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Guinea Pig Uti

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Amba

Amba

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My nearly 3 year old guinea pig was having trouble pooing (it would come out formed okay, just seemed to hurt her), would cringe and once I heard a very light sqweek. I took her to the vet who did a urine sample and said she has a urinary tract infection. I have gave her her first dose of Baytil, which was prescribed twice a day at .15ml (she weighs 1 kilo - I think that's 2.2 pounds) Anyway after her first dose she weed and it only came out in little drops, and she cringed and sqweeked a tiny bit. Since (about five days later) she seems to be going to the toliet okay. The only difference is she seems to breath a little faster and more heavily when she's weeing. Her poos come out perfectly formed, not dry, but are quite small. She is supposed to have the baytril twice a day for seven days. She has three doses to go. Is everything going okay with her? Her appetite is fine and she still sqweeks for food, runs around etc. Should I be worried about the heavy breathing. She seems to puff up a tiny bit at times too (more that her fur gets a bit higher rather than sticking out, it sort of gets a scruffy look), often when she's weeing. This is my first post to a forum, so I hope I've done it right! Thank you! :)
P.S I really love her, she's such a gentle, happy girl and is very special to me. I've spent about 11 hours all together researching this, but I can't really find info that relates to her specific problems.

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Hi!

The dose of baytril seems to be very low for a UTI, so it is very likely that it hasn't cleared out. A week is also very short. Generally, about 0.4 ml twice daily is the usual UTI treatment dose of baytril for a piggy of your weight. The recommended antibiotic is septrin (UK)/bactrim (US) - same active ingredient, just different product, but unlike baytril, septrin is not officially licensed although it is now widely used. Septrin takes a bit longer to work (so you will need a 2-3 week course), but it cuts through the UTI much more effectively with generally lot less side effects. The dose for a 1 kilo piggy is 0.5 ml twice daily.
We recommend to give a pinch of probiotic about 1-2 hours after the antibiotic to support the guts.
Also ask your vet for metacam; this is a painkiller and anti-inflammatory, which will help to minimise the discomfort in the bladder and while peeing during the acute phase.
Give her mildly diuretic foods like dandelion, cucumber or lettuce - not too much to cause diarrhea, though, but enough to help her flush out the bacteria more quickly. Feeding fresh grass is also good if you can get it dog pee-free and provided that she is used to it in order to avoid tummy upsets.

We have got a piggy savvy UK vets locator on the top bar if you want to get a second opinion. Sadly, we cannot offer this service to our members from other countries. We would however be very grateful if you added your country, state or (for the UK) your county/general area, so we can give you the appropriate advice and recommendations straight away. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details/location. Thanks!

Here are some more links that you may find helpful:
http://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...vitamin-c-overview-with-product-links.115404/
 
I agree with the the above. Baytril dose is low and not the best antibiotic for UTI's but unfortunately all non exotic vets just seem to reach for it straight away as its the only drug actually licenced for the use in guinea pigs but doesnt mean its the best all the time. I would personally continue on the dose given but look for a good piggie savvy vets to have a look further into this. Metacam would be very useful as its an anti inflammatory and would bring down any inflammation and soreness in her bladder.

Let us know if you need anymore help.

x
 
Great advice above. 0.15ml is definitely too low - I would definitely contact your vets and ask for a 2-3 week course of Septrin at a higher dose ans Metacam aswell.
 
The dose might be correct -- it depends upon whether the baytril solution being given is the usual 2.5% or the higher 10%. My vet has recently started giving me the 10% one hence doses are much lower than I was previously familiar with.
 
I have had to keep Quinn on his antibiotics for a UTI for an extra two weeks as the week did not help. Just a few days into the second week and he has stopped squealing and is almost back to his old self. Did you get pain medication?
 
No I didn't get pain medication with it, but I'm giving her cranberry juice (unsweetened) alot. She seems much better today. I saw her go to the corner, and I watched her and couldn't even tell she was going to the toliet. Then when she walked away there was a puddle of wee and about six poos (I know that's not something a lot of people would be excited about!) The vet did give me extra baytil in case any spilled. It's probably enough for another four doses after the week the vet prescribed, should I just carry on giving it to her until the meds are gone? Will it hurt her doing that? Thank you so much for all your answers! :)
 
I would in any case finish the course of antibiotics. It will not hurt her. UTIs can be very persistent, so you want to prevent a return as much as you can anyway.
 
Thanks all very much. The poor little thing actually has bloat! I took her to a guinea specialist and had an xray and urine test dones.
 
Poor girl! What medication have you got?

Please be aware that it can take quite a few weeks until the digestive system will settle back down again and that bloat can make comeback. Ideally, you cut out most or all fresh food and just feed fibre to stabilise the guts. Be very careful in feeding fresh food and/or re-introducing it only in small quantities. Keep off any bloating veg like cabbages and broccoli and also lettuce, grass and cucumbers.
 
Oh okay, will stop giving her grass, which is a bit sad because she stands up for it, she such a sweetheart. I noticed too she has lost a lot of weight and has thin fur (from barbering I think). They gave me their own mix, so i don't know the name, pain med called tramadol, critical care and vitamin c tablets. She's still not well, but the vet is very good, even calling me to check how she is.
 
Oh and it's only for three days, with only one day to go. the meds are three times a day.
 
Personally I would not feed any fruit or veg while she has bloat as it can make it worse. She should be on plenty of hay, a small amount of pellets and fluids.

For bloat the following may help:

Gripe water if she has any pain as it will relieve any gas
Dioralyte - the additional electrolytes can help
Massage of the abdomen either with an electric toothbrush or anything that vibrates or an actual massage pad

I am not sure if you will be able to get Dioralyte and Gripe water in Australia.

Is she pooing at all?
 
no those aren't available to me :( She does poo, they're just quite small. The vet is closed now, but she told me Beano may have got gass from a change in routine which caused stress, and she told me to feed her plenty of vegetable and grass. She still has hay always available (oaten) and plenty of critical care. The vet is a guinea pig specialist, so I'm a little confused. And worried that if I stop feeding her her usually stuff, the change in routine might make her gass worse?
 
Please stay off any fresh foods; it can make the gassing much worse and even be fatal! Fresh food should only make about 10-15% of the daily diet, so there shouldn't be a great change. Hay should make about 80% and pellets another 5-10%.

Please hand feed if she is losing weight and not eating enough because of the pain (as the size and lack of poos are indicating). It is very likely that she could be dehydrated if she is not drinking much and not eating fresh food. Could you ask in your pharmacy for a rehydrating powder to add to water, like sports people use (that is what dioralyte is); it will help the rehydration.
Here is our illustrated step-by-step guide for hand feeding, so you can top her up. please weigh her daily at the same time. https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

Massaging is vital in breaking up the gas and helping to shift it. Tramadol is pain relief. have they labelled their own dispensed medication? Ideally she needs a gut stimulant (it stimualtes the gut muscles) and a gas breaking medicine (what gripe water etc.) are for.

Thinned fur can be an indication of mange mites or a fungal problem, which typically hits when the immune system is lowered. Especially with mites, the skin is very painful and you can see piggies biting or pulling hair.
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html
http://gorgeousguineas.com/indentification.html
http://gorgeousguineas.com/photogallery.html
 
Thanks you. I'll keep her off grass, fruit and vege, and tell the vet tomorrow. I am feeding her critical care a lot. I give her Peter's Pellets and Oxbow pellets. She has always picked out the peter's and leaves the oxbow. The vet told me not to feed her Peter's, but now she doesn't eat any pellets. So I've given her Peter's anyway, I just hope they won't make her gass worse? I have a hand held massager which is battery powered. I've been using that on her tonight. I was (before I knew any better -- and i have learnt alot) giving her a LOT of vegetables, fruit, herbs, etc. It used to be more like 80% of that and 10% hay. She now has constant hay. I'll look into the mange or fungal issue... Thanks. :)
 
oh, and her urine has been like water. The vet said she is well hydrated. I've been making her critical care quite watery.
 
Has your vet checked for kidney problems? Lots of very watery urine can be a sign of that.

I am just not convinced that you are at the bottom of what is causing all the problems yet. :(
 
oh there are just so many different problems she could have, it's just so horrible for her and me, and so overwhelming :( No, not that I know of. I will have a look into kidney problems too... Poppet, my six month old, also has watery urine. I thought it was because they were well hydrated :(
 
It depends on what you describe as watery urine. Just normal urine in a nice puddle? With kidney problems, urine can literally be just like water and not like urine. ;)
 
I've looked at her skin, it looks clear, no sores, or anyting noticeable. She doesn't scratch at it. I will add it to the list to talk about with the vet. Her urine... I don't know, it comes out in little puddles, but is clear. When the vet was pressing her stomach, a bit came out directly from the bladder, and that was yellow.
 
thanks for your help. I'm just so sick with worry, always thinking about her and have spent countless hours reading about illnesses these last few weeks. I just want her to be okay. I've spent $500 dollars, and I thought I finally knew what was wrong :(
 
I was thinking the same, the bloat could be the result of whatever is causing the original issues. How long ago were you feeding the very large amounts of veg and very little hay?
 
all her life (she's three) :( Though I was feeding her hay to last 16 hours, before she got sick.
 
Ok thanks, I was just trying to establish whether the diet was the cause of the bloat but I think it is likely to be a mixture of her being unwell already, not eating as she should and not having enough hay.
 
PS: A piggy has to drink a LOT of water (like about 300ml a day) or eat a whole lot of watery veg and drink well for it to become really watery, enough to constitute kidney trouble. Sorry for freaking you out a bit, but it is vital to check all avenues as you mention them, if only to dismiss them.

I was interrupted by a customer call, so I couldn't finish my last post properly.
 
Okay, I'll ring her tomorrow and ask if she can test for mites/fungus. sorry to be annoying with all my questions. But how is a kidney test done? Do you think her kidneys are the problem? She has now been diagnosed with a uti, bloat. And now possibly mites and kidney problems :'( She actually seems really restless/iritated playing with her fur. Sorry it's night here so it isn't very clear.
 
sorry, was trying to post video but my computer's not working well. She is actually scratching and restless, she wasn't like this last night :/
 
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