How long should it take for URI to improve?

[BaaaaL]

Hey!

One of our piggies started winking her eye a few weeks back, and was immediately taken to the vet and prescribed a steroid/AB eyedrop. However, 5 days later she was taken back to the vet, as she started hooting. Apparently, the eye problem was the first sign of a URI. She was prescribed Enrocin (a generic of Baytril) 2×0.08ml daily for two weeks with Meloxidyl (an anti-inflammatory drug) for a week. She seemed to improve after the first day of treatment (no hooting for 2 days) but started again on monday, taken back to the vet on tuesday, who told us to continue the course of AB, and that he would prescribe a stronger one if she does not improve after the 14 day course. He is an extremely savy vet, working in the exotics department of the veterinary university, so he is supposed to be one of the top pig experts in the country. He also told us to give the piggy a tad bit of acetilcysteine twice daily to liquify the discharge in her airways. We were also told to use the steroidal eyedrops as nosedrops to locally treat her if she starts hooting badly, as the steroids supposedly work the same way in the nasal passage. However, she is still hooting badly when she breathes, but not all the time. She has 1-2 hour hooting periods, and normal periods as well.How long does it generally take for a piggy to improve significantly on AB? Besides the hooting, she behaves quite normally, eats, drinks, poops, moves around, and her daily weight fluctuations are within normal bounds (785-810g since treatment started).She also receives probiotics to help her gut flora. My gut tells me that we should be seeing improvement soon, but I have heard that sometimes piggies can take a week or more to react to AB if it is a bacterial infection. Any advice appreciated!

 

[Abi_nurse]

It can take several weeks of antibiotics for a respiratory infection to shift. The acetilcysteine will help shift the mucous if there is any but we don't use it routinely in these cases. Are you still using the steroid eye drops? These will probably not be helping. How is she now?

 

[sport_billy]

URI's can sometimes be stubborn to shift.

I have never heard of acetilcysteine Guinea Lynx :: Cardiovascular Agents such as Furosemide lots of threads here on the subject of these helpign piggies with URI is fluid is on lungs Search results for query: diuretic uri

Also maybe worth speaking to the vet about switching Antibiotic to another piggy safe one if still no results or getting worse Guinea Lynx :: Antibiotics

 

[sport_billy]

@Abi_nurse Thanks Abi x

 

[Flutterby]

I agree, they can be very stubborn. I once had a piggy go through 3 rounds of antibiotics before showing improvement.

 

[Freela]

Hadley had a URI with hooting that took three course of antibiotics to clear. She did two courses of Sulfatrim (10 days the first time, 2 weeks the next time) and had improvement but not complete resolution and the symptoms would recur once she stopped the meds. She ended up going a course of Baytril and cleared up on that. Sometimes the antibiotic is not a good match for the bacteria. If you don't see improvement after this course, I would look at changing antibiotics.

 

[BaaaaL]

Thanks for the answers! She went hoot-free yesterday, but hooted when I left home in the morning. She is still eating/drinking normally, and loves her probiotics. Yeah, vet said he would try another AB if she does not improve after this course, but also said those ABs are stronger and may have side-effects requiring the piggy to be hospitalized for a few days. I also asked whether it is possible to make a culture to determine what type of bacteria she needs to be treated for, but he said he usually does not culture for two reasons. First, the sample can only be obtained by anaesthesia, which is dangerous for ill pigs,especially during summer months. Second, he said piggies' nose are full of bacteria normally, and culture often gives back false positive results for strains that are not involved in the infection. Heis experienced so I'm inclined to believe him.
She is not in immediate life-threatening danger if she eats/drinks, keeps weight, etc, right?

I am not using the drops
Thanks again for further feedback.

 

[BaaaaL]

Some update: We have completed the course of Enrofloxacin, but she was still hooting, so we got back to the vet, who prescribed her Veraflox (pradofloxacin) for another 2 weeks. Apparently, this drug is not generally used for treating guinea pigs, but is not considered toxic, as it is part of the same family of fluoroquinolones as Baytril is, and should not harm the gram negative gut flora too much. We were told to nonetheless watch her poop and appetite closely, give her simethicone in case she shows signs of bloating, and an increased amount of probiotics if she develops a mild diarrhea. We were also told to discontinue the drug, and take her back to be prescribed something else if she seems to tolerate the AB badly. The doc said that occassionally, guinea pigs can develop a persistent, but non life-threatening low-grade URI akin to the bronchitis seen with smokers, and apparently these are extremely hard to get rid off for good, and it may take months to show improvement. We were told that as long as the piggy is eating (he has even put on weight between the two visits), drinking, and generally behaving in a healthy fashion (she still shows no symptoms apart from hooting for hours every now and then), there is no immediate need to panic, but she obviously needs it cleared up.