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Pneunomia, Help

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Hannah Boyd

Hannah Boyd

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone,

Just been to the vets (Holly House, N.Leeds) with my 5 year old neutered male boar, he has been losing weight over a few weeks (which I attributed to getting older), drinking a lot (difficult to tell and I attributed this to the warmer weather) and lying down more than usual which I also thought may be the warmer weather. This morning noticed his breathing seemed laboured and called the vets, just back now and they suspect pneumonia. The vet basically said it could be a number of things, so I could admit him for tests etc there, or I could take him home and medicate for pneumonia. I took home with Baytril and Metacam as he is older, was very stressed at the vets and I'd rather he was at home. So I had two questions, firstly is it contagious/should I separate from his 2 female friends (4 years old) - I have done as a precaution so he is in a separate room in an indoor cage. I have disinfected the cage he is now in thoroughly with F10 and put all new bedding in. Should I also clean and disinfect the girls cage/run? What other precautions should I take?

Also, is there anything else other than medicate that I can do? Would a hot water bottle/snuggle safe help? Or will he already be too hot? The room is roughly 18 degrees and he is an indoor piggie already so used to those temperatures. Any specific veggies or food which is good for him? I already have critical care. He is on Baytril 0.2ml twice daily and Metacam 0.1ml twice daily. The vet said to bring him back at the end of the week if he improves for a check up/more medication or earlier if he gets worse. If he gets worse, I would intend to keep him comfortable at home - I know it sounds awful but I simply cannot afford more invasive medicating and he is already an older piggie who has had a good quality of life and I intend to keep it that way. All suggestions and help are very welcome and appreciated! I have never had a piggie with pneumonia before, I feel bad that he got this bad before we had a vet visit. He has been alert, eating, drinking and pooing as normal and still is.
 
Hi! I am very sorry. I don't think that you can do a lot more re. disinfection. Respiratory infections are usually only transmitted if the guinea pigs don't have a fully developed immune system yet (pet shop babies) or have a lowered/damaged immune system. It sounds like your boy has been carrying things around for a while, so your girls have been exposed to it but have been able to cope with it. Respiratory infections are airborne/contact vectors.

Did your vet prescribe a diuretic to help clear the congested lungs and did he check the heart and kidneys?

What you can do:
- place a bowl of steaming water next to the cage and refresh it from time to time to help ease the breathing. You can add 2 drops of olbas oil to the water if you wish. Vicks however contains substances that are noxious to guinea pigs.
- keep your boy warm, but not hot. You can heat a snugglesafe for half the time you normally do (it cools much quicker of course, too), but give your boy the option to move away if he becomes too warm and still be cosy and comfy. Replace the cosies/refresh the bedding area regularly if he is not moving much.
- weigh daily at the same time and if necessary, top up with syringe feed. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. Baytril is additionally an appetite dampener/killer. Don't syringe/force feed if your boy deteriorates suddenly and becomes too apathetic or weak to take any food or to swallow.
- prop his guts up with a pinch of probiotics 1-2 hours after the antibiotic
- boost his immune system with giving 1/4 of a human vitamin C tablet once daily or 1/8 twice daily.
You can find tips on what you can do with what you have got handy as well as information on supportive care products in our illustrated step-by-step guide: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

We have got a recommended vet locator at the top if you want to get a second opinion. Guinea Pig Vet Locator
 
Hi @Wiebke thank you so much for this advice. So do you mean I should keep him separate but don't worry about disinfecting the girls cage? Or just to put him back in with them?

No diuretic as the vet wasn't 100% sure of pneumonia. She offered to check heart and kidneys but he was so stressed that we felt that getting him home and relaxed again would be best (and indeed as soon as he was back home in the 'guinea pig room' he started munching the veggies I had put in his carrier for the vet visit).

He weighed 941g at the vet visit which is a drop down from roughly 1.2kg at his healthiest/middle aged. But I have not kept up to date with the weighings, I will start this again though. I have probiotics so I will use those too. And will go and get some vit C. Do you syringe that or add to water? He is a nightmare to syringe meds...

Thanks for all the information, I am so glad I took him in earlier and didn't wait any longer. The vet we saw was great, I've never seen a vet so gentle with a piggie before and she gave me all the options in great detail, she seemed to definitely know her stuff! It's thanks to this forum I found this vets!
 
An update - he is now not showing interest in cucumber or lettuce (two of their favourites) and I usually use the cucumber to put the probiotic on. So I just syringe fed two 1ml syringes of critical care, probiotic and vit C. Roughly a teaspoon of critical care, maybe slightly less. He struggles and still is very strong, he also manages to wheek very loudly at me when he's had enough! But I am worried he is not eating veg now, I have seen him pick at some hay though and he did have a small bit of celery and pepper earlier this afternoon. Will syringe feed again later, and try some more veggies too.
 
Hannah Boyd said:
Hi @Wiebke thank you so much for this advice. So do you mean I should keep him separate but don't worry about disinfecting the girls cage? Or just to put him back in with them?

No diuretic as the vet wasn't 100% sure of pneumonia. She offered to check heart and kidneys but he was so stressed that we felt that getting him home and relaxed again would be best (and indeed as soon as he was back home in the 'guinea pig room' he started munching the veggies I had put in his carrier for the vet visit).

He weighed 941g at the vet visit which is a drop down from roughly 1.2kg at his healthiest/middle aged. But I have not kept up to date with the weighings, I will start this again though. I have probiotics so I will use those too. And will go and get some vit C. Do you syringe that or add to water? He is a nightmare to syringe meds...

Thanks for all the information, I am so glad I took him in earlier and didn't wait any longer. The vet we saw was great, I've never seen a vet so gentle with a piggie before and she gave me all the options in great detail, she seemed to definitely know her stuff! It's thanks to this forum I found this vets!
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It is good to know that your vet has considered the various options and that the treatment is based on an informed decision.

I would keep him separate unless you feel that it is stressing him out unduly, especially as your vet is not convinced that he is dealing with pneumonia. It is good that you have had your boy seen promptly.

You can try to just pop a bit of a tablet into his mouth if you'd rather avoid giving the vitamin dissolved in water.

All the best!
 
I will keep him separate as I have another two in the same room but separate cage and I don't want to risk it. He doesn't seem stressed and actually one of the things which made me realise he wasn't well is that he was staying in their loft bit away from his girls when usually he likes to stay with them. So maybe he is preferring to be on his own. He HAS eaten the lettuce! I've just been back with some parsley and grass (which he is eating) and the lettuce (and I think the cucumber too) had gone! Didn't want to disturb him much when he's on such a good eating spree so I've left him to it. Thank you again.
 
Hi everyone, some bad news I'm afraid. Poor boy passed away overnight, he seemed worse last night and I had a bit of a gut feeling that it would happen so I gave him a little extra metacam and made him super comfortable. He leaves behind me and 4 girly piggies.
 
Thank you, it's so sad to lose him but I have to remember that he had a healthy and happy life, he'd never been to the vet before now! Except to be neutered so he could have his two girly friends.
 
Hannah Boyd said:
Thank you, it's so sad to lose him but I have to remember that he had a healthy and happy life, he'd never been to the vet before now! Except to be neutered so he could have his two girly friends.
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I know how you feel I lost my girls last year within a week of each other. They were around 5 1/2 and the first had a tumour. I had no idea she was so ill - she was happily munching away one day and gone when I checked on her in the morning. I'm sure the other girl died of a broken heart.

However it sounds to me like you gave your piggy a lovely life and you should be proud of that fact xx
 
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