Both My Boys Have Uri...advice Please :(

[Louiseb11]

Hi guys,

Never posted before as I am a new guinea pig owner. I have 2 boars, Ron who ive had for 3 weeks now and Draco for almost 2 weeks. After only 2 days of having Draco I noticed his eye was completely closed and crusty so I took him straight to the vet who prescribed eye drops. After a few days it was totally better but then I noticed Ron, who had up to now had no problems, was also getting sore runny and crusty eyes and Dracos other eye was getting bad. I continued with drops but then lots of sneezing and coughing started so I took them to the vet who said Ron was actually the poorliest with a rattling chest so they were both prescribed more eye drops and 0.1ml of baytril twice a day.

Draco seems to be on the mend still sneezing but lots better and Rons eyes look better but now occassionally when he breaths at rest in his house there is a loud heavy rasp! I took him to an emergency vet last night who said his lungs sound ok so to be patient with it and also gave me powder to put in water and syringe feed it to him and also an anti inflamatory.

When I got home and was giving him his meds and give him a stroke I noticed he is also crawling in lice! I then checked Draco and he too has lice! I have another appointment tomorrow for this now too. Just feel so sorry for them its like I cant do anything to help them. And Ron is still raspy breathing and even though he is still eating he doesnt seem to be eating nowhere near as much today does anyone know how long baytril takes till it starts working? Should I ask the vet for a different antibiotic?

Sorry for the long post just want them to be better

Louise x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi guys,

Never posted before as I am a new guinea pig owner. I have 2 boars, Ron who ive had for 3 weeks now and Draco for almost 2 weeks. After only 2 days of having Draco I noticed his eye was completely closed and crusty so I took him straight to the vet who prescribed eye drops. After a few days it was totally better but then I noticed Ron, who had up to now had no problems, was also getting sore runny and crusty eyes and Dracos other eye was getting bad. I continued with drops but then lots of sneezing and coughing started so I took them to the vet who said Ron was actually the poorliest with a rattling chest so they were both prescribed more eye drops and 0.1ml of baytril twice a day.

Draco seems to be on the mend still sneezing but lots better and Rons eyes look better but now occassionally when he breaths at rest in his house there is a loud heavy rasp! I took him to an emergency vet last night who said his lungs sound ok so to be patient with it and also gave me powder to put in water and syringe feed it to him and also an anti inflamatory.

When I got home and was giving him his meds and give him a stroke I noticed he is also crawling in lice! I then checked Draco and he too has lice! I have another appointment tomorrow for this now too. Just feel so sorry for them its like I cant do anything to help them. And Ron is still raspy breathing and even though he is still eating he doesnt seem to be eating nowhere near as much today does anyone know how long baytril takes till it starts working? Should I ask the vet for a different antibiotic?

Sorry for the long post just want them to be better

Louise x

Hi and welcome

If your boys are from a chain pet shop, you can reclaim any vet cost that have originated from an issue arising within the first 2-3 weeks of purchase.

What you need to know about URI:
- guinea pigs can't breathe through mouths, so any obstruction of the airways is much more audible. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat.
Antibiotics, especially baytril, are not only working on the bad bacteria in the airways, but also the vital digestive bacteria in the guts and they are often appetite dampeners or even killers. You can help a bit with giving a pinch of probiotics 1-2 hours after the antibiotic.
Please always switch from weighing weekly to weighing daily at the same time with any ill or potentially ill piggy to monitor the food intake. start topping up with syringe feed and water whenever necessary (overall weight loss 50g or more). You can find tips on what to do in an emergency with what you have at home as well as more information on probiotics and recovery formulas in our illustrated syringe feeding guide: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
If your boy is stopping to eat completely, I would recommend to speak to the vet promptly.
You can help ease the breathing additionally by placing a bowl of steaming water next to the cage.

Skin parasites typically hit when the immune system is lowered through youth, stress, illness or neglect, or any combination thereof. In healthy guinea pigs, a fully working immune is often able to fend off an attack.
Please see a vet for a good quality treatment.

Young guinea pigs do not yet have a fully working immune system when their short lived are upturned several times in quick succession. They are therefore very prone to fall prey to infectious issues like URI, fungal (ringworm) or skin parasites.
You can help to build up the immune system with a good balanced, hay based diet with a wide range of nutrients, but can boost the immune system with a short term extra of vitamin C. In very young guinea pigs about 1/8 of a human tablet, either placed in the mouth or dissolved in 1 ml of water and syringed. Please be aware that one mouthful is about 0.2 ml in very young guinea pigs, so give it in small portions to prevent anything from going down the wrong way.

As we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice to what is really relevant and available where you are straight away. Please click on your username at the top, then got to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!

 

[Louiseb11]

Draco was from pets at home and they have up to now paid for his treatment.

So raspy breathing during recovery is normal? Thanks for all the info thats very helpful. Hopefully this will be the last visit to the vet tomorrow and they will be on the mend for both the URI and lice! I will get some probiotics tomorrow

 

[Wiebke]

Draco was from pets at home and they have up to now paid for his treatment.

So raspy breathing during recovery is normal? Thanks for all the info thats very helpful. Hopefully this will be the last visit to the vet tomorrow and they will be on the mend for both the URI and lice! I will get some probiotics tomorrow

it can sometimes take longer to clear and require a second round of antibiotics, depending on how bad the infection was.

You may find our starter kit of new owners helpful re. diet and making friends with your boys.

 

[Kirstie]

My two girls were from pets at home and Belle had a URI and was on antibiotics for weeks until finally she gave it to Sweetie. Pets at home also paid for Sweeties vet costs as the likelihood that Belle has given it to her was so high. Even though at this point I had had both girls for 2 and a half months. So worth taking it up with the vet for payment of Rons treatment too x