Fungus?

[Nef]

My chin Chynchi has always chewed her fur. About a month ago I called the breeder and they told me that she MIGHT have fungus. So then they mailed me a small pack of sulfur and told me to put on her skin and in her dust bath. They told me that it would not hurt her even if she did not have fungus. I did not put it directly onto her skin (because I personally didn't think she had fungus after comparing her fur to online pictures of chins that do have fungus). But I did put some into her dust bath just to see what would happen. She did not chew as much after that, but I wonder if it was because of the smell that she didn't like, or if it was really because she had fungus. Recently, she has been chewing more again (perhaps cos' the sulfur is no longer in the dust bath). And also recently, I scratched that area where she usually chews, and she would stand still and let me scratch. So now I wonder, what's wrong with that area that she chews? Fungus? Mites? She only chews on that one side. The other side is fine.

Anyway, I've attached some pictures here. Does she look like she has fungus? Should I continue to put sulfur into her dust bath/onto her skin? Is it true that the sulfur really won't hurt her if she does not have fungus?

Thanks!

 

[Nef]

more pictures...

 

[tunes]

That's not what fungus looks like. Fungus looks like very irritated, dry, cracked, red skin. That looks like normal fur chewing. Fur chewing can be anywhere, it doesn't have to be uniform on both sides, or all over the body. I had a rescue here that only chewed a quarter sized spot on his right hip. Then I've had chins come through that have completely barbered themselves when put into breeding (obviously removed immediately).

 

[mark miller]

I agree with Peggy. That appears to be just fur chewing. You can try to give the animal alfalfa cubes, loose prairie hay, or a untreated-non painted block of wood to chew on. Many times just having other things to chew on will get them to stop chewing their fur. The important thing to know is that once you provide these other things to chew on, you must always have them available to the animal. If you stop providing or run out of the alfalfa or hay or wood the animal will revert back to chewing the fur again. These things dont always work to stop the fur chewing, but many times they do if you consistently provide them.

 

[alli713]

I agree that that is furchewing, not fungus. I have one girl that will chew her fur occasionally. You can try providing more chew toys, but even that isn't a guaranteed way to stop it, some just do it as a habit. There's nothing wrong with her if she continues though, she just has a funky haircut!

 

[Nef]

Thanks for confirming everyone. Yea I didn't think that was fungus. She does have a lot of toys - wood cube, hanging toys, toss toys, twiglets, hay cube, loose hay... I guess she's just a chewer which I don't really mind.

Does anyone know anything about sulfur? I wonder if the smell will stop her habit of chewing. Also, her vet suggested skin scraping. It costs more than $100, but maybe it's a good idea?

 

[Spoof]

I wouldn't bother with the skin scraping, there shouldn't be any exposed skin for the vet to scrape. You'd have to pluck a spot of fur out for it.

Sulfur is safe to ingest, you can usually pick it up at the feed store in the equine/livestock fungicide section. It's also called flowers of sulfur and used to make gunpowder if you have any of those shops around. It should not smell in that form, perhaps she just didn't like the taste of it. Mine eat it when I use it.

 

[Anna]

I've tried everything to make Furby stop chewing and nothing really worked. I wish you luck for finding something that works for your chin, but if not, they just have funny haircuts )