Ringworm support and tips.

[BlueBird]

Hi guys,

Some will know we got a new piggy from a local rescue for our bereaved boar Harvey at the weekend. They wouldn't have been my first choice but beggars can't be choosers in a national lockdown when forum recommended rescues aren't anywhere nearby. The very insightful VickyA had told me to be on the lookout for ringworm after an off hand comment and today it would appear she was very right.

Our new piggle seems to have developed the first stage of ringworm. The small itchy nose/lip scab. I'm awaiting news from the vet to confirm but I'm 90% sure it's ringworm as the rescue had already given her a course of mite treatment when she went home with us.

Unfortunately, as we live in basically one room. Quarantine isn't really an option for us. A proper quarantine would mean setting up the holiday popup cage in the bathroom which has no natural light and is where we'd take showers etc so hardly the most ideal place to keep a new piggy for 2 weeks How's already terrified. But now it's clear she has a ringworm type infection so I guess we'll be treating Harvey now too.

Today was cleaning day and now I'm wondering whether I should just wait until my massive ringworm safe amazon order turns up tomorrow to do the full clean to do a clean out or whether to do a bleach clean of the cage now and then clean it again tomorrow. Also should we use disposable bedding rather than fleece temporarily or will the fleece be OK? Doing a full clean within 2 days feels like a lot and basically means putting the washing machine on 4 times which I'd rather avoid. Between you and me putting the washing machine on gives me anxiety because this washing machine has blown 2 motors already and its only 1.5yr old. :/

I'm now chucking out most of my guinea stores which were under the cage including medicines, chew sticks etc that can't be cleaned. Some items are more difficult like my rainbow bridge piggies ashes that are in little cardboard tubes but I'm sure we'll figure something out for them. I'm hoping because the out break was today we might have pipped it to the post before the spores have spread too under the cage but who knows.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

One of mine has just recovered from ringworm. I also had a patch myself that’s cleared up. Don’t separate your piggies.
Wash everything. Wash your hands after handling.
Discuss treatment options with your vet. I found Itrafungol to work best.

follow the excellent ringworm guides on here:

Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Also, I would use F10 disinfectant rather than bleach. As it is effective, but rodent safe.
If you can’t wash everything, is throwing it away and buying new an option?

 

[BlueBird]

If you can’t wash everything, is throwing it away and buying new an option?

Hi Bradshaw,

Yes I meant to add I'd read that guide but the vet phoned and by the time I was off the phone you'd beaten me to it.

We are doing that for most things but unfortunately we can't throw out and buy new rainbow pig ashes and urns. We'll we can they just wouldnt be our pigs. Teehee. And also a bit morbid. :/

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Hi Bradshaw,

Yes I meant to add I'd read that guide but the vet phoned and by the time I was off the phone you'd beaten me to it.

We are doing that for most things but unfortunately we can't throw out and buy new rainbow pig ashes and urns. We'll we can they just wouldnt be our pigs. Teehee. And also a bit morbid. :/

Oh no, definitely don’t do anything with the ashes. Where they kept near the piggies?
I’m sure you could clean them and keep them away

 

[BlueBird]

Oh no, definitely don’t do anything with the ashes. Where they kept near the piggies?
I’m sure you could clean them and keep them away

They were kept under the cage. As with most of our supplies. Hoping a quick wipe with a cloth soaked in some f10 would work. After this whole thing they aren't going to be in contact with the pigs or going to be messed about by us very much.

 

[Siikibam]

I would transfer the ashes to some kind of small jar or container and throw away the cardboard tubes. But I'm not too sure whether the spores would travel to the things underneath the cage. But better safe than sorry I guess. Hopefully you've caught it quickly and your girl will be able to fight it off.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

They were kept under the cage. As with most of our supplies. Hoping a quick wipe with a cloth soaked in some f10 would work. After this whole thing they aren't going to be in contact with the pigs or going to be messed about by us very much.

You might be ok if they were underneath and not in contact?
It’s your call. Hope you can get on top of it soon

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

I am very sorry for your worries. Please get hold of F10 disinfectant which is the only one known to kill ringworm spores (widely available online) and take the time to read our ringworm guide so you know what to do. Keep in mind that the time between infection and acute outbreak is 10-14 days.

Our ringworm guide is very practical, precise and comprehensive - and it does really work, as over a decade of forum and long term experience have gone into it. If you follow it, ringworm can be kept down to a couple of weeks of real nuisance but can be got on top of once and for all, and should not turn into a long running saga. The problem with with ringworm lies in the contagiousness across many species borders and in the long life of the invisibly tiny spores, not in it being a fatal disease. Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

 

[BlueBird]

So our vet has got us going down the topical route. As Petal is quite stressed already I think she was wary of giving her something oral in case it upset her stomach. Apparently they are quite harsh. Since the vet is new, I tend to go with new vet's recommendations unless they do something that doesn't impress me. But she seems to be clued up on the smaller small animals from my conversation with her.

She's given me a dog ear drop with an antifungal ingredient in it and asked me to apply twice daily to the scabby area. As wiebke's wonderful guide says the infected area tends to be hidden under fur I've tried to expand this a little. And although it says light layer I've tried to be a bit more generous as the area is right at the base of her whiskers making the skin hard to get to. Not exactly what I was expecting treamentwise but I'm no expert.

I will still be following the hygiene tips in the guide as much as I can. The f10 new plastic pigloos and plastic sheeting are on order. And hopefully should arrive tomorrow.

I feel so sorry for her. What a welcome to the family she's getting having weird giant monsters poking her sore and itchy scabby patch twice daily when she barely comes out of hiding on her own. Just hope it doesn't set bonding back. We REALLY want her to be our friend!

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Bless her. She will soon forgive you when she’s all better!

Glad you have got some veterinary advice. The topical treatment we got was a dog and cat ear drop one, Surolan. It’s known to be very effective.

It was only when ours didn’t fully clear up that we switched to oral Itrafungol. I’ve had many pigs on Itrafungol with no negative effects.

hope your girl feels better soon

 

[BlueBird]

Our cage looks like we are about to murder someone! :/



Sadly today, I've discovered that Petal's ringworm infection has spread to her back. She now has 3 or 4 spots that are in the early stages of infection. Our vets practice had no vets due to staff calling in sick last minute so we've got to wait until monday for a new appointment. I'm going to ask for either an oral medicine or a dip because I'm not playing ringworm wack a mole with a topical treatment

I'm going to bath Harvey with some Nizoral shampoo as a preventative measure this weekend. Do you think I should bath Petal too to tie her over until Monday?

 

[Siikibam]

I’m sorry it’s spread. I don’t have a clue but didn’t want your thread to go unanswered. What did the vet recommend with regards bathing them?

 

[GPTV]

I'm glad to say Ive only ever had one outbreak of ringworm which affected all 4 Guineas-I was told by my vet to bath all of mine once a week in antifungal shampoo & put it on as a topical treatment 3x a day- sadly I had to cut it to 2x a day as I have a full time job & tbh it was taking up 2hrs am & again pm... For about 4-5wks. It nearly broke me!

So I'd definitely go for the oral itrafungal if you can get it.

One of mine had a small patch on her eyelid about 6months later & I treated it with some of the leftover medicated shampoo for a week, got a prescription for itrafungal & never used it as it cleared up with the shampoo & was isolated to just her.

I bathed them all with the leftover medicated shampoo though. Almost straight away.

Might be cheaper to get a prescription from your vet for the Itrafungol, usually about £10-£15 (vets vary) & order online

Itrafungol Oral Solution 52ml
Or
www.petdrugsonline are a similar price. It's about £100 from my vets.


If you give your ashes tubes a wipe over a few times with a paper towel & f10, they should be ok.
My girls are in a wooden shed & hutch, there's all sorts of gardening bits n pieces in there too.
None of that got thrown out, just a squirt of f10 for anything that would be ok & wiped over other stuff where possible.

I soaked the girls log tunnels in f10 as they were quite new, also their wooden hutch cleaning brush.(left overnight in a bucket/tray).

The shampoo I used was a dog/cat fungal one. It'll come to me after I've posted!
.... Edit - it did Maleseb shampoo.

I'm sure Itrafungol must be easier, but one of my girls was older & the vet said it was quite harsh on them - although very effective.

I also developed ringworm, I had to wash in Nizoral, I had some topical cream to put on the patches-it's very contagious & I thought I was being so careful!

Good luck with their treatment & healing vibes for a full & speedy recovery xx

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I find the quickest and easiest way to deal with ringworm, is to use the oral medication, Itrafungol. I have also found that it hasn't spread around the others, once the infected piggy is on the meds. Recently Tootie had a very impressive ringworm infection, and although she lives with three other piggies, none of them were infected. They are a really cuddly group of piggies too!

 

[BlueBird]

I’m sorry it’s spread. I don’t have a clue but didn’t want your thread to go unanswered. What did the vet recommend with regards bathing them?

The vet wasn't there unfortunately because they had called in sick. Got an appointment for Monday though. That's why I was wondering using the Nizoral on the pigs as a preventative measure to tie them over was a good idea.

Definitely going to ask for an all-encompassing method rather than the topical stuff we've got because as I say I'm not playing ringworm wack-a-mole! We'll see what the vet suggests but I hope its an oral method given what you guys have said. Just want this out of the house! I appreciate that we always have some level of fungal spores on us at all times that your immune system just deals with but when you have a pig that looks like she's slowly turning into a creature from resident evil or something I know the spore dosage we and Harvey are getting is just getting really high. I can deal with the upset stomach later if necessary. It certainly feels like we're hiding from a virus outside and hiding from a fugus inside. LOL!

I just feel sorry for Poor Petal! Its at least not put bonding back too far! She was brave enough to take some cucumber from my hand today (don't worry I F10ed my hands immediately afterwards). I was trying to gauge how well she was settling in having been here for a full week now.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

I find the quickest and easiest way to deal with ringworm, is to use the oral medication, Itrafungol. I have also found that it hasn't spread around the others, once the infected piggy is on the meds. Recently Tootie had a very impressive ringworm infection, and although she lives with three other piggies, none of them were infected. They are a really cuddly group of piggies too!

Itrafungol cleared our outbreak up in no time

 

[BlueBird]

Hello guys,

I need a bit of advice/rant. So on Saturday just gone I realised that the ear drop my vets had given me wasn't going to work as her infection was showing signs of spread and it felt a bit like I was trying to hold back the tide with a tea cup. When I phoned there was no vet due to illness. I could have gone to the out of hours vet to get seen but I would have had to take the bus there and I made the decision not to go. I wasn't comfortable with the travel and I was paranoid I'd get charged the out of hours premium. So we gave Petal and Harvey a nizoral bath to tie them over until we got seen on Monday.

The vet phones an hr later than she should have (forgivable as Mondays are always busy for them) vet is still reluctant to give me an oral solution due to the fact its bad on their stomach so I begrudgingly accept a spray treatment. They have to order it in so should have arrived today. Phoned today and the receptionist tells me they didn't order it yesterday so it won't arrive until tomorrow.

Meanwhile the skin infection has spread pretty much everywhere and I'm still trying to fight it with this tiny ear dropper. I try and get them to put me onto the vet but she's so busy today with 8 ops to do i doubt that I'll get that phonecall.

So now I've got a really dilemma. I've just had to pay over £100 for a pain killer, a mite treatment and this spray that I now don't really want to take. I doubt the vet will speak to me again without me forking out for another consultation fee. So I don't know whether to pay for this spray (which may have been effective on Saturday when I wanted to talk to them originally but definitely not now!). Should I take it because that's marginally better than this tiny ear dropper or do I ask for a refund of this spray and demand a prescription for the oral stuff and wait yet another day for poor Petal to get a decent solution?

I wouldn't mind so much but getting this sorted is fast approaching the cost of an operation and I can't keep going through the baby steps treatments that obviously won't work only to fork out another £100 for the next one! She's only been here a week and a half and her vet bill is already massive!

(we won't mention that they tried to charge me an extra consultation fee for simply booking me an appointment with the vet.)

Sorry just very frustrated especially when they are basically telling me every time I phone up its another fee.

 

[BlueBird]

Hi all,

So after a frustrating start it feels like we're seeing a turn. The original spot on Petals nose is beginning to fur over as is a few other spots. We're still using topical treatments as I don't have any vets that are willing to prescribe the oral stuff. Would you guys keep treating these furred over spots for 2 weeks or so to make sure the ringworm isn't coming back.

I've also noticed she seemed to have a lot of red inflamed skin. No signs of fur thinning but definitely not normal healthy skin. I'm a bit stumped whether to treat this topically or not. What do you guys reckon.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

I’m glad you’re starting to see some improvement. Can you give your vet a call? As only they can really advise when it comes to medications.
When my boy was on oral treatment it was for 3 weeks, even though visible symptoms cleared up after 10 days. I also did a huge final clean out and washed and disinfected everything, even after the ringworm had gone.

 

[BlueBird]

I’m glad you’re starting to see some improvement. Can you give your vet a call? As only they can really advise when it comes to medications.
When my boy was on oral treatment it was for 3 weeks, even though visible symptoms cleared up after 10 days. I also did a huge final clean out and washed and disinfected everything, even after the ringworm had gone.

They said carry on for 2 weeks. But we've got a spray for generalised areas and an ear drop. They weren't very specific about whether it was 2 weeks for the spray. 2 weeks for drop and spray. Is it 2 weeks from now know that the fur is coming back therefore likely that the fungus has been killed off in the skin or is it 2 weeks from when there's a full coat of fur?

"carry on for 2weeks after the symptoms have cleared up" isn't very specific in our case and unfortunately now everything is via phonecall. I'm going to get charged £25 for asking that simple question.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

They said carry on for 2 weeks. But we've got a spray for generalised areas and an ear drop. They weren't very specific about whether it was 2 weeks for the spray. 2 weeks for drop and spray. Is it 2 weeks from now know that the fur is coming back therefore likely that the fungus has been killed off in the skin or is it 2 weeks from when there's a full coat of fur?

"carry on for 2weeks after the symptoms have cleared up" isn't very specific in our case and unfortunately now everything is via phonecall. I'm going to get charged £25 for asking that simple question.

It could potentially be continue even after hair re-growth as we did with the oral treatment. But I wouldn’t like to say for sure. Surely they can’t charge you for asking a question re dosing? They can usually have someone on reception ask for you. I called my vet when I was unsure on dosing (for a different medicine) and they didn’t mind.

 

[BlueBird]

It could potentially be continue even after hair re-growth as we did with the oral treatment. But I wouldn’t like to say for sure. Surely they can’t charge you for asking a question re dosing? They can usually have someone on reception ask for you. I called my vet when I was unsure on dosing (for a different medicine) and they didn’t mind.

Tbh it depends on the day. Sometimes they are very snippy about it. Some receptionists would let me do that others wouldn't.

I think they are understaffed vets wise so if I do ask and they say they'd get a vet to phone me I could litterally be waiting all day for a phonecall and might not get one. If I wanted something more solid than "any time from 8am to 7pm" and even then it's not 100% chance. I need to pay for that. Which I understand but I'm working from home and have meetings to do. I don't need the added pressure of a vet may phone at anytime. Probably when I'm on the toilet or at a time I'm in a meeting etc. It's a long time to be waiting and not know where you are in a queue or whether you've been forgotten or not.