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Guinea Uti Advice Please

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ilovepets

ilovepets

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Hi all. My 3 year old female guinea called Daisy has had a uti for the past four weeks. i took her to my local vet as soon as the symptoms appeared and she was given Baytril at a dose of 0.2 ml twice a day. It has been a very hard struggle giving her the med as even though she is tame she doesn't like to be handled at all. i have tried to put her med in all sorts of pig friendly food and drink but at best i am only managing 0.2 ml once a day. she improved slightly but was still squeaking when peeing so back to the vets we went. the vet gave her an injection and a painkiller it was a very traumatic experience as poor daisy was very stressed and squeaking. she is left with bald patches from where the vet was trying to inject her.and pulled her hair out

Anyway daisy seemed a lot better for a few days but now her pee is a little red again off and on but she's not squeaking. she's still active and playing. her appetite seems ok but i have noticed she's feeling a bit thinner. i am also still trying to give her the Baytril but vet didn't say how long i should continue and if she doesn't improve i'm supposed to take her back for another injection which i'm reluctant to do!. can anyone experienced in these matters give me some advice please? thank you. x
 
Do you know what the injection was? was it Baytril?

It sounds to me like the infection has not cleared up as she has not had the full course of antibiotics due to only having a half dose. I would check with the vet if they want you to carry on with the Baytril. Also Septrin tends to be more effective with UTIs so I would ask the vet about that, though they may want you to finish the Baytril course first.

If you are worried about her not eating enough you could step in with hand feeding, here is our guide. https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/
 
Hi Helen. yes it was Baytril. I've heard about Septrin but i know some vets don't like to give it. i will ask though, thanks.
i Really don't want to put her through another injection unless i absolutely must. should i give her some probiotic? she's really fussy with things though. Also thanks for the guide, i will have a look now. x
 
You;re right some vets are reluctant to use it and some would rather try Baytril first as it is the only one actually licensed for pigs. Hopefully they will agree though. Usually probiotics are only needed if antibiotics are given orally but it won't hurt to give it after an injection especially as he has had oral Baytril recently anyway.
 
Hello. Sorry to hear your Daisy is unwell. So worrying for you. Whereabouts in Wales are you? If you are in my area I don't mind coming to vets with you for moral support! Or I have friends very experienced in giving medication if you want a hand to give her some more of the oral meds. Hope Daisy gets better very soon.:(.
 
Thanks Helen and Thanks AuntyC for you kind words and generous offer. :) i am in South Wales though. i am just going to call the vet today to ask for some pain relief and see if she can try another antibiotic. i have managed to give her med today by putting it on some grass and kale. i will keep trying but if not then another injection it will have to be. x
 
Shame you so far away! Good luck with your call to the vets and hope you see signs of improvement really soon. Hugs for Daisy x
 
I also have a Daisy who's had a couple of UTIs so I'm not an expert but have some experience! The fact that she isn't squeaking sounds good, also glad she's interested in food, etc. My vet told me it's not that uncommon for pee to still be a bit red until you've finished her on the antibiotics. The first time my Daisy had a UTI giving her the meds was a nightmare! I managed to get some into her by syringing it into chunks of cucumber (obviously not in the hutch where her sister could eat it) but she'd often refuse to eat those pieces and she just wasn't having a bar of having it syringed into her mouth.

With her second UTI we found a bit of a breakthrough with giving her meds so you could try this! What I'd do is prepare a little platter of her favourite veggies and have her sit on my lap to have a feed and get her medicine. She'd get a bit of food, then some medicine (straight into her mouth), then food, then medicine, then food, and so on. It took her a few days to stop fighting the syringe but eventually she realised that being taken out of the hutch meant a little feast all to herself and would (reluctantly) take her meds as long as I had food right there for her. I'd have some parsley or cucumber right there for her so she'd barely even taste the medicine as she'd be swallowing along with something she loved. It took a fair bit longer than just getting all the medicine down at once but was much less stressful and she actually seemed to enjoy coming out for the extra food more than she hated the taste of the medicine.

Admittedly, the second time around she was only mildly ill so that could have contributed to how much easier it was, but hopefully that might work for you!
 
baytril isn't the best choice for uti's. something like marbocyl or septrin would be better. she also needs to be on metacam aswell (an anti-inflammatory pain relief) - the course also needs to be fairly long aswell to make sure the bladder walls have had chance to heal. :)
 
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