Guinea Lynx,
Two my of my three guinea pigs (all males) recently passed away within one day of each other and I'm trying to pinpoint what happened. Our remaining pig (Peruvian) is eating and seems okay, but we are seeking advice to protect him.
In short, My wife and I were treating a ringworm infection that rapidly spread on all of our three piggies. We did a deep cleaning of our cage, gave them baths, and separated them to prevent further contact. Then we started to apply clotrimazole (antifungal) cream over the past week and a half to treat the ringworm infection. However, while the treatment was working, the ordeal turned into tragedy.
Two days ago, we woke up to one of our pigs (American) dead in his cage, but we didn't suspect the cream since he is a rescue pig and he arrived in bad health two weeks ago. Furthermore, this morning we woke up to our second pig (Texel) dead in his cage, which was concerning since has been in our care nearly his entire life. And despite monitoring our pigs while the cream dried, we're afraid that they were licking at the dried cream overnight.
Can someone please add insight into whether their piggies have died from ingesting small amounts of antifungal cream over the course of days. We don't want to keep treating our surviving piggie until we are sure what's going on.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated!
Sincerely,
Jeb
Antifungal Cream (clotrimazole) Toxicity
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bpatters
- And got the T-shirt
Clotrimazole is not toxic in and of itself -- it can be consumed in small amounts by humans. You could overdose a pig, but you'd have to leave a good bit of the cream on the pig for that to happen, IMO.
When applying any cream/ointment to a guinea pig in an area where it can lick itself, you should apply the medicine very sparingly with a q-tip, and rub it in very well.
My suspicion would be that your newest pig was incubating some sort of illness that overwhelmed your two pigs. We always recommend that you quarantine a new pig in a separate room for at least three weeks to prevent something like this from happening. But keep a close eye on your remaining pig, and get him to an exotic vet ASAP if you notice any signs of illness.
When applying any cream/ointment to a guinea pig in an area where it can lick itself, you should apply the medicine very sparingly with a q-tip, and rub it in very well.
My suspicion would be that your newest pig was incubating some sort of illness that overwhelmed your two pigs. We always recommend that you quarantine a new pig in a separate room for at least three weeks to prevent something like this from happening. But keep a close eye on your remaining pig, and get him to an exotic vet ASAP if you notice any signs of illness.
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