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Medication without a vet trip?

ThePiggieHouse

ThePiggieHouse

Junior Guinea Pig
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As a question and I wouldn't say that it's recommended as a vet is always the best course of treatment. If you have a Piggie with a reoccurring issue and you know exactly what it is, I wonder if Herbal remedies or antibiotics can be purchased safely without the need for constant revisits to the vets?
(For an example- hay poke and eye drops?)
 
I personally think not. In terms of hay poke, because it’s the only one I have experience of, I may be able to be sure that it’s a hay poke and I may know that it needs antibiotic eye drops, but I can’t put the dye in to check for any internal damage to the eye, I can’t lift all the eye lids to check for and remove grass seeds or small pieces of hay still stuck which will continue to cause further damage.
It may be the case with some long term recurring issues that further things may occur alongside it that may be overlooked if you treat only the specific issue. Any such treatments given ad hoc could mask symptoms of something else which a vet may then not be able to diagnose.
 
No, definatley not and shouldn’t even be suggested.

Herbal stuff is never a replacement for vet care and can be v dangerous. Some herbs are toxic to certain species and whilst you’re giving them something that at best, won’t work and at worst, could be harmful, they’re not getting the actual treatment they need.

If you want to complement vet care with anything else. Then speak to the vet first.
 
This is something that really bugs me on a couple of Facebook groups that I go on. People ask for advise and ‘some’ people offer out the most ridiculous and dangerous advise. Just the other day, someone was asking about eye drops and someone else advised cold tea bags on the eye even letting some of the tea run in to the eye!

Back in 2013, my Eliza suffered a horrible eye injury. Sadly. She did lose the eye but whilst my vet was trying to save the eye, my vet was able to show me a deep cut on her eye ball which I wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t of pointed it out. My late Enoch had eye problems and if I’d have just treated it at home thinking it was a hay poke, I would never have found out that he had a torn conjunctiva that had gone untreated before he came to me.

As already mentioned above, herbal remidies can be very dangerous as is using human treatments. I once used a human antifungal cream on a baby piggy but that was following a vets advise.

A vet advise is always paramount when it comes to animal illnesses
 
To be honest I have quite a lot of herbal and human bits and bobs that I use on my lot and they work fantastically. BUT! And it's a big but, every, single thing I have has been ok'd for use by a vet. Anything I use alongside medication is checked with the vet to ensure it won't cause issues with whatever medications they have been given from them.

Alternative medicine should always be used alongside veterinary medicine, it's not really an alternative in the sense it can completely avoid veterinary input. And I definitely wouldn't advise it's use to the inexperienced or those who are looking to save money, chances are if it goes wrong you'll end up spending more in vets bills to fix what has been made worse or got worse while waiting for something to help that won't work.
 
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I have treated piggies with hay poke and ringworm before without vet visits and all piggies have been fine however I would definitely recommend going to the vet
 
It is forum policy to recommend all members seek veterinary advice Health and Illness - Important Information
By law only a qualified veterinarian is allowed to diagnose and treat an animal and then only after an examination of the animal.
Unless you yourself are a qualified veterinarian I do not see how you can conduct the appropriate examination, make the correct diagnosis and then identify the correct treatment at the correct dose. OTC remedies are seldom strong enough to cure a problem, even assuming you have correctly diagnosed the condition.
Eye injuries range from very minor to very serious. Unless you can add the medical fluorescent dye to the eye, examine it under UV light and understand what you see there I fail to see that you could diagnose an ulcer or a perforation to the eyeball or a retro bulbar abscess. Even if it’s a simple ulcer the treatment varies according to the degree of cornea affected so I cannot see that you could identify the right drops to use. Any delay in seeking proper help simply increases the risk of a more serious injury and increases the potential for the eye to be removed. I’ve taken numerous piggies to the vets with hay pokes and the treatment has differed each time according to the severity.
 
Incredipigs said:
I have treated piggies with hay poke and ringworm before without vet visits and all piggies have been fine however I would definitely recommend going to the vet
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And I am certain that we have told you to go to the vet and not home treat on spec. Please don’t advertise on here that you have effectively ignored our advice.
 
I would only ever, and have only ever, sought medication without a vet visit with my vets consent. Where a condition is ongoing I have had once, maybe twice been able to offer leftover metacam or antibiotics without a consultation charge but I would always ring my vet to discuss this first. It's worth noting that the metacam I have been prescribed previously has a shelf life of 6 months but a lot of medications don't last that long. The eye drops I was given only last 3 weeks so you wouldn't be able to get a prescription without a vet visit.
 
I completely agree with everything you have all said, I too would never insinuate I knew what was wrong without visiting a vet first. It's just was more so a wondering... if you like a "thought out loud "... I mentioned in my initial post vets 1st, treat 2nd. It's how itbshpuld always be... I guess, more so was wondering the best course of action for a Piggie first aid kit. All mine contains is cotton wool, sea salt and medicated shampoo for mites. I just wondered if anyone had anything in theirs for emergencies... I would never want to offend anyone. I hope I haven't....
 
ThePiggieHouse said:
I completely agree with everything you have all said, I too would never insinuate I knew what was wrong without visiting a vet first. It's just was more so a wondering... if you like a "thought out loud "... I mentioned in my initial post vets 1st, treat 2nd. It's how itbshpuld always be... I guess, more so was wondering the best course of action for a Piggie first aid kit. All mine contains is cotton wool, sea salt and medicated shampoo for mites. I just wondered if anyone had anything in theirs for emergencies... I would never want to offend anyone. I hope I haven't....
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You haven’t offended anyone :)
 
ThePiggieHouse said:
I completely agree with everything you have all said, I too would never insinuate I knew what was wrong without visiting a vet first. It's just was more so a wondering... if you like a "thought out loud "... I mentioned in my initial post vets 1st, treat 2nd. It's how itbshpuld always be... I guess, more so was wondering the best course of action for a Piggie first aid kit. All mine contains is cotton wool, sea salt and medicated shampoo for mites. I just wondered if anyone had anything in theirs for emergencies... I would never want to offend anyone. I hope I haven't....
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I have cotton buds, cotton wool and a bottle of Hibiscrub in case of further abscesses
 
We now have metacam both dog and cat, rantidine, xeno450, hibiscrub, F10 disinfectant, critical care feed plus various syringes 2ml and 1ml, and surolan in our piggy medicine cupboard and first aid kit. Plus I have a PhD in veterinary pharmacology/parasitology. But I would always always always phone a proper piggy vet first unless the vet has previously recommended treating further symptoms with the same meds like for Puggle's bloaty tummy. Even then I'd probably still phone the vet... I do phone the vet, a lot... we're going to the vet tomorrow... vets are great!
 
I’m also at the vet tomorrow but with one of my cats and then I have to go again later on in the week with my other cat and I need to get a urine sample from
Ellen in the morning to take with me to the vets to see if her uti has cleared up...
 
Blodwen is going to the vets tomorrow for her hopefully healing up ringworm checking and a proper discussion about her tooth spurs and when she might be able to join the herd...
 
ThePiggieHouse said:
so was wondering the best course of action for a Piggie first aid kit. All mine contains is cotton wool, sea salt and medicated shampoo for mites. I just wondered if anyone had anything in theirs for emergencies... I would never want to offend anyone. I hope I haven't....
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There is this useful sticky thread on piggy first aid, kits etc. (I can't link it because I'm using my phone and the relevant box is greyed out, I think it is under "caring for a sick guinea pig".
I have a nebuliser and needles for it, which my vet recommended I get when I had Zebedee with his recurrent Uri's. I had it ready to use if he showed signs of infection. However if any of my current pigs appeared to have an infection I would go to the vet first, none of them have had a URI before and nebulising might not be appropriate. Other than that, I have some Fibreplex, Pro C, and oral syringes. I also have some meds left over from Zeb's last illness - though I need to check the dates on that and wouldn't use it without consulting the vet first .
 
I would always have some critical care feed and 1 or 2 ml syringes in stock, piggies are awkward and usually go off their food or start getting sick during a bank holiday and it can keep them going for 12 or 24 hours until the vet opens...
 
PigglePuggle said:
I would always have some critical care feed and 1 or 2 ml syringes in stock, piggies are awkward and usually go off their food or start getting sick during a bank holiday and it can keep them going for 12 or 24 hours until the vet opens...
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I agree with you there! I did have a box of recovery food left from treating Zeb, but as it had only a few weeks left before being out of date, I have donated it to a rescue as they are more likely to need it before then than me (touchwood!).
I decided to check my box just now and found I also have some chlorhexidine scrub and F10, but as before I need to check the dates etc. Not much use if one's piggy kit is full of out of date stuff ....
 
I remember buying in a 10-pack of critical care for Theo's neutering earlier this year then only needing 1 sachet and wondering what I would need the rest for before it expired in march 2019... well, Puggle's bloaty tummy has needed 3 sachets, and new pig Blodwen has eaten the rest this week and we had to buy some more... piggy slaves should always have this in stock I reckon and also plenty syringes, the vet gave us 1 syringe for Blod that got clogged then stopped sucking up after 2 feeds... buy at least 10 x 1ml syringes just in case!
 
PigglePuggle said:
I would always have some critical care feed and 1 or 2 ml syringes in stock, piggies are awkward and usually go off their food or start getting sick during a bank holiday and it can keep them going for 12 or 24 hours until the vet opens...
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And in the event of an absolute crisis you can whizz some of their normal pellets in the blender, mix with water and some diaoralyte for a stop gap. This was a fabulous tip I got from a forum member a few years back for those emergencies when you find your CC is out of date (as once happened to me).
 
ThePiggieHouse said:
I completely agree with everything you have all said, I too would never insinuate I knew what was wrong without visiting a vet first. It's just was more so a wondering... if you like a "thought out loud "... I mentioned in my initial post vets 1st, treat 2nd. It's how itbshpuld always be... I guess, more so was wondering the best course of action for a Piggie first aid kit. All mine contains is cotton wool, sea salt and medicated shampoo for mites. I just wondered if anyone had anything in theirs for emergencies... I would never want to offend anyone. I hope I haven't....
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Ahhh all makes sense now, I didn't get the impression of first aid kit from your initial post but not to worry, no offence caused.

Now I know you are looking for first aid kit suggestions I can share the guide Wiebke wrote First Aid Kit For Guinea Pigs should cover your question fairly extensively
 
@Lady Kelly this is what I was looking for thankyou. I'm not the best at explaining myself (think it comes from long term anxiety issues). My Piggie 1st aid box contains such a limited supply of things that I was looking for information about the sorts of items that could be added to it for home treatment in case of emergency while waiting for the vet.
I'd never not seek veterinary care (I've kept piggies over 20yrs)... I just hoped to be an even better Piggie mummy by having a better equipped 1st aid kit than salt, cotton wool pads and gauze : )) x
 
ThePiggieHouse said:
@Lady Kelly this is what I was looking for thankyou. I'm not the best at explaining myself (think it comes from long term anxiety issues). My Piggie 1st aid box contains such a limited supply of things that I was looking for information about the sorts of items that could be added to it for home treatment in case of emergency while waiting for the vet.
I'd never not seek veterinary care (I've kept piggies over 20yrs)... I just hoped to be an even better Piggie mummy by having a better equipped 1st aid kit than salt, cotton wool pads and gauze : )) x
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Just be careful what you put in there. I had some probiotics and other bits in mine but I didn't realise they had short use by dates. They went out of date before being used so were a waste of money
 
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