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new member to forum, guinea pig with URI

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Ellie1631

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Hello everyone,

I am writing on here for some reassurance about my guinea pig Joey, abit of background info first :) I am a very serious piggy mum :) I have three boars who all live inside in a C&C cage, I have had joey since august and he is nearly six months old. They have had vegetables daily since I got them and they have never gone a day without veg! :p at the weekend joey developed a very severe head tilt and seemed very lethargic and I had also heard sneezing but wasnt sure which pig it was, he was still eating and drinking as normal (he is my greediest and most active pig so seeing him like this I knew something was up when he was so lethargic) I suspected he may have an ear infection but yesterday the head tilt seemed to have subsided. I decided to take him to the vet to be sure. I have switched them from wood shavings (dust extracted) back to fleece (which I prefer) as I wanted him to be as comfy as possible. When I took him to the vet he was a very good boy and demonstrated on cue that it was him sneezing and she listened to his chest and informed me that he has an upper respiratory infection. He had an injection and I have been given baytril to syringe feed him (0.3 twice daily) for one week.
I know these infections can be very serious and just wanted reassurance on his chances of getting better and what I can do to help his recovery so I joined the forum. Please if anyone can help it would be much appreciated. Sorry for rambling I am just so worried.

Thankyou to anyone who helps.
 
I'm sorry Joey is poorly, but he has every chanve of getting through this as you have got him to the vets promptly. Did the vet say if there was fluid on his chest at all? if so he may also need diuretics, such as Frusemide. Another thing to ask about is Bisolvon which is great if they have a snotty nose. Baytril is ok and may work in this case but if he does not improve after the course of Baytril there are other antibiotics that you can discuss with your vet such as Septirn and Zithromax (Azithromycin).

Is he eating and drinking ok?

Welcome to the forum.
 
He is eating and drinking as usual, she didn't mention any fluid she just said maybe fluid in his ears caused a head tilt? She didnt make it sound very serious at all but I know they can be very serious infections, I'm not sure how cavy savvy she is as I have never seen her about my small animals before it was always another woman :/ he doesnt seem to have a snotty nose at the moment *touch wood* thanks so much for your quick reply
 
If you put your location, we may be able to help you find a more savvy vet in your area should you need it, or there is the vet locator above.
 
I will have a look thankyou :) I am just really worried that he wont make it :/ he seems as good as he can be for now but I know things cam quickly change :(
 
It sounds like you are doing all you can at the moment but if his breathing seems laboured at all or he stops eating, looks hunched up, or sits facing the corner then seek emergency veterinary advice.
 
He doesn't seem to be doing anything like that currently, is there anything I can do to improve his chances of getting better or to make him more comfortable/reduce stress?
 
Is he still fairly active?

I think for now it is a case of monitoring him and checking that he is still eating, drinking and pooing ok, and should any further symptoms develop seek further advice.
 
If you think he doesn't seem himself then you could also ask your vet about pain relief such as Metacam. Until the antibiotics kick in he will be feeling rough so I think it is a case of waiting for them to kick in but should his breathing deteriorate ask the vet about diuretics, as they have always helped my pigs when they had a URI but they did have fluid on their chests. It is important that he keeps eating so that his gut doesn't slow down so you may need to step in with supportive feeding with either mushed up pellets or critical care or recovery food.

Did the vet give you any probiotics with the Baytril? as it can be quite harsh on the gut?
 
She didnt give me any probiotics which did concern me after the fact :/ is there anything I can give him to help his tummy, my next question was actually going to be about his food as when I first got him I had him on burgess blackcurrant and oregano pellets which he enjoyed, the other two boars I have paired him up with are uses to petshop muesli which I dont want them to have, I didnt want to switch them over straight away and now joey has got a taste for the pet shop food and wont touxh his pellets! I tried mixing burgess original tasty nuggets in with the muesli and gradually phasing it out until it was only pellets again after a month or so but they totally ignore them, I have had to give him some muesli the past few days as its the only thing he will eat all of. He just eats every last scrap of it and I didnt want to risk him not eating whilst poorly :/
 
I think at the moment, give him whatever he will eat and you can change things when he is well.

You can get probiotic from Pets at Home it is in a yellow pot and called ProC I think, someone correct me if am wrong. LAternatively you can get it from the vets, such as Fibreplex, BioLapis or Avipro Plus. It needs to be given at least an hour after the Bayril though.

How long ago did his new friends join him and are they showing any symptoms?
 
I think you can get probiotics from pets at home (they do have their uses).Have seen on this forum that they should be used with baytril.Good luck with him and keep us posted
 
They have been with him/me about 2 months now and I have not noticed any symptoms in those two, I just looked over at joey and he was head tilting again quite badly :( he has got up now though to have some hay.. I will try to get hold of some probiotic for him
 
I don't have much experience of head tilts but know that they can be a sign of an ear infection which require different antibiotics. I would suggest speaking to your vet in the morning and explaining that the head tilt has returned.
 
I think I will give them a ring in the morning :/ I am just so worried to lose him :(
 
Good idea, I know you are worried, happy to help as needed.
 
Thanks ever so much for your help! Had him out for a quick cuddle and gave him some parsley and he is resting now, if I do notice that he stops eating/drinking at any point what should I do to help him as ive never had to research this before :/ sorry if I am annoying with all my questions :(
 
You are not annoying at all. We all have to start somewhere. Do you have any 1ml syringes? If so you can syringe feed using pellets that you have softened with warm water and mashed up (leave to cool). Then cut the tip off a 1ml syringe and syringe slowly into his mouth from the side so that the syringe goes behingdthe front teeth. Don't shoot it straight into his mouth from the front. If he is not eating at all he needs to be fed every few hours including through the night, aiming for 120ml in 24 hours. It is also a good idea to supplement with vitamin c. If he does stop eating though you will need to speak to your vet about what to do to keep his gut moving as sometimes they need a gut stimulant called Metachlopromide or Emeprid.

How are you giving the Baytril, is it by syringe?

If you don't have any syringes you can try to feed mushed up pellets from a spoon until you get some.
 
Yeah she has given me a syringe for giving the baytril so I do have one and she showed me about putting it behind his teeth and said I need to give him his first dose in the morning. Thanks again, I have never had any of them poorly so far so its put me on the spot abit I think :/
 
That's good that you have a syringe, only cut the top off if you need to syringe feed though as it is ok as it is for medication.

You're welcome, happy to help.
 
Hi again have come home for dinner so just going to check on him but I saw him eat and drink this morning and gave him his first lot of baytril..
 
That's good that he is eating a drinking. I would weigh him daily too if you can to check that he is not losing too much weight.
 
Just got in from work and he was back to his normal self coming to the side of the cage and putting his paws up for veggies but I'm still not going to let my guard down because I know it can all change
 
That's good that he is still asking for food, how's the head tilt today?
 
I'm not noticing it too much I'm not sure if its still there slightly.. habing trouble with the baytril as he is very reluctant to let me put the syringe in his mouth, I wasted a full 0.3 earlier as he moved just as I went to press the syringe so I'm hoping the vet has given a little bit more in the bottle to allow for this :(
 
Hopefully they have given you extra, mine usually do with meds. If he is fighting the syringe put your hand over the top of his face so that your fingers are either side of his mouth and this should then make him open his mouth enough for you to get the syringe in. It is difficult at first when you aren't used to suing syringes.
 
Ahhh thanks for the tip! I am supposed to give him these for "about a week" the vet said :/ which I didnt think was very clear, do I give him it for a week or do I give him It until ive used it all? How will I know when he is better as I know how good they are at covering their symptoms up ?
 
I wondered whether it would be a good idea to take him back for a check up once it's been a week ?
 
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