Ellies not well :(

[GPTV]

Anyone got any suggestions?

Ellie my 5+ year old piggie, about 2 weeks ago had a watery, then crusty (sleepydusty) eye.. had a vet trip &given Tiacil drops, this cleared up quite quickly.
then used a new bale of hay after cleaning out the hutch & it seemed a bit dusty & not as nice as the previous bale.
two days later Ellie's looking a bit lethargic.

The next evening during cuddle time, she had a rattley chest. So the next morning (thurs) off to the vets.
Given Baytril 0,2ml twice daily for a week. Also bought some lovely sweet smelling prepacked hay to replace other stuff.
Friday evening moved the girls indoors (damn cold out in their shed hutch.. even with cover, heater & snugglesafe!)
The rattley chest now seems to have gone
but Ellie seems puffed up & lethargic occasionally since. she has been doing half sized poo's. I'm guessing thats because of the Baytril?

she isn't eating as much as she normally would, but did eat some cucumber & fresh grass earlier.
she had a little play in her cardboard box & a little run around with pad-mate Grace.but lethargic again afterwards.

Are there any over the counter probiotics i can give her, which may help the small poo situation.or is it back to vets for some? Oh & she has been pestering grace's bottom-is she after her healthy poos? Also trying to bury herself under grace.
Slightly lighter in weight 20-30g between last weigh in & vets (although different scales), seen her drink a little this morning too.

Any advice appreciated?/
Are these events related or just coincidence? My vets are ok but not exotics vets& its bit pot luck if you get the cavy savvy vets-all according as to whos in & when.
any exotics vet near north dorset anyone can recommend instead? I'm on the somerset/dorset/wiltshire border.

Thanks

 

[shiny]

Sorry Ellie is unwell

I would see an exotics vet with her definitely. Crusty eyes & being puffed up can be symptoms of being unwell. Did the sniffles clear up properly? 0.2ml x2 daily is quite a low dose of Baytril. I wouldn't expect that to be affecting her poos still. I wouldn't assume it's part of the same thing necessarily.

I use Bio-Lapis as probiotic, you can get it from amazon or vetuk or some vets keep it in. It's very yummy to piggies so no problems with getting them to take it from the syringe.

Hope she will be ok & that a member local yo you can recommend an exotics vet

 

[flintstones]

Small poo's - will be due to her appetite decreasing, this could be the Antibiotic or whatever illness she has going on. I would start topping her up either with Pellet mush or critical care. Smaller poo's indicate she is eating less, so always a good idea to top her up.

 

[Lone-Star 57]

I hope Ellie feels better soon, and you get some answers to. x

 

[sport_billy]

Definitely recommend as others have said a probiotic. We use Avipro plus, the piggies love it http://www.amazon.co.uk/Avipro-Plus...IGDK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364197686&sr=8-1 amazon sell it or vetuk are excellent too. But there are others out there too Such as what Shiny mentioned Bio-Lapis.

Your piggie is after the others poo to help her tummy out so While you are waiting to get a probiotic you can always make poo soup... I know this sounds disgusting but piggies love it, take a poo from a healthy piggie, put it in a small bowl and mash it with some water then syringe her this.

How is Ellie this morning?

 

[GPTV]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Have been looking at oxbow critical care & bio lapis. Also found fibreplex as suggested on other's threads.

?/ Right so now I am unsure ... Do I give oxbow to get more food into her, or one of the probiotics/prebiotics to help replenish the gut bacteria etc, or can I safely give one of each to compliment each other? E.g. Oxbow cc & fibreplex?

 

[sport_billy]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Have been looking at oxbow critical care & bio lapis. Also found fibreplex as suggested on other's threads.

?/ Right so now I am unsure ... Do I give oxbow to get more food into her, or one of the probiotics/prebiotics to help replenish the gut bacteria etc, or can I safely give one of each to compliment each other? E.g. Oxbow cc & fibreplex?

Oxbow critical care and science recovery are syringe foods, they are given to help get food in. So really you need one of these, we always keep a pack of CC in, in case of emergency.

Avipro plus, bio-lapis and fibreplex are probiotics. Fibreplex is very good for if piggies poos are runny, I wouldn't use it as a day to day probiotic as it can be a nightmare to syringe and really is worth keeping for runny poo situations. For pro biotics when on antibiotics I would recommend avipro or something like bio-lapis.

So I would say get some Critcal Care to top Ellie's food intake up and then also get a pro biotic to give at different times of day to the antibiotic.

Hope that helps x

 

[GPTV]

Ok I'm on it. Will order cc and either avi pro or biolap-let you know how she gets on- currently munching happily on some grass that I picked and washed-not drinking much I don't think so hopefully will boost her moisture intake too. She's still sometimes a little puffed up tho although less than she has been. Nomnoming on a little hay too. Thankyou xx

 

[helen105281]

If the rattly chest returns I would also ask your vet about diuretics (Frusemide or Frusol) as this will help remove any fluid on the chest.

 

[GPTV]

Right have ordered oxbow and bio lapis (went for that opposed to avipro as Shiny suggested it was yummy for them - totally lazy yummy is so much easier to feed & looked like the avipro goes in water- guessing if she's not drinking much might be harder to monitor how xxmuch she actually gets. Am at work at mo - will update later tonight when I get home. Thanks xx

 

[Mizzpigz]

Healing piggy vibes coming your way xx

 

[GPTV]

Thanks everyone :-)
Just given Ellie tonights dose of baytril, she's still a little bit puffy. But she's just had a reasonable drink of water,some grass and quite a chomp on their hay. So I'm happy her eating &drinking is improving.
Not sure how long before cc & probiotics get here, hopefully more improvement then inbreeding .
If not another vet visit.:{

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Thanks everyone :-)
Just given Ellie tonights dose of baytril, she's still a little bit puffy. But she's just had a reasonable drink of water,some grass and quite a chomp on their hay. So I'm happy her eating &drinking is improving.
Not sure how long before cc & probiotics get here, hopefully more improvement then inbreeding .
If not another vet visit.:{

Sorry Ellie is poorly I wouldn't wait for the cc to come, I use Harrington's pellets when mine are poorly, you can get a bag from Morrisons or Asda, soak a few pellets in some boiled water, let them cool them syringe feed them to her, aiming for about 10 ml every couple of hours, just to supplement her eating. Mine actually prefer it to cc, but they do like Recovery food, so I get that in small sachets & make a little up at a time. Hope she picks up soon.

 

[GPTV]

If the rattly chest returns I would also ask your vet about diuretics (Frusemide or Frusol) as this will help remove any fluid on the chest.

Well the rattly chest is gladly no more but she was still puffy last night , so a trip to the vet's this morning. Have been feeding celery too as that has diuretic qualities

Have been given more baytril and up'd the dose to 0.3 ml twice daily. Told to start her on fibreplex. Just got really messy with that - she DOES NOT like it! Messy mummy can get covered in pink goo if she likes - but its not going in my mouth! And that's final!

Will see what happens tonight but hope the bio-lapis gets here soon and can try that! Will keep you vupdated- off to work now

 

[Guinea pig slave]

Ellie sounds as though she is responding well to treatment - our piggies will take Fibreplex from my little finger as the syringe tip is huge. Recently changed to Aviproplus and is very good.
If she needs further abx, Baytril may not be doing the job if it's a stubborn infection so possibly ask for Marbocyl or Septrin.
Metacam is also fab working alongside abx as it an anti inflammatory as well as a pain killer and we've had good results of the combination.
Healing vibes and hugs sent x>>

 

[GPTV]

Ellie sounds as though she is responding well to treatment - our piggies will take Fibreplex from my little finger as the syringe tip is huge. Recently changed to Aviproplus and is very good.
If she needs further abx, Baytril may not be doing the job if it's a stubborn infection so possibly ask for Marb
ocyl or Septrin.Metacam is also fab working alongside abx as it an anti inflammatory as well as a pain killer and we've had good results of the combination.
Healing vibes and hugs sent x>>

Ok will try harder with fingertip feeding . I've only had her about 6months. She was always an outdoor piggy before. So she eats lovely nom-nom cucumber or celery and grass from my hand but prefers to be left to her own devices with food, but she is getting the hang of it

Vet today increased dose as thought previous dose a bit low of baytril. Will discuss with vet your suggestions if no improvement. Thankyou. Xx

 

[sport_billy]

lots of vibes to Ellie, thanks for the update x

 

[GPTV]

Well we still don't do fibreplex! Getting impatient for bio lapis to come :/ but we have eaten a big handful of grass. More left for later. Still puffy but seems to have a little get up and go trolley round every now and again.
Wondering if it's anything to do with her heart as some times she has cold ears and others they are really warm- anyone any suggestions?
Hmm that didn't post then darn phone!

Well we have just mastered the fibreplex issue...a smearing on individual blades of grass. Time consuming- but gets grass , water & fibreplex in -c rolleyes

 

[piggyfan]

My piggies often have cold and then hot ears too. I thought that was normal though. Thank goodness she has eaten some grass.

 

[GPTV]

My piggies often have cold and then hot ears too. I thought that was normal though. Thank goodness she has eaten some grass.

I always worry when they have cold ears as it's always a bad sign, when any of mine have had them. Not just cool, but really cold to touch.

But just to update everyone...
Ellie is sitting here, just eaten a big pile of grass, dandelions and coriander leaves
She fights the baytril every time and as for the oxbow cc and fibreplex... She's not keen! Putting it mildly! inbreeding. She has been doing bigger poops, more normal size and feasting on grace's Healthy poops @)@)
She is definitely lighter but not as puffy as she was
Only on an early shift tomorrow so major cuddle time, to make up for long days over the last week- thank goodness for guinea pig grandmax>>
she did the midday jollop session.
Thanks for all the advice, will post a couple of pics and hopefully a short movie of munchtime. |)

 

[piggyfan]

Hurray it sounds like she is well on her way to recovery.

 

[sport_billy]

Well done little Ellie! Keep it up x

 

[GPTV]

hopefully these will work... couldnt get rid of pop-ups yesterday,had to take computer back to previous restore point! Grrr!

No puffy'ness today - Ellie has got her appetite back as you can see ^) :<>
yesterdays photos of cuddle, food & cuteness time.

I'm so relieved - i was afraid of the outcome at one stage, hopefully get more than 5hrs sleep a night now :laluot_01:



helping one's self! greedy piggy!

i think we can just reach this glorious platter!

right full up & meds done... time for a snooze

 

[GPTV]

lets overdose on Ellie pics!

thankyou for everyones advice & wellwishes.

ooh whats this i spy?

Hmmm tasty!

dry nose now...please feed me!

still on Baytril for a little longer- given up on Fibreplex, she gets too stressy with even eating it off grass! but she is eating again & poops more normal.

xx

 

[shiny]

Lovely to see Ellie doing so well

She's certainly interested in all those veggies & grass - always a good sign and it's definitely good if you can get a bit more sleep!

Keep getting better Ellie

 

[piggyfan]

Oh she looks so well! What beautiful piggies you have.

 

[sport_billy]

So pleased to see your beautiful girl doing well and her poo's are returning to normal. They should get even better once off the baytril. Gorgoeus photo's. Hope she continues to go from strength to strength. It's always nice to read of piggies getting better on the forum, there have been so many poorly lately