Lung infection antibiotics causing diahorrea

[Nibbles_Biscuit]

Hi, our 2 year old guinea Biscuit has been very poorly with a severe lung infection and the vet has ramped up his medication.

He is now on:
0.5ml Baytrill twice a day
1/8 Of a 20mg Ronaxan tablet twice a day
0.15ml Metacam once a day
5-10ml critical care a day

Since we've started this he's had what I would say is diahorrea but we are not sure which antibiotic to stop if any at all. His breathing has got considerably better. I'm wondering whether to just continue the Baytrill and stop the Ronaxan?

Any help is greatly appreciated as our vet is closed today.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, our 2 year old guinea Biscuit has been very poorly with a severe lung infection and the vet has ramped up his medication.

He is now on:
0.5ml Baytrill twice a day
1/8 Of a 20mg Ronaxan tablet twice a day
0.15ml Metacam once a day
5-10ml critical care a day

Since we've started this he's had what I would say is diahorrea but we are not sure which antibiotic to stop if any at all. His breathing has got considerably better. I'm wondering whether to just continue the Baytrill and stop the Ronaxan?

Any help is greatly appreciated as our vet is closed today.

Hi! Since he is getting better, I would continue with both antibiotics but cut out any veg and go on full syringe feeding. You are aiming at 60-90 ml in 24 hours.
Adverse reactions can happen with any antibiotic. NEVER stop an antibiotic without speaking to the vet. URI can kill; diarrhoea caused by antibiotics will sort itself out again once the course it finished.

What I would recommend is to order fibreplex and to mix that into the syringe feed. Many piggies do not like it when it is squirted into their mouths. But it has now twice sorted out the digestion of piggies of mine who have lost all their appetite from a strong antibiotic they needed to take to save their eye as a removal op was not an option due to their advanced age. Fibreplex contains probiotics (which you can give a pinch in the syringe feed of until it arrives) but some more useful stuff. You can get probiotics in most pet shops in a pinch.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide (also contains information on fibreplex and probiotics)

 

[Nibbles_Biscuit]

Hi! Since he is getting better, I would continue with both antibiotics but cut out any veg and go on full syringe feeding. You are aiming at 60-90 ml in 24 hours.
Adverse reactions can happen with any antibiotic. NEVER stop an antibiotic without speaking to the vet. URI can kill; diarrhoea caused by antibiotics will sort itself out again once the course it finished.

What I would recommend is to order fibreplex and to mix that into the syringe feed. Many piggies do not like it when it is squirted into their mouths. But it has now twice sorted out the digestion of piggies of mine who have lost all their appetite from a strong antibiotic they needed to take to save their eye as a removal op was not an option due to their advanced age. Fibreplex contains probiotics (which you can give a pinch in the syringe feed of until it arrives) but some more useful stuff. You can get probiotics in most pet shops in a pinch.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide (also contains information on fibreplex and probiotics)

Thank you for your advice. I will order some fibreplex for him now. He seems so much better in terms of breathing today, which is a huge relief I just had a panic that maybe the antibiotics weren't agreeing with him. Fingers crossed he's on the mend and he can be reunited with his brother.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for your advice. I will order some fibreplex for him now. He seems so much better in terms of breathing today, which is a huge relief I just had a panic that maybe the antibiotics weren't agreeing with him. Fingers crossed he's on the mend and he can be reunited with his brother.

Please weigh him daily at the same time to control the food intake. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat, so respiratory illnesses are always a double whammy in combination with appetite dampening but life saving antibiotics. Top your guinea pig up with as much as critical care and water as needed.

5-10 ml (as your vet has suggested as top up) is a nice snack, about as much as an ice cream for humans; but it is not seriously doing anything - a healthy adult in their prime is eating around 120 ml in a day, mostly in hay which you can only check by weighing.
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight