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Poorly Pig

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kaycdee

kaycdee

Junior Guinea Pig
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Dec 22, 2012
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Location
Lincoln, England
I am getting really worried about my 4 year old gp Cola. I took him to the vet three days ago as he wasn't his usual self and had crusty eyes. The vet gave him eye drops and baytril for a respiratory illness. He is no better, in fact he is worse. He is struggling to eat although he is trying and his poops are very small. He usually drinks a lot as we'll but I haven't seen him drinking at all over the last few days. Also he used to be really chubby and is losing weight. The vet said he was on the lean side but okay. How long should it take for the baytril to work? Poor Cola; he is looking really sad :(
 
You should normally be looking around 48 hours or so for the baytril to kick in. It may be asking the vet regarding switching to a different AB if there has not been improvement. I would advise re-visiting a vet ASAP and discussing the possible use of a diuretic such as furosemide, this will help remove any fluid off the lungs.
Please weigh daily from now on so you can see how much food your are getting in them and consider syringe feeding with Critical Care or mushed up pellets, I am tagging in furryfriends @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary as regards to syringe feeding experience. It is best to use a 1ml syringe with the end trimmed off (make sure the plunger can't come out) and carefully filed down at the end so there are no sharp edges. Always syringe feed from the side of the mouth carefully.


I have looked and your closest piggy vets are listed below, if possible it would be good to see a cavy savy vet.
It can be worth ringing round all your local vets and those in surrounding areas see if they have an exotics vet or someone with special interest in piggies (that is how we found ours)


Chapel House Vets
Kathryn Reed
Hady Hill
Chesterfield, Derbyshire S410DZ
01246 222232

and

Alfreton Park Veterinary Hospital
Ellie Whitehead
216 King Street
Alfreton
Derbyshire DE55 7DF
 
thank you so much for your advice, I will see how he goes over the next couple of hours.
 
I can thoroughly recommend Alfreton Park I won't go anywhere else. Ellie should still be at work but she is due maternity leave shortly but if shes off you only need to ask to see Claire Bush and shes just as good. I would seek another opinion as if he is getting worse he might need different antibiotics or checking for fluid on his lungs. Personally I think you need to look into supplementing his feed as his guts slowing down, you can use critical care or you can mash his own pellets up with some warm water and allow to cool then syringe feed him. Also are you using probiotics as baytril can be unkind to a piggies gut?
 
Are you being able to get any syringe food into him? It can be very difficult when they have respiratory problems. Has the vet said whether it was an upper respiratory problem or a pneumonia? You should have seen some improvement by now if the antibiotic was going to work so you really must get to a guinea pig savvy vet, as a change of antibiotic may be needed or maybe a diuretic.
 
I agree, it is possible that he needs a different type of antibiotic and also diuretic if there is any fluid.

Also if he is snotty, then Bisolvon could help to get rid of any mucous but you would need to get this from a vet. Steam therapy can help too with a couple of drops of Olbas oil. Either place the bowl next to the cage or you can use a steam inhaler in 5 second bursts.
 
If his chest is noisy or crackley it's not a good sign, I lost my piggie to pneumonia I moved fast but to no avail. If he's not eating and is not well could have had it a while and cos they are so good at covering it up you've not noticed. As said before baytril should show improvement within no longer than 48 hours. I'd go back with him ASAP good luck hope cola gets well soon:luv:
 
furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary said:
Are you being able to get any syringe food into him? It can be very difficult when they have respiratory problems. Has the vet said whether it was an upper respiratory problem or a pneumonia? You should have seen some improvement by now if the antibiotic was going to work so you really must get to a guinea pig savvy vet, as a change of antibiotic may be needed or maybe a diuretic.
Click to expand...

The vet just said it was 'probably' a respiratory illness as he couldn't find anything else wrong other than crusty eyes and nose. He said his chest was clear although I've heard some crackles occasionally. He is also finding it hard to squeak. I can see he is trying but all that comes out is a whisper. He is clearly hungry as he tries to eat but doesn't get very far. I wonder if it's something to do with his teeth. Maybe I shall find out later.
 
Hi there, think i would try for a second opinion vet- wise if i were you, "probably a respiratory illness" sounds like a i'll give it a name, but i dont know what it is diagnosis, would it be possible to try either vets Rodentopia or sport_billy recommended?

If you can get a probiotic for him to help replenish his 'good' gut bacteria this should help him improve too, his digestive system must be kept going with food in & poops out, or the gut can go into stasis (stop working) which can cause major problems.
(might be worth a probiotics that are added to water &syringe feed him some of that, you can monitor his fluid intake better then too-use a small syringe to the side of the mouth, so it doesn't go down the wrong way) or wash some freshly picked grass&sprinkle probiotic on it, he might be able to manage strands of grass or hay more easily.

:nod:i would definitely try syringe feeding him-theres quite a knack to it(personally i'm rubbish at it)even mushed up pellets in hot water,then cooled (if you have no recovery food available),but little & often sounds like it may be the way to go with your little man.

if you can hear crackles it sounds like he could have some excess fluid going on in there somewhere, you will need to get this sorted,probably with a diuretic. if a piggy is given the option to breathe or eat... then breathing wins every time... no matter how hungry poor piggy is.
I have used olbus oil dripped on to a cloth near the cage/hutch but out of reach from my piggies before &it does seem to ease their breathing.

Checking the teeth would be good, may be an issue there like you said.

:tu: Good luck with Cola, wishing him a speedy recovery,plenty of healing vibes & a hug for you from the girls & I. xx
 
Thank you so much for your advice. I took Cola back to the vet last night who checked his teeth at my request. He said that the bottom teeth weren't meeting the top teeth and that they were digging into the top of his mouth. He clipped Cola's bottom teeth. This morning however, he didn't come running when I brought his veggies and when he did eventually get to them he couldn't pick anything up! In the end he just sat there looking very sad with a small pile of uneaten veggies at his feet. I'm going to try and give him some mashed up pellets today and I've already been giving him a probiotic to counteract the negative effects of the baytril.

I would like to take him to Alfreton Park but it is over an hour away and I think it might be too much for Cola to travel that far and back again.

My poor little man; it is heartbreaking to see him like this.
 
You really need to feed him the pellets as you need to keep his system going in order for him to survive. If he has a crusty nose it would mean there is mucus present so I would look at ways to help relieve the mucus as from experience this is what stops them eating. I'm treating one at the moment who wouldn't eat last week and i had to force feed him and after 4 days he started eating again on his own, so if you fight for them it can sometimes help. Might be a worthwhile shot starting a thread on here in the guinea pig chat or general chat asking if anyone can recommend a good vet in Lincoln. I know of one good one in Southwell which is a little closer if that helps that a friend uses, of maybe @Jess can recommend one she uses in Newark area?
 
Aw bless your little guy!

http://newarkvets.com
That link is to the vets I use. Absolutely amazing they have helped two of my piggies - one with a hay poke and one with ovarian cysts.
They can always squeeze in an emergency appointment...

There is another that I haven't been too but seem to have positive reviews

http://minstervet.com/about-us/

Hope that helps :)
 
If its a dental issue contact Debbie at furryfriends excellent adventure sanctuary- sorry my phone won't let me tag her in.
She has a wealth of experience with uteeth -but like the others said you have to keep the food going in.
Good luck with your little man. &more healing vibes coming his way. Xx
 
I've been syringe feeding him today. It's going fairly well but he still seems really weak. If I put him on the floor he waddles slowly away to find a hidey hole :(
We have an appointment at Newman Watters in Newark at ten past three this afternoon. Hopefully they can help him out.
 
Hope all goes well at the vets later and they can help him.
 
Well just got back from the vet. She checked Cola's eyes and thinks they are quite inflamed on the surface so she has given him some metacam for pain relief and some critical care. She suspects it could be his teeth roots which are causing the problem and said he could have an x-ray under GA to find out. But she also said that if it is the roots then they can't do anything about it. I have to take him back on Friday so I hope he picks up by then; there seems little point putting him through a GA if they can't cure it anyway. I just hope he picks up by Friday.
 
I tagged Debbie earlier so hopefully she will have some advice when she is online. She runs a sanctuary for dental pigs so will know about tooth root issues.
 
Cola is still looking very poorly today. He is making occasional crackling noises which worries me. He is weak but still has the strength to fight the syringe. We are due back at the vet tomorrow morning. I am starting to wonder if I am doing the right thing by putting him through all this :(

Also the vet would like to do a dental x-Ray but I'm not sure Cola would survive the anaesthetic. He really is a sorry sight :(
 
I'm sorry to say that Cola was pts this afternoon :(
He took a turn for the worse; he was struggling to breathe and wouldn't syringe feed.
Forgot how hard it is to say goodbye to our little friends when it is their time to go.
Thank you to everyone who gave me advice and support over the last few days.
Now I have to go and cuddle my one remaining piggy :(
 
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