Ringworm Help

[valkyrian_knight]

One of my chins has lost a substantial amount of hair on her nose. I first thought she was rubbing it against the cage but I took her to the vet. They said they had to do a $200 culture test, which takes 4 weeks to get any results, and gave me cream to rub on the exposed areas for two weeks. She has lost more fur on her nose and I am hoping to find any good ways to cure this.

Thanks

 

[Spoof]

Fungus usually glows under a blacklight 80% of the time so you can cheaply check with one of those.

I don't bother checking, I use Flowers of Sulfur in the dust, 1tsp to a Cup or 1 Cup to a 50lb bag of dust. With a healthy immune system you'll see the chin start to re-grow fur within a week or two. I get my sulfur from the ranch outlet store in town, but I linked to the type I use on Amazon so you can see what it looks like.

Alternatively, you can use Tinactin in the dust. Same ratio. It will take 4-8 weeks for the fur to grow back, but it is the same thing.

I wouldn't use the cream, the part that is bald is already done, to get the ringworm you have to pluck 1/2" around the furless spot and rub it into that skin (or grind it into the fur and make sure you thoroughly coat the skin). Easier to just use dusts.

Don't worry, it's not a big deal. It usually happens any time something stresses out the chin to the point it's immune system is compromised. That could be weather, temp changes, noise volume, changing your ritual, etc. Some chins seem to carry it and are a bit more high strung so break out more often. Some never seem to get it.

 

[tunes]

Interesting. I'd love to know what $200.00 test they ran and why it would take four weeks to get the results. By the time you did, the fungus would have pretty much taken all the fur off if that was true.

I agree with Tara. I would not even bother with a cream. This is a chinchilla, not a cat, where typically it starts between the toes. Rubbing cream into a furry beast like that would be a nightmare. I personally use Blu-Kote topically and then a dust in the bath as well to make sure I cover all my bases.

Something to remember - fungus is highly contagious. Even though it may start as an immune issue in your chin, it can spread to you just by touching it. Be sure you wash thoroughly and that all wood in the cage is boiled and baked, or in your case, boiled and left in the hot sun since you're in California, and all the fleece bedding as well. If you are able to, drag the cage out in the hot sun and let it bake there for a few hours. If not, then clean it with hot water and white vinegar before putting all the clean stuff back in.

 

[valkyrian_knight]

Thanks!

I ordered both blu-kote and flowers of sulfur. Hopefully I can help her.

 

[javachin]

You can also pick up some Tinactin powder. It can be hard to find, but you should be able to find it at CVS or Walmart. Just add a good amount to the dust.

 

[Riven]

I personally like to use a mix that is
1/3 vaselin
1/3 betadine
1/3 microconozole (female section of the pharmacy)

It absorbs easily and quickly and I've never had any issues with it getting all over the chin. The only animals I've ever deal with fungus on was Blue Diamonds, so my experience is limited, but that worked great to clear it up and quickly.

 

[AZChins]

Oh man...I am sorry they dinged you $200 for a fungus test! That's the oldest trick in the book...

Tinactin and antifungal cream is less than $15. With the Tinactin about 90% of the time the fungus is dead in a week (or two at the most) and the fur seems to have fully grown back in less than a month.

Like Peggy said, scrub up everything in the cage really well to prevent reinfection. I'd probably scrub everything with soapy bleach water and rinse really well and then dry everything in the sun. Odoban kills fungal spores, as well.

I hope you don't get it! Once I spent about a half hour in someone's house picking up a bunch of chins. The dirty house with all the cats around really assured that there was fungus everywhere. Despite the gloves and mask I still managed to get ringworm all over my face, yet none of the chins had it. It's very contagious so wash your hands very well and often. And, don't touch your face after you have touched the chin!

 

[Riven]

I'm sorry Susan but that just made me giggle. Good info on the Odoban, I dint know it killed the fungus as well!

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

I personally use tinactin cream on my chins for the 1st couple of weeks. During that time I do not dust the animal. Everyone else gets a dust bath with desenex in it as a preventative. Reason I don't bathe the infected at first is because any hairs that contain the spores or the spores themselves can get kicked up in the dust and spread to adjoining cages. Scrub EVERYTHING with bleach water including walls and floors. Spores can live in the environment for a very long time.

Wash, wash, wash your hands and any clothes they are in contact with.

Good luck
Jessica

 

[chinmom2012]

I'm going through the same thing with my new chin Oreo. I ordered some sulfur powder (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OJDA4M/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00) off of Amazon. My question is, is it the right sulfur? It says its ok for consumption in the description, but when I got it in the mail it had a warning label saying not to consume or inhale. Help!

 

[Spoof]

but when I got it in the mail it had a warning label saying not to consume or inhale.

No dust is safe to inhale, but I don't know. Ask the vendor if it is flowers of sulfur (sublimed sulfur).

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

I always err on the side of caution and use a mask when I treat for fungus. One of the ranchers here also uses flowers of sulfur and has had good success with it.

 

[valkyrian_knight]

Yes they dinged me 200 and after that they came to the conclusion that my chin did not have ringworm despite losing a good portion of her hair on her nose.

Thanks for the advice.