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HELP - possible URI advice please.

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Lisajazz

Lisajazz

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Hiya. Okay I have a pig called Lotta who I think has the start of a URI. She is off her food and has a click when you listen (only on one side I think).

It's so unlike her to be off her food too.

So I have been out for Sudafed and was going to administer 0.2ml until my hubby said hang on she's 680g - is that a correct dose for that weight. is it?

Also I have baytril in my fridge but it's from about 4 - 5 weeks ago, is it gone off? If it's not should I give it to her or wait and see a vet?

Lotta was born I guestimate about the end of May start of June so what's that make her? approx 11 weeks?. She's a replacement from P@H after they sold me one with a URI who passed, she's very slender and I haven't been able to get her to fill out like the others.

Advice needed as i want to start helping her as soon as I can.
 
I can't help as I haven't got a clue as you know but just wanted to say I hope Lotta isn't too poorley and is feeling much more like herself soon. x
 
She sounds on the light side and she is young - best stick with a dose smaller than the adult dose, and go with 0.05ml once or twice daily. Based on her weight I would advise 0.1ml, but due to her age (under 12 weeks, albeit only just) I'd rather err on the side of caution and advise the lower dose. Just to check, it is Sudafed Expectorant you got? I'm not sure the decongestant version is safe/useful!

I am unsure how effective Baytril is when it has been around for some time, and I am unsure of whether refridgerating it makes any difference to its shelf-life. I tend to go by the rule of disposing of opened meds after 6 months, but anything that has been mixed up by the vet (as Baytril is) I tend to be less confident about.

It is important she starts eating, so make up some pellet mash / Critical Care or some similar syringe-feed formula. You can also try some types of baby food containing vegetables/fruits. Try offering it to her on a plate first; some pigs, especially if you catch them in the "earlier" stages of their illness, will willingly eat the tempting food from a plate. If not, you may need to syringe-feed. Just take it easy, don't force anything into her at this stage as she is still quite young and I would be wary of overdoing it.

Best make a vet appointment for the morning if you can. Good luck, will keep my fingers crossed here for her.
 
Thanks. I had got the wrong sudafed so went to change it and missed the pharmacy by minutes GRRRR. This is why its important to have the kit ready right.

I am going to put some vics on her and give her a little garlic cap and leave it at that.

I found a vet post online who had said that baytril is good for 28 days (once opened / mixed). So mine is no good.

I have fed her some parsley and dill - she did quite well with those actually.

I plan on getting her in with the vets asap tomorrow I can't have anything happen to her.

Oh I forgot to mention she's been coughing too which I believe doesn't happen much. I am coughing too - has she caught this from me? I have been trying not to handle only to the run and back after washing hands, ditto food.
 
Thanks hun. Going to take me a while to get the hang of this piggy lingo. I always send piggies straight to foster homes but i am on a mission to learn as much as i can about them.
 
Good for you! You thinking of keeping some for a while or just curious?
 
AWWW hope they steal your heart. I don't know anything about bunnies but one day i would like 2.
 
"anything that has been mixed up by the vet (as Baytril is) I tend to be less confident about. "

I have always bought Baytril, both injectable and oral, already to use in the manufacturers bottles.

680gm. is a good weight for an eleven week old pig.
 
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To continue
Twenty three ounces at that age indicates a big pig, you would normally expect a weight of around eighteen/nineteen ounces.
At that age/weight I would give 0.1ml of 2.5% Oral Baytril.
 
alcesterpigs said:
"anything that has been mixed up by the vet (as Baytril is) I tend to be less confident about. "

I have always bought Baytril, both injectable and oral, already to use in the manufacturers bottles.

680gm. is a good weight for an eleven week old pig.
Click to expand...

Is baytril not a POM (prescription only)?
 
To answer the other question - no, guinea pigs don't catch colds or flu from us.
Ringworm (fungus) is one of the extremely few things that can be transmitted between piggies and humans.
 
Back from the vets. He has had a good listen and examination of her and has said that she has some heavy rasping low down in her chest / lungs. A bronchial thing that explains the coughing and has probably been there from birth and something she will always have to some degree. I posted a while ago about her coughing but thought it was related to her eating too fast.

He thinks from time to time it will flare up and result in the need for treatment.

He's given us metacam to give a drop twice a day and to keep and use whenever she coughs and baytril to give 0.5ml twice a day for 5 days.

Does that sound about right? He weighed her on his scales at 660g and based his dosage on the rasping and weight.
 
I think the dosage of baytril seems a bit too high.

0.4 ml for an adult guinea is what is recommended; whether that should be even a bit less for your small girl, I don't know.
 
Okay well as i am unsure i am going to compromise and give 2.5ml for now and see if anyone says anything else.

Can 0.5ml hurt her?

Would he have prescribed a high dose as her lower lungs are so rattly or does the dose not affect the performance?
 
The dose does affect the performance; usually vets err to the lower side.

However, 0.4 ml is about as high as you should go. Could you please pm CCC4 about the appropriate dosage? She'll know!

Have you got some probiotic from the vet to help counter the impact of the antibiotic on the guts? If necessary, get some from P@H, if you can. Give it 1 hour after the medicine; that should keep up her appetite and will make her feel better in herself.
 
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They always have probiotic in their water - how should i give it to her? She's an absolute pain to syringe, really bad.
 
I usually give probiotic in a bit of cucumber, to make sure it all goes to the right piggy, as you can't control water intake.

Unfortunately, baytril tastes ABSOLUTELY horrible (I got it on my finger once, and was brrrrrrr!), so you can forgive even the most docile of piggies for not want to come near the stuff!

Don't be surprised if she has softish poop in the next few days; it's from the baytril.
 
Okay i'l try the cucumber - how do you serve it? I have the powder, so sprinkle on the cucumber? They don't seem to mind it in the water but I never see Lotta drinking water.

I have gone with a 0.25ml dose of baytril to start and take it from there. Poor girl. I got some of their fav hay and some hay cookies today too and that's tempting her to them so i'm pleased. She also did well on the veggies this morning esp as last night she stayed in bed when I put them in.
 
Good to hear you've seen the vet already. I do think the Baytril dose is a touch too high. The risk of giving too much is it wiping out too much of the good bacteria in the gut, allowing the bad bacteria to multiply which leads to diarrhea - exactly the reason a probiotic is given. I would think a dose of 0.2ml-0.3ml twice daily would be more appropriate. The dose tends to be standard whatever the problem.

I'd be inclined to ring the vet and ask for a different dose, as a pig of 11 weeks, who is half the weight of an adult pig, should not be given a dose that is even higher than that for an adult pig! He definitely advised 0.5ml twice daily, and not just once daily?

Did the vet elaborate on the bronchial thing? Pigs with URIs often have a raspy/sore sounding throat upon examination.
 
It's good to see her eating! What a relief for you!

I give a quarter of a slice and either just dip one end into the powder (give that end first to the piggy once it has soaked a bit in the juice) or for the real fussies, I make a little slit and stuff a pinch in there. Better give her companion some cucumber as well...
 
He said it wasn't her throat it was "way down" and he seemed to think she will have inherited it from her mum and will always have it to some degree. He was pointing right down low in her lungs, low in her chest. He said that they baytril was important but that the metacam will be even more important to her long term and that we should give it whenever she has a flare up (ie we hear her coughing). He said it may be that she has the metacam regularly her whole life and that we could assess that based on how she recovers and then does daily. I told him about her coughing and said I had thought it was food but that lately it had been when there wasn't any food, she just coughs quite alot. I was recommended this vet by a member here - they aren't local to us and aren't cheap that's for sure! He has posters and pictures of guineas up in the waiting room too. So i'm surprised he said such a high dose too as he really seemed to know his stuff.
Off to check dosage on the bottle.
 
It does sound a bit too high. 0.25ml twice daily would sound better.

I could understand the dose for an adult pig, although 0.4ml is far more usual for Baytril. 0.5ml is usually the dose for Septrin!
 
Hi i'm just catching up with this thread, i'm really sorry to hear Lotta has been not well :(

I've only ever given 0.4ml of baytril twice a day and that was for an adult piggie who was around 800g+ so i'd be very wary of giving such a high dose :{
especially also seen as she's such a young age.

Good luck i do hope once the baytril has kicked in and she's taking her probiotics she'll be back on track real soon, healing wheeks and mini kisses from us all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Well i'm going to stick with 0.25ml and see what happens from there. I don't want her to lose her appetite any more and this morning she was quite good with her veggies and I saw her eating pellets.

Thanks Glynis - that's sweet. For some reason this one has really got under my skin from the start, maybe because of the circumstances I got her in but anyway I have my fingers and toes crossed for her and if she needs regular metacam well so be it, as long as she stays well.

Here's the little miss worrying me
lottabasil.jpg
 
Thanks! And thank you everyone for advice and support. Much appreciated.
:)
 
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