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A Tough Decision

Dilly's Piggies

Dilly's Piggies

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I've posted about my girl Lottie before and her intermittent stuffy nose issue, however over the past couple of weeks it has gotten much worse, she now has a constantly wet right nostril, sneezing and there is gunk and crusties coming out. I took her to the vet last thursday and she was prescribed a short 1 week course of sulfatrim (0.25ml x2 daily) just in case it's a URI, but her lungs sounded great so we all think it's a sinus problem.

She's now 4 days into her course and it has not gotten any better, her nostril is still wet and crusty and she's still snuffling/sneezing. I've tried giving her piriton too (her sister has allergies so is prescribed piriton) but these aren't doing anything for her either.

So now we have to look at a tooth root issue that may be affecting her sinuses, which means she needs to go under anaesthesia and have dental xrays. I am absolutely terrified about this, Lottie is extremely special, I can't afford to lose her but even I know it's the only thing we can do at the moment.

It's also possible she has something stuck up her nose and it has caused all of these issues, but again she'd probably need an xray to see if there is anything up there. Has anyone ever had these problems before? What did your vet do about it?
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
What weight is Lottie? That seems like a very low dose of Sulfatrim. Have you tried Bisolven, as that reduces mucous. If this could be a tooth root issue, then get to Simon. Don't waste time elsewhere.
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Lottie's normal weight is between 930-960g, after eating veggies she goes over 1000g but this has been a problem for a while, I've been taking her to the vet regularly about her weight but until now there was nothing obviously wrong, she is a little thinner than she should be.

The syringes are those little cc ones, we give her 2.5 on there, if that makes more sense lol. I remember when Simon gave some of our pigs this antibiotic it was like almost a full syringe so I did wonder if the dose my regular vet gives is too low, the one he gave was flavoured though and this one is not so I don't know if sulfatrim comes in different strengths etc.

I can't get to Simon this time, it's just too far, I don't drive and none of my family can drive me so I have to use my own vet or no vet. I use a vet there that loves exotics, is working for his exotic certificate and has his own guinea pigs so he is pretty good if I'm honest, he has said he will liaise with Simon for advice and treatment plans on any of my pigs. :)
 
Liqourice had an x-ray, she behaved that well they didn't even have to put her under. Please think hard about this, as if she does have an elongated root, it may effect her eye as well, as it could block her tear duct. X-ray will show if this is the case, and you'll probably have two ways of dealing with this, one managing through pain relief and anti-imflammatories, or operate to remove the offending tooth. Hopefully though, it's not
 
they can xray using a whiff of gas also not a full GA
 
I had a piggy with a chronic one sided nasal discharge that we never got to the bottom of. In the end we just used metacam and l cleaned his nose daily. He lived to a good age and had no dental problems. Although another pig with nasal problems needed his incisor removing.
 
Lottie finished her antibiotics today, her snuffling is better but I am still hearing a soft hooting sound coming from her chest. I gave her some piriton and loxicom yesterday and that seemed to help much more than the antibiotics did. Her nose is still a little wet but there is no crustiness or gunk anymore, I can only hear breathing sounds when close up, before I could hear her across the room!

She has the exact same symptoms as her blood sister Harriet (who is on piriton for allergies and doing great on them) but Lottie's is a little worse.

What do you guys think, try antihistamines, change the hay and wait a little longer, or jump straight to the xray this week? I can book her in asap if you all agree she should have one now...
 
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