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Ozzy has pneumonia!

A

allydavies2002

Junior Guinea Pig
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I'm so upset. My rescue Ozzy has been diagnosed with pneumonia. Just got back from one of the recommended exotic vets where he was on oxygen, given 2 injections to hydrate him, given antibiotics, gut stimulant and syringe fed. He's on Sulfatrim twice a day for a week and taking him back the vets Thursday.

I asked what coukd have causes it as I've only had him 2 weeks and had him out every day and no signs of runny nose etc (what alerted me was lack of appetite and very pronounced breathing plus heard clicking). She said he could have been carrying it and the change in his life could have triggered it.

He's perked up and started eating since the oxygen and injections.

Praying I caught it early any he'll survive.

I've seen some posts on here about giving them other things like the vitamin c supplement but the vet didn't tell me about anything else and closed now.

Any advice greatly appreciated x
 
I have no advice. Because what the vet has done seems very good to me. What i can say though, is i had a 4 year old guinea pig have pneumonia and he did survive it. It does give them a higher chance of getting it again, once they have had it once.

Actually i do have advice. Keep him warm. Maybe buy a mircrowave heat disc. I think they are named snugglesafe. And i would give extra vit c myself. Will help boost him
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
I have no advice. Because what the vet has done seems very good to me. What i can say though, is i had a 4 year old guinea pig have pneumonia and he did survive it. It does give them a higher chance of getting it again, once they have had it once.

Actually i do have advice. Keep him warm. Maybe buy a mircrowave heat disc. I think they are named snugglesafe. And i would give extra vit c myself. Will help boost him
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Glad your piggy survived. I'm in turmoil now as I wanted to pair him up with a baby boar so that he has a friend but this will now have to go on hold until he's 100% better. I don't want him be on his own but worried in future what if he catches it again and passes it on to others?
 
allydavies2002 said:
Glad your piggy survived. I'm in turmoil now as I wanted to pair him up with a baby boar so that he has a friend but this will now have to go on hold until he's 100% better. I don't want him be on his own but worried in future what if he catches it again and passes it on to others?
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Mine didnt get it again, its just a higher chance. My vet told me this at the time. Is he eating still? And has the laboured breathing got better?

Once he is better, you might need to get another healthcheck, once he has the all clear. Definitly pair them up, no need to worry
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Mine didnt get it again, its just a higher chance. My vet told me this at the time. Is he eating still? And has the laboured breathing got better?
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He's definitely perked up since brought him home. He's had pellets and hay and seen him drink plus 3 poos.
 
Where did Ozzy come from? May be worth letting the rescue know in case other pigs may have illness. One of the reasons quarantine of 2 weeks is recommended is for this reason - sometimes it takes couple of weeks to be sure a pig has no illnesses. Please do not attempt any introductions unless and until he is fully recovered and signed off by the vets.
The important thing for now is to keep him eating, medicated .and his guts moving. If you’ve been given gut movement drugs there must be a concern about his guts as well as his lungs. Please weigh him daily. And initiate syringe feeding/top ups.
I am going to link the guides for you, please read them and ask any questions you may have.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
allydavies2002 said:
I'm so upset. My rescue Ozzy has been diagnosed with pneumonia. Just got back from one of the recommended exotic vets where he was on oxygen, given 2 injections to hydrate him, given antibiotics, gut stimulant and syringe fed. He's on Sulfatrim twice a day for a week and taking him back the vets Thursday.

I asked what coukd have causes it as I've only had him 2 weeks and had him out every day and no signs of runny nose etc (what alerted me was lack of appetite and very pronounced breathing plus heard clicking). She said he could have been carrying it and the change in his life could have triggered it.

He's perked up and started eating since the oxygen and injections.

Praying I caught it early any he'll survive.

I've seen some posts on here about giving them other things like the vitamin c supplement but the vet didn't tell me about anything else and closed now.

Any advice greatly appreciated x
Click to expand...

Hi!

Pneumonia can happen without previous symptoms. Has your vet checked for a rarer pneumococcal infection instead of the more common bacterial one? Or do you have a dog or have been visited by a coughing dog recently (bordetellosis/kennel cough)?
Treatment is the same, though. Which antibiotic has our vet prescribed?

A vet will only prescribe medication. Vitamin C and probiotics are food supplements and not medication and their effectiness is scientically not necessarily proven. You can give your piggy extra vitamin C and probiotics for as long as he is on strong antibiotics.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
The care tips in this guide may help you with the care aspects. It is a collection of all the information you need to have handy when suddenly confronted with a serious illess: Emergency and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Fingers firmly crossed for your little boy!
 
VickiA said:
Where did Ozzy come from? May be worth letting the rescue know in case other pigs may have illness. One of the reasons quarantine of 2 weeks is recommended is for this reason - sometimes it takes couple of weeks to be sure a pig has no illnesses. Please do not attempt any introductions unless and until he is fully recovered and signed off by the vets.
The important thing for now is to keep him eating, medicated .and his guts moving. If you’ve been given gut movement drugs there must be a concern about his guts as well as his lungs. Please weigh him daily. And initiate syringe feeding/top ups.
I am going to link the guides for you, please read them and ask any questions you may have.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Click to expand...
Many thanks. I've notified the rescue
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Pneumonia can happen without previous symptoms. Has your vet checked for a rarer pneumococcal infection instead of the more common bacterial one? Or do you have a dog or have been visited by a coughing dog recently (bordetellosis/kennel cough)?
Treatment is the same, though. Which antibiotic has our vet prescribed?

A vet will only prescribe medication. Vitamin C and probiotics are food supplements and not medication and their effectiness is scientically not necessarily proven. You can give your piggy extra vitamin C and probiotics for as long as he is on strong antibiotics.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
The care tips in this guide may help you with the care aspects. It is a collection of all the information you need to have handy when suddenly confronted with a serious illess: Emergency and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Fingers firmly crossed for your little boy!
Click to expand...
He's on Sulfatrim twice a day for a week. Vet listened to heartbeat and tried to look in his mouth and said it was bacterial.

No dogs have visited the house.

I'm going to go get him some vitamin c.

Really worried about my other boar now as he's socialised with him before I spotted the signs. Vet said keep eye on him. My other boar was from same rescue but he seems ok touch wood
 
allydavies2002 said:
He's on Sulfatrim twice a day for a week. Vet listened to heartbeat and tried to look in his mouth and said it was bacterial.

No dogs have visited the house.

I'm going to go get him some vitamin c.

Really worried about my other boar now as he's socialised with him before I spotted the signs. Vet said keep eye on him. My other boar was from same rescue but he seems ok touch wood
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Good - that is two major worries out of the way. Bacterial pneumonia you can generally get on top of with good and prompt care, which you are doing! :tu:

The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat, so feeding support can be crucial, whether that is round the clock in the case of total loss of appetite or top up feed to what he is eating by himself - the latter is always an encouraging sign as a guinea pig that still has energy to eat is not at death's door. ;)

Most healthy piggies in good care with a fully working immune system can generally fend off a bacterial respiratoy infection.
I assume that they are both indoors now? The very up and down spring weather this year will not have helped.

It is an opportunistic illness that mainly affects piggies whose immune system is not yet fully developed (i.e. babies), impacted by underlying health issues, illness, pregnancy, high stress or longer term neglect or the old and frail. Depending on the background, rescue piggies from a bad and very stressful background are at a higher risk of exposure and contraction until their immune system has been brought up to speed and their life has stabilised. Keep in mind that a pet home for a piggy that has never experienced it, can be frightening experience for it.

I would however recommend to contact the rescue promptly and let them know.
 
allydavies2002 said:
He's definitely perked up since brought him home. He's had pellets and hay and seen him drink plus 3 poos.
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This is a really good sign he could get through this. Put it this way. Hes not going downhill at the moment. I would start weighing him daily to see how much you need to step in with syringe feeding. His breathing cant be too bad if he is choosing to carry on eating. Dont let this catch you off guard though 👍
 
allydavies2002 said:
I've just ordered some bsby scales on Amazon that people use for piggies. They're coming tomo. He weighed 1.24kg at vets earlier
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With this kind of weight you need not worry! :tu:

Plain kitchen scales from a supermarket are perfectly adequate to monitor weight changes at home as you do not have to calculate medical dosages. However, scales are an important tool in life-long health monitoring as is checking the heft to see whether you piggy is overweight or not. ;)

All the best for good recovery!
 
I use digital kitchen scales, with the top ripped off a man size tissue box on top. Not the best , but it works
 
Wiebke said:
With this kind of :tu: weight you need not worry!

Plain kitchen scales from a supermarket are perfectly adequate to monitor weight changes at home as you do not have to calculate medical dosages.
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SkyPipDotBernie said:
With the pneumonia, was Ozzy clicking when breathing?
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Yes and when I picked him up he was making noises on and off. I just knew in my gut something wasn't right. No discharge though. Check him over every day and it was last night I noticed a change in him
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