General Ring Worm Treatment!

[madisonaryanna]

My guinea pig definitely has ring worm (he had a lot of scabs and we took him to the vet and a culture confirmed it) and they did a lime sulfur dip twice, today being the second time after one week.

I CANNOT afford to keep doing this, as they charged me $150 last week and today another $30 and they told me next week it would be $60 to dip him then examine him. I planned to go and buy the lime sulfur dip myself and dip him in the diluted dip in a week at home (my boyfriend saw to dilute it 1:40 for pigs), and see if he's getting better, but I read to not dip pigs on this site from some old post. This vet though does have a lot of experience with gps, he was recommended by bpatters as well.

What should I do for his ringworm? He has several spots and he's a silkie so they're kinda hard to find. The dip seemed fine and it dries fairly quickly. I really find it unnecessary to end up dumping several hundred on something like ringworm!!! It's not like I don't have the money, because I do in case of emergencies, but ringworm?? I have school to be spending this money on.

 

[madisonaryanna]

Also - I have another guinea pig. He hasn't shown any of the scabs/sores and isn't losing hair like the one infected. He's likely already been exposed, so should I put them back together or what? What if he gets infected as well?

 

[bpatters]

I would never have separated the pigs. Now you'll have to do full reintroductions.

Get some antifungal cream -- any brand, any pharmacy -- and start using it immediately if you see any signs of it on your pig that has no symptoms at the moment.

I'd call the vet back and ask how many more visits are likely to be required for the dips, and ask if there's some less expensive treatment you can do.

 

[madisonaryanna]

The vet actually told me to separate them so I did. The baby w ringworm is still really young so introductions were a snap.
I actually asked how many more dips and that's when I was told they can't tell me but when i come next time the vet can examine him and THEN tell me, after I've been charged $37 for the exam and $30 for the dip