• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Pneumonia advice!

G

grotty

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 13, 2021
Messages
19
Reaction score
21
Points
175
Location
usa
Hi all,
I have a pig in serious condition right now. Here is the situation so far:
- unsure of exact age, probably around one year old
- it is likely that he has had an URI since his first owner
- his second owner treated him with orbax, then minocycline when that did not work
- he was rehomed to me and he was still in bad shape
- over the course of 2 months we tried bactrim, then doxycycline with no results from either
- got the pneumonia diagnosis
- I set up a nebulizer for him and as of early may, we've been doing baytril nebulized
- he is also on benebac and ivermectin for mange mites that developed this week

While the treatment helps with his breathing, we're almost at a month and I'm not seeing any progress. I've been reading a lot of posts on here so I know it can take a while to clear up, I'm just very worried about him.

I saw a lot of people using gentamicin in the nebulizer instead and possibly baytril or doxy orally to add an extra punch. My vet is declining the gentamicin route. Are there any resources that I could show them to change their mind? I know it is toxic when given orally, but they think it is toxic nebulized as well.

Any answers and advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you!
 
Sending support. Someone with more medical knowledge will be along soon. Poor piggy, he is having a hard time 🙏
 
Hi and welcome

I am very sorry about your struggles. You sound like a very caring piggy parent.

Has your vet done a lab test from a nasal swab to see whether there are potential resistancies and which antibiotic your poorly one is responding to? It won't be cheap and there is no guarantee that the antibiotic will actually work in some cases.

Unfortunately for you, I have no personal experience with persistent respiratory illnesses, resistancies and treatment options for well over a decade. My last case goes back 13 years ago; that is well before nebulising has become part of treatment and in the times when the choice between antibiotics was a lot more limited, apart from trying zithromax (azithromycin) as a kind of last ditch option. Marbocyl (a stronger relative of baytril/enrofloxacin) alone or in combination with another antibiotic has in some cases been used successfully.

Please be patient. I hope that there will be more answers from members with more practical experiences. We are all doing this for free in our own free time.
 
grotty said:
Hi all,
I have a pig in serious condition right now. Here is the situation so far:
- unsure of exact age, probably around one year old
- it is likely that he has had an URI since his first owner
- his second owner treated him with orbax, then minocycline when that did not work
- he was rehomed to me and he was still in bad shape
- over the course of 2 months we tried bactrim, then doxycycline with no results from either
- got the pneumonia diagnosis
- I set up a nebulizer for him and as of early may, we've been doing baytril nebulized
- he is also on benebac and ivermectin for mange mites that developed this week

While the treatment helps with his breathing, we're almost at a month and I'm not seeing any progress. I've been reading a lot of posts on here so I know it can take a while to clear up, I'm just very worried about him.

I saw a lot of people using gentamicin in the nebulizer instead and possibly baytril or doxy orally to add an extra punch. My vet is declining the gentamicin route. Are there any resources that I could show them to change their mind? I know it is toxic when given orally, but they think it is toxic nebulized as well.

Any answers and advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you!
Click to expand...
Sorry I don't have anything to say to help, but you could always try this respiratory healing frequency (along with whatever else you decide to try), it certainly can't hurt and there are many positive comments to say it does help! Both people and animals can benefit from frequencies and you can just play it for your piggy to listen to, best with speakers if you have them! I have (and do still) played different frequencies many times for my lot and they do seem to help as long as you're consistent with them!

"Many respiratory diseases are caused by the infestation of viruses or bacteria which settle in there and limit the functionality of the body's processes.These biofrequencies are known to trigger resonance effects for the body and immune system and can help to lead foreign pathogens such as microbes and germs back into the immune symbiosis.We are focused on a functioning overall human health system without destroying microbes randomly. The aim is to establish a symbiotic balance. Frequencies used (Hz): 336, 712, 278, 18919.09, 941.93".......
Link here: - YouTube

There's also a whole search page here I have linked to frequencies that help with pneumonia....Best of luck! 🤞 🤞
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pneumonia+rife+frequency
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

I am very sorry about your struggles. You sound like a very caring piggy parent.

Has your vet done a lab test from a nasal swab to see whether there are potential resistancies and which antibiotic your poorly one is responding to? It won't be cheap and there is no guarantee that the antibiotic will actually work in some cases.

Unfortunately for you, I have no personal experience with persistent respiratory illnesses, resistancies and treatment options for well over a decade. My last case goes back 13 years ago; that is well before nebulising has become part of treatment and in the times when the choice between antibiotics was a lot more limited, apart from trying zithromax (azithromycin) as a kind of last ditch option. Marbocyl (a stronger relative of baytril/enrofloxacin) alone or in combination with another antibiotic has in some cases been used successfully.

Please be patient. I hope that there will be more answers from members with more practical experiences. We are all doing this for free in our own free time.
Click to expand...
Sadly we did send a swab to the lab and the results came back inconclusive. They told us they tried to grow a culture twice and they couldn't get anything. We confirmed pneumonia with an X-ray the same day as the swab though and his lungs are very very inflamed.

Thank you for your reply. I will be patient :)
 
grotty said:
Sadly we did send a swab to the lab and the results came back inconclusive. They told us they tried to grow a culture twice and they couldn't get anything. We confirmed pneumonia with an X-ray the same day as the swab though and his lungs are very very inflamed.

Thank you for your reply. I will be patient :)
Click to expand...

BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry. It is so heartbreaking and upsetting when you and your vet start running out of options and there is nothing else really promising around.
 
I am so sorry you are going through this, I know how hard, tiring and emotional trying to help them is. I have a piggy going through it at the moment too. He is having oral Baytril, Metacam and being nebulised with F10 antiseptic. The treatment improved his condition in the beginning but we now seem to be going backwards.
I hope you can find a treatment that will help. Sending your piggy healing vibes.




CTWC said:
Is pneumonia something guineas can recover from? 💐
Click to expand...
Yes, I had 5 piggies with it in 2022 at the same time, 4 survived. Red, Brillo and Freddie are still with us, the piggy we lost already had respiratory damage from an infection he had as a baby (before he came to me) so everything was unfortunately stacked against him.
 
CTWC said:
Is pneumonia something guineas can recover from? 💐
Click to expand...

It very much depends on what is causing the pneumonia and whether it responds to medication or not. We are sadly increasingly seeing resistancy cases due to long term overuse not just in human medicine but also in agriculture (meat). There is sadly no magic wand for the latter case. :( :( :(

In the early years when we were mostly either dealing with a bacterial URI descending on the lungs (which was usually curable with a standard antibiotic) or with what was then called 'walking pneumonia', i.e. one of the really nasty germs that could in extreme cases kill within hours without causing the usual URI symptoms. The first usually came with untreated new pet shop piggies or putting them outside or on the lawn too early and the latter was more common in outdoors piggies although it could and can still affect indoors piggies. However, we are see those extreme cases increasingly rarely, thankfully. They would affect generally more the more frail or pregnant piggies whose immune system wasn't strong enough to fend bugs off but often leave the stronger companions unaffected.
 
grotty said:
Hi all,
I have a pig in serious condition right now. Here is the situation so far:
- unsure of exact age, probably around one year old
- it is likely that he has had an URI since his first owner
- his second owner treated him with orbax, then minocycline when that did not work
- he was rehomed to me and he was still in bad shape
- over the course of 2 months we tried bactrim, then doxycycline with no results from either
- got the pneumonia diagnosis
- I set up a nebulizer for him and as of early may, we've been doing baytril nebulized
- he is also on benebac and ivermectin for mange mites that developed this week

While the treatment helps with his breathing, we're almost at a month and I'm not seeing any progress. I've been reading a lot of posts on here so I know it can take a while to clear up, I'm just very worried about him.

I saw a lot of people using gentamicin in the nebulizer instead and possibly baytril or doxy orally to add an extra punch. My vet is declining the gentamicin route. Are there any resources that I could show them to change their mind? I know it is toxic when given orally, but they think it is toxic nebulized as well.

Any answers and advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you!
Click to expand...

I had a Guniea pig who has now sadly gone with the same thing. We tried Septrin and it cleared her up. It’s worth a try?
 
Gadzy said:
I had a Guniea pig who has now sadly gone with the same thing. We tried Septrin and it cleared her up. It’s worth a try?
Click to expand...

Septrin is one of the many brand names for what is best known as bactrim in the USA (active ingredients: Trimethoprim / Sulfamethoxazole). It is one of the two antibiotics officially licensed for guinea pigs.
 
Gadzy said:
Ooops that’s my bad! I for some reason thought it said Baytril!
Click to expand...

Baytril has enrofloxacin as its active ingredient. It is still the most used and in many countries still the only licensed antibiotic for guinea pigs.

Baytril and bactrim are two antibiotics that will be first tested and included in any resistancy lab tests because they are the only officially licensed ones for guinea pigs. ;)
 
Wiebke said:
Baytril has enrofloxacin as its active ingredient. It is still the most used and in many countries still the only licensed antibiotic for guinea pigs.

Baytril and bactrim are two antibiotics that will be first tested and included in any resistancy lab tests because they are the only officially licensed ones for guinea pigs. ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah :), sorry I should have read their initial post more carefully as I thought they only tried Baytril and Doxy so that’s my bad! Either way fingers crossed @grotty
 
Well done, excellent to hear that your piggy is going well and getting better ❤️
 
CTWC said:
Is pneumonia something guineas can recover from? 💐
Click to expand...
It's a serious illness and sometimes pigs can't beat it despite our best medical efforts, but some pigs can and do survive and recover.
 
grotty said:
Update in case anyone finds this thread looking for help: We went with Azithromycin orally + nebulizer sessions with just saline and he is recovering! :)
Click to expand...
That's awesome- glad you found something that is working!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top