chelgan
New Born Pup
Hi all! We recently learned that one of our piggies has ringworm, likely caught from our newer pig who isn’t showing signs. The vet prescribed oral antifungal meds, which are due to be delivered today. She also didn’t give any instructions for other measures to eliminate ringworm spores.
I ended up doing a virtual visit with a second vet to get a prescription for his cage mate in order to treat them at the same time, as I couldn’t get into the first vet quickly.
Vet #1 said to use bleach to clean the cage, however I prefer not to use bleach so I asked vet #2 and he said to once a week use Chlorhexidine, let soak for 20 minutes and rinse off. I am now seeing mixed info online, both that chlorhexidine IS effective at killing ringworm, and that it’s NOT effective on its own, so I’m not sure if anyone has experience using it to clean cages and hard surfaces but would appreciate any info you can provide!
Secondly, I asked vet #2 if I need to bathe them during treatment to get rid of the spores but he said since they are on oral they shouldn’t need to be bathed. However, everything I see online says to bathe them at least twice during treatment. I’m not sure which way to go here, because bathing them will be a huge traumatic ordeal but I want to make sure all the ringworm is gone.
I’m also unsure because generally I would trust a medical professional over the internet, however these days (in the US at least) it seems everyone is just out to make money. So they (yes, even doctors) don’t care about actually resolving a problem, because in this case, if it comes back that just means more money in their pocket when I have to get it treated again. I hate to be that way but it’s just the current reality. Any help would be appreciated!
I ended up doing a virtual visit with a second vet to get a prescription for his cage mate in order to treat them at the same time, as I couldn’t get into the first vet quickly.
Vet #1 said to use bleach to clean the cage, however I prefer not to use bleach so I asked vet #2 and he said to once a week use Chlorhexidine, let soak for 20 minutes and rinse off. I am now seeing mixed info online, both that chlorhexidine IS effective at killing ringworm, and that it’s NOT effective on its own, so I’m not sure if anyone has experience using it to clean cages and hard surfaces but would appreciate any info you can provide!
Secondly, I asked vet #2 if I need to bathe them during treatment to get rid of the spores but he said since they are on oral they shouldn’t need to be bathed. However, everything I see online says to bathe them at least twice during treatment. I’m not sure which way to go here, because bathing them will be a huge traumatic ordeal but I want to make sure all the ringworm is gone.
I’m also unsure because generally I would trust a medical professional over the internet, however these days (in the US at least) it seems everyone is just out to make money. So they (yes, even doctors) don’t care about actually resolving a problem, because in this case, if it comes back that just means more money in their pocket when I have to get it treated again. I hate to be that way but it’s just the current reality. Any help would be appreciated!
