• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

devestated both guineas have pneumonia! :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
Fudge&bumble

Fudge&bumble

Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Got home monday to find Fudge wasnt himself and hunched up and Bumble was sat with him but seemed ok in himself. I rang the vets and they said to bring Fudge in next morning 10.10. got up in the morning and Bumble wasnt 100% so i took him with me too. Vet had a look at both and said they both had pneumonia! :( there chests were really bad but Fudge worse than Bumble. He gave them both injections, and oral anti.b's for Bumble which ive been giving. Had to go back this morning to be told its not looking good for either of them, I'm gutted but the vet gave some steroids as a last chance solution. Gotta go back again tommorow morning and she said to prepare myself. Already upto £100 bill but nothing i can do about that. Anybody else's guinea pigs had pneumonia and recovered? x
 
My little cleo had an URI which the vet thinks turned into pneumonia as the first vet I saw had no idea about guinea pigs and didnt recognise the infection soon enough. That was about 3/4 months ago now and cleo is still here. She still struggles with her breathing - we think she may have long term lung damage as the infection was so severe and took so long to clear up. She is also still on a very low dosage of steroid (prednicare) every other day. We don't know what the long term prognosis is, but she is happy and active at the moment. What antibiotics are they on? After trying baytril and septin with no success, vet gave me zithromax we seemed to be more effective. Do you think your vet would consider this? I hope they get better soon.
 
Sorry to hear your piggies are poorly. Do you know what injection the vet gave your piggies? Was it a diuretic?

I have never had experience with pneumonia, but from what I've read a diuretic called Frusimide may help.

Hoping a more experienced member of the forum will be along in a moment to offer some advice.

Hope your piggies will be ok x
 
Hi

I have a little guinea who has had a respiratory infection and then chronic bronchitis, we fully expected to lose her months ago but she has struggled through and so far seems to be getting better (I am not going to jinx her any further!).

We used a combination of a month of Baytril to knock any infection on the head (with probiotics for the gut) Frusemide for removal of the excess fluid from her lungs and I used a homeopathic medicine to help with her breathing called Nose Relief. She also has a heatpad every evening to sleep on :))

You have to be vigilant I monitor her Frusemide intake depending on her breathing that day, this varies from 0.1 up to 0.9ml twice per day but be careful as it can cause damage to the kidneys as they are working hard so speak to the vet first .

She also has a heart condition so we have to be careful with her but she is happy and managing well at 6.5 she is a real fighter. Hope that helps and is something you can discuss with your vet?

Sending lots of luck and healing vibes but if you can keep the infection at bay and remove the fluid from the lungs then you should be in good shape....

Keep us posted? x
 
so far on invoice regarding injections is 10th jan - Bumble had Marbocyl 0.2 injection, and gave me baytril 2.5% oral meds to give to him at home. Fudge (the worse one) had Duphamox LA Betamox 0.1 injection, Marbocyl 0.2 injection, Vomend 0.2 injection.

Then today both Fudge and Bumble had - Marbocyl 0.2 injection, Duphacort Q Colvasone 0.2 injection,

Shall see what they have to say tommorow and keeping trying to hand feed and give water. Is it something that takes time to get better then or once they are too far theres no coming back? I'm worried that the vet may put them both to sleep tommorow but there seems to be a few guineas that have come back from it! Were your guinea pigs eating at these 2 havent since monday! x
 
They urgently need to eat - otherwise it is too late for them once the digestive system closes down. Please try hand feeding them and also make sure that they get enough fluids. It will be a real struggle at first, so brace yourself. You can mush up pellets to try and feed them. http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

Unfortunately, I am not medically experienced enough to know what the other meds mean that your vet has injected. Is it a general vet or an exotics one? (guinea pigs are classed as exotics)
 
Hi Fudge & Bumble, just wanted to say I sympathise as I'm going through a similar thing with Bob, although my vet doesn't think his URI has developed into pneumonia fingers crossed. I can't really advise on the various meds they've been given as I'm no expert, but my Bobby is on baytril as an antibiotic and metacam as an anti-inflammatory (both injected).
He also stopped wanting to eat or drink (and is therefore being given fluids under the skin today) because he is breathing through his mouth as his nose is blocked with mucus & therefore prioritising breathing over eating, is this what your piggies are doing or is their fluid only on their lungs?
Continue with the hand feeding if poss, piggies need a more or less constant flow of food through them to keep everything working as it should. Little and often is what I have been advised. Has the vet given you any syringe food? Critical care is good stuff. If not, some nugget mush will do for now (their usual nuggets soaked in boiling water, mashed up & left to cool before feeding).
I believe piggies can indeed recover from this, although perhaps with long term problems as others have pointed out.
Good luck, really hope they start to pick up soon.
Thinking of you x
 
I am fortunate in that my little girl eats like a horse and despite everything has kept eating throughout. She once went through a huge op and the first thing she did when she woke up was eat her dried food in preference to syringing! I forgot to mention that she is also on a small dose of Rimadyl as an anti-inflammatory too.

I echo what everyone else has said though re feeding (having had a number of other sickly piggies my sow is an exception!). You just have to keep on working on finding something that works. Mash things up where you can, try to find a favourite food, grate carrots. I have found that syringing a little tomatoe juice or vegetable juice can kick start an interest for food. I also find that dried herbs (the sort you get at pet shops , Natures Salad for instance) help them as they can nibble these and select what they feel will work for them.

Good luck and healing vibes to you all. xx
 
is there any signs of the guineas digestive system is shutting down? Ive been hand feeding mushed pellets (there usual food) and water. Have tried there carrots and fave treats but no such luck, left bots & bobs in the cage to try and tempt them but there just not moving anywhere. :( They have gone to the vet i have used for years & years for all my animals but yesterday was a different one and i certainly wasnt convinced but was my fave lady today so hoping she has done them some good. xx
 
How about grass or dandelions.....sometimes this gets them interested again. I know with one of mine grass was the ONLY thing she would eat for about 48 hours. Sometimes just putting some food on your finger helps, they lick it off. Porridge is another option perhaps?
 
well they was doing, was taking quite well espeically Bumble but Fudge isnt and last feed (just) was horrible! :( No strength left and wouldnt swallow, etc.. x
 
Oh poor little thing. I wish we could understand more about why they just switch off like this and how we can help. There is nothing more frustrating and emotionally draining.

I just want to say that I am thinking of you and wishing my hardest that they improve. x
 
well unfortunatly not good news, we lost the battle with Fudge and he died through the night. 8... Took Bumble to the vets this morning and his chest is still very rattly, they have given him Marbocyl, duphamox betamox and vomend injections but have said that it may be a strain that ends in death but if i still wanted to fight they would give meds today, see him tommorow but if still no change by then it would be time to give up and put him to sleep, so now £130 down and possibly no guinea pigs by tommorow! :( But there was no way i would give up on them until i know that theres nothing else, dont want them to be in pain.. got to try get him to eat and drink today as ive been feeding for 4 days, he wont take himself. x
 
oh god ive just caught up with this, i am so sorry you have lost Fudge, rip little one.

Wish you so much luck with Bumble x>>
 
8...poor Fudge, I'm so sorry you lost your brave little boy :(
Hope Bumble pulls through and sending gentle hugs x>>
Heartbreaking time for you but we're thinking of you here xoxo
 
thanks ladies, I'm just gutted. Now have to try and explain to my son when hes home at 3pm! :( Also wanted to say anyone heard about humans catching it? Apparantly vet had to inform me of this even though hes only had 1 case in his 10 years of working as a vet. x
 
I'm so sorry about Fudge. I have had a piggy recover from pneumonia and live for another 5 years so it is possible. It took days of syringe-feeding to keep her going. Although she would take grass on her own when she was over the very worst. Keeping everything crossed for Bumble. xxxxx
 
Yay, just put some more fresh grass in to see if i could maybe tempt Bumble to eat something himself, and hes eating it! Gotta be a good sign surely?! DOnt want to get my hopes up but this is an improvement! xx
 
Fudge&bumble said:
well unfortunatly not good news, we lost the battle with Fudge and he died through the night. 8... Took Bumble to the vets this morning and his chest is still very rattly, they have given him Marbocyl, duphamox betamox and vomend injections but have said that it may be a strain that ends in death but if i still wanted to fight they would give meds today, see him tommorow but if still no change by then it would be time to give up and put him to sleep, so now £130 down and possibly no guinea pigs by tommorow! :( But there was no way i would give up on them until i know that theres nothing else, dont want them to be in pain.. got to try get him to eat and drink today as ive been feeding for 4 days, he wont take himself. x
Click to expand...

Hun, I have just checked the Duphamox and believe it is similar to Amoxycillin - Amoxycillin is poisonous to piggies I believe ?/

http://www.viovet.co.uk/Prescription_Drugs-Prescription_Drugs_D_-_F-Duphamox/c1_32_991/category.html

I would contact your vet regarding this asap -

http://www.guinealynx.info/dangerous_medications.html
 
HUGS

I am so sorry to hear about Fudge and am keeping my fingers crossed for Bumble. It is vital to get food into him and keep him going.

PS: Sadly, when you are dealing with a major illness, you are up for it financially, whatever pet you are having. It is important to have a reserve stashed away just in case!
 
does anybody use a water bowl or is it just water bottle? Anything to try get him drinking on his own again? Currently has a water bottle up but not tempted so far. if not shall carry on giving water by hand x
 
Carry on by giving him water by hand. He is still not over it. Have bottle and keep it fresh, but don't expect him to drink and eat before the crisis point is over, and even then it is usually a slow process of coming off syringed foods.
 
Fudge&bumble said:
Yay, just put some more fresh grass in to see if i could maybe tempt Bumble to eat something himself, and hes eating it! Gotta be a good sign surely?! DOnt want to get my hopes up but this is an improvement! xx
Click to expand...

So glad to hear he's liking his grass! Keeping everything crossed x
 
Sorry to hear about Fudge. Really hope Bumble pulls through, glad he's eating grass. Keeping fingers crossed for him x *big hugs*
 
Thanks for all the replys. i shall continue to syringe water. Cant help keep going and checking how hes doing but leaving him to try and get some rest x
 
Poor, poor Fudge so sad. Sending lots of healing vibes for Bumble and hugs to you both. x
 
I'm so sorry for your loss, and hoping for the best for Bumble. Please keep us posted!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top