White Crusty Ear On New Guinea Pig

[Dervly]

Hi Guys

This is my first post here, but I've been reading for ages.

I got two new guinea pigs on Tuesday so have just been letting them settle in. I had them out for the first time properly today and noticed one has a white and crusty ear. There's also some odd 'growth' on the inside of the ear. I live quite far from the nearest vet, but can go tomorrow if need be. Do you have any ideas what it might be or what can be done?

(http://postimg.org/image/m8zcfjcvr/)

(http://postimg.org/image/vwjlovzyj/)

I've tried to include two photos of the ear. Could it be something fungal? I've had guinea pigs for years, but never had anything like this before.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Briony_S]

It definitely needs a vet trip for proper diagnosis.

 

[helen105281]

That does look fungal to me as it has the typical bloom that I have seen on my own pigs with fungal on their ear. It does need a proper diagnosis by the vet though especially with the growth in the ear too.

 

[PiggyOinkOink]

My piggies had that when I just got them and I treated all of them with clotrimazole cream 1% (canesten) for about 2 wks until it cleared as I read of other people treating their piggies with it. For one of them it took much longer and he had scratched himself raw but I applied eurax to stop the itching and sudocrem to heal before going back to the clotrimazole. I tried to put a bandage to stop him from scratching but he always managed to get out of it no matter how much tape I applied but fortunately it healed. All of these creams I read online were fine to use on piggies before I tried. I also have neem oil but I have never used it yet.

Occasionally I notice one of them starts to have it again and even just one use of clotrimazole cream makes a significant improvement (though it's one of those things u have to use a while after it looks better so it doesn't come back). One of my babies has it at the moment and in just 2 days it's gone from a hard crusty ear to nearly back to normal.

I'd say that urs has progressed a bit too far for the cream to have rapid effect and if you don't treat it 'like yesterday' then your piggy will start scratching and make him/herself bleed which will increase risk of infection.

 

[Wiebke]

Please have them checked, especially the growth/wax/dirt build-up in the ear as well - that will hopefully just need a careful clean with some appropriate wide-range ear drops. Some piggies are more prone to ear build-up, which needs to be cleared from time to time.

If appropriate, discuss the advisability of a systemic fungal treatment (like itrafungol), especially if the fungal bloom is making a comeback after topical treatment.

None of these issues is particuarly severe, but both need addressing. Under the circumstances, a general check would be a good idea!

Unfortunately, I cannot see your pictures. You may find our photo tutorial helpful: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/videos/

With members from all over the world, we are grateful if you added your country, state or (for the UK) your county/general area, so we can always give you the appropriate advice and recommendations with respect to your location straight away. Just click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details/location. In the same section, you can also upload your avatar, the picture that always appears with your name in every post.