Ringworm question :(

[TinaY]

Hi again! I keep updating this and hoping if someone like me reads it, it will help them. I am just back from the vet. And yes, we have fleas. They got some liquid between the ears and some shampoo that has to be used every 3 days for 2 weeks, then once a week for the next two weeks and then once a month. According to him, they are super sensitive to chemicals so DO NOT try to use any other cat/dog shampoos on them without talking to the vet before because you can poison them.

Regarding the ringworm, I have to keep applying the cream for one more week and finish the remaining weeks of oral medication. They are still not off the hook - scaling and rings still visible. But they are MUCH better.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi again! I keep updating this and hoping if someone like me reads it, it will help them. I am just back from the vet. And yes, we have fleas. They got some liquid between the ears and some shampoo that has to be used every 3 days for 2 weeks, then once a week for the next two weeks and then once a month. According to him, they are super sensitive to chemicals so DO NOT try to use any other cat/dog shampoos on them without talking to the vet before because you can poison them.

Regarding the ringworm, I have to keep applying the cream for one more week and finish the remaining weeks of oral medication. They are still not off the hook - scaling and rings still visible. But they are MUCH better.

As I said there is no species specific flea for guinea pigs. Fleas from other animals will starve on guinea pigs so they don’t stay on them.
Yes, cat and dog flea treatments can be dangerous for guinea pigs

What medication and shampoo have they given you?

They can get hay mites which result in the egg casings being visible on the piggies. This is not fleas though. Even then you do not routinely treat for mites every month as it can cause resistance and problems. Mites are treated with a course of ivermectin and then once the mites are gone, the treatment stops. Hay mites are a nuisance but not as bad as mange mites which feed from the skin (hay mites don’t do this, they attach to the hair shaft)
Bathing them every three days for two weeks is going to be hard on their skin.

@Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

Hi again! I keep updating this and hoping if someone like me reads it, it will help them. I am just back from the vet. And yes, we have fleas. They got some liquid between the ears and some shampoo that has to be used every 3 days for 2 weeks, then once a week for the next two weeks and then once a month. According to him, they are super sensitive to chemicals so DO NOT try to use any other cat/dog shampoos on them without talking to the vet before because you can poison them.

Regarding the ringworm, I have to keep applying the cream for one more week and finish the remaining weeks of oral medication. They are still not off the hook - scaling and rings still visible. But they are MUCH better.

Hi!

Guinea pigs do NOT have species specific fleas and should not be treated with cat and dog flea products because those can contain substances that are highly toxic to rodents. In some instances, cat fleas can jump onto guinea pigs but in most cases they will quickly jump off again as fleas, like other skin parasites, are species specific and can generally not survive other species.
Here is more information on parasites and possible treatments for guinea pigs; including those that should not be used:
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
Fleas And Flea Powders
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites (overview on all possible parasites that can affect guinea pigs)
Guinea Lynx :: Antiparasitics (what is safe and what not for guinea pigs)

As long as the scaling is forming, you are still dealing with an acute case. Guinea pigs with a weak immune system or other underlying issues can struggle to shift ringworm so you need to continue with the itrafungol for the full course.

 

[TinaY]

H

As I said there is no species specific flea for guinea pigs. Fleas from other animals will starve on guinea pigs so they don’t stay on them.
Yes, cat and dog flea treatments can be dangerous for guinea pigs

What medication and shampoo have they given you?

They can get hay mites which result in the egg casings being visible on the piggies. This is not fleas though. Even then you do not routinely treat for mites every month as it can cause resistance and problems. Mites are treated with a course of ivermectin and then once the mites are gone, the treatment stops. Hay mites are a nuisance but not as bad as mange mites which feed from the skin (hay mites don’t do this, they attach to the hair shaft)
Bathing them every three days for two weeks is going to be hard on their skin.

@Wiebke

Oh no . There were spot on drops but I do not know the name, and I was given a natural shampoo for cats and dogs that I suspect is local, but looks like this: https://www.amazon.in/Himalaya-Control-Erina-EP-Shampoo-200ml/dp/B006G87IFK (link to random Amazon page where I could find it).

Now I am really confused and I am waiting before I start using the shampoo to be on the safe side.

 

[TinaY]

Hi!

Guinea pigs do NOT have species specific fleas and should not be treated with cat and dog flea products because those can contain substances that are highly toxic to rodents. In some instances, cat fleas can jump onto guinea pigs but in most cases they will quickly jump off again as fleas, like other skin parasites, are species specific and can generally not survive other species.
Here is more information on parasites and possible treatments for guinea pigs; including those that should not be used:
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
Fleas And Flea Powders
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites (overview on all possible parasites that can affect guinea pigs)
Guinea Lynx :: Antiparasitics (what is safe and what not for guinea pigs)

As long as the scaling is forming, you are still dealing with an acute case. Guinea pigs with a weak immune system or other underlying issues can struggle to shift ringworm so you need to continue with the itrafungol for the full course.

Thanks! I am now waiting before I start using the given shampoo. Really confused what to do to be honest.

 

[TinaY]

I just tried to comb the piggies with a lice comb to find anything. I could not find anything else than a few small black dots. Not many of them. Should I just wait or panic and buy stuff for hay mites? I am worried now that I cannot trust the vet and do not know how to proceed. Ringworm is much better, probably finished in a day or two. Should I just give them some time to heal from that and deal with potential hay mites later as there are really not many things I could find in their fur or on their skin. I know mites are not big enough to see them, but I was looking also for white and black dots of any kind just to see what is going on.

Please help.

Just so you know, piggies are feeling good, they are extra happy the last two days (probably finally getting used to us), jumping a lot and coming close to us when they see us.

 

[Wiebke]

I just tried to comb the piggies with a lice comb to find anything. I could not find anything else than a few small black dots. Not many of them. Should I just wait or panic and buy stuff for hay mites? I am worried now that I cannot trust the vet and do not know how to proceed. Ringworm is much better, probably finished in a day or two. Should I just give them some time to heal from that and deal with potential hay mites later as there are really not many things I could find in their fur or on their skin. I know mites are not big enough to see them, but I was looking also for white and black dots of any kind just to see what is going on.

Please help.

Just so you know, piggies are feeling good, they are extra happy the last two days (probably finally getting used to us), jumping a lot and coming close to us when they see us.

Hi!

Guinea pig specific lice a pale crawly things you can see with the naked eye. This doesn't sound like it.

Are the dots moving or not and are they like minuscule beads fixed to hairs when you feel for them?
In which case you would be dealing with hay mite egg cases; hay mites (chirodiscoides caviae) usually come with mass produced industrially harvested hay; they live off debris on the skin and especially the hairs at the bum end once you lift the top layer of hair. It looks on pale coloured piggies like somebody has turned a peppermill over the bum end. The mites themselves are invisibly small.
But since hay mites do not draw blood from the skin by biting (lice) or burrow their eggs right into the skin (mange mites or trixacarus caviae), they are the most harmless of all skin parasites.

Treatment for all guinea pig skin parasites is with an ivermectin or selamectin based product; the same as mange mites.

You can find more information on guinea pig parasites and how to work out what you are dealing with and what to do in these two links here:
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites

 

[TinaY]

Hi!

Guinea pig specific lice a pale crawly things you can see with the naked eye. This doesn't sound like it.

Are the dots moving or not and are they like minuscule beads fixed to hairs when you feel for them?
In which case you would be dealing with hay mite egg cases; hay mites (chirodiscoides caviae) usually come with mass produced industrially harvested hay; they live off debris on the skin and especially the hairs at the bum end once you lift the top layer of hair. It looks on pale coloured piggies like somebody has turned a peppermill over the bum end. The mites themselves are invisibly small.
But since hay mites do not draw blood from the skin by biting (lice) or burrow their eggs right into the skin (mange mites or trixacarus caviae), they are the most harmless of all skin parasites.

Treatment for all guinea pig skin parasites is with an ivermectin or selamectin based product; the same as mange mites.

You can find more information on guinea pig parasites and how to work out what you are dealing with and what to do in these two links here:
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites

I agree, they are definitely not lice. Dots are not moving, but they are not fixed either, it is easy to get them off. And there are honestly not that many black dots that I could find so now I am thinking that I am going crazy and it was just dirt. Really confused about the extensive scratching though (but no wounds from scratching).

Thanks for the links. I decide to wait a few more days as the ringworm will be (hopefully) eliminated and then give them the last bath to make sure that the spores are gone and see if that makes it better. If not, I will go back to the vet I guess. In the meantime I ordered the mites shampoo from UK as suggested on another thread here on this forum, but it will reach me in over 3 weeks. So hoping it is nothing and I will just have it as a backup in case we have a problem later on. I also purchased some fancy hay to be on a safe side.

The piggies are very happy overall - popcorning several times a day just as I come by to check on them in the cage (or bring them some snacks ha ha ha). This is good to see and makes me so happy that obviously we are doing at least some things right.

 

[TinaY]

Ringworm is the most annoying thing your piggie can have! Surprisingly expensive to treat, highly contagious and can leave spores for months to come...

How do you clean them out? Do you have different clothes and footwear when you're in room with them? I prefer to switch to cardboard boxes and newspapers with hay when I foster ringworm pigs. That way I know nothing is left behind.

Good luck and hope your daughter gets well soon!

I noticed. I do change my clothes after handling them. But they are in the same room as we also live in. I have a plastic/metal cage right now and we just soak it with F10 detergent every second day and wash all the liners at 95 degrees.

Thank you so much, my daughter is on day 11 and it is very veeeeeery slowly getting better. This is too slow if you ask me.

 

[TinaY]

Just another update. Piggies still have scaling and we are now on third week of oral anti fungal (after 1 week of pause). Is this normal? Should I do anything else than shampoo them weekly with an anti fungal shampoo? I dropped the fleas suspicion completely thanks to everyone here, I think I would have destroyed their skin if I washed them as often as the vet told me to do it. Thanks for that!

My daughter is on day 11, wondering how long is this going to take. I am so tired of disinfecting our home.

 

[TinaY]

Also a question, is it possible that the ringworm is better and that this is a different type of fungal infection? Because it is behind their ears, it has been reddish for a few days, now the redness is going down since the second round of oral medication started 3 days ago, but the hair is not falling out in that area, I can just see the dry skin (scales) between the hair, just after that bald patch that they usually have behind their ears. Could it be?

 

[TinaY]

Hi again! My two boys were diagnosed with ringworm 3 weeks ago and they just finished their Itrafungol second round of doses (after a one week break). Everything was going great, then one of them got a crusty ear again TODAY . Is this normal? On top of Itrafungol, I have been putting cream (prescribed by the vet) on them daily and showered them weekly with either anti dandruff shampoo (prescribed by the vet) or the last time with Gorgeus guineas Manuka and Neem Shampoo (ordered from the UK to Dubai since I am desperate). Am I doing something wrong? I am cleaning the cage every 2-3 days (complete F10 wipe out and washing the bedding on 95). Is this suppose to be such a long battle? Is it correct to do one week breaks with Itrafungol? They are also quite red behind ears (on the picture) and I am planning to put some coconut oil on. I am so worried. I thought maybe is some allergy so I changed their pellets and hay brands too. What am I doing wrong?

 

[TinaY]

Hi again. Still not finished with my ordeal here. So the redness seem to be going down a bit. Buckets seem to be recovering good, I only found tiny bit of crusting on one little spot on his back. Donuts on the other hand still has crusty ear. This is after being on Intrafungol for the 5th week now (on and off), despite using Nizoral and Malaseb weekly (I switched to Malaseb after reading this forum) and despite applying the anti-fungal cream given by the vet for the first 3 weeks once a day. Is this normal?

I’m cleaning like a crazy person, my hands are peeling from all the chemicals. The piggies are growing visibly and eating all the time, their hair is fully grown back on the bald spots and the hair gained length all over their bodies, they seem happy and eager to get attention and snacks. Is it normal that it takes this long and that the crusts keep appearing as soon as I stop with the cream?

 

[DougalandDiego]

Hi, it looks like your previous posts must have been missed in the sea of threads. I will tag @Piggies&buns and @Wiebke (I hope you both don’t mind!) as I haven’t treated ringworm and don’t have any experience with it. I hope your boys are on the mend soon.. it sounds like you’ve had a very stressful few weeks!

 

[TinaY]

Hi, it looks like your previous posts must have been missed in the sea of threads. I will tag @Piggies&buns and @Wiebke (I hope you both don’t mind!) as I haven’t treated ringworm and don’t have any experience with it. I hope your boys are on the mend soon.. it sounds like you’ve had a very stressful few weeks!

Thank you! Yes, I’m quite tired at this point to be honest, it’s been a very long battle. I need to see some light at the end of the tunnel soon.

 

[Piggies&buns]

All you can do is continue with treatment and cleaning and speak to the vet again. Treating ringworm can be a long process.

 

[weepweeps]

You will get there. You probably don’t feel like it at the moment. You’re doing a great job and your piggies love you for it

 

[TinaY]

All you can do is continue with treatment and cleaning and speak to the vet again. Treating ringworm can be a long process.

I will do that, thank you ! I didn’t think it will take this long to be honest.

 

[TinaY]

You will get there. You probably don’t feel like it at the moment. You’re doing a great job and your piggies love you for it ❤

Oh, that is very sweet. Thank you! I was so worried they will hate me for it as this is our first month together, but they wanted me to feed them pellets (!) by hand yesterday and I almost cried .

 

[TinaY]

Overall they grew so much and seem to be happy. And I’m happy for that. This is them feasting in the basket while I’m cleaning their cage. ☺