Advice please!

[Kmb84]

Hello I was wondering if anyone could help me, I have had my 2 guinea pigs for about 6 months from babies but one of them has recurrently been ill with colds. She is now on her 3rd lot of antibiotics and the vet has told me to prepare for the worst as her breathing is so bad :-( I have also had to separate them as the other piggie was bullying her as she was so weak! I would like to get another pig to keep the stronger one company but am not sure how to do this? Is it ok just to buy another baby one and put it in with her or will the same happen again?! I hope this makes sense!

 

[madguinealady]

please don't buy from a pet shop as you can't guarantee they will get on and some pet shop stock isn't very healthy. There is a list of good rescues and some may do piggy dating where a person with experience will bond your girl with another and will be disease free. You could end up bringing disease to your healthy pig with pet shop stock. There are piggies for rehome on this forum but if you got one you would need to quarantine it, can't remember for how long. Good luck

 

[twiams]

I wouldn’t risk putting another guinea pig in with an already ill guinea pig,

a) the new guinea pig could bring further illness to the ill piggy as her immune system would be so compromised as it is.

b) whatever the ill piggy has could be contagious and cause you to have 2 sick guinea pigs.

Please treat the illness first even if this involves seeking advice from another vet.

 

[Guinea pig slave]

Please don't shop...adopt
Can you see another Vet as twiams suggested ? Has your little one been given the same antibiotics ? Baytril is the big guns for piggies and can cause anorexia so keep a close eye on her diet intake and top up with syringe feeding if needed. Monitor poo's as well.
I would strongly suggest another opinion as one of my girls had reoccurring breathing problems, URI that was not responding to Baytril so an exotic Vet diagnosed she had actually got Pleurisy which we treated successfully with the right antibiotic and Bisolvon for a snotty nose. She would not have survived otherwise. Stubborn infections need investigating and can be treated.
Your little one is so young so please seek another opinion if possible asap :...

 

[Rodentopia]

Firstly if you have an ill piggy with an URI I would not risk even thinking of another piggy till either she is better or a 3 week incubation period has passed. If you jump in too soon you could have another poorly piggy as URI's can be passed on, not always the case but stress can bring them on. So a new piggy adjusting to a new home would be prime to catch something. Also look at rescues rather then petshops as they can find your piggy the perfect friend.

Secondly I would see another vet. What treatment are you getting? Antibiotics? Metacam? I have had a piggy very poorly with an URI, he had fluid on his lungs. We hit him hard with 12 days of antibiotics, metacam, bisolvon, antibiotic eye drops and an injection to clear fluid. I syringe fed him daily three times a day. Sometimes its important to syringe feed them if the weights dropping as they need to eat to survive.

 

[Kmb84]

Thank you all for your responses she is on baytril for 14 days. I am worried about my healthy piggie as she seems a bit lonely.

 

[Rodentopia]

she will be fine just give her extra attention. I would ask about trying another antibiotic something stronger to kick the URI, has she had any anti inflammatory like metacam?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I am very sorry; URI is a common problem with shop piggies, whose immune system is lowered due to the many upheavals in their short life. It is contagious, so it is not a good idea to add a new piggy at this stage, especially not another shop piggy that could come with more health problems.
http://www.guinealynx.info/uri.html

You may also find that baytril is not very efficient in cutting through any strong bacterial infections. Perhaps your vet would like to consider a stronger antibiotic like marbocyl if baytril doesn't do the trick? Some general vets don't like using other antibiotics, as baytril is unfortunately still the only licensed AB for guinea pigs. He may also want to prescribe a diuretic in order to help ease the breathing. Please weigh your girl daily to control the food intake; if necessary try to get some mushed up pellets into her with a spoon. the need to breathe comes before the need to drink and the need to eat. It is important to keep the guts going and the weight up as much as you can.
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

Could you please tell us which country or area you are in? We have got a piggy savvy vet locator on the bar underneath the forum logo for our UK members. PS: You can add your country, state (US) or general area (UK) to your details of you go right to the very top of the page to my settings/edit profile/location. That will make it much easier to give you appropriate advice and recommendations - if possible - straight away.