Ringworm or other fungus....what will the vet do?

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How will I know it is bad enough for oral meds? She has a dime to nickle size scaly/scabby patch on her shoulder and fur los around the nose spreading toward the whiskars (not very red yet, but increasing in area). I don't want to keep her from the vet if that is what she really needs. I am sure there are areas she is itchy that haven't lost hair yet, too.
 
Since it seems like this is pretty upsetting to you, I would just go to the vet and get their opinion on how to handle it. You can request the oral medication, bypass the Blu-Kote, and hopefully that will take care of it and you won't have to be so stressed out about it anymore.
 
It is mostly just new to me....so I jut don't want to overlook or under treat anything. So far I have seen a couple pics that look worse than my chin.....just not sure where the line is. She is already purple, so it won't really matter now. I guess I just wanted more detailed examples of what can be treated at home and how. I am willing to give it a little time....just want to know what to look out for.
 
I got this advice from the breeder that have been breeding for I think 14 years. Thats what she uses and she never had problems with it. Worked great for me too. I do not think it's dangerous.
I doubt it's gonna be really effective if you put just 1 tsp in one cup, it may help, but will probably take longer.
I've heard that in addition to putting powder in the dust , some also put just powder on the brush and apply to affected area.
I would not use oral meds. Powder should help.
Good luck.
 
I let her have another dust bath this morning and now she is all itchy...poor baby. She really hadn't been scratching all that much except for last week or so, so I just withheld the dust since I thought her skin was just dry. Looks like she will sleep through it, though. We are all itchy thinking about it, of course :)
 
Breathing tenactin is not healthy and I really don't care how many people have used it. The label on mine says no contact with the eyes, not for use by children under 2 y/o and its base is talc. All good reasons not to add it to a bath.

You are getting good advice from Peggy. Go to a vet since you are worried. We can't see what you see and the drama is stressful, so go.
 
Great...so now I have let them bathe in this stuff and it isn't considered safe enough? Even the ringworm sticky says to use lamisil cream, but when I ask about it everyone says it is too dangerous. I think we need a consensus.

My original question was asking what the vet will do...as in, those of you who have gone to the vet for this....what did he tell you/ give you. If he was going to say this same stuff, then that wouldn't help me to stress them and blow money. Also, some of you might have better vets than mine and may have had success with advice from them.

I know there will be some disagreement....but surely someone has just plain seen a spot, and gone to the vet...
 
My chins were treated by the vet but as you can tell by the photos I sent you it was a very serious case. We used oral drugs but there are even risks with that. Prolonged use can cause liver damage. All routes have some form of risk associated with them. In your case I'd focus on the blukote and If things aren't improving by 5 days (it has stopped spreading) find another method. Also you are not using the tinactin in the dust bath very long. I would not use it as a preventative measure because you can develop immunity to it.
 
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Thank you. I have read people using it for 6-7 weeks....too long? Should I apply the blu-kote 1 or 2 times a day? Also, it is hard to get her little nose covered in blu-kote...will the powder in the bath do enough....or do I need to really get her good and purple? She really doesn't look that bad (not real red or "infected looking"...so unless those "fur chewing" spots are flaky underneath (but no skin shows), then it is just those spots. Don't want her losing whiskers, of course. Unfortunately...the purple hides the status of the spot....but most seem to think it is the thing to use and have had success with it.
 
Many, many people use Tinactin powder in their chins dust baths to treat fungus with no ill effects after. I would not use it as a preventative, because I think it's worthless, mostly as Sasha said, because they become immune to it. That's like keeping a child on antibiotics forever "just in case" they get sick. Then when they need the antibiotics, they are useless. Ranchers use Captan to clear fungus. Know what Captan is? It's a pesticide used in gardens. Some states won't even let you ship it in, but ranchers have used it for years and years with no problems.

It's very hard to get everybody to agree on everything. Some of your choice has to come from common sense and your gut feeling. As I said before, if you rub the cream in deeply, there shouldn't be much for them to get their paws on and ingest. If it's Tinactin cream, and you're already using Tinactin powder, go for it. I don't recall you saying what the antifungal cream was before. The Blu-Kote is safe, but you seem to have an issue with the color, so that's why I recommended a vet to get an oral treatment. When I used it, I had to use it for 21 days. A lot of people don't keep up with it, so if you don't finish the full course, what's the point?

When I had a rescue come in with severe fungus, a vet I trust said to use Tinactin in the dust bath, continue the Blu-Kote, and use Itraconazole at 2.5 - 5 mg/kg once a day for 21 days. There, that is directly from a vet. That was also for a very severe case with the tail completely bald, half the face bald, the genitalia bald, and the front paws bald. I was at my wits end trying to treat it, so I contacted a vet. For little spots here and there (we are VERY humid in SD lately) I just use the Blu-Kote and that's it.
 
Thanks. I'll just stick with it for now....hopefully Brendan can figure out how to hold her still long enough for me to get her covered. The nose is so difficult. I don't think oral meds are needed....but I just wanted to know at what point they were used. I don't want to at this point. My purple chin thanks you....eventually!
 
>Know what Captan is? It's a pesticide used in gardens. Some states won't even let you ship it in, but ranchers have used it for years and years with no problems.

Are you seriously advocating the use of this on chins? Seeing no harm in age-old usages of products is a long ways from proven safe.
 
Rick - I'm pretty sure I said ranchers use it and have used it for years without issue. What is there to misinterpret in that comment that needs further explaining?

I know you like to jump on stuff like this, but you really need to think it through. Just like saying that using Tinactin is bad. Why? Because you decided it was? I haven't seen anyone else waving the banner for "death to chins" from using Tinactin. It too has been used for years and years, long before you had chins, to treat fungus. Those chins haven't dropped over dead from it.

BTW - If you want to rant at someone about using Captan, speak to the people who have used it regularly, who have 10 to 100 times more chins than any rescue or pet person (including myself) on this forum, and who have the years of experience to back them up.

I was trying to point out that Tinactin and Blu-Kote are safe to use, especially when you compare it to what other people use. The OP is worried that certain things will hurt her chin. Whether you like it or not, Tinactin is an accepted treatment for fungus and has been for many years.
 
Well....I wasn't going to go out and get Captan anyway :) But I am vary cautious about cleaners, medicines, and various "***icides."

My mom was trying to "help" clean the FN cage we bought off of craigslist that had gotten rusty because the idiot we got it from stored it on the patio. She was using an SOS pad! And barely rinsing it off....her version of cleaning: running under water for a half a second. There was still that blue soap (not identified on the box) all over the thing! Brendan and I are going to rerinse and dry it...SOS soap smells funny....but it is probably not that harmful....but we are still going to be wiping it down as best we can. Gee thanks, mom.

That gentian violet has been proven to cause cancer....but they put it inside babies mouths....nice.

Amount of exposure matters the most....but our chins are so sensitive...a little to us is a lot to them.

Of course, they take those dust baths with the powder in them and then lick each other and themselves....yummy desinex....I am sure that isn't a great thing to ingest. Certainly would be good to not use it...but oral meds may not prove better.


I am not nearly as dramatic as I sound....but I do get worried easily. Of course, I have been reading this forum for a month and all the horrible things that happen and how fragile chins are. So, it isn't totally unwarranted.

I am still hoping someone else in my area know of a good vet. There are several around here that "treat" them...but I want a good one. Mine is okay so far....annoying personality though. He hasn't said anything like "feed them greens," but he never asked me what I was feeding them....so he is just so-so for now.

Thanks for the help.
 
I agree that if you're that worked up about it, go to the vet. I'm sorry I'm not in your area, so I don't know of any good vets there.

But I'd be perfectly happy using Blu-kote on fungus to treat it, so long as it wasn't a horrid case of fungus all over their body.

I had a mosaic who had blu-kote on her nose, and it did fade within probably 6 months or so. But it doesn't stay that bright vivid purple, that color will fade out to a muted color rather quickly with dust baths. Honestly, I don't think the purple is that big of a deal. Just adds a little pizzazz!

As far as the Tinactin in the dust, I used that approach once, and within a couple days my girl got an eye infection. Perhaps it was coincidence that she just happened to get an eye infection during the same time as I was using Tinactin. Or perhaps the Tinactin helped the infection along? I don't know. I just don't think me personally will use it again, I'm too paranoid now. But plenty of people have and do use it with no issues. So like Peggy said, you just need to do what you're comfortable with. Especially with so many varying opinions out there.
 
Well...I think I am using the tinactin to get the areas I can't see/ keep the other chin from getting it. I hope no eye problems arise....of course....I am amazed they wouldn't get them more often from dust alone! I will watch for it, thanks.
 
Well...it got bigger (quarter sized) and looks yuckier...so I will probably take her to the vet in the morning. It is scabby (hard) and she has been messing with it too much....afraid she will get it infected. Hopefully the Vet will be in tomorrow. Let you know if we go/what he gives us.
 
Well...I have decided to get a new vet....but for now....he gave me some drops to put on her (it was starting to get infected because she and Pepper were chewing on it).

Tresaderm: thiabendazole, dexamethasone, neomycin sulfate solution

Anyone used this? It is supposed to treat the fungus and the bacteria


She has really made a mess biting at this.

The vet said that if the doesn't leave it alone she can have liquid benadryl???????

And that he can prescribe oral meds if it gets worse.

Any thoughts?
 
When he messed with it it seemed to hurt her quite a bit. Does she need pain meds? She looks a little still and sad, but still popcorns during playtime.... don't know how much it is bothering her/ how bad she feels.
 
Just wanted to add, that I have been at the vets for one of my girls and we where discussing that I have gotten great information from this forum to help ease pain, cure, and so on so many different issues.

Ringworm was one of them and I spoke about Captan... Well it was in her veterinairiens book,(saw it with my own eyes that captan should be used for Fungus/ringworm on chins.. So, obviously it has worked, still works and still being used. With it seems no epidemic chinchinalla deaths following this use. If one chooses to use or not to use does not make one better or worse than the other.. It's just a matter of CHOICE..

Unfortunately, it is banned in Québec... So if needed, she suggested fungus foot powder and severe cases the oral meds.

So can we put Captan to rest please... it's been discussed in every way possible.
 
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