Skin Problems Losing Fur, Open sores

[The11Janka11]

Hey there,

I am new here and not native English speaker so sorry in advance for any language mistakes or community mistakes.
I just want to help my little boy and I thought this could be a good idea to ask more experienced owners.

So, we have had our guy for almost a year now. He was fine, no problems, eating running pooing normally.
Two weeks ago we bought him a friend. He is about 1 month old. They get on well together no fights ... sometimes rumbling or jumping on each other but not often and not at all dangerous. However, few days ago we spotted that our older one has a bloody sore on his testicals. Firstly we thought he just hurt himself somehow by accident but the day after that another sore was visible. It is for sure not result of any fights. Then we observed him a bit closely and we realized that he scratches a lot on those places so he probably made the bloody sore to himself. It looks like a bold circle reddish and a small bloody dots which he probably made by scratching. I contacted the vet and made an appointment for the next day. The next day another sore appeared on his inner thigh. We checked the smaller one as well and we found one similar bold circle that we didnt noticed before (he has black skin and dark fur ... dont blame us) but the small one shows no problems at all. No scratching no biting. Both are, however, pretty active and eat normally.

Vet told us he thinks the most possible is that the small one brought some illness and therefore is the carrier and the bigger one just got sick. He gave us framykoin (ointment for the sores) and Biokill spray for fur. He did no tests, nothing. Not many vets here take close attention to small pets, it is mostly dogs and cats so ... It has been 5 days since than and it didnt get better at all. We tried to give him Stronghold drops (which should treat parasites under the skin if he has any). I know ivermectin is highly suggested everywhere but in my country it is made only for horses and big farm animals so there is no was i will give him that.

What in your opinion could it be? If the smaller one is carrier wouldnt he show any signs of the illness? They live together we didnt separated them and we treat them together as well.

Thank you for any respond. I really cant stand watching him scratching and biting himself it breaks my heart ....

P.S: On the picture he does not look very clean but we do take good care of them they have a large cage. It is just because the ointment is a bit sticky so everywhere he moves he takes a small piece with him.

 

[bpatters]

Have you noticed any improvement at all since you're been treating him?

Those sores look like pretty classic ringworm, which is a fungus. The framykoin is a mixture of antibiotics, which is not likely to help. The Stronghold would help if it were mites and if the Stronghold were strong enough, but it usually isn't. And those sores are not typical of mites.

I think you need an antifungal preparation. You don't say where you are, so I can't look up anything for you. But in the US, the usual treatments are Lotrimin and/or Nystatin. Both are creams, which you should apply with a cotton swab and rub in well. Sometimes ringworm requires a stronger antifungal medicine than those two, but you're probably have to see a vet to get one. Just don't give him one by mouth if you can get it cleared up with ointments or creams. Oral antifungals are pretty hard on any animal's system.

The other thing that might help with the itching, although it won't cure the sore, is to get a steroid cream. Apply it the same way -- just a bit, and rub it in well. Here, you wouldn't be able to buy anything strong enough to completely stop the itching, but it should help some.

Should you ever need ivermectin for mites, it's ok to use the horse and cattle stuff. It's used for everything from people to guinea pigs, plus all the others in between. You just have to dilute it, a LOT, for a guinea pig. If you ever need it and can't get the lower strength needed for a guinea pig, post back here and we can give you the directions for diluting the horse and cattle paste.

Do keep us posted on how he's doing. And watch the other one carefully to see if he's developing anything. Fungus infections can spread pretty quickly.