Poofters & Fuzzy Bear
New Born Pup
Hello! I'm completely new to the forum, so I don't know if I should post this thread under "Introductions" or "Health & Illness".
My piggies are Poofters and Fuzzy Bear. Poofters is my sweet senior piggy who is 7 years and 8 months old, and I have questions regarding azithromycin. Poofters had a dental abscess last November after she broke her bottom left incisor. This was her only bottom incisor because when Poofters was a young piggy she would bite the bars waiting for her breakfast and supper veggies. She broke her bottom right incisor three years ago. It grew back fine, but then she got an abscess several months later. She had surgery and was put on Sulfatrim for a little over two months. However, during floor time zoomies, she crashed into the outside of her pen and that incisor fell out a few days later. It didn't grow back. That ended up not causing much of a problem, though. Along with sometimes getting hay stuck between the top incisors, she just sometimes had a waxy build-up in her ear after that, and had to get her ears cleaned regularly. I'm not sure of the connection, and it could just be coincidence. However, it could be that the irregularity in the jaw led to some ear issues. We managed to get her to completely stop biting the bars after that first tooth problem, but somehow last November she managed to break the other bottom incisor. I'm not even sure how it happened, and her chewing was similar to her waxy ear chewing, and I had a vet appointment already set up for a few days later, so I assumed that she just needed an ear cleaning. However, the chewing got worse rapidly and I had to take her in as an emergency. By then, infection had already set in, so Poofters was put on chloramphenicol. She had surgery to have the abscess removed followed by regular wound flushing. She was doing well, but the abscess itself didn't heal up and the tooth didn't grow. She had to get wound care for four months. Then suddenly the abscess did close up and the tooth looked like it was finally growing again, but there was a big chip around the gum line. Our vet thought that the tooth probably wasn't growing but that it was being expelled. Then in April the abscess returned and during surgery the tooth had to be removed. The x-rays from back in November didn't show that the tooth had fractured, but our vet had suspected it. By April it was in fragments below the gum line. Because the bacteria had gotten resistant to the chloramphenicol, Poofters was switched to Duplecillin by injection (this is not safe for guinea pigs except by injection, and even then it's a bit risky). Poofters had actually tolerated the chloramphenicol very well. She didn't have any intestinal flora issues like she'd had with the Sulfatrim. By the way, Poofters is actually sensitive to probiotics, so that's another thing we have to be careful of. Anyways, in May the abscess returned because the infection had spread to the first cheek tooth beside the incisor. She had surgery again, and the wound was drained, and our vet put her on azithromycin and Baytril. The cheek tooth also was rotten and had to be removed. I know that in the UK azithromycin (or Zithromax, which is the brand you have) is the antibiotic of choice for dental abscesses. Our clinic didn't have Marbocyl in the right form for guinea pigs readily available, so our vet chose Baytril. After draining and the new antibiotics, the abscess cleared up and healed. In fact, our vet said that for the first time since November there was no swelling or sensitivity in the jaw area. Poofters did develop an intolerance to the Baytril on the 14th day of treatment, and we almost lost her and we had to take her off that, and she had some issues for a few weeks after, but she is still on the azithromycin. On the Baytril, Poofters had to have a small amount of probiotics (Bene-Bac). She has now been on the azithromycin for 12 weeks. We tried taking her off it for four days in the first week of July, but then she had some pain when our vet examined her jaw, so we decided to continue with the azithromycin for longer. Our vet is on holidays this week, but we're hoping to take Poofters off the azitrhomycin when she returns on Monday. With the help of top incisor filings, Poofters' chewing has become better than it's been since November. Around the middle of July she seemed to finally turn a corner in her health. The only thing now is that for the first time on all these antibiotics, Poofters' intestinal flora is starting to be affected. I've had to start a small amount of Bene-Bac. All through this, I've also been giving Poofters a small amount of Oxbow Critical Care three times a day to help with weight gain and to buffer her tummy when giving antibiotics. As well, Poofters has a good diet of massive amounts of hay (mostly timothy but some orchard grass too), fresh vegetables, and a vitamin C supplement. She also gets weekly subcutaneous fluids with a vitamin C injection to boost her immune system.
Could any of you please share your Zithromax experiences with me? How long did your piggies remain on the antibiotic? Is it safe to take a senior piggy who is close to 8 years old off the antibiotics? Zithromax is not commonly given to guinea pigs in Canada, and even our vet who is an experienced exotics vet, is in somewhat uncharted territory, due to the fact that not a lot of people have guinea pigs in this part of the world.
Sorry for the very long post. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. I feel like it's time to stop the azithromycin, but I'm also hesitant due to the fact that the jaw bone had been affected.
Thank you!
My piggies are Poofters and Fuzzy Bear. Poofters is my sweet senior piggy who is 7 years and 8 months old, and I have questions regarding azithromycin. Poofters had a dental abscess last November after she broke her bottom left incisor. This was her only bottom incisor because when Poofters was a young piggy she would bite the bars waiting for her breakfast and supper veggies. She broke her bottom right incisor three years ago. It grew back fine, but then she got an abscess several months later. She had surgery and was put on Sulfatrim for a little over two months. However, during floor time zoomies, she crashed into the outside of her pen and that incisor fell out a few days later. It didn't grow back. That ended up not causing much of a problem, though. Along with sometimes getting hay stuck between the top incisors, she just sometimes had a waxy build-up in her ear after that, and had to get her ears cleaned regularly. I'm not sure of the connection, and it could just be coincidence. However, it could be that the irregularity in the jaw led to some ear issues. We managed to get her to completely stop biting the bars after that first tooth problem, but somehow last November she managed to break the other bottom incisor. I'm not even sure how it happened, and her chewing was similar to her waxy ear chewing, and I had a vet appointment already set up for a few days later, so I assumed that she just needed an ear cleaning. However, the chewing got worse rapidly and I had to take her in as an emergency. By then, infection had already set in, so Poofters was put on chloramphenicol. She had surgery to have the abscess removed followed by regular wound flushing. She was doing well, but the abscess itself didn't heal up and the tooth didn't grow. She had to get wound care for four months. Then suddenly the abscess did close up and the tooth looked like it was finally growing again, but there was a big chip around the gum line. Our vet thought that the tooth probably wasn't growing but that it was being expelled. Then in April the abscess returned and during surgery the tooth had to be removed. The x-rays from back in November didn't show that the tooth had fractured, but our vet had suspected it. By April it was in fragments below the gum line. Because the bacteria had gotten resistant to the chloramphenicol, Poofters was switched to Duplecillin by injection (this is not safe for guinea pigs except by injection, and even then it's a bit risky). Poofters had actually tolerated the chloramphenicol very well. She didn't have any intestinal flora issues like she'd had with the Sulfatrim. By the way, Poofters is actually sensitive to probiotics, so that's another thing we have to be careful of. Anyways, in May the abscess returned because the infection had spread to the first cheek tooth beside the incisor. She had surgery again, and the wound was drained, and our vet put her on azithromycin and Baytril. The cheek tooth also was rotten and had to be removed. I know that in the UK azithromycin (or Zithromax, which is the brand you have) is the antibiotic of choice for dental abscesses. Our clinic didn't have Marbocyl in the right form for guinea pigs readily available, so our vet chose Baytril. After draining and the new antibiotics, the abscess cleared up and healed. In fact, our vet said that for the first time since November there was no swelling or sensitivity in the jaw area. Poofters did develop an intolerance to the Baytril on the 14th day of treatment, and we almost lost her and we had to take her off that, and she had some issues for a few weeks after, but she is still on the azithromycin. On the Baytril, Poofters had to have a small amount of probiotics (Bene-Bac). She has now been on the azithromycin for 12 weeks. We tried taking her off it for four days in the first week of July, but then she had some pain when our vet examined her jaw, so we decided to continue with the azithromycin for longer. Our vet is on holidays this week, but we're hoping to take Poofters off the azitrhomycin when she returns on Monday. With the help of top incisor filings, Poofters' chewing has become better than it's been since November. Around the middle of July she seemed to finally turn a corner in her health. The only thing now is that for the first time on all these antibiotics, Poofters' intestinal flora is starting to be affected. I've had to start a small amount of Bene-Bac. All through this, I've also been giving Poofters a small amount of Oxbow Critical Care three times a day to help with weight gain and to buffer her tummy when giving antibiotics. As well, Poofters has a good diet of massive amounts of hay (mostly timothy but some orchard grass too), fresh vegetables, and a vitamin C supplement. She also gets weekly subcutaneous fluids with a vitamin C injection to boost her immune system.
Could any of you please share your Zithromax experiences with me? How long did your piggies remain on the antibiotic? Is it safe to take a senior piggy who is close to 8 years old off the antibiotics? Zithromax is not commonly given to guinea pigs in Canada, and even our vet who is an experienced exotics vet, is in somewhat uncharted territory, due to the fact that not a lot of people have guinea pigs in this part of the world.
Sorry for the very long post. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. I feel like it's time to stop the azithromycin, but I'm also hesitant due to the fact that the jaw bone had been affected.
Thank you!
