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More Antibiotics For Hadley

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Freela

Freela

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Just for background, about two weeks ago Hadley began making an intermittent wheezy hooting sound, no other symptoms. We saw the vet, who treated her for a URI with 10 days of an antibiotic (the brand name is Teva Trimel, I believe it's trimethoprim.) Around this time, sadly her elderly cagemate suddenly passed away (had labored breathing and wet eyes, passed that evening- the vet said she could have contracted a URI from Hadley and could not fight it off due to age and comorbidities.) Hadley did well on the antibiotics and stopped hooting about 3 days into her course. She did the full 10 days and finished on Sunday night. Nothing unusual from Monday to Wednesday, then this afternoon she began making the same hooting noise again. I called the vet, who have renewed her antibiotic course for another 10 days and said perhaps she didn't have a long enough course to fully knock out the infection. There was one dose left in the bottle, which I gave her already, and will be picking up the next 10 days this evening.

I've never really dealt with respiratory infections, so I guess I just want some feedback.... is it unusual to need more than one 10-day course to knock out a respiratory bug? Because the only symptom is hooting, should I be asking for more tests for her heart, as I have read a lot about hooting being a heart symptom? But if it was her heart, would it improve on antibiotics the way it has?

I'm just worried about her... whatever this was, if it was what killed Sundae it progressed extremely fast in her. Hadley is a lot younger and stronger and seems to be holding her own, but I don't want to lose her too. I also feel terrible that she is now living alone... we do have a new baby pig on a different floor with very diligent hand-washing protocols because we always do a quarantine anyhow when introducing a new pig. Obviously being lonely is better than being ill, but I feel quite guilty that right now I have two lonely pigs who can't be together. And I'm worried about Hadley, I don't want to lose her, although she seems fine other than the wheeze and continues to eat, wheek for food, run laps of the hallways, etc.
 
I think it would be wise to get the vet to check her again to listen to her lungs and heart. I am not sure trimethoprim would be the best antibiotic for respiratory infections, my vet tends to use Doxycycline or Azithromycin. Also an antiinflammatory such as metacam would probably help.
 
Would your vet consider trialing a diuretic to clear any buil-up of fluid in either the lungs or the chest cavity?
 
Hadley is on her second dose of antibiotics after beginning to hoot.. her hooting stopped three days into the first 10 days of antibiotics, but recurred after she stopped, so she was started on a second course and I booked an appointment to see my favorite vet (the one who did so much for Sundae with all her bladder and dental/abscess issues.) He gave her a good going over and listened to her lungs and heart extensively... he doesn't think that the hooting is due to a heart issue, as she said her hearts sounds are normal, no murmurs or extra heart sounds, and he said her lungs do not sound affected. He suspects that she has a respiratory infection that is mainly affecting the upper tract (throat and up into the nasal tract, not really affecting the lungs that much.) He suggested that she may just need a longer dose of antibiotics and also suggested that we give her a top-up of vitamin C to boost her immunity a bit. So she is on another 10-day course of trimethoprim and then we'll see how she does. If the hooting recurs after that, she will be tried on a different antibiotic. It's pretty hard to culture the exact bacteria, as she has no sputum or nasal discharge so there is really nothing to culture. The only bad part is that she is still quarantined, so I can't introduce her to Leela yet. I feel bad that I have two single pigs on two different floors... I would love them to meet, but obviously it's not worth risking anyone's health, and hopefully they'll get to make friends soon enough. She is booked for a followup in about 2 weeks, at which point she will have finished the next course of antibiotics and we can re-evaluate the situation.

We also had a nice talk about Sundae... I got to know this very really well because at one point Sundae was there every 2 weeks for months due to her teeth and facial abscess. He knew her really well and said how sorry he was that she had passed on, but we both agreed that we worked together to give her a wonderful life and she was a lucky pig to have almost 7 years with a good quality of life in spite of her issues. It was really nice. I know he was fond of her too, it was good to talk to someone who also knew her well.
 
Freela said:
Hadley is on her second dose of antibiotics after beginning to hoot.. her hooting stopped three days into the first 10 days of antibiotics, but recurred after she stopped, so she was started on a second course and I booked an appointment to see my favorite vet (the one who did so much for Sundae with all her bladder and dental/abscess issues.) He gave her a good going over and listened to her lungs and heart extensively... he doesn't think that the hooting is due to a heart issue, as she said her hearts sounds are normal, no murmurs or extra heart sounds, and he said her lungs do not sound affected. He suspects that she has a respiratory infection that is mainly affecting the upper tract (throat and up into the nasal tract, not really affecting the lungs that much.) He suggested that she may just need a longer dose of antibiotics and also suggested that we give her a top-up of vitamin C to boost her immunity a bit. So she is on another 10-day course of trimethoprim and then we'll see how she does. If the hooting recurs after that, she will be tried on a different antibiotic. It's pretty hard to culture the exact bacteria, as she has no sputum or nasal discharge so there is really nothing to culture. The only bad part is that she is still quarantined, so I can't introduce her to Leela yet. I feel bad that I have two single pigs on two different floors... I would love them to meet, but obviously it's not worth risking anyone's health, and hopefully they'll get to make friends soon enough. She is booked for a followup in about 2 weeks, at which point she will have finished the next course of antibiotics and we can re-evaluate the situation.

We also had a nice talk about Sundae... I got to know this very really well because at one point Sundae was there every 2 weeks for months due to her teeth and facial abscess. He knew her really well and said how sorry he was that she had passed on, but we both agreed that we worked together to give her a wonderful life and she was a lucky pig to have almost 7 years with a good quality of life in spite of her issues. It was really nice. I know he was fond of her too, it was good to talk to someone who also knew her well.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your update. I have merged the threads to keep the topic together. This helps us to keep track of all the piggies passing through this section. You can always put a watch on your thread (just above the start of the thread on the right).

It is great that there are no heart worries for Hadley and that her hooting has gone. It is worth investing time to make sure that the URI has completely gone so it cannot cause lung disease etc. later in life.

All the best, and all the best with your bonding once Hadley has got the all clear!
 
Wiebke said:
Thank you for your update. I have merged the threads to keep the topic together. This helps us to keep track of all the piggies passing through this section. You can always put a watch on your thread (just above the start of the thread on the right).

It is great that there are no heart worries for Hadley and that her hooting has gone. It is worth investing time to make sure that the URI has completely gone so it cannot cause lung disease etc. later in life.

All the best, and all the best with your bonding once Hadley has got the all clear!
Click to expand...
Thanks for merging for me!
 
I'm getting frustrated here. We are on week 3 of antibiotics (she is supposed to be on until the 19th, that will complete her third 10-day course.) Hadley seems completely fine, but still hoots very intermittently. I actually haven't caught her at it, but the kids have heard her a time or two. It's not every day, but it's a couple times a week. It can't last for very long or else I would be hearing it too. But she is active, clear eyes, no nasal discharge, no sneezing, no coughing, and she eats well (I think she has actually gained in the month since Sundae passed away, since she is alone she seems to eat more.) But she really does not seem sick. We have another guinea pig to introduce to her, but have been holding off because we want to make sure that she is not contagious. But at the same time, she is less happy on her own, I'm sure that Leela is less happy on her own, and I don't even know for sure if she's actually sick of if it's just one of those random things! Sigh... she has a vet visit again in a week and I will ask him again then. I wish there was a way to definitively know whether she has a bacterial infection, but there is really nothing to test, as she has no nasal secretions or eye wetness, there is just nothing to swab and test. :( I hate them both living alone and this hooting has been going on for over a month now. It has diminished a lot on antibiotics, but has not completely cleared.
 
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