White patch with crusty blood on back of ear appeared this morning

[AngelCat]

Hi and thank you for your lovely community here,

This morning I noticed Coco had a white spot on the back of her ear that had not been there the evening before. The spot looks crusty with what seem like either sores or crusty blood spots inbetween. She's not scratching at it, though she does not seem to like me touching the area. The skin seems to be thickened where affected, as compared to the other ear. It looks to be flaky, sort of like dandruffing off around the area.



I'm considering three options currently, but I'd like the communities opinion on this if you've seen this before.

A) Fungal infection, B) Scabbing from a fight with her cage mate, C) Ear mites?

I will not be able to go to the vet until after the weekend, any input would be well appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Piggies&buns]

It looks like it could be fungal
This is our ringworm guide in case that is what it turns out to be Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

 

[AngelCat]

This is a great resource, thank you!
I truly hope it isn't ringworm. I don't think I will be quarantining her as they get very upset when split and rather just treat the both of them if it turns out to be the case.

 

[Claire W]

I agree that it looks like a fungal infection but only a vet can diagnose and treat

 

[Wiebke]

This is a great resource, thank you!
I truly hope it isn't ringworm. I don't think I will be quarantining her as they get very upset when split and rather just treat the both of them if it turns out to be the case.

Hi and welcome

With two piggies (as you will find recommended in the ringworm care guide), it is better to keep them together but if you have more piggies, then a quarantine of any affected piggies makes a lot of sense.

Please take the time to read our ringworm hygiene link in @Piggies&buns post .
We have had plenty of time to find all the transmission angles the hard way as well as figure out how to best address them!

If your piggies are new, then you may find the information in this guide here helpful and interesting: New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

 

[AngelCat]

I just wanted to update this thread for those curious - or those in the future that might have similar symptoms.

We were able to get an appointment with a vet on Tuesday, four days after we noticed the infection.
The vet was confident it's a fungal infection and she prescribed us Daktacort - 20 mg/g miconazole nitrate + 10 mg/g hydrocortisone, a steroid. I asked if it would be possible to get itraconazole or ketaconazole instead but she did not feel comfortable prescribing an oral treatment and risk upsetting Coco's "whole system" and that a cream is preferable since the infection was so localized. We are to apply the cream twice a day, for 10 days at which point we will go back to the vet for evaluation.

We're now half way through the treatment (9/20 applications) and the ear is looking better, though with hairloss and redness in the afflicted area. She's eating well and still her happy old self as before; though I have noticed that when calm she will sometimes sit puffed up with her head tilted to the side of the infected ear and will have the same side eye half closed while the other eye is wide open - I guess her ear is hurting. I have also noticed unusually soft and light green poops, though I am not sure if that's a cause of the extra treats she's getting for when we apply the cream.

I will update again once this treatment is concluded. Thanks for reading.

 

[Siikibam]

Glad to hear she’s getting better. If her poo is soft then I would take her off veg until it’s been back to normal for at least 24 hours. On introducing again you do it slowly and start with herbs.

As for the treatment, @Wiebke is better placed to comment on it.

 

[Wiebke]

I just wanted to update this thread for those curious - or those in the future that might have similar symptoms.

We were able to get an appointment with a vet on Tuesday, four days after we noticed the infection.
The vet was confident it's a fungal infection and she prescribed us Daktacort - 20 mg/g miconazole nitrate + 10 mg/g hydrocortisone, a steroid. I asked if it would be possible to get itraconazole or ketaconazole instead but she did not feel comfortable prescribing an oral treatment and risk upsetting Coco's "whole system" and that a cream is preferable since the infection was so localized. We are to apply the cream twice a day, for 10 days at which point we will go back to the vet for evaluation.

We're now half way through the treatment (9/20 applications) and the ear is looking better, though with hairloss and redness in the afflicted area. She's eating well and still her happy old self as before; though I have noticed that when calm she will sometimes sit puffed up with her head tilted to the side of the infected ear and will have the same side eye half closed while the other eye is wide open - I guess her ear is hurting. I have also noticed unusually soft and light green poops, though I am not sure if that's a cause of the extra treats she's getting for when we apply the cream.

I will update again once this treatment is concluded. Thanks for reading.

View attachment 144108

Hi!

Cream may clear the spot, but please give your piggies a bath to remove any spores that could have fallen into the coat or got onto the skin via the bedding and that can cause a new outbreak some weeks down the line. The problem with creaming is not that it is not effective, but that it cannot prevent the spores from spreading, especially if you deal with highly infective ringworm.

Please contact your vet tomorrow re. the head tilt, puffing up and green poos. There may be an ear infection developing.

Switch from weighing once weekly to weighing daily at the same time in order to monitor the food intake.
Unlimited hay should make around 80% of the daily food intake but you can't control that by eye and the poo output is generally running 1-2 days behind. Stop all fresh veg until the poos have normalised for 24 hours in a minor case and for 48 hours in the case of acute diarrhea and then restart only gradually.
Don't overfeed on pellets (1 tablespoon per piggy per day) and fresh veg as that has long term dental, digestive and life shortening consequences. If you use her favourite veg (NEVER fruit) as a special treat, then count it into her overall daily veg allowance and leave it out during regular feeds. You also have to count in fresh green grass into the veg diet. Green poos mean that the digestion is not working properly (dybiosis) and that the gut microbiome will need time and rough fibre to resettle. 'Poo soup' (i.e. live healthy guinea pig microbiome transfer from a healthy companion) may help to restock the gut if it is done properly. You can find the recipe in the probiotic guide link below. It is quite a bit more effective than probiotic powders if you do it with just dropped poos.
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

 

[AngelCat]

Thank you so much for your very detailed response. You guys are amazing here.

We've been giving her additional recovery food formula with probiotics and vitamin C preventatively at the same time that we are applying the cream. We will also be doing a poo soup from her cage mate today. Their veggies usually consist of romaine, red/green bell pepper, carrots and cucumber but we're cutting veggies for the next 24hrs for Coco to monitor the situation, though we had already stopped feeding the more watery ones. We'll also be more vigilant about correct feeding of pellets. I am confident she's getting a bunch hay, as she spends the vast majority of her time either sleeping in it or munching on it.

She's weighed every day and her weight is stable - or possibly gaining a little; sitting at ~745 grams.

We will remove all the wood toys and houses they've had; and we're cleaning the bedding and cuddle pouches at 60°c every other day. We'll give them both a bath tomorrow at the same time we clean the cage. We also got a disinfectant that is effective versus spores, but I'm a little uncomfortable using such a strong disinfectant in their cage so we'll be doing a very torough wash after using it.

Regarding contacting the Vet unfortunately tomorrow is a "red" day so we will not be able to call them until on tuesday, but I will be sure to call as soon as they are open again. Although our Vets are rather inexperienced regarding to guinea pigs here as they are not a very common pet around these parts (or rather, people don't seem bring them to the vets office sadly) but I think they are doing their best. But I am so very grateful to have such experienced and caring people on here willing to give advice in addition. Thank you all so much.

I'll add a picture I took of Coco with the head tilt for reference, since I couldn't figure out how to edit my earlier post.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much for your very detailed response. You guys are amazing here.

We've been giving her additional recovery food formula with probiotics and vitamin C preventatively at the same time that we are applying the cream. We will also be doing a poo soup from her cage mate today. Their veggies usually consist of romaine, red/green bell pepper, carrots and cucumber but we're cutting veggies for the next 24hrs for Coco to monitor the situation, though we had already stopped feeding the more watery ones. We'll also be more vigilant about correct feeding of pellets. I am confident she's getting a bunch hay, as she spends the vast majority of her time either sleeping in it or munching on it.

She's weighed every day and her weight is stable - or possibly gaining a little; sitting at ~745 grams.

We will remove all the wood toys and houses they've had; and we're cleaning the bedding and cuddle pouches at 60°c every other day. We'll give them both a bath tomorrow at the same time we clean the cage. We also got a disinfectant that is effective versus spores, but I'm a little uncomfortable using such a strong disinfectant in their cage so we'll be doing a very torough wash after using it.

Regarding contacting the Vet unfortunately tomorrow is a "red" day so we will not be able to call them until on tuesday, but I will be sure to call as soon as they are open again. Although our Vets are rather inexperienced regarding to guinea pigs here as they are not a very common pet around these parts (or rather, people don't seem bring them to the vets office sadly) but I think they are doing their best. But I am so very grateful to have such experienced and caring people on here willing to give advice in addition. Thank you all so much.

I'll add a picture I took of Coco with the head tilt for reference, since I couldn't figure out how to edit my earlier post.
View attachment 144172

Please feed carrot only rarely in mall chunks as a treat. It is like eating a bar of chocolate for rabbits and guinea pigs!


All the best for getting on top of it all!

 

[AngelCat]

Hi, another update on Coco.

At midnight yesterday I noticed that Coco was wet under her chin which was unusual, I thought at first that this was her just messing with the water bottle, but watching her closely when she was attempting to drink revealed that she was actually having difficulty with it - as if it hurt to open her mouth. Undearneath the drool and fur her skin has turned red and irritated, and she smelled rather strongly. Weighing her she was only 685 grams, down 60 grams since the weekend which was extremely alarming.

I called the vet office early this morning and got to bring her over immediately.

The vet examined her and could see no reason for the head tilt I had noticed over the weekend or the drooling as she inspected her teeth, which are in perfect order. She put Coco on an antibiotic sulfamethoxazole & trimethoprim mixture just in case. She's worried that it might not be an infection, but perhaps a growth of some kind, in which case there's not much we can do - even though she could not feel any. I will be wiping the drool away regularly, and applying some of the anti-fungal cream I got for her ear under her chin. I am to contact them if she does not get better for the weekend.

She's eating plenty of hay and as I write this happily eating her alotted pellets so appetite seems to not be an issue. She attempts to drink, but wont open her mouth enough to lick the little ball to get water (I just got a smaller waterbottle for her with a smaller spout maybe she'll drink from that yet to see), so I am very tempted to feed her cucumbers to keep her hydration up, though her poops are still soft, I'm just very worried about dehydration (no sign of skin tenting so far) - I am also worried that maybe the drooling is caused by my critical care feeding; even though I am very careful to only give her a little at a time out of the syringe, and I wipe her clean afterwards - even though she's very cooperative and doesn't spill too much around.

This whole cascade of issues has me feeling very worried and helpless. I hope the antibiotics will just solve this and Coco can get back to her happy old self. I hope my posts here are not becoming spam, I've just felt a lot of relief from assurance and the expertise and care you guys have so kindly offered so far. And perhaps there is a chance this may help someone else in the future.

Here is a picture of the drool trail along with the irritated skin underneath, you can also see hints of green on her lips - I believe it's particles of the hay she's been munching on which is coming along with the drool.

 

[Siikibam]

Sorry to hear she’s having issues. That does look quite sore. Perhaps think about weighing her daily at the same time just to make sure she is eating enough. If still is soft then it’s best to keep her off the veg until it’s normal.