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Pain relief not from vets

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Billies Mum

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Hi

My vet will not give Merlin pain relief as she thinks it will further upset his empty stomach and she doesnt think he is in that much pain.

(we will not know what is wrong with him before monday)

He has been facing the wall and utterly miserable for 24 hours - I think he is in some pain

Is there ANYTHING I can buy over the counter to give him?
 
I am afraid there is not.Over the counter analgesics are not safe.Metacam is the best(even that has to be used with caution,but in the proper dose and for short term it is safe,and it does work)

If you are sure your piggy is in pain,go back to the vet and insist on some Metacam,after all it is your piggy and you will be paying the bill,so you have a right to ask for proper treatment.

Good luck with this.

Maryh
 
Given that you are syringe feeding Merlin, as long as you give the medicine along with his food and some water, I don't see why Merlin should not be given pain relief. That theory would apply to all medications, not just pain relief, so I wonder what the vet would do if Merlin was in need of antibiotics or other oral meds...

Naturally there are varying opinions on what is good and what's not, but in cases where the vet absolutely refuses to give any pain relief, you are left with little choice - either find a much better vet very quickly, or do something yourself!

There are two things you can try:

1) Infant Calpol/Childrens Nurofen. Dose is usually 0.2ml up to twice daily. This is used as a general painkiller, usually when the vets refuse to give any pain relief to pigs clearly in need of it!

2) Daktarin Oral Gel.
This is the one I recommend for dental oral trouble. It is not a painkiller, but it works well at soothing the mouth where overgrown teeth (or an oral infection) has led to a sore mouth and discomfort eating. I have found that even pigs with minor molar overgrowth refuse to eat for a couple of days after treatment, simply due to the discomfort the overgrown teeth caused. A dose of 0.5ml of Daktarin, given twice a day for 2-3 days after the treatment, soothes any sores and generally - in my experience - gets the pig eating on his own quite a bit sooner.

Both should obviously be used as short-term as possible, but Merlin won't get anywhere if pain is causing him to stop eating, which means he doesn't wear his teeth down with hard food and you could end up starting all over again!

I'm sorry the vet wasn't helpful in terms of easing the pain. Were the teeth corrected?
 
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He is on 0.3ml of Baytril twice a day until Monday.

My vet seems to be very knowledgeable about GPs and put across a convincing argument for not giving him ongoing pain relief. She has never let me down yet.

I think I will try the Daktarin to provide some relief for him until Monday.

Thankyou so much for the support.

I've hardly been on the forum for the past 2 years (new job) but its so nice to know you are all there x
 
Baytril stands a far greater risk of upsetting his tummy than Metacam; Baytril is the one that tends to upset the gut flora, it can be quite harsh on some pigs systems. The only thing I have heard about Metacam is that it can irritate the bladders of pigs with bladder problems - that was true for one pig of mine, but not so for the others, so that is very much debatable.

I *think* Critical Care already contains some probiotics, but it may be worth syringing him probiotic to assist the balance of good bacteria while he's on the antibiotics.

Good luck, I hope you and your vet are able to get to the bottom of Merlin's problems.
 
Thanks

He is getting a probiotic with his feeds to counter any effects of the Baytril.
I will get some Daktarin for the interim period

He will be ok I'm sure - he's a big strong lad
 
I am so sorry that you haven't got anything to make poor Merlin more comfy.

As Laura has given you all the medical advice already, I'm just sending my vibes xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
You can buy pain relief over the counter which is suitable for pigs.
Junior Calpol at 0.2ml twice a day.
Buscopan (an anti-spasmodic, not a pain-killer as such) One tablet crushed, added to water and syringe-fed. These can be given as often as every eight hours if need be.
Buscopan is especially suitable for pain arising in the gut.

I am at a total loss to understand why anyone would deny a guinea pig, or any other animal, pain relief. Pain can cause a pig to go into shock and die.
I daresay someone will answer me by saying that these products are not licensed for guinea pigs and will cause kidney and liver damage.
The fact they are not licensed does not in itself mean they are unsuitable.
Secondly, at the recommended dose levels they are safe to use.
Any drug if they dose is high enough can/will cause unwanted side effects, even drugs that are licensed for use on guinea pigs.

I feel annoyed that it has been necessary to write this post, I have just deleted the line that made my comments even more specific.
 
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Rimadyl, which is prescription only medicine, is a good anti-inflamatory/pain-killer.
If in doubt why not give Vedra at the CCT a call. She has more experience than all of us on the forum put together.

I must go and take cover!
 
Jen we're all sending HUGE loves for our little mate Merlin

COME ON MERLIN xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>


I hope you can get some pain relief into Merlin to tide him over the weekend xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Offer him any of his fav foods and even try mushing up his pellets, or even making up a slushy of some fruits to get some sustanance into the little man.
HUGE HUGS for you too love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Missed not having you around but i knew that job was going to be a busy one :)
 
1) Infant Calpol/Childrens Nurofen. Dose is usually 0.2ml up to twice daily. This is used as a general painkiller, usually when the vets refuse to give any pain relief to pigs clearly in need of it!

I just had a look and noticed that Infant Calpol contains Paracetamol and Childrens Nurofen contains Ibuprofen. I just wanted to ask if both of them are safe to use as they seem to have different ingredients?

@Billies mum: I hope Merlin gets better soon! x
 
Thanks to all

Merlin is hanging on in there and having his syringes every 2 hours.
I bought some Childrens Nurofen and some Daktarin but as I've no idea really which bit of his mouth hurts most I have no idea where to apply the gel.
I'm going to give him the Nurofen with his next feed

My vet is really very good and like I said she reckoned that Merlin wasnt in any pain but just a bit under the weather and explained how she could tell this and also exactly how much harm a pain killer could do him and how the Baytril would help him. I trust her. She has been my guinea pig vet for many years
 
Daktarin, about 0.5ml, can be applied to the pig's mouth, either off the end of your finger, or via a syringe. A pig's mouth is so small that just putting the Daktarin into the mouth will ensure that it spreads around the mouth.
Both Junior Nurofen and Junior Calpol are both satisfactory to use as pain relief.
If you "Google" both products you will find which type of pain they are supposed to target. However, I use either product on pigs, it just depends what is in the cup-board at the time!
 
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Junior Calpal Nurofen and the other drugs mentioned here are all in a group of drugs called NSAIDS.They should not be given to any animal,certainly not gp`s.One dose of Nurafen has been known to kill a dog.

Gp`s unfortunately do not tolerate analgesic drugs at all well and the only "safe" one is Metacam.This has side affects butis safe at the correct dose of one drop per day,if only given short term.

There is no safe over the counter analgesic.

Maryh
 
THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of guinea pigs are alive and well due to over the counter pain relief.
Delia, why do you persist in saying no otc pain relief?

"One dose of Nurafen has been known to kill a dog"

That saying as it stands is meaningless. Please give us the reference.
What, as the saying goes, is your problem?
Please give us independent refences that guinea pigs have been killed by therepeutic dodes of OTC painkillers.
 
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Is it really ethical to allow a pig to live in pain, just because no drug is 100% safe and licensed for them?

I have had pigs on Metacam for months for chronic conditions. The shorter the time they are dosed the better, that goes without saying.
 
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If a human being wishes to deny him or herself pain relief so be it.
However, to deny an animal pain relief because of a remote chance of an adverse side effect is not only immoral, unethical but possibly illegal.
The main aim of any treatment is to not cause pain and, if pain should be present, to provide relief from it.
This is top of the list for any health care worker treating either people or animals.
Surely, anything less is totally unacceptable, is it not?
 
There are totally safe otc meds for piggies and other small pets - as long as we do our research.

After all - how do we know these drugs are safe for human consumption? Drug companies do their research, TEST ON GUINEA PIGS, RATS, MICE, ETC, they analyse those results, if they prove successful on above animals they start trialling on humans. (I know, there are many other animals are tested on, not something i wish to research the details of, i like my sleep)
 
You can give your guinea pig a drop of baby Tylenol. but only a little bit on it's tongue. It's for babies and is safe for GP's.
 
I believe Tylenol is the US version of Calpol (containing paracetamol).
 
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