Patches of fur gone on nose and foot.

[tinypixiexoxo]

Pappy has developed 2 patches (that I can tell so far, she hates being held and inspected). The larger of the 2 is on her back left leg. It's pink on top and no fur on the foot at all. It appears smooth. Her toes also look a bit pink, as well. It must have cropped up in a day or 2, as we've been away a lot for family things.

The ones on her nose are smaller but certainly there.

I have a vet, but assuming I can't get in until Monday, what should we assume and what should we do?

What are possible causes? Rubbing? Chewing (on the foot)? Ring worm?

I'll try to get pics.

Minuit, who lives in the cage below her, as no visible signs of any similar patches, and she'd be easy to tell because her fur is all black, and a bald spot would stand out.

 

[tinypixiexoxo]

 

[AZChins]

It looks like it could be fungus. Tinactin in the dust for a dust bath each day until you can get her to the vet would help a lot. If it is fungus, it will help to start clearing it up. Fungus can make a chin lose fur in a day or two especially if it has been damp or rainy.

 

[tinypixiexoxo]

Ok. I'll have to pick that up tomorrow. She should be kept in her cage, right? I'd hate to risk spreading it (I have other pets, too).

 

[AZChins]

It would be a good idea for you to wash your hands after you handle her and don't rub your face on her fur for a few weeks. The spores can linger around the room she's in and in her fur for a long time. Once you seem some improvement you will want to disinfect her cage and things. Anything you can't scrub, use rubbing alcohol to clean it off (use 91% alcohol if you can find it.)

When you go for the tinactin powder get some of the cream with the same active ingredient, tolnaftate. I'd use that on the foot, it will probably help to kill off the fungus a lot faster than just the powder alone. If it is fungus...

 

[Riven]

I agree it looks like a fungus, you can take her to the vet to be sure, or if you have a black light fungus will illuminate under it as well.

I use a mix of 1/3 each - petroleum jelly, miconozole (for yeast infections in women), and betadyne. Mix it up and put a very thin layer on, it will absorb quickly. When applying any lotion type thing watch to make sure they don't eat it off right away or they can get tummy issues. This is a formula our vet gave us a long time ago and I've had the best luck with it. It has a different main ingredient and will double whammy if you use the tinactin dust.

Like Susan said it is contagious and you or your other pets can get it. Stress decreases the immune system's ability to fight things off so increase of stress can help it spread faster. Be sure to disinfect, especially wood and fleece items. You can soak the wood, and bake it if needed to dry it back out.

There are other less common things that could cause similar areas, but fungus is probably your number one "aggressor". Good luck!

 

[tinypixiexoxo]

thanks everyone. The fungus (if that's it) is sure moving fast. Her poor nose and foot.

I bought the cream and applied a little, but could not find the powder except spray powder.. should I spray some of that in her bath house and let her roll in that?

She's all super angry at us because she hasn't been out for 2 days now

QUESTION: is this airborne? Could it be? I have another chinchilla, a hedgehog, and 2 hamsters living in the same room. Personally, I've had ringworm twice a couple years ago. The last thing I need is a mass infestation.

 

[AZChins]

Did you go to Walmart? I know that they have the tinactin in the plastic squeeze bottle there. Apply the cream twice a day if you can, it should help.

The fungus can be airborne for sure. Get the powder as soon as you can. I have tried to use the aerosol spray and it doesn't work too well, but it would be better than nothing to spray it into the dust.

 

[Sue]

Move her away from your other pets. We, too, could not find powder at all the last time we brought shipped in an animal and found it had ringworm. Use the cream but use it twice a day on the affected areas, her nose, feet, wherever you see hair loss. When we shipped in our last 'bought' animals, it only took about a week to clear it and we kept the infected animal in quarantine for about four weeks. If it progresses, you can use a fungicide shampoo for cats (from your vet) to shampoo (hold it in a towel for about 15 minutes), rinse, and then dry and treat with cream. That's for extreme cases. The vet could also give you an oral medication to treat it in addition. But that's up to you if you need to go there. The cream really worked well and while he was pissed at us, there were no downsides.

Blessings!!

 

[tinypixiexoxo]

Thanks everyone for the help so far. We're putting the cream on her nose and foot twice a day, but it's still spreading. It seems to be slowing down, at least. So tomorrow we are off to the vet. They are an exotic vet and I love them a lot with the work they've done previously with my hamsters, hedgehog, and now chinchillas.

But I dug out of my closet an old black light just to see what I could see. Pappy's nose and foot and a bit in her ears lit up a very light green... but the urine spots were very easy to pick up. Interestingly, Pappy pees all over her cage, and Minuit was very clean in the urine aspect, but they are the opposite with poops! Minuit poops everywhere, where as Pappy makes neat little piles xD

I digress. I noticed a LOT of urine on the carpet. I can see where they blatantly sat and peed, splatters, trails of pee... what is a good product that is safe for pets for me to use to clean the carpets? I need something effective, too!

 

[VikiH]

Looks like you've got a lot of help going for you here and you're doing the right thinking going to the vets - so I just want to say I hope you're lovely chinnie is better soon and her poor nose and foot start to improve. For the carpet try youre best to lift the stains with some warm slightly soapy water and get a small-pet-safe disinfectant spray (should be available from any big petshop, I'm UK so can't really advise on this - but the one I use is called 'Clean'N'Safe') to go over it with, that's what I do on all my floors before my chins come out.

 

[tinypixiexoxo]

For anyone who is interested, I went to the vet and got 3 products to use on Pappy.

The first is an oral immune blend "AA OL". She takes .15 ml twice a day.

The second is an oral "Itraconazole" or "Sporanox" at .25 ml once a day.

The topical is a spray: Vital-VS topical spray, that I can use liberally 2-3 times a day. I put it on a tissue for her face, but spray it directly on her foot.

She's doing well. The infection has halted, and the pimples are gone. The foot seems to be healing faster, but I think that's because she really fights me when I put the topical on her face by her whiskers.

Pappy takes both orals without having to be held. I simply fill up the syringes and put them up to her, and she takes them, no issue. Super happy about that! But I do have to hold her to apply the spray to her face (via tissue).