Any info or advice would be appreicated. Today, I took my daughter and her Guinea pig to the vet, because, as she said, something was wrong with him. He hadn't been eating or drinking much for the past couple of days, was lethargic, and his eyes were mattering. So, we took him in, vet said, he thought an upper respiratory infection, and was going to prescribe an oral antibiotic. My (adult) daughter, is mildly mentally disabled, and altho fairly high functioning, but I didn't think she was going to have much success at attempting to give oral medication, so I asked about the possibility of giving an injection instead. He said, sure, that the one they would give isn't something they can give to a Guinea pig orally, because they can't tolerate it, but that they would do ok with injection. So, he gave him the injection and we left. As we drove back to her apartment, he was acting agitated, and kept arching his head up. She thought he was just getting agitated from being out of his cage for so long. I just thought it was strange. I went in to her apartment with her, to help her administer the eye drops that he also gave her to use, and make sure that she could do it herself. As soon as she sat down with him on her lap, she said, 'now he's not moving at all. Immediately, I felt a feeling of doom. I turned around and said, 'what'? She said, 'he's just lying there now'. I looked at him and tried to nudge him. He didn't move. I tried again. Still nothing. I tried a little harder, and he was basically lifeless. His little feet has already began to curl up. I felt his chest - and didn't feel any breathing or heart beat. 20-30 minutes after getting that shot, he was dead. I called the vet and took him back. He was, of course, gone. My daughter was crying. I said, 'could that injection have done anything'? He, of course, said 'I think just the stress of being in the car probably stressed him out more then his little system could handle, unfortunately.' So - my question is, after reading info on line about this drug, I am very suspicious that that is what killed him. The drug that was injected into him was called, 'Convenia'. And from what I am reading, is contraindicated in dogs and cats, but I can't seem to find any info on smaller animals such as Guinea pigs. Please comment with any factual info that you may have.
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Question About Sick Guinea Pigs -
- Thread starter Fiona L.
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i can't comment on the drug that was used but so sorry for your loss .. your poor daughter, bet she was distraught xx
[size=]BIG HUGS![/size]
I am so sorry! What a shock and what a nighmare for you! Without knowing what your vet did give your piggy, we can unfortunately only guess, but the timing indicates rather a bad reaction to the drug.
With guinea pigs it is important that you start syringe feeding as soon as it stops eating, as otherwise the guts start closing down. When it is becomes lethargic, then you are already very much in a race for life and death. Guinea pigs can go downhill with rather frightening speed. Yours sounded like it had a respiratory infection (URI), which can kill if left untreated, sometimes very quickly.
Here is more information on URI: Guinea Lynx :: URI
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Here is a link to recommended piggy savvy vets in several countries: Veterinarians - The GLX-Files
For UK members, we have got a vet locator on the top bar.
Please try to comfort your daughter that she has done what she could and that she did get her piggy to the vet as any good owner should. What happened is not her fault. Many of us who love our pets have feelings of guilt at the onset of the grieving process, feeling like we failed a beloved one in our care, especially when things have gone wrong and we are left with lots of questions.
If your daughter's guinea pig has got a companion, then you may find this link here helpful: Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
You and your daughter are welcome to post a tribute in our Rainbow Bridge section if you feel that this helps you at any point of th grieving process. Rainbow Bridge Pets
I am so sorry! What a shock and what a nighmare for you! Without knowing what your vet did give your piggy, we can unfortunately only guess, but the timing indicates rather a bad reaction to the drug.
With guinea pigs it is important that you start syringe feeding as soon as it stops eating, as otherwise the guts start closing down. When it is becomes lethargic, then you are already very much in a race for life and death. Guinea pigs can go downhill with rather frightening speed. Yours sounded like it had a respiratory infection (URI), which can kill if left untreated, sometimes very quickly.
Here is more information on URI: Guinea Lynx :: URI
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Here is a link to recommended piggy savvy vets in several countries: Veterinarians - The GLX-Files
For UK members, we have got a vet locator on the top bar.
Please try to comfort your daughter that she has done what she could and that she did get her piggy to the vet as any good owner should. What happened is not her fault. Many of us who love our pets have feelings of guilt at the onset of the grieving process, feeling like we failed a beloved one in our care, especially when things have gone wrong and we are left with lots of questions.
If your daughter's guinea pig has got a companion, then you may find this link here helpful: Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
You and your daughter are welcome to post a tribute in our Rainbow Bridge section if you feel that this helps you at any point of th grieving process. Rainbow Bridge Pets
I'm so sorry for your loss. ((HUGS.)) That sounds like a shock and a tough experience for you and your daughter.
There are antibiotics that can be given safely by injection but not orally. The reason why they are dangerous given orally is because they kill gut flora that help the guinea pig to digest and the guinea pig can subsequently die when the digestive system ceases to function properly. Giving it by injection bypasses the digestive system and thus makes it a safer drug in that form (though all antibiotics can bug a guinea pig's stomach. Their digestive system is very sensitive.) Just giving this as an overview as to why some meds are safe in some forms but not others.
After looking up Convenia, I have found that it is an antibiotic called cefovecin sodium. There is conflicting info out there about its use in guinea pigs. Like a lot of meds, the testing is for dogs and cats, meaning that the research on its safety in guinea pigs is limited (but this is true for most meds when you have a less common pet. There often isn't solid data out there.) However, I did see on various sites that this drug is being used to treat infections in guinea pigs without an immediate severe reaction. So it doesn't sound to me as though the vet was negligent in giving the med, as it is being used in guinea pigs elsewhere. My guess would be that if the drug was directly to blame, it would have been an unusual allergic reaction and not that the med itself is intrinsically deadly to guinea pigs.
The agitation and raising of the head sounds like respiratory distress to me, and I have seen it in some of my own pigs when they passed. It's possible that it could have been an allergic reaction to the drug, but it's also possible that due to his illness he was not getting enough oxygen or had fluid on the lungs, or that he was simply breathing abnormally as part of the process of his body shutting down. Guinea pigs hide illness very well because, as prey animals, showing sickness singles them out to predators in the wild. So by the time you see obvious symptoms like lethargy and refusal to eat, the animal is often already quite ill. Respiratory illness in guinea pigs can kill quickly, sometimes even with treatment and when caught early. So please don't you (or your daughter) feel like you were to blame. It sounds as though you did all you could and sometimes, unfortunately, small animals get very sick very fast and don't pull through. ((HUGS)) to you both.
There are antibiotics that can be given safely by injection but not orally. The reason why they are dangerous given orally is because they kill gut flora that help the guinea pig to digest and the guinea pig can subsequently die when the digestive system ceases to function properly. Giving it by injection bypasses the digestive system and thus makes it a safer drug in that form (though all antibiotics can bug a guinea pig's stomach. Their digestive system is very sensitive.) Just giving this as an overview as to why some meds are safe in some forms but not others.
After looking up Convenia, I have found that it is an antibiotic called cefovecin sodium. There is conflicting info out there about its use in guinea pigs. Like a lot of meds, the testing is for dogs and cats, meaning that the research on its safety in guinea pigs is limited (but this is true for most meds when you have a less common pet. There often isn't solid data out there.) However, I did see on various sites that this drug is being used to treat infections in guinea pigs without an immediate severe reaction. So it doesn't sound to me as though the vet was negligent in giving the med, as it is being used in guinea pigs elsewhere. My guess would be that if the drug was directly to blame, it would have been an unusual allergic reaction and not that the med itself is intrinsically deadly to guinea pigs.
The agitation and raising of the head sounds like respiratory distress to me, and I have seen it in some of my own pigs when they passed. It's possible that it could have been an allergic reaction to the drug, but it's also possible that due to his illness he was not getting enough oxygen or had fluid on the lungs, or that he was simply breathing abnormally as part of the process of his body shutting down. Guinea pigs hide illness very well because, as prey animals, showing sickness singles them out to predators in the wild. So by the time you see obvious symptoms like lethargy and refusal to eat, the animal is often already quite ill. Respiratory illness in guinea pigs can kill quickly, sometimes even with treatment and when caught early. So please don't you (or your daughter) feel like you were to blame. It sounds as though you did all you could and sometimes, unfortunately, small animals get very sick very fast and don't pull through. ((HUGS)) to you both.
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