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What is this? - ringworm

melissa1981

melissa1981

Junior Guinea Pig
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Woke up to find this on Denzels nose and his ear is dry. We got him from Pets at Home 1 week ago. Is this a vets visit?
 

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Get him to the vets asap! A crusty nose can be a sign of a URI, when I got Willow, she too had a crusty nose and when seen by a vet her breathing was very noisy and she was ultimate prescribe antibiotics for 2 weeks... I would get him into the vets today is possible, and as you only got him a week ago, Pets at Home should pay the vet bill
 
Well I just nipped to pets at home and the vet looked at the photos and said it's ringworm. Got an appointment on Monday and told to not handle either pig. Denzel however was lied in the nape of my neck last night so I'm expecting I may get it. I feel really guilty that I have only had them both a week and he already has this. Could I have done something better? I change the the sawdust everyday and give them fresh water and food everyday. The vet mentioned stress but they seem to be loving life in their new pen that I got them. Feel a bit fed up :(
 
Ringworm is pretty common with new piggies so don’t worry. Stress is a main cause to ringworm and new piggies are usually a bit stressed as everything is new to them. My piggies and I are on ringworm treatment as well. I was in a young drivers summer camp and got infected there but I didn’t know so the piggies got it as well:doh:.

I think every guinea pig owner has to deal with ringworm once in their guinea pig owner career. Some more and some less because some guinea pigs get it easier than others. I have a very skittish sow in my group and she is on her third or fourth ringworm treatment within a year.
 
melissa1981 said:
Woke up to find this on Denzels nose and his ear is dry. We got him from Pets at Home 1 week ago. Is this a vets visit?
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Yes, this is a vet visit! It looks like ringworm (highly transmittable fungal skin infection). You can reclaim any vet cost from the pet shop if you present the sales receipt with the vet bill at the shop. Here is more information on how to proceed.
What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)

Please follow the hygiene tips in our ringworm guide closely. They are as important to get on top of it and prevent a return as any fungal treatment. Ringworm is by far the most transmittable problem between species (including humans and other pets). Our recommendations have been learned the hard way and have therefore stood the test of practice by a fair number of forum members with ringworm piggies even in larger groups over time!
Many people underestimate the re-infection risk; but it is really worth having a tough two weeks and then be rid of it forever rather than a never ending saga of it spreading everywhere.
Apart from F10 disinfectant (which works reliably), get hold of some anti-dandruff shampoo like nizoral for yourself for a whole body shampoo to make sure that you do not catch any spores from handling a ringworm piggy with bare hands and accidentally touching other body parts in your usual unthinking behaviours. You can also use nizoral for a one-off piggy bath at the end of the treatment to prevent any spores sitting in the coat from causing a re-infection.
Nizoral is very harsh on the skin, so I would not recommend to use it for a full course of anti-fungal treatment.
If you can get oral itrafungol from your vet (it is not quite cheap and prescription only), then do so. It is by far the most effective and least stressful way of treating ringworm piggies.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
 
So I have got an vets appointment at 4.30pm on Monday. Pets at home are going to treat both pigs even though only denzel is showing signs of ringworm (yet). It's got so much worse since this morning though, he now has a few round scaly dry patches on his body that have come on today. He is not himself at all. I had to pick him up to transfer him to his pen whilst I cleaned and sanitised the cage and he went mad trying to get away and trying to nip me, this is not like him at all. The vet said he will be fine until Monday but I'm thinking the infection will just keep spreading the longer I leave him :(
 
melissa1981 said:
So I have got an vets appointment at 4.30pm on Monday. Pets at home are going to treat both pigs even though only denzel is showing signs of ringworm (yet). It's got so much worse since this morning though, he now has a few round scaly dry patches on his body that have come on today. He is not himself at all. I had to pick him up to transfer him to his pen whilst I cleaned and sanitised the cage and he went mad trying to get away and trying to nip me, this is not like him at all. The vet said he will be fine until Monday but I'm thinking the infection will just keep spreading the longer I leave him :(
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It always gets worse before it gets better so don't worry. Monday is fine for the appointment.
 
melissa1981 said:
So I have got an vets appointment at 4.30pm on Monday. Pets at home are going to treat both pigs even though only denzel is showing signs of ringworm (yet). It's got so much worse since this morning though, he now has a few round scaly dry patches on his body that have come on today. He is not himself at all. I had to pick him up to transfer him to his pen whilst I cleaned and sanitised the cage and he went mad trying to get away and trying to nip me, this is not like him at all. The vet said he will be fine until Monday but I'm thinking the infection will just keep spreading the longer I leave him :(
Click to expand...

Any ringworm spot has to run its due course and is always getting a lot bigger until all the affected hairs in the wider area around it have come out.

PLEASE read our ringworm guide. It also contains pictures of how the different stages and how a ringworm infection runs its course. ;)
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
 
If you're worried about yourself getting it - got to Boots and buy some Nizoral shampoo and wash your body in it. My two girls have just recovered from ringworm. I was handling them to medicate them, but washed myself in the shampoo. Neither myself or my partner got it :) It's a pain, but they will get better so no need to worry x
 
Thank you. I don't seem to have caught anything from them but I have tried to not handle them lots which is upsetting as I was just beginning to gain their trust before this happened. Once they start treatment (I am hoping for the oral treatment, not the cream from what I have read) how long will it be before I can handle them again. Does it have to clear up completely?
 
melissa1981 said:
Thank you. I don't seem to have caught anything from them but I have tried to not handle them lots which is upsetting as I was just beginning to gain their trust before this happened. Once they start treatment (I am hoping for the oral treatment, not the cream from what I have read) how long will it be before I can handle them again. Does it have to clear up completely?
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I handled mine with gloves on when it was at its worst and washed my clothes at 60 degrees. My girls had cream because they were very little and it cleared it up - my vet told me to continue to use the cream 2 weeks after it had visibly cleared up and then I had to bath them at the end of treatment to get rid of any other spores (you don't have to do that with oral treatment). All in all, they had it for about 10-11 weeks I think. Personally, when the visible signs had cleared up, I started handling them without gloves - but this does come at the risk that you may catch it yourself. I followed the guide on the forum which was really really useful :)
 
It is all looking okay, went to the vets and she was great. She handled and stroked them and was not at all bothered by the fact that they had ringworm which made me a bit more comfortable about handling them. I gave them their second dose of medicine yesterday (they have been given a 2 week course) which proved difficult as Denzel is a wriggler and was not happy about it but I got there in the end. I keep sanitising my hands and arms and so far i haven't caught it. They seem happy enough and are eating, playing and drinking. One of them has runny poos but not sure which one, but assume this could be down to medication. Hopefully in a few weeks things will be back to normal.
 
melissa1981 said:
It is all looking okay, went to the vets and she was great. She handled and stroked them and was not at all bothered by the fact that they had ringworm which made me a bit more comfortable about handling them. I gave them their second dose of medicine yesterday (they have been given a 2 week course) which proved difficult as Denzel is a wriggler and was not happy about it but I got there in the end. I keep sanitising my hands and arms and so far i haven't caught it. They seem happy enough and are eating, playing and drinking. One of them has runny poos but not sure which one, but assume this could be down to medication. Hopefully in a few weeks things will be back to normal.
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Fingers crossed for you :) I didn't catch it either so I'm sure you will be fine!
 
Have you tried wrapping them in a towel to give the meds.
It doesn’t stop the wriggling but gives you a bit moe control
 
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