep us updated.
 
Thankyou for your replies. I don't think he is in pain as he is behaving normally most of the time. It seems to be only when I rub the lotion in it bothers him although this morning he didn't react as badly and there was no fit. He is eating normally and will happily munch on a carrot whilst I am holding him. He wouldn't do this if he was in pain. So far as husbandry goes he is in a wooden hutch so this could be a problem. I do have another spare wooden hutch, would it be better to transfer him to this so I can completely disinfect the other one?
CCC4: Thankyou for the advice. I am very reluctant to bath him as this stressed him out so much and he had a fit. I am terrified this will happen again. I was hoping if it is fungal I could get something orally or by injection so I would not have to put him through the bathing again.
 
I am pleased to say we seem to be getting somewhere. I did a 2nd dose of xeno 450 yesterday and I'm still using the gg lotion around his eyes and ears. His skin is looking a lot lot better so maybe it was mites after all. I still think it is fungal around his ears and eyes so I will carry on with the lotion until it is completely cleared but he really is looking so much better. I'm still worried about bathing him so I'm leaving off that for now. I will see how he goes after all 3 doses of xeno . Thankyou for all the advice, hopefully we are now well on the road to recovery.
 
That is wonderful news, thank you for the update! Even when the skin round his face looks completely better, keep using the cream for another week as it can come back :)
 
Sorry to but in again. Can I ask about profleece bedding? Using this, is there a higher temp it should be washed on to kill anything, its a bit expensive to throw away? Thanks. x
 
I have recently aquired a baby pig with a small patch of fungal I contacted GG who suggested Lavender & Myrrh lotion which on application stung my finger never mind the piggies back and made him wriggle and sqeal too! So I have now been applying canesten anti fungal which has cleared it up nicely AND the piggy doesnt wriggle or squirm when I apply this I think it is more soothing. Also it has been suggested that when they groom themselves the can ingest spores and so as a precaution administer daktarian oral gel 0.5ml per day most piggies like the taste of it. I have been doing this too and my little lad is a new boy now!
 
Hi Sue,

I agree with you about the shampoos and lotion you mention.I only used the lavender and myrrh once and the gp had a bad reaction.

Caneston and Daktarin do have chemicals in,but they do work.In any case,I am always wary of products sold only online,you just do not know what is in them.

I like to buy products for myself and my piggies that are as chemical free as possible,but sometimes if you need a product that you know works well,ev en though it may have parabens or sles in ,you have to use them.,but as sparingly as possible.

Hope to see you soon.

Mary and The Mob
 
All drugs, even "natural" ones are chemical based. I cannot think of any chemical-free drug.
 
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