Specialist Have To Learn How To Inject Noodles Every 3 Days!

[TAN]

Poor Noodles wasn't putting on weight despite syringe feeding critical care after her recent abscess and weight loss due to the gut flora being disrupted - so I took her for a ride along with my crumbling spine pig Nuggets when he went to have his session with the chiropractor and got the specialist piggy vet at the pet rehab centre to look at her - to cut a long story short she was x rayed as they suspected an infection in the jaw around the roots - her teeth also needed a trim as she hasn't been eating well for the past few weeks - she came through everything fine- and they say she is the greediest little pig they have ever seen as she was scoffing straight away-- as suspected she has infection around the roots ,which are also badly formed - they deal with a lot of dental pigs and say that this is likely to be an ongoing problem so she will need to be given an injection of Engemycin which is usually given to cattle, every 3 days for the rest of her life to stop things re-occurring - so tomorrow night when I pick her up they are going to show me how to administer it myself - I think I have to practice on an orange with a syringe full of water - then have to go back every so often to give them the used syringes - Noodles is nearly 6,so am very thankful that she has come through. Next obstacle will be the insurance claim - as from what I can see of the small print they only pay out 50% less the £50 excess for anything dental related - todays bill comes to £170 but that includes the consultatatin - x- rays - anesthetic - teath trim - 2 overnight stays and £28 for the 100ml of Engemycin she will need (that will last forever) -

 

[Wiebke]

@furryfriends (TEAS) @Abi_nurse @Elwickcavies

 

[Flutterby]

Sending healing vibes!

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I have no experience with that antibiotic and must say, I am somewhat confused with why you are going to be needing to do this for life. I have dealt with a lot of piggies with similar infections, that have been successfully dealt with using Zithromax. However, putting all of that aside, learning to inject a guinea pig is a very useful skill to have. I have had a lot of experience, with both piggies and bunnies. and bunnies are by far the easier to inject. Guinea pig skin is very tough but your vet will show you how much pressure you need to apply. I think what makes it more daunting is that guinea pigs are so vocal, which will make you hesitant, but you need to handle them firmly and just get it done. Initially you may find it easier to have a second person holding him while you administer the injection. You will find it difficult to start with, but your confidence will grow very quickly.

 

[flintstones]

Engemycin was mentioned recently on the forum and is on the toxic list on Guinea Lynx. It comes from the same group as oxytetracycline.

This being said @Abi_nurse said she had used this via injection for one of her pig's - I'm sure she can provide more information. I have also used penicillin for a pig in the past penicillin is TOXIC but can be given via injection perhaps this is the same for engemycin.

Hope your little one gets well soon.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

If I remember rightly the other piggy didn't do well having it as an oral medication. If this medication is toxic when taken orally, then you must ensure that injections go in, or if any of the medication is left on the skin or in the hair of the piggy they could ingest it whilst grooming.

 

[gizzy]

Hi there this is difficult to explain but i will hav a go


hi if you are talking adout ingecting a pig ,, it is easea than it may
first seem ,

sqweeze a well chosen peice of scin between you fingers
have the syring in the other hand and place it on the top of
the sight and twist the syringe

the perpose of this
the needles cutting edge is bevaled , twisting it will give a much cleener cut as it go,s in
and that pinch of scin will also protect from inserting the neade into muscle (intramuscular injections are not used advised for what you are dooing )
as you push the neadle in , twist the barral of the syring and you will achieve a cleen cut

NB a guinea pigs scin is very tough , and it only has to penertate the first copple of cms of skin ! if you have any dought as to your caprbilaty to do this ,
then ask a frend of family member to help you out !

also very important is that you do not hessertat , as a pig wrigling around with a neadle inside it is going to be both painful and tramatic

be carfull not to inject into the same sight as there is a condition called needle sight nucrossis ! this is possobaly going to be you biggest
problem in this needs to be done long term,
lastly look on u tube , there is bound to be some eager beaver that have done a demonstration vidio

you are looking for how to inject sub q

you could practice on an orange

 

[biscandmatt]

engemycin was mentioned recently and i commented that my rabbit matt had it at one stage. i was recently reading back old threads of mine and noticed that chesney piggy also had it at one stage aswell. he had a dental and xrays. he had back teeth that were about 1-2mm overgrown and also gaps between some teeth that were described as 'significant' and these were full of infection. he also had changes at tooth root level.he was treated successfully for the infection and inflammation. he was expected to need regular dentals however he never needed another after the treatment course. i can't remember all the details exactly but i know he was on engemycin and metacam for definite. you could try and find the thread if you'd like, or i'll try and find it and post it here later on. i don't want to give you false hope because every pig responds differently but ches did well on treatment and the result we got was really great in the end.

eta: just checked back and he had engemycin orally (0.3ml once per day for 10days) but i would think injecting it would be ever safer. not sure how long is ok for though but if your vet is piggy savvy then i'm sure they have weighed up all the info.

eta again - the issues for ches was more the inflammation. he had engemycin and metacam for 10days initially after the dental however he then went on to need metacam for a further three weeks, reduced each week.

 

[Abi_nurse]

Oxytetracycline (Engamycin) can be given as injectable form but cannot be given in oral form as it is toxic to the guts. She will be on this due to the fact that they suspect the infection deep in the bone, injection form of antibiotic is much more effective than oral form, so I think this is there reason for the use. Bone infection is tricky to treat so a very long course will be needed.

Injecting is not a problem, guinea pigs do tend to make a lot more of a fuss about injections than any other animal I've injected. They will often squeak for an injection so might be easier to get a holder but once you've got the technique down you won't have any problems at all.

Good luck. : )

 

[biscandmatt]

Oxytetracycline (Engamycin) can be given as injectable form but cannot be given in oral form as it is toxic to the guts. She will be on this due to the fact that they suspect the infection deep in the bone, injection form of antibiotic is much more effective than oral form, so I think this is there reason for the use. Bone infection is tricky to treat so a very long course will be needed.

Injecting is not a problem, guinea pigs do tend to make a lot more of a fuss about injections than any other animal I've injected. They will often squeak for an injection so might be easier to get a holder but once you've got the technique down you won't have any problems at all.

Good luck. : )

this is interesting. wonder if we injected it and i've forgotten (it was back in 2011) or i got the name wrong

 

[TAN]

Thank you all for your help and advice - yes - the infection is deep in the bone - and they deal with lots of cases of dental pigs - they are also a referral hospital - they say that it will more than likely come back at some time in the future as her roots are also badly formed - so the engemycin is a preventative that they have / are successfully using on dental piggies - so an injection every 3 days seems a small price to pay - as at nearly 6 years of age I can't see her coming through it again if another abscess were to form - have just syringe fed her 15ml of critical care in one sitting and am stepping up her metacam - as she is now down to 680gms - will get up at 3am to syringe some more if she will take it - as I really need to get her weight up - seeing as she is usually 1100gm - she was 765gms when she went to the vets tuesday morning - so not happy with the weight loss
To top it all off I collected her and and her cage mate at 6-30 tonight and Nuggets looked really miserable - I just thought it was because they had stayed at the vets overnight for the last two nights and he wanted to be back in his big pen instead of in the hospital cage - halfway home he started quiet little mewings like a cat - I watched him for 2 hours, he didn't eat anything then went and faced a corner - wouldn't look at a strawberry or a piece of lettuce and when picking him up cried if I touched his tummy - so less than 3 hours after coming back from the vets where he had been since Tuesday morning I was at my local vets out of hours surgery, where they are of the same opinion as me that it is either bloat or a blockage of some sort - so they have kept him in and he is off for an x-ray or ultrasound (can't remember which) to see if there is any gas in the stomach (so think that is ultrasound if I remember correctly from when Bumble had an ultrasound for a kidney stone - because they said they couldn't see one kidney because of gas) - and to be given some emiprid and metacam - it never rains but it pours! -

 

[gizzy]

All these anti bs take me back a bit ,
The first anti b i was given for my pigs was oxy tetracicalin hydaclorate
It was despnced in a brown papper bag (yellow powder,) that was mixed with water a bit like zithromamx , though mixing quanteries was a bit hit and miss, though it seemed to be quite efective

 

[flintstones]

So sorry to hear nuggets isn't feeling well either. With him having a day of travelling that can effect there eating.

You might want to soak some nuggets and leave them in that cage, she might be more likely to eat them and this could help with the weight gain.

 

[TAN]

Yes, I was thinking about soaking the nuggets - she weighed 684 this morning and I have just got 6mls of critical care into her,but she isn't showing any interest in eating grass or a strawberry which is very worrying - so I am going to take her into work with me so I can syringe feed her throughout the day.

 

[gizzy]

I dont know if this has been mentioned , but l had a pig with a bone infection , and anti biotic bead impant was discused , l beleve my vet was in comunication with a leading dental vet in manchester ,
Though it was never used, it was descused as a serous posebilty, wish i could tell you more but my memery is not what it should be

Also has manuca honny been mentioned ? If so , apparentay it is best to ask you vet to get it for you
As there has been controvesay as to the grading ,

 

[biscandmatt]

just wanted to note that it was ches who had it and it was orally aswell. i managed to ask today as mollie is now on it aswell for five days. perfectly fine in the small doses for short periods (mollie is on 0.3ml once a day for five days)

 

[TAN]

I don't have to worry about it any more as Noodles sadly went to the rainbow bridge early hours of Saturday morning.

 

[biscandmatt]

I don't have to worry about it any more as Noodles sadly went to the rainbow bridge early hours of Saturday morning.

i'm sorry to hear this must have missed the thread as i didn't log in over the weekend. x

 

[Claire W]

I am so very sorry for your loss