FUNGAL FEET
There is a condition we call “fungal feet” it is kind of like Athlete’s Foot but in guinea pigs.
Symptoms are dry skin, white-ish flakey feet. Black skinned feet will look grey when in fact they are supposed to look shiny black. Healthy feet should be super soft.
In some guinea pigs with light skinned feet you may notice angry looking reddish / deep pink skin.
In some more advanced cases you will notice that the nails have thickened and calcified. Nails will become brittle as well. Right where the nail grows out of the skin there may be a buildup of easily removable brittle nail material. An excess of spurs (callous) may be present and a painful thickening of calcium / callous type hardened material around the heel area in bad cases. In fact most of these symptoms are very similar to the human Athlete’s Foot. Just like with humans this type of fungus also does not travel upward and remains on the feet and in between the toes. It is a very uncomfortable condition that can also cause the toe digits to swell slightly and make every step ouchie.
TREATMENT
Any human Athlete’s Foot cream will work, take a glob of it and apply to the feet really working the cream into the toes and the hairs of the feet. Do this 2x a day for minimum of 3 weeks. Please do not stop sooner, the feet will begin to look better in a matter of days but this doesn’t mean the problem has been resolved. We also use a treatment called “Bliss to Sol” which is a liquid and can penetrate all areas of the foot more easily. Continue for two weeks. In some stubborn cases it may need to be applied daily for four weeks and in the case of brittle nails repeated treatments may be necessary.
You want to give the animals a bath as well.
BATHING - Baths are a big part of the treatment, wash the guinea pig with a medicated anti fungal shampoo. We like Davis Miconazole https://amzn.to/3m5nuT9 or you can also try an anti-dandruff shampoo like Head and Shoulders
Put a small bowl in the sink to put the pigs in use lukewarm water. Put a bunch of the shampoo in a layer of water enough to cover the feet and soak the feet first for about 10 minutes. Then lather them up real good and let the shampoo sit for 2 minutes and then rinse.
You must wash the face and ears also Most guinea pigs do not like to be bathed but this is something that needs to be done. After you towel dry the animal really well you must blow dry them. Never put a wet or damp guinea pig back in its cage.
It will take a long time before they dry by themselves. They will get catch a cold and get sick. One bath should be enough for feet fungus but in stubborn cases you may want to repeat.
PAIN MEDS - Hard to believe but a pea size amount of CBD cream applied to the ear flaps works miraculously.
We sell it in in our STORE
