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My Sweet Girl Is Having Weird Symptoms, Please Help!

threelittlebubs

Junior Guinea Pig
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My little girl Ester is a 3 year old Swiss teddy. I adopted her 1 year ago and she now lives in a big homemade cage with her cagemate Meek, 1 year old. Ester started having problems earlier this spring, she had a very congested, wet/snuffly sound in her chest. This came and went 3 times over the last few times. About a month ago it started up again and she was running a fever. We did blood tests, X-rays and we did a 3 week round of Zithromax.

Well, she was getting 0.9 ml twice a day for 3 weeks. Her congestion cleared after a week. She always ate normally, no signs of illness during the course of treatment.

So, she's been off the antibiotics for a week but she's been having dry/skinny poops. Now, 4 days ago she started doing a strange hop/jump. It seems like she is limping. Her living space is completely flat, so I don't know what this would be caused by. She is still eating and drinking (I have a webcam to monitor her day and night) but I'm thinking the antibiotics did a number on her gut. I've been giving her a bit of critical care in the hopes of getting her gut flora back, but I also have Fibreplex.

The only symptoms visible currently are the dry/skinny poops and the apparent limp (?) I've examined the paw and leg and there is nothing visible.

Can you give me some tips on what I should be giving her? Is the CC a good idea or should I go with Fibreplex? Any fruit/veg I should avoid?

Thank you so much for any help. Right now I'm not wanting to take her to the vet as she has been so often, last time she had blood tests and chest X-rays (awake, no sedation) so I really want to avoid stressing her when she isn't showing any critical symptoms.
 
Here is my sweet little mop Ester.

View attachment 71175

The dry skinny poops points to not eating and drinking enough. Please start topping her up with syringe feed asap and weigh her daily at the same time to monitor the food intake.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

While most guinea pigs can cope well with Zithromax, when a piggy doesn't it is usually on the bad side. However, I found that a course of fibreplex in combination with syringe feed to up has helped. My fibreplex was actually prescribed by the vet who treated with the zithromax after Nosgan took it badly; he is the first of my piggies to do so.

The limping can just be from a mildly strained joint when she landed badly; it is hopefully gone in a few days. If the limping is getting worse, you may want to see your vet over it.
 
I would refrain from giving her green veg and defanatly no fruit, plenty of hay preferably a good Alf Alfafa hay is ideal for the digestion Alfalfa King Timothy Hay for Small Animals

Could be somthing to do with the antibiotics, they are not able to discriminate between bad bactera and the friendly tummy bactera the pig needs for heathy digestion
Fibreplex is the most effective Protexin Fibreplex For Rabbits - 15ml Syringe - Animed Direct

So the Fibreplex is better than Critical Care?
 
So the Fibreplex is better than Critical Care?

Please see Wiebke's post above and give both. The fibreplex will help restore gut bacteria as it is a probiotic but the critical care is needed as a top up feed as it sounds like your girl isn't taking enough food in.

Personally I wouldn't stop giving veg as the poops aren't loose or watery and any food she is willing to take is a bonus at the moment
 
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