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Head Tilt - help!

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I don't have experience of that particular drug, but I have had to do crushed tablets mixed with a little water. This will be fine, follow it with something tasty maybe a little baby food or banana.

Xx
 
shiny said:
Thanks all, I thought Zithromax was an antibiotic of last resort? I am hoping we can use the doxycycline rather than having to go that far...

The vets are putting up the crushed tabs for me into individual doses. They are a general practice vet hospital but have taken advice from our specialist exotics vet who we see sometimes as a referral. I don't think as yet this is a recurrent URI; we all had colds at home & 2 of the piggies got this URI a few days later. My feeling is it's just something we haven't managed to shift yet & it's still the initial infection. I know that we may have to look at further investigation if this doesn't work but I like to avoid GA where possible for piggies so think it's probably worth a go with a different AB first.

I hope the doxycycline will be ok, I was expecting oral suspension rather than tablets though.

It's a worrying time when these little chaps are unwell
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I would never describe zithromax as a last resort. In many instances it is the first choice antibiotic. Although not licenced for use in guinea pigs, the results are generally amazing particularly for URI's and abscesses. I have no experience of the antibiotic you have been prescribed and would be very uneasy about using it.
 
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shiny said:
We are going to try the doxycycline for Pip at 5mg / kg dose.

The vet says it comes as a tablet & has to be crushed. Does anybody have any experience of this? I was expecting a liquid I suppose. She said there is a rick of oesophageal damage unless the crushed tablet is followed with a syringe of water & apparently it tastes awful :(.

The vets are pretty twitchy about trying this & want me to sign a form to say we are using it off licence as they aren't sure what the outcome will be.

Bertie who had the same treatment as Pip over 2 weeks & seemed better has also started sounding rattley in the chest & sneezing as of last night so we are going to try him with more antibiotics too. What a shame for these poor boys, I wish we could get rid of this bug!

Any advice on administering the doxycycline? I was thinking to mix with pumpkin puree maybe?
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Shiny - have sent you a PM.

Please ring me for a chat in order for me to be able to address all your questions/concerns.

x
 
furryfriends (Excellent Adventure Sanctuary) said:
I would never describe zithromax as a last resort. In many instances it is the first choice antibiotic. Although not licenced for use in guinea pigs, the results are generally amazing particularly for URI's and abscesses. I have no experience of the antibiotic you have been prescribed and would be very uneasy about using it.
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We went for doxycycline as it's broad spectrum, good for pasturella & bordatella amongst other things & on the guinealynx safe antibiotics list. Have you heard of any problems with it? I understand it is better tolerated than oxytetracycline which can cause gut problems.

Pip has had 2 doses now (last night & this morning) in bit of baby food which he will eat from a spoon followed by 1ml water from a syringe. He is also having Bio Lapis as probiotic. At the moment he is popcorning around & finishing his breakfast.

Thanks for all your kind wishes for Pip :)
 
How is Pip getting on?
 
Hi sport_billy, thanks for asking about Pip :)

Pip has now had 4 doses of the doxycycline. I have been sprinkling the powder on the inside of a piece of juicy red pepper & putting a dab of baby puree on the top, he eats it from my hand without any concerns. It's nice to be able to dose him without the struggle of syringing medicine :). He has at least 1ml of water from the syringe (which he will take willingly through the bars) afterwards. He is having Bio-Lapis for probiotic about 5ml x3 daily which he loves.

His nose was very crusty & brown yesterday evening & I was wondering if the antibiotics were doing any good at all but by the time we went to bed his nose was just clean & wet again. I really hope that these antibiotics are doing something. I always hope to see an improvement after 48 hours so today is the day where I'll be watching him like a hawk! He is continuing to eat, drink, popcorn around & put on weight.

I am so worried about him though, I really want to get this infection cleared up.
 
I always think you can normally see 48-72 hours with AB's. Seems positive about the nose.
The sprinkle method sure beats the baytril syringe fight, I bet! Hoping he really starts to improve soon. They are such a worry a times. Helping vibes to Pip x
 
Now on day 4 of the doxycycline for Pip. I have to say it is the easiest ever medicine to administer - just sprinkle on a bit of pepper with a dab of puree on top & he will just eat it himself. It really does beat the stress of syringing Baytril!

It seems (& I am almost scared to say this in case of jinxing it) that he is improving a bit. He still has the odd sneeze & his nose still looks a little wet but there is far less crusting.

We are really hoping that we have turned a corner. Fingers crossed & think positive thoughts for little Pippy please everybody :)

shiny
xx
 
Come on little Pip x x
 
How is little Pip getting along?
 
Thanks sport_billy :),

Pip is ok, still gaining weight (660g this afternoon) & had a lovely gallop around in the hall popcorning like anything.

However, every time I think he's improving, his nose gets wet & crusty-looking again :(. He is on the last day of his initial doxycycline course & the vet has now given us a slightly higher dose for another 8 days so we will see how he goes. I just wish he would get over this bug. The antibiotics do definitely have an effect but can't seem to really shift it.

Any thoughts anybody?

Thanks for your kind wishes for little Pippy, he might be small but he has a very big character & we are all very find of him :)
 
Hope Pip gets better soon, it can be so frustrating when they can't shake off an infection... The weight gain is very good, it's always nice to see them running and popcorning around especially when they are under the weather.

How is his breathing?
 
His breathing itself seems ok, more nose snuffly than chesty. The only time his breathing seemed slightly laboured was when he was on baytril & we were having to fight to get it syringed into his mouth. When he was under pressure like this, it sounded more whistley.
 
I will be talking to the vet later again as I'm slightly worried about Pippy, I think he has lost a little weight since yesterday although I won't know for sure until I weigh him at the same time this afternoon (they always seem to fluctuate throught the day anyway). I will talk to her about these other antibiotics.
 
I agree with Debbie, Zithromax is a wonder antibiotic. I would also ask for Bisolvon. Ask the vet to check his chest too as he may need diuretics on top but only if there is fluid on his chest.
 
I have spoken to the vet this afternoon. Pip has lost about 10g since this time yesterday so not loads but it's still a loss rather than his usual gain (he's only about 4 months old & still growing).

After a long discussion with the vet we have agreed that I will take him back to see her tomorrow afternoon & we will try to swab his nostril & see what bugs the lab can grow. For best results he probably needs to be knocked out for this & the swab inserted into his little nostril :( but I am a bit worried about going this far as I am keen to avoid GA so we are going to see what we can achieve while he is awake. He has a discharge from both nostrils still so any bugs must be getting carried to the outside. If we can just get a bit of guinea snot on the end of the swab that will hopefully be enough to grow something. We've got to get it done tomorrow to get the results back from the lab before the Easter weekend. These things always happen around bank holidays in my experience rolleyes.

I talked to her about Zithromax & asked about a course of it. I explained that I have had it recommended as working well on stubbord URIs. They do have it as a second tier 'reserve' antibiotic so that's why she would like to swab first which is fair enough I guess.

Happy thoughts for Pippy for tomorrow afternoon please... and for me too; Pip is a bit of a biter at times so I may not come out of tomorrow's encounter without a few holes in my hands!
 
We got the swab done today although it was too big to swab properly right inside Pip's nostril so it was just snot running down. Let's hope it shows up something. I talked to the vet again about Zithromax & said it had worked well with URIs in other pigs. Debbie, was it your vet Simon who prescribed it for pigs in the rescue?

Pip is not eating as much as normal & I am not comfortable with how he is, he is just maintaining his weight rather than his previous gains every day.

Tonight I discovered that his urine is a pinky red brown colour - I saw an odd bit on bedding & then put a white towel in the cage to check. I assume this is a side effect of the ABs & he's not having any more. I will talk to the vet again tomorrow morning.

Poor Pippy :(
 
Poor little Pip. His symptoms sound similar to my Nutty who also can't shake a URI. Just wondering how long this has been going on for? I'm going to try to get a little video of Nutty tomorrow to show his breathing. Maybe you could tell me if it sounds the same as Pip?

Hope your little man is feeling better soon

Amy
x
 
As he seems to not be shaking off this URI it may be worth getting your vet to do an xray or even better an ultrasound. A friend's pig had an xray which showed nothing remarkable but on the ultrasound the vet picked up ventricular disease and fluid even though his chest was clear on the steth. What you see isn't always necessarily what is going on. This particular pig is now on heart meds.
 
shiny said:
We got the swab done today although it was too big to swab properly right inside Pip's nostril so it was just snot running down. Let's hope it shows up something. I talked to the vet again about Zithromax & said it had worked well with URIs in other pigs. Debbie, was it your vet Simon who prescribed it for pigs in the rescue?

Pip is not eating as much as normal & I am not comfortable with how he is, he is just maintaining his weight rather than his previous gains every day.

Tonight I discovered that his urine is a pinky red brown colour - I saw an odd bit on bedding & then put a white towel in the cage to check. I assume this is a side effect of the ABs & he's not having any more. I will talk to the vet again tomorrow morning.

Poor Pippy :(
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Yes Simon prescribes it. Maybe get your vet to speak to Simon, he would be more than happy to do so. Marbocyl is another antibiotic that Simon has found to work very well too. Phone No for Simon is 01604 478888 x
 
Right - here is a much-overdue update on Pip!

In the end I kept Pip on the doxycycline whilst waiting for the nasal swab results to come back as the urine dip test was normal & the colouration in the urine only appeared some time after the urine came out. We realised this was happening on oxidisation & this is something that can happen with guinea urine. So the good news is there wasn't blood in Pip's urine.

The nasal swab results showed Streptococcus bacteria present which is sensitive to Baytril & other ABs but not doxycycline. As Pip is improving a lot on the doxy and the swab was done while he was on the doxy, the vet says there's probably more than one type of bacteria present, the Streptococcus we found plus whatever else the doxy is holding at bay which hasn't shown up due to him being on the AB when theswab was done.

Pip is finishing his course of doxy at the moment (3 days to go) & will then have a course of Baytril to shift the Streptococcus bugs. These 2 ABs can be given concurrently but we are going to give the Baytril after just to minimise any risk to his GI system.

Pip's nasal discharge has improved a lot on the doxy, he no longer has a crusty nose & is sneezing only very occasionally. He does still have a very little watery discharge from his nostrils. He is happy, eating, charging around & putting on weight. He is now over 800g (was 660g before we upped his dose of doxy a couple of weeks back).

If the Baytril does not shift the Streptococcus or there is any deterioration once Pip is off the doxy, I will get him swabbed again & we will look to a 2nd tier AB.
 
Still can't fully shake this URI for Pip, we can get him ok & then if we stop antibiotics it comes back!

He is going in tomorrow for x rays to see if it is an infection sat in the middle ear or somewhere. I am also going to talk to the vet about the possibility of heart problems.

Pip has been gaining weight, eating & being happy since he's been back on the ABs so that suggests to me that there is an infection but we just can't shift it.

Happy thoughts for Pippy's day at the vet tomorrow please, he is an extremely special pig to me. I know they are all lovely but this little guy has stolen my heart x)
 
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