Question about fur fungus - Paw Talk

possummomca · #1 12-17-2002, 06:43 PM

One of my standard chins have a strip on either side of his tail that has no hair. Would this be fur fungus or chewing do you think. There is no scaling or redness just loss of hair. The tail kinda looks like it has a mohawk cut lol. If it is fur fungus it has to be treated internally right. Thanks guys
Barb

Sassy · #2 12-17-2002, 07:41 PM

Does he have a cage mate? Can you get pics of it?

possummomca · #3 12-17-2002, 07:58 PM

yes he does have a cage mate and it appears to be both of them, but when I looked at them just now the one has very short hair on the tail in this spot and the other is more bald in the strips. What is given for fur fungus ? My vet is gone till Monday too so I will have to wait till then to get them in unless I take them to a general vet. I can't get pics right now. Do you know of any pics on the web. Thx for any help
Barb
ps they are a mated pair about 2yrs old.

Sassy · #4 12-17-2002, 08:03 PM

You can add either Desenex Foot powder or Tinactin to their dust bath if it is fungus. I use about a teaspoon to a cup of dust once a month as a preventative. But other people use it during treatment.

possummomca · #5 12-17-2002, 09:19 PM

That is what is frustrating , I do add Desinex to their bathes. Hmmm but they do need medical attention for this don't they, I would assume. So I guess I will keep adding the desinex and get them into the vet next week. If it is fur fungus how quickly does it spread do you know or better still what meds do they usually give and then i can go to a general vet and ask him for it . The other thing is how much risk are the rest of my chins at . Sorry for all the q's I am just worried

Sassy · #6 12-17-2002, 09:32 PM

I would recommned a visit to the vet as soon as you can get a appointment. I would also quarantine them away from the other chinnies til you do find out if it is fungus or not.

From what I know about ringworm it does spread pretty quickly (my one daughter had it) do the desenex in their dust baths ( I have been told that Tinactin works better) til you can get to the vet.

I am sorry that you are having to deal with something like this during this season.

Possum, I just thought of something , I recently picked up a violet for a friend and his tail was almost completely bald it actually looked like someone had shaved it a few weeks before we got him, the breeder that we got him from said that his mate had did it to him, so it is possible that you are not dealing with fungus at all but that his tail is bugging his mate.

possummomca · #7 12-17-2002, 09:38 PM

well ontop of worrying about these two I have a homo biege that is supposed to be going to a lady in calgary early in the new year and there is no way i am letting him out of my sight untill i know all is well. lol doesn't it figure.
Barb

EyesOfTXChins · #8 12-18-2002, 02:44 PM

Yes Tinactin works very well, much better than desenex :wink:

possummomca · #9 12-18-2002, 03:25 PM

Would cedar have this affect possibly. My hubby bought a bale of litter for the chins that i didn't realize was not the same as the others. On closer inspection I read *all bc softwoods*. Is cedar not a softwood?? I have just changed to Aspen. hmm
Thanks I will be changing to Tinactin.
Barb

Sassy · #10 12-18-2002, 03:30 PM

Possum, NEVER use cedar on chinnies! I know one thing that they say about cedar and chinnies is that they can catch pneumonia very quickly with it. (I wouldnt recommend cedar for any small animal)

possummomca · #11 12-18-2002, 03:39 PM

OH no I don't use it intentionally and this bag makes no referrence directly to cedar buttttt. I was wondering if there could of been cedar in it as it listed softwoods. Believe me I won't be using that brand again for any of my animals as they are obscure on what exact softwoods they are talking about
Barb

EyesOfTXChins · #12 12-22-2002, 10:59 PM

I have to disagree. I have fought fungus numerous times and I have seen it metamorphesize in many different forms and fashions. I have seen skin look perfectly healthy underneath to horrid bloody, puss filled sores. Every bout I have had with ringworm/fungus have never even appeared on the nose. I have seen it first start on the chest, toes, limbs, tail, back, and genitals! eww! I am still by no means saying it is forsure ringworm/fungus. But I am also saying you cannot go by it's appearance, cause there were times I swore it wasn't ringworm... but it was.

EyesOfTXChins · #13 12-22-2002, 11:29 PM

LOL! Yes Nancy, I have been through some major battles before! It SUCKS!!!!! I have seen it so many different ways I now NEVER not say it is NOT ringworm! LOL!

Yes Nancy is right, the best advice that exceeds all is a vet. One thing to keep in mind. The black light test doesn't work in chins for whatever reason. The spores glow under black light with most animals, but not always in chins. The only way to know for sure is to take a fur culture of fur pulled from the root. So keep that in mind when getting a chin tested for ringworm.

Linda Lee · #14 12-31-2002, 04:35 AM

I'm having a battle right now with the dreaded fungus. 5 out of 6 of my guinea pigs have fungus. I adopted 3 new ones recently and Shannah the youngest one had a small dry raised furless spot on her neck that was getting bigger by the minute. The next one got a very red hairless scabby foot that has now spread to her nose(which got black hairs on it first) and 1 scab spot on body. The others just got black sticky accumulation on the inside of their front paws. But I know all of these different fungus "looks" are the same ringworm fungus. Two I've taken to the vet and all but 1 I've been treating with Miconazole2% cream(wash first with neem soap) and Neem shampoo baths every couple weeks. They're all just about cured except for the one who got it on her nose ,I had to seperate because it was just spreading so fast on her , I think because she was picked on too much and very stressed or she has another underlying problem.
Does any one know if ringworm is air born? I put all my pigs in a spare room because I heard it was air born .
I wish you luck with your Chin, I know this is a horrible problem!

EyesOfTXChins · #15 12-31-2002, 09:28 AM

Well I finally wrote an article about ringworm so I didn't have to repeat myself anymore! LOL! I know your question is about GP's but there may be some stuff in my article to help you out. They are basically treated the same, minus the dust baths.

http://eotc-pets.com/fungus.html