Hello friends and guinea pig lovers.
My dear Salt's health has sadly gone downhill the last two weeks. The moment I noticed he became lethargic, started breathing heavily and lost weight, I took him to the weight. She thinks he has an URI and I got baytril + prebiotics to help with his stomach.
He has been on baytril for 16 days now and it has gotten a lot better. He became way more energitic, started getting some of his personality back and he eats just like before. However, there are a few things which concern me.
The breathing has not become better. There was no sound/wheezing but his sides move and he kind of jerks forward whenever he breathes. When I asked my vet about this, she told me that there is a possibility that his lungs are permanently damaged and that it wouldn't improve but he would still be just fine and happy. I thought this sounded weird since I never heard about this before and I lurk (but never post) on a lot of forums.
Yesterday I had to take my piggies home to my parents because of an emergency. Since then he has started breathing weirdly, making raspy/grunty sounds (sounds like farts) when he breathes. I had to change them to wood shavings and I suspect this might be the issue. However, they have been on these wood shavings before when I visited my parents and I know they are 100% safe kiln died shavings in good quality. Because of this, I decided to bring my guinea pigs home tomorrow.
I called my vet just a few hours ago and she will prescribe me even more baytril. I do not feel comfortable about this, since it doesn't sound good to keep him on the same meds constantly. What do you think about this? The clinic has a good reputation for treating rodents but it is not my regular vet who has seen him during the summer.
Just as a last note, he is still eating well and his breathing is still the same as before in terms of intensity, he is just making these weird sounds now.
My dear Salt's health has sadly gone downhill the last two weeks. The moment I noticed he became lethargic, started breathing heavily and lost weight, I took him to the weight. She thinks he has an URI and I got baytril + prebiotics to help with his stomach.
He has been on baytril for 16 days now and it has gotten a lot better. He became way more energitic, started getting some of his personality back and he eats just like before. However, there are a few things which concern me.
The breathing has not become better. There was no sound/wheezing but his sides move and he kind of jerks forward whenever he breathes. When I asked my vet about this, she told me that there is a possibility that his lungs are permanently damaged and that it wouldn't improve but he would still be just fine and happy. I thought this sounded weird since I never heard about this before and I lurk (but never post) on a lot of forums.
Yesterday I had to take my piggies home to my parents because of an emergency. Since then he has started breathing weirdly, making raspy/grunty sounds (sounds like farts) when he breathes. I had to change them to wood shavings and I suspect this might be the issue. However, they have been on these wood shavings before when I visited my parents and I know they are 100% safe kiln died shavings in good quality. Because of this, I decided to bring my guinea pigs home tomorrow.
I called my vet just a few hours ago and she will prescribe me even more baytril. I do not feel comfortable about this, since it doesn't sound good to keep him on the same meds constantly. What do you think about this? The clinic has a good reputation for treating rodents but it is not my regular vet who has seen him during the summer.
Just as a last note, he is still eating well and his breathing is still the same as before in terms of intensity, he is just making these weird sounds now.
