what could cause this patch?

[BrownEyedGirl]

ok so i have a 2 week follow up visit for my pig tomorrow. the vet said he thought it was mites/lice and gave him a shot. i noticed there is this small patch under some hair on his back that seems to be painful. he jumps and squeals when you touch it. it looks dandruffy and there is some hair missing from the area. what could it be? it didnt spread and its been there since before i took him to the vet 2 weeks ago. can mites be in just one spot? do they cause pain and hairloss that could be in just one small area or are they more wide spread?

 

[harold_the_pig]

Could we possibly see a pic? X

 

[BrownEyedGirl]

i wish i could, the only way i could take one is with my cell phone and my purse got stolen and my phone was in it ugh bad week for me.. i can try to explain better, its small roundish feels very dry and scab like. it has white flakes on and around the area with very thin and missing hair on the patch. its located on far on his back. and like i said it seems to be very painful to the pig. i thought it might be ringworm but it never spread even though he has been scratching it a lot for weeks and i never caught it and its very contagious (i had it before its not fun or pretty) either has my dog who my guinea pig plays with or anyone else who handles him.

 

[Connie]

Is your vet a guinea pig savvy exotics vet? Only exotics vet will have any training in piggies. If you tell us where you are in the country we can recomend a cavvy savvy vet near you.

It could be mites, however it sounds more like fungal. These two have very similar symptoms but need completly different treatment.

Obviously we cant diagnoise, only a vet that has seen the piggy could possibly do that.

 

[BrownEyedGirl]

yes the vet i take him to treats guinea pigs. he told me he it doesnt have characteristics of ringworm, but i dont know if that meant his ears or the patch on his back but he seemed to think mites. also is there a difference between fungal and ringworm? or are there other fungal skin infections? if so are they contagious to humans? ty for your help!

 

[Connie]

Ringworm is the only kind of fungal piggies get that we can catch, but there are many other types we cant cage. What treatment exactly did the vet give for the mites?

As mites will need to be treated 3 times (every 7-10 days) to break their egg cycle, like human headlice.

The treatment can be injection or spot on. Spot on his fine for most mites, however mange mites to require injections.

Fungal will need cream or special shampoo ususally. Either of these does mean that all wooden/cardboard (basically anything that cant be sprayed with disinfectant or put in the washing machine nice and high) will need throwing away. Everythin else needs to be disinfected (if its fungal it needs to be an antifungal disinfectant).

 

[BrownEyedGirl]

before i took him to the vet i was told elsewhere it was ringworm so i washed him with anti fungal shampoo, but it didnt work (used it a few times) the vet gave him an injection and hes giving him another one tomorrow. ill have him look at the spot closer. he has not been itching his ears anymore nor scratching the patch anymore so is it possible its healing from mites (if it IS mites?) only when you touch it does he have pain, i dont think ringworm causes THAT much pain. thank you for the info i wasnt aware there were other guinea pig fungal infections of the skin other than ringworm. what should i buy for fungal?

 

[Salt n Peppers mum]

Its really hard to give you advice with out knowing everything and looking at your pig.
Are you in the UK? What vet does he go to?

Pigs can get Fungal, lice (some people call this hay mites) Mites and Ringworm which is a fungal - they are all treated differently

These links will help you more, but your vet should be able to tell you exactly what he is dealing with - once you've been to the vet tomorrow please give us a update?

http://gorgeousguineas.com/parasitic.html

http://gorgeousguineas.com/fungal.html

http://gorgeousguineas.com/photogallery.html

 

[scpiggy]

i dont think ringworm causes THAT much pain.

My girl Sherbert had a nasty case of ring worm when she was a baby and in order to take a sample of the infected skin for testing and confirming it was ring work they had to put her under general anesthetic because she was in so much pain so ring worm can be very painful. I hope your piggie gets well soon.

 

[BrownEyedGirl]

My girl Sherbert had a nasty case of ring worm when she was a baby and in order to take a sample of the infected skin for testing and confirming it was ring work they had to put her under general anesthetic because she was in so much pain so ring worm can be very painful. I hope your piggie gets well soon.

aww! that sounds horrible! what a shame what did it look like?they shined a black light on my pigs ears and nothing green showed up (indicates ringworm) so i was a bit relieved! did it take a while for it to go away?

Also I'm not in the UK, I'm from the US

 

[Suzygpr]

Hi there

Please be aware that not all forms of ringworm that guinea pigs can catch flouresce under UV light, so lack of reaction is not a definitive diagnosis.
http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html

If you give your State hopefully there will be a cavvy savy vet that can be recommended in your area.

Suzy x

 

[JoBo]

It is really weird that this thread has come up at this time because a couple of weeks ago while i was bathing my indoor herd i noticed that they were all developing bald patches and flaky white skin and had all bee scratching at there wounds. I treated all 5 of them with xeno 450 thinking it was mites, however at the weekend i noticed that i had a strange rash coming up on the bend of my foot to my leg and it developed into a really nasty and irratable circle shaped rash. I have since had it confirmed that i have ringworm and reading up on it it does say to beware of animals that have bald patches.

After reading this it has occured to me that its a high probability that i have contracted ringworm from my herd. I am using antifungal cream for my rash, wondering if this will help the guinea pigs or if the xeno 450 covers the ringworm too?

 

[scpiggy]

aww! that sounds horrible! what a shame what did it look like?they shined a black light on my pigs ears and nothing green showed up (indicates ringworm) so i was a bit relieved! did it take a while for it to go away?

Also I'm not in the UK, I'm from the US

It was a big circular grey coloured scab, with white flakey bits and she lost all the fur around the scab. She was full recovered after a few weeks of oral medication. Also got an anti fungal spray to put round the cage as it can pass on to other pigs and humans. never heard of ring worm being checked with a light before.

 

[Suzygpr]

It is really weird that this thread has come up at this time because a couple of weeks ago while i was bathing my indoor herd i noticed that they were all developing bald patches and flaky white skin and had all bee scratching at there wounds. I treated all 5 of them with xeno 450 thinking it was mites, however at the weekend i noticed that i had a strange rash coming up on the bend of my foot to my leg and it developed into a really nasty and irratable circle shaped rash. I have since had it confirmed that i have ringworm and reading up on it it does say to beware of animals that have bald patches.

After reading this it has occured to me that its a high probability that i have contracted ringworm from my herd. I am using antifungal cream for my rash, wondering if this will help the guinea pigs or if the xeno 450 covers the ringworm too?

Xeno is only effective against parasites such as mites. Ringworm requires a completely different treatment. As the pigs have had it long enough for your infection to become apparent I would suggest you get vet treatment rather than use a 'home remedy'.

I use Imaverol for ringworm and find it very effective, you have to treat all the pigs whether or not they are showing signs, and the housing/bedding. I use F10 to kill the fungal and it's spores. Lots of anti fungal sprays/solutions are great at killing the fungal but not effective against the spores - the small print says spores, but bacterial types not fungal.

Your vet may agree to Imaverol or prescribe an anti fungal spray - both are effective.

HTH

Suzy x

 

[Connie]

Ringworm is the only kind of fungal piggies get that we can catch, but there are many other types we cant cage. What treatment exactly did the vet give for the mites?

As mites will need to be treated 3 times (every 7-10 days) to break their egg cycle, like human headlice.

The treatment can be injection or spot on. Spot on his fine for most mites, however mange mites to require injections.

Fungal will need cream or special shampoo ususally. Either of these does mean that all wooden/cardboard (basically anything that cant be sprayed with disinfectant or put in the washing machine nice and high) will need throwing away. Everythin else needs to be disinfected (if its fungal it needs to be an antifungal disinfectant).

I would like to correct myself, Since posting I have found out my sorce was wrong. The mites treatment should be every 10-14 days. Sorry about that.