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Head tilt (wry neck?)

Hope you can get his tummy sorted and his weight stabilised quickly. You can get Fibreplex at most online pet supplies sites. I got my last tube from The Hay Experts . There's also Pro C which you can get from PaH, and Avipro.
 
1160 again with extra feeding. Would rather be heading for the weekend on an upward curve.
 
So another week with syringe feeding and about 10 days since the last Baytril (daytime only 3-4 times a day) and he's got up to 1230 and had 5 days over 1200 but still a bit of tilt and a bit less weight today (1202) after easing back on the syringe. Thinking of getting him checked out again before we run into the scary Christmas close period. Seems to have a good appetite for hay and his veggies and otherwise fairly normal.
 
Back to the vets this morning - 6 weeks of Baytril this time. The original 7 days wasn't enough and from what I've read elsewhere 2 weeks is the minimum. Head tilt and weepy left eye, otherwise seems OK but had dipped down to 1178g. Wish we had better vets here. We've seen 3 different ones so far. 🙁
 
Thinking of you and Biscuit, hope the AB’s get to work and Biscuit gets better soon, what a gorgeous herd you have there x
 
Confirmed ear infection and carry on with 0.23ml baytril twice a day for another 4 weeks +. On a positive note his weight is back over 1,200g and he’s actively taking the syringe feed. 🙂 Over a month now.
 
Idris said:
Confirmed ear infection and carry on with 0.23ml baytril twice a day for another 4 weeks +. On a positive note his weight is back over 1,200g and he’s actively taking the syringe feed. 🙂 Over a month now.
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Aw poor lad, but he seems like he is coping well and getting weight back on, a good sign x
 
6 weeks on there are signs of improvement. Less tilt and left eye less watery. Prescribed Surolan drops twice a day for 7-10 days and carrying on with the 2.3ml of Baytril by another vet at the same practice (thought we’d booked the lead vet again 😕). Weight steady around 1230g with daily top up syringe feeding. Hoping he’ll be fine but keeping on the baytril until all clear for a good while.
 
Didn’t enjoy the eardrops. Down to 1202g tonight although eating ok. Also not entirely happy with how he sounds tonight. Will keep a closer eye on him tomorrow. We are doing morning drugs and feed, teenage son the daytime feeds, combined effort for evening veggies and drugs.
 
How much are you getting into him in a 24 hour period?
 
Siikibam said:
How much are you getting into him in a 24 hour period?
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We’ve just been giving him between a third and half a pouch as supplement as he’s eating fairly normally otherwise. Will pay closer attention to quantity and re weigh as occasionally the scales are a bit off. Weighing daily for the past couple of months. About to give him drugs now.
 
Realised we’d given him too much of the Suloran last night and this morning. Not sure we did enough tonight so will get the vet to demonstrate tomorrow. Haven’t found much useful info about it on the web - have never really looked in their ears before! Lost another 7g today 1995g so will increase syringe from a third to half a Supreme Science sachet tomorrow. Haybox timothy blend arrived today so keeping up the hay intake and reducing the nuggets. Otherwise he seems fine. 0AA29573-D444-40A3-ACB7-50C323F0707E.webp891CFA56-022C-4DA7-A463-CED88BCF73CD.webp2578A1DF-8B3B-42F0-8199-5769E794E914.webp
 
7g isn’t too bad a loss. I think you have to try and up it though if he’s consistently losing every day.

So handsome :wub::wub:
 
Well we had got the dose right but trying to squirt 0.2ml into the ear of a guinea pig is probably one of our biggest challenges. Hoping the Baytril will continue to work as far from convinced by the Suloran getting where it needs to. 2 more days of that but continue with the baytril and get him another check up. Think we have more weeks of this ahead. Weight steady above 1200g with support feed (not full version) and plenty of good hay.
 
Back to the vets this morning. Suloran was a nightmare to try to get into his ear and tbh suspect much of it just ended up in his fur. Friday night he suddenly lost 45g down to 1157g and we suspected some bloat so stopped veggies and started fibreplex. 1147, 1159 and tonight 1,185 g. Vet thinks we can’t keep on with baytril other than to finish off what’s left in the previous bottles after so many weeks. Should have worked by now and just residual damage but only an expensive scan would confirm and alternative would be an operation. Would have to refer us. So the plan is to hope he recovers or try for a second opinion somewhere. Beaumont is nearest specialist but has difficult memories losing Snowball and Idris in 2019 and early 2020. At least tonight he gained weight and poos returning to normal size and frequency. Just want 4 happy little piggies.
 
Visited a new vet yesterday and at least we have some ideas and action.

New antibiotic (Co-trimoxazole), pain relief/anti-inflam. (Loxicom) as his ear is still sensitive and gut stimulant (Emeprid).

Switching supplementary food and reintroduce veggies (not brassicas) and keeping up the fibreplex.

Although he is still a reasonable weight (1,130g) the head tilt is still severe (though was much worse) and unlikely to fully recover. Back next Thursday for a check on progress and possible referral for scans and alternative antibiotic if he’s not responding well. He’s not in a good place at the moment and there could be other issues.

Fingers and paws crossed. Compared to the ‘let nature take its course’ advice on Monday it’s a relief to have a vet we feel is on Biscuit’s side.
 
Pleased to report positive news. Biscuit is a lot livelier, poops back to normal and the new vet was able to get a proper look at his ear now it’s not painful. Fairly sure it is middle ear so no point trying the Surolan again.

We can start to phase out the gut stimulant and pain relief and carry on to complete a six week course of the antibiotic. No need to refer for a scan at this stage. Will return if any setbacks, otherwise back in 5 weeks. Discussed the other 2 antibiotics (Zithromax and Doxycycline) in case this doesn’t work but hoping we won’t need to test them.

He’ll probably always have the head tilt but as long as he’s happy and healthy we’ll take that!
 
Idris said:
Pleased to report positive news. Biscuit is a lot livelier, poops back to normal and the new vet was able to get a proper look at his ear now it’s not painful. Fairly sure it is middle ear so no point trying the Surolan again.

We can start to phase out the gut stimulant and pain relief and carry on to complete a six week course of the antibiotic. No need to refer for a scan at this stage. Will return if any setbacks, otherwise back in 5 weeks. Discussed the other 2 antibiotics (Zithromax and Doxycycline) in case this doesn’t work but hoping we won’t need to test them.

He’ll probably always have the head tilt but as long as he’s happy and healthy we’ll take that!
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I read all the comments but Was it 100% an ear infection, did you try the blindest test?

A year ago I noticed one of my baby piggy with a tilted neck & vets said it was an ear infection. But I found a video with a blindest test 3 months later & tried it with my piggy & he did the same exact thing the blind piggy did from video. He was blind & it wasn’t a ear infection like the vet said. Till this day he is one happy blind piggy with a head tilt.
 
Jadessa1 said:
I read all the comments but Was it 100% an ear infection, did you try the blindest test?

A year ago I noticed one of my baby piggy with a tilted neck & vets said it was an ear infection. But I found a video with a blindest test 3 months later & tried it with my piggy & he did the same exact thing the blind piggy did from video. He was blind & it wasn’t a ear infection like the vet said. Till this day he is one happy blind piggy with a head tilt.
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Hi Jadessa we saw some stuff online about blindness but the sensitivity/discomfort around the ear and initial response to painkillers and antibiotics for us ruled blindness or brain issue out. Current vet also checked out his eyesight.

While blindness may be a possibility I’d hope that a good vet would check for both and delaying effective treatment for an ear infection is not good for a poorly pig.

Biscuit is a lot livelier and happy now but still on support feed and daily meds 3 months on. Our Idris was blind in one eye ( cataract) but no head tilt.
 
After going so well this morning we found him subdued and with a wet chin. Had an urgent appointment with the vet this morning he seems unable to swallow though can’t confirm why, possibly nerve damage.😢💔
 
24 hours to turn our world upside down. Biscuit had been back to his old self, up at the bars in the mornings demanding his breakfast and we were planning his next vet review in April. He ate his veggies as normal Wednesday night so to see him like this in the morning was a shock. Although he perked up a little when his dad came home from school we knew it was time and had already booked the final visit to the vets as he still wasn’t able to swallow. RIP Biscuit bach, reunited with Snowball (profile picture). 😢😢💔💔
 
I’m so sorry for your loss. You did all you could for him 💕
 
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