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Hello - it’s my first time here and hoping for some advice

R

Rose German

Junior Guinea Pig
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I have a five year old boar, Fritz, who two weeks ago developed a respiratory problem. I took him to a small animal vet and they kept him in for 10 days. He was given doxycycline, Cisapride, metacam, syringe feeds and has come home with Zithromax. He looks worse than when he was admitted and has the huddled, spiky look of a sick pig. Eyes lacklustre. I want to stop the antibiotic because I think 12 days is a long time already but the vey wants him on Zithromax for 10 more days as 4 days ago he had some nasal discharge. He’s losing weight though he’s managing some grass and grated greens. Any advice appreciated.
 
Welcome to the forum, sorry it’s because of problems with your piggy. Hope you sort things out for Fritz.

I’m no expert so I will tag @Wiebke she has given me great advice before!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I'd definitely take your boy back to the vets, if he isn't improving or getting worse then the treatment they are giving him is obviously not right for him.
 
Hello and welcome. I have moved your post to our Health and Illness Section so that it will receive the attention of the H & I team members.
I think the best thing to do is to call the vets and get them to see him again much sooner. If he isn't eating then please start feeding him to help keep his guts moving. You can syringe feed him some mushed up pellets if you don't have any recovery food. Here is our syringe feeding guide.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
 
Rose German said:
I have a five year old boar, Fritz, who two weeks ago developed a respiratory problem. I took him to a small animal vet and they kept him in for 10 days. He was given doxycycline, Cisapride, metacam, syringe feeds and has come home with Zithromax. He looks worse than when he was admitted and has the huddled, spiky look of a sick pig. Eyes lacklustre. I want to stop the antibiotic because I think 12 days is a long time already but the vey wants him on Zithromax for 10 more days as 4 days ago he had some nasal discharge. He’s losing weight though he’s managing some grass and grated greens. Any advice appreciated.
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Hi and welcome

Please continue and step in with syringe feeding. Dry hay should be over 80% of the daily food intake; he needs mostly dry food and he needs a lot more food than you think! Too much greens (including grass) can cause fermentation in the gut and make him feel sick additionally. It can take a lot longer than you think to get a piggy over a problem.
You have already been given the necessary guides by my previous posters.
The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. Antibiotics do not just impact on the bacteria in the respiratory system but also in the gut. that means that serious respiratory problem are a double whammy for the appetite. Your syringe feeding support in that respect can really make all the difference whether you can get him through this or not.

If antibiotics (especially zithromax) are wiping out the appetite, I have found splitting the zithromax dosage in two that are given 12 hours apart helpful. Very fresh poo soup from a healthy companion (as described in our syringe feeding guide) or a course of fibreplex have also helped my own piggies dealing with this problem. Both of mine have managed to hang onto their eyes and are still here with me 1 resp. 2 years later, even if it was touch and go for several weeks and they relied heavily on my syringe feeding support. I hope that that gives you some hope and motivation. We can only do our best, but our best can be more than you would think possible. ;)

Fingers firmly crossed!

PS: Please keep any questions and updates to this thread. You can set your own notification alerts in 'watch' at the start of this thread. Keeping the information on an ongoing case together allows us to support you as efficiently as possible and avoid confusing or doubling advice.
 
VickiA said:
Hello and welcome. I have moved your post to our Health and Illness Section so that it will receive the attention of the H & I team members.
I think the best thing to do is to call the vets and get them to see him again much sooner. If he isn't eating then please start feeding him to help keep his guts moving. You can syringe feed him some mushed up pellets if you don't have any recovery food. Here is our syringe feeding guide.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
Cant offer any advice, just wanted to send lots of love and vibes
 
Rose German said:
I have a five year old boar, Fritz, who two weeks ago developed a respiratory problem. I took him to a small animal vet and they kept him in for 10 days. He was given doxycycline, Cisapride, metacam, syringe feeds and has come home with Zithromax. He looks worse than when he was admitted and has the huddled, spiky look of a sick pig. Eyes lacklustre. I want to stop the antibiotic because I think 12 days is a long time already but the vey wants him on Zithromax for 10 more days as 4 days ago he had some nasal discharge. He’s losing weight though he’s managing some grass and grated greens. Any advice appreciated.
Click to expand...
Welcome and thanks for sharing. It's great here. You will love it 😁
 
Skypipdot said:
Bit strange keeping him in for 10 days. Added stress
Click to expand...
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Please continue and step in with syringe feeding. Dry hay should be over 80% of the daily food intake; he needs mostly dry food and he needs a lot more food than you think! Too much greens (including grass) can cause fermentation in the gut and make him feel sick additionally. It can take a lot longer than you think to get a piggy over a problem.
You have already been given the necessary guides by my previous posters.
The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. Antibiotics do not just impact on the bacteria in the respiratory system but also in the gut. that means that serious respiratory problem are a double whammy for the appetite. Your syringe feeding support in that respect can really make all the difference whether you can get him through this or not.

If antibiotics (especially zithromax) are wiping out the appetite, I have found splitting the zithromax dosage in two that are given 12 hours apart helpful. Very fresh poo soup from a healthy companion (as described in our syringe feeding guide) or a course of fibreplex have also helped my own piggies dealing with this problem. Both of mine have managed to hang onto their eyes and are still here with me 1 resp. 2 years later, even if it was touch and go for several weeks and they relied heavily on my syringe feeding support. I hope that that gives you some hope and motivation. We can only do our best, but our best can be more than you would think possible. ;)

Fingers firmly crossed!

PS: Please keep any questions and updates to this thread. You can set your own notification alerts in 'watch' at the start of this thread. Keeping the information on an ongoing case together allows us to support you as efficiently as possible and avoid confusing or doubling advice.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your advice. Sadly I found him dead this morning. In the past I had taken guinea pigs to Cavy Trust in Cambridge. Vedra was the only person that ever saved my guineas. The vet I used has a good reputation for small animals but I have strong misgivings now. I think 2 weeks on antibiotics is too long and I feel I’ve prolonged the suffering by allowing the treatment. He’s the last guinea pig I’ll have now. I’ve been keeping them 25 years - all rescues. I’m too old and can’t cry any more. Well done to all of you good people taking good care of them.
 
So sorry for your loss. You did everything you could have done for your poorly boy. Massive hugs to you x
 
I am so sorry for your loss. Please be kind to yourself. You did all that you could. Sometimes we just can’t save them all xx
 
Rose German said:
Thank you for your advice. Sadly I found him dead this morning. In the past I had taken guinea pigs to Cavy Trust in Cambridge. Vedra was the only person that ever saved my guineas. The vet I used has a good reputation for small animals but I have strong misgivings now. I think 2 weeks on antibiotics is too long and I feel I’ve prolonged the suffering by allowing the treatment. He’s the last guinea pig I’ll have now. I’ve been keeping them 25 years - all rescues. I’m too old and can’t cry any more. Well done to all of you good people taking good care of them.
Click to expand...

I am very sorry - you have done all you can do. We tend to forget that guinea pigs are such small animals and that not even the best of vets (and, sorry to say, Vedra neither) can save them all. Nor can we ever choose when and what from our piggies die. I have grown up with piggies in the 70ies and 80ies before coming back to piggies 15 years ago; I have really made the journey from the stone age to now and am very grateful just how far we have come especially in the last 10 years, but by being active on this forum, I am also very much aware of the limits that even the best medical care still has; the wider we push the horizon, the greater the frontier and the challenges.

Please do not make the mistake of blaming a vet for what is not their fault! There is a range of respiratory illnesses which are very often fatal for guinea pigs, from bordetella to streptococcus and several other nasties that can cause sudden onset pneumonia. None of these respond well to antibiotics and they can currently not be healed easily and often not at all. The real cause can often only be worked out in a post mortem as there is often no time for sending samples for lab tests in small animals like piggies. This is an area where their small size and weight is very much against them.
Your vet has treated straight away with the heaviest cannons they could use for the respiratory tract; Vedra could not have done any more than that, either. :(

It is very normal for the onset of the grieving process to feel like you have failed a beloved pet in your care, to feel let down or to project the guilt of a failure onto somebody else. Please feel sad, but do not feel like you or your vet have failed Fritz. You have simply had the bad luck to come up against one of the real nasties out there! :( :( :(
 
Wiebke said:
I am very sorry - you have done all you can do. We tend to forget that guinea pigs are such small animals and that not even the best of vets (and, sorry to say, Vedra neither) can save them all. Nor can we ever choose when and what from our piggies die. I have grown up with piggies in the 70ies and 80ies before coming back to piggies 15 years ago.

Vet knowledge has pushed the boundaries enormously in the last 10 years, but that leaves only more frontiers. Please do not make the mistake of blaming a vet for what is not their fault! There is a range of respiratory illnesses which are fatal for guinea pigs, from bordetella to streptococcus and several other nasties that can cause sudden onset pneumonia. None of these respond well to antibiotics and they can currently not be healed easily and often not at all. The real cause can often only be worked out in a post mortem as there is often no time for sending samples for lab tests in small animals like piggies. This is an area where their small size and weight is very much against them.
Your vet has treated straight away with the heaviest cannons they could use for the respiratory tract; Vedra could not have done any more than that, either. :(

It is very normal for the onset of the grieving process to feel like you have failed a beloved pet in your care or to project the guilt of a failure onto somebody else. Please feel sad, but do not feel like you or your vet have failed Fritz. You have simply had the bad luck to come up against one of the real nasties out there.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I appreciate your kind words.xx
 
I am so sorry to hear this, you really did all you could to be honest. Massive hugs to you, please feel free to leave a memorial to your little one in our rainbow Bridge section of the forum

Sleep well little one

RIP Fritz
x x
 
So very sorry to hear that Fritz didn’t make it.
Losing him on top of caring for your mother must make it feel a bit much all at the same time for you.
We only grieve when we have loved and I can understand that feeling of not having any tears left.
That is perfectly normal.
Be gentle with yourself and allow yourself time to grieve.
We are here for you.
I hope you will stay on the forum
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. :( It sounds like you (and the vet) did everything possible. Unfortunately they are still fragile little animals and sometimes, in spite of treatment, things don't work out for the best, especially as they get older. No one lives forever. I totally understand the burnout that comes with having small animals with shorter lifespans... at various times I have felt that way too. We also have hamsters and although the guinea pigs feel like they have a decent small-animal lifespan to me, watching the hamsters go from tiny babies to elderly to gone in a matter of a couple years is really hard on me. Give yourself time to grieve. ((HUGS.))
 
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