Our old boar died in March and so I decided in the school holidays to get some new babies as we had lots of equipment! I now have 4 small boars, unfortunately, we came down to a bloody nose which needed antibiotics so we bought a new 2 story cage to separate out the little ones until we could reintroduce. All was going well, I noticed some dropping on the lawn which I now know to be hedgehog...possible source of infection; when I took the injured one back to the vet for a check up he said he had ringworm and so I had them all checked and now I have it, my daughter does and so do 2 of the 4 guinea pigs. I'm not well and feel I've taken on a massive project which I regret but I have to put my big girl pants on and see this through. The treatment at the vets has been expensive, what started out as £25 worth of cuddles has gone over the £400 mark, one bottle of medicine was £109 on its own as well as the topical solutions and check ups. So my questions are; should I switch to fleece so I can basically boil wash and disinfect bedding better? How long, in your experience does this disease last? I think we have suffered for 4 weeks now. I also have to consider how to reintroduce the boys as I really would like to see them happy and together. We are considering buying some bunny burrow tunnels to give them a piece of the garden. Any useful advice greatly appreciated :-)
Hi! I am very sorry about your problems. Ringworm is the single most transmittable problem between all mammals. Sadly it is not at all rare in shop guinea pigs. If the outbreak happens within 2 weeks of the sale, exposure has happened at the shop or breeder and you can usually reclaim the vet cost by presenting the bill together with the sales receipt if you do this promptly.
Here are our hygiene tips; they are very detailed, but the result of finding out the hard way just in which ways and how easily infection happens. With good hygiene and investing in a good disinfectant, you should be able to get over the acute phase of an outbreak within 2 weeks and then have another 2 weeks on probation. But this is much more difficult when things have already spread far and wide. Invisible spores are shed in their thousands and they can stay live for up to 18 months.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
You may need an antibiotic from your gp yourself to get rid of your own ringworm; I know of several people who needed this. Take a written ringworm diagnosis from your vet to prove that you have got it; not all gps will listen to what you are saying.
I was very lucky to just get by with a topical whole body application of nizoral shampoo every three days and 2% canesten cream several times a day from the moment I noticed the first signs the one time I caught it from a piggy of mine when scratching myself absent-mindedly during treatment. But it was certainly not a nice experience, and I had to wash my bedding, towels and clothes at high temperature every 2 days during that time as well as keeping my hands gelled whenever I caught myself fingering the ringworm patches.
Whether you switch to fleece or stay with loose bedding doesn't matter as long as you make sure that the cage is cleaned frequently and thoroughly so re-infection cannot happen.
I guess that the expensive medication is itrafungol? That should indeed take care of acute ringworm within about a week. The one extra expense I would really urge to make is ordering F10 disinfectant concentrate or spray and F10 hand gel for yourself and your child. It is not all that expensive, but the most effective disinfectant.
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