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Lung Infection. Help Please!

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JodyMitchell

JodyMitchell

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Butters was diagnosed with a lung infection on Monday. He was still eating and drinking as normal and being his fun loving self other than his heavy breathing. The vet prescribed him baytrill at 0.42 twice a day. He seemed to be improving but lost his appetite so took him back to the vet on Friday. She told me to stop the antibiotics and syringe feed him until he got his appetite back. Since then his breathing has gotten worse and he is completely out of character (not eating/drinking at all). I done a bit of research online and decided to continue giving him his antibiotics a a lower dose and feeding him by syringe three times a day. His breathing does not seem to be getting any worse ( but still not great) however the loss of appetite concerns me allot. Should I continue going the way I am or take him back to the vet and ask for a different antibiotic? Help would be much appreciated. I lost my Scratchy (7 years old) last week and I cant go through it again :(

Jody and the Pigs x
 
So sorry that you're having such a difficult time at the moment.

Baytril is harsh and can affect the appetite (some people give probiotics to try and combat this) but to be honest I'm very surprised that a Vet would advise you to stop giving an antibiotic without switching to another, especially when infections in piggies can be very serious and get worse very quickly.

I'm not an expert but I wonder if your Vet is that knowledgeable when it comes to guineas. Have you tried looking for recommendations for a good piggy Vet in your area? Honestly a piggy-savvy Vet really can make all the difference.

What kind of food are you giving him, and how much? As a guideline, a piggy who isn't eating for himself will need around 120mls of food syringed every 24hrs. Is he weeing/pooing normally? You need to keep an eye on his output as piggies who aren't pooing will need a gut motility drug (as an emergency) to prevent gut stasis and keep the digestive system going.

If you haven't finished the course of antibiotics then I very much doubt that the infection will clear on its own and even if his breathing doesn't sound like it's getting worse it suddenly might do. You might well need further antibiotics, I'd expect so. If you don't already have a probiotic then I'd definitely buy some and start giving him it now. (PAH sell one called Pro-C, if you need it quickly, otherwise there are several piggy-safe ones available online or at Vets)

The other thing I'd ask the Vet about is whether there is any fluid in or around the lungs. A diuretic (Furosemide) can be hugely beneficial if there is a build up in the lungs and ABs may not work to clear the infection until any fluid is cleared.

I don't want to alarm you but, having lost a piggy to Pneumonia, I'd urge you to do whatever you can to find a decent Vet urgently as piggies really can deteriorate quickly. Hope you can get Butters better soon x
 
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Oh god....
That's terrifying when they are so poorly...
Can you ask your vet for some emeprid...?
x
 
sorry about the short post a min ago...
was on my phone...
i would try and find a new vet... if possible...
emeprid is for helping where feeding is concerned... i use it quite oftern with sick piggies who arnt eating...
i know you can mix emeprid and septrin aslong as you leave a minimum of an hour between doses... I'm not sure about baytril though...
i have found septrin to be a better anti-biotic... all round... really... but would be something to disguss with your vet...
what are you syringe feeding...?... I'm assuming critical care...?
try feeding him atleast 5 times a day... have you got any bio-lapis...?
i tend to stick to the rule of a minimum of 50ml bio-lapis a day and a minimum of 120ml critical care a day... but the more you can get in the better... i tend to mix in with my critical care some glucose powder and vit- c... i put the glucose powder in the mix of any that are very weak...
you can get the glucose powder from your vets...
also if you can get some fibre-plex from the vets aswell... thats also useful in syring feeding...
hope you piggie gets better soon...
its so awful when they are poorly...
x
 
Hi Jody

Apologies if any of this has already been repeated on the thread but i am not able to read through all the posts at this time:

1. A lung infection is a lower respiratory tract infection - pneumonia. (i.e. NOT a URI) This is serious and needs antibioitics to clear it. Also this means there will be fluid on the lungs and furoseamide diuretic will help clear this and permit the antibiotics to work.

Your piggie SHOULD therefore be receiving :
a) furoseamide diuretic: 8-10MG/KG by injection once to make an immediate impact followed by oral meds of 2-8mg/kg twice daily depending upon the amount of fluid in the lungs
b) Antibiotic: forget baytril, give septin paediatric suspension ...what is your piggie's weight? Up to 1ml twice daily would be appropriate in this situation unless your piggie is under 750g. Telling you to stop antibiotic after a few days without replacing it with another one is really quite reprehensible. If you still have the baytril, carry on at the FULL dosage untill you can get septrin (or better still azithromax) Please let us know his weight so we can work out if you have been given the high (or low) dose instructions for baytril

2) Gut/feeding/weight/digestion issues

Butters stopped eating properly once he felt unwell. By the time symptoms were visible he probably hadn;t been eating properly for several days so it is unwise to assume baytril is the cause of his digestive problems...it could be the infection instead.
Regardless of the cause, what you need to give him now is as follows:
a) metoclopromide gut stimulant - preferably by injection to kick start his gut but emeprid oral suspension is fine...for 72 hours
b) zantac (ranitidine) 4mg/kg orally once followed by twice daily maintenance doses of 2mg/kg for about a week- kicks the hind gut into motion (it would seem it's NOT just an antacid - and is now being used at vet level for gut motility issues)
c) syringe feed either cirtical care or pellets combined with vitamins and probioitics...plus there are other foods/supplements you can mix in (but PM me for suggestions as if your piggie has had bloat or other conditions the supplements will vary)
120ml liquid food per 24 hours...feed 20-30ml every 3 hours (not any more frequently owing to stomach capacity and gut transit time). However if he is not drinking you may also have to feed fluids 5-6ml every hour

whereabouts are you?,,,you are going to have to go through a tough time with the vets, plus giving your own personal time and emotional energy to help your piggie particularly with the syringe feedings he requires to support him getting through this.

It sounds to me like you;ve nipped this early ..... Butters can get over this...but I warn you it will be a lot of (mostly emotional) effort for you. If you want a chat and some moral (or even practical) support reagrding meds, dealing with vets etc then please PM me your phone number

Big hugs to you and all paws crossed here for the lovely Butters.

x
 
Thank you all for the advice. I am just home from the vet now. We switched vet and he is more experienced with Guinea Pigs. He owns several himself which is reassuring. I have had to leave Butters there so they can monitor him. I am a bit upset right now because there is a chance I might not get him back. The vet said he would call me with an update this afternoon. I will let you all know what happens. Thank you for everything x
 
Fingers crossed for your poorly Butters! I hope that he can make it - at least, he is now in experienced hands! Loos of appetite can be due to an adverse reaction to baytril , but it is also one of the symptoms of an URI (upper respiratory tract infection).
 
I just got off the phone with the vet and things seem positive. He had an X-ray and things look good. They have switched from baytrill to some other antibiotic and he prefers it much more as it tastes like banana :) they had also been syringe feeding him recovery food every so often. The vet also said he has been nibbling on fresh greens and hay! His breathing is still heavy so they have recommended that he stay there for a few more days so they can keep a close eye on him. The vet said I takes 2-3 days to see any improvement from the antibiotics so I thought it would be wise to leave him there.
I have been in tears all afternoon thinking the worst and now I feel allot more positive. Cant wait to get him home again! I will keep you all posted x
 
JodyMitchell said:
I just got off the phone with the vet and things seem positive. He had an X-ray and things look good. They have switched from baytrill to some other antibiotic and he prefers it much more as it tastes like banana :) they had also been syringe feeding him recovery food every so often. The vet also said he has been nibbling on fresh greens and hay! His breathing is still heavy so they have recommended that he stay there for a few more days so they can keep a close eye on him. The vet said I takes 2-3 days to see any improvement from the antibiotics so I thought it would be wise to leave him there.
I have been in tears all afternoon thinking the worst and now I feel allot more positive. Cant wait to get him home again! I will keep you all posted x
Click to expand...

I'm so pleased - it sounds like your vets have put Butters on septrin and are keeping him in to monitor his breathing. He's in the best possible place and I'm also really happy to hear you sounding more positive.

C'mon Butters...we've got all our paws crossed for you

x
 
JodyMitchell said:
I just got off the phone with the vet and things seem positive. He had an X-ray and things look good. They have switched from baytrill to some other antibiotic and he prefers it much more as it tastes like banana :) they had also been syringe feeding him recovery food every so often. The vet also said he has been nibbling on fresh greens and hay! His breathing is still heavy so they have recommended that he stay there for a few more days so they can keep a close eye on him. The vet said I takes 2-3 days to see any improvement from the antibiotics so I thought it would be wise to leave him there.
I have been in tears all afternoon thinking the worst and now I feel allot more positive. Cant wait to get him home again! I will keep you all posted x
Click to expand...

ooops... sorry i must have posted at exactly the same time as you...!
I'm so glad butters is improving... sounds like hes on septrin and i think very highly of it as an anti-biotic...
honestly i am so happy for you that there has been an improvment...
fingers crossed for a speedy recovery...!...
x
 
Hi everyone! Just to let you know butters is doing better today. His breathing has improved and he has started eating on his own but only small amounts. They are going to keep him in and continue syringe feeding and treating him with antibiotics. The vet is happy with his progress and I have to call back later tonight to see how he is getting on. I miss him so much and can't wait to get him home again!! Will let you all know how he is getting on :) x
 
Great news and best of luck!

Please make sure that Butters gets antibiotics for at least a week after the last symptoms have disapperared to prevent it from coming back again.

Because of the good taste, septrin is much easier to give to piggies than horrible tasting baytril.
 
Hi! Greham my new vet did mention that he would need to continue the course for 10 more days. He seems allot more experienced with pigs than my previous vet. I think from now on I'm going to stick with him. I have rearranged my livingroom so that butters cage is in a cosy area away from any drafts. His room mate Samson seems to be missing him but I am going to keep them in separate cages for a few weeks just to be on the safe side. I am so glad that he is getting better. I lost my scratchy 2 weeks ago and just can't go through it all again. Fingers crossed everything works out x
 
HUGS

URI is a nasty thing to come down with for a ginea pig. It can kill even with the best of care/medication. You have done your best. I am so sorry that it hasn't worked out for Butters. I'd been keeping my fingers firmly crossed for him!
 
Jody, I'm so very very sorry to hear this sad news.

You did everything you could for Butters..even to getting him a new vet and I was really hopeful (as I'm sure you were) after your last post.

I'm so sorry that this was his time to go to The Bridge.

Life can be so unfair. RIP Butters...popcorn free at The Bridge little one.

Sending you big hugs

x
 
Thak you. Can't believe he is gone. It has broke my heart. He will always be loved and missed. Butters ment the world to me, he was like no other guinea I have met. Thanks again for everything xx
 
Oh god....
I'm so sorry...
Rip butters...
Pop corn free over the rainbow...
x
 
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