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Bart Breathing Heavily

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I think I'm going to drop the karidox, although 1.4ml of baytril also seems very high to me, I've only ever given my other pigs 0.2ml twice a day?
 
Have got Bart booked into the vets again this morning for them to have another look at him, also noticed that Bibi (his Auntie) has a slight weeze this morning so taking her too.
 
Bibi has been given baytril for a uri and they said that we are doing everything possible for Bart so there is not much else we can do hopefully he recovers
 
Still seeing no signs of improvement from Bart he justs sits in his house and is not interested in any food/hay or grass I am really starting to think that his little body can't fight whatever is making him sick, is there anything else I can try?
 
1.4 ml does seem high to me I would question that dose as toxic. Do you have a bacterial supplement for him?
 
That's what I thought it seems quite a lot, the only other things I have are probiotics and critical care what is a bacterial supplement? Should I reduce the dose of baytril and is there anything I can do th flush it through his system of it is causing to be toxic?
 
Enrofloxacin (Baytril) is excreted by the kidneys. I'm not sure what the renal threshold for piggies is as I'm in human medicine but it is excreted by the kidneys. If you can get him to tolerate it then just LOTS of fluids. A pre and or probiotic is a bacterial supplement so that is probably good. Have you called the vet? I would just be honest and ask why such a big dose, tell them you are concerned it is making things worse. My last piggy with a UTI only did 3 doses of Baytril as it then became toxic to her.
The vet knows what the doses should be but you know your piggy and his behavior best so don't doubt yourself too much. Critical care is what I use also and then I alternated with pellet mash and a hay and veggie smoothie that I made in my blender.
 
I did question the vet when hey have the initial dose and also we asked another vet today and they didn't seem too concerned. He did perk up initially on the antibiotics but has gone downhill slowly. Do you think I should stop the baytril altogether and see if that makes a difference he has been having it for over a week and a half now so I am wondering if that is what is making him worse
 
I have never had to keep a pig on an antibiotic longer than 10 days when it was working. I would be worried about the causative organism being resistant, if they added karidox maybe just do that. If karidox is doxycycline than that would be stronger and if he still has trouble breathing he probably isn't well yet. I have had good luck with doxycycline with piggies but in the US the brand is always vibramycin so unless someone knows smthn I don't about it I would just do doxy and as much supplemental food (mixed with water, you can make it runny) as you can get him to take. Every 2 hours while you're up and then the probiotics 2x daily
 
His breathing is pretty much back to normal now it's just he doesn't want to eat or drink anything and just looks miseralbe in general. wondering if I can stop the meds now to see how he reacts or do you think that could make him worse?
 
If his breathing is ok I would say stop my vet did after my piggies UTI because it was so toxic she stopped eating and got bloat within a day and a half of antibiotics. By the second dose there was no more blood in her urinw so the vet said at that point it was likely doing more harm than good. Again you probably want to tell your vet but if he's better except GI troubles why would they add a second antibiotic? Maybe get a second opinion
 
Aimee&Chrispigs said:
His breathing is pretty much back to normal now it's just he doesn't want to eat or drink anything and just looks miseralbe in general. wondering if I can stop the meds now to see how he reacts or do you think that could make him worse?
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I would strongly recommend to finish the prescribed course unless your vet is OK with you stopping it and to keep syringe feeding and watering him to make sure that that there is no return of the problems.
 
Wiebke said:
I would strongly recommend to finish the prescribed course and to keep syringe feeding and watering him to make sure that the URI is not coming back or is lurking below the surface to cause lung disease at a later point because it has not been healed out fully (the latter scenario happened to my Ffraid before she came her as a 4 year old).
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This is also a possibility if you are really stressed call another vet for a second opinion.
@Wiebke how long was your pig on antibiotics for pneumonia? Was it just Baytril?
The longest I had a baby pig on antibiotics for was 2 weeks for 1 infection. It ended up being 4 because she started with a skin infection and after that had cleared developed pneumonia and needed 2 weeks doxy for that
Idk if anyone else can shed a light on this. The antibiotics should be making him better not worse.
 
he has been on antibiotics for nearly two weeks now he seems to be getting worse over the last couple of days not better, I am worried that the baytril is toxic to him I'm really stuck as to what to do to get him to pull through
 
he has been on antibiotics for nearly two weeks now he seems to be getting worse over the last couple of days not better, I am worried that the baytril is toxic to him I'm really stuck as to what to do to get him to pull through
 
he has been on antibiotics for nearly two weeks now he seems to be getting worse over the last couple of days not better, I am worried that the baytril is toxic to him I'm really stuck as to what to do to get him to pull through
 
Did the vet listen to Bart today or just the other piggy? I'm not a vet but I would stop if it were my pig.
 
Are you able to speak to your vet about the meds?
 
We spoke to the vet that prescribed the karidox and baytril, they advised us to stop the baytril and just carry on with the karidox. He seems to have perked up a little since stopping the baytril. The vet said the baytril can cause food to taste unpleasant that's likely to be the reason why he wasn't eating much
 
I'm still having to hand feed him so I don't think he is completely out of the woods yet but a little bit more positive
 
Yes hopefully he continues to get better, sadly we lost one of his cage mates today Bert, we came home to find him lying on his side gulping for air and didn't last too long after we found him. He was 4 and a half years old so maybe it was his time
 
Bart is still on his meds although still not 100% he generally is not getting worse, he is picking at his food but not scoffing it down like the others and has been out on the grass every evening this week for a little while and again he is picking at it plus I am still giving him critical care in the morning and evenings and his probiotics. I have been weighing him every day and he is putting weight back on again but when we pick him up he feels floppy like he hasn't got any energy is this likely an affect of the medication. I have got him booked into a specialist vet on Monday which unfortunately is the earliest we can get him in but I do have a local vet that we normally use should he start to go downhill rapidly.
 
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