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Rattling

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piggielittle

piggielittle

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi one of my newly rescued piggies'Hattie' has a rattly chest i took her to the vets last week and she was given baytril i have been back today not with Hattie (as i am desperatley trying not to stress them out as they are very shy) but just to speak to the vet again and she has given me 2 more weeks worth of baytril. she also suggested bathing her as she is very dirty from her previous home 'she shared a hamster sized cage with her friend Betty on newspaper on the floor of a bedroom they both have Vit C defiency nails were super long and curled Hattie has a big bald patch and crusty skin Bettys ears were so waxy i am surprised if she could hear!
Anyway the vet today has suggested bathing them she said the dirty fur could be added to her chest problems i am a bit dubious as she has a poorly chest but i guess if i make sure she is nice and dry and kept out of drafts it should be fine what do you peeps think? i would imagine it will be pretty stressful for them.
many thanks for any advice given.
 
Lovely of you to rescue these little ones. I am still very much learning but read here that if they have any respiratory problems not to bathe? If she catches more cold then it could be fatal? There are some amazing people here that will def be able to advise :)
 
When one of mine had a respiratory problem I changed he's bedding from wood shaving. I found wood shaving give him respiratory and skin problems. What bedding do you use?
 
i use ambriose covered in hay my gut feeling is to the leave the bathing for now as they are still getting use to me i dont want to put them off me..
 
I would wait with bathing until the rattling has gone down. Try to time it so that she's got a full day to dry in a warm, cosy place well away from any draft; she will probably be spooked by a dryer.

Please be aware that baytril can cause soft poos or loss of appetite because it is very harsh on the guts. Weigh your poorly girl daily at the same time in the feeding cycle. If you can, give her a probiotic. You can order good ones like bio-lapsis or avipro plus online, but in a pinch, a probiotic from a supermarket will do. Give her a pinch on a piece of veg or in a little bit of water (if she eats the veg but not the powder) about 1-2 hours after the baytril. You can mask the awful taste of the baytril with some ribena, or give her a little bit of ribena immediately after to wash away the horrible taste.
 
I agree with waiting to bath her, at a push you could use a baby wipe just to get rid of some of the dirt.

If her chest is rattling did the vet mention there being any fluid on her chest? If so she may need some diuretic such as Furosemide to clear any fluid.
 
thank you all...the vet did suggest putting her in a carrier and covering it with a towel then put some hot water with olbas oil in and let the steam help clear her chest?
 
That's a good idea. You can use a steam inhaler too. Also Bisolvon is good for clearing any mucous, you would need to get it from the vet though.
 
If the other one is rattling you will need to get them seen by a vet as they will need antibiotics too.

If you could add your location to your profile it may help us with further advice.
 
Agree with the others about Baytril :( :( It's the big guns on ABX and my Vet won't prescribe it.
Oh dear, you are not having a very good time and feel for you - I wouldn't bathe but definitely enquire about the Bisolvon from your Vet, it's very good for loosening any mucous, piggy will sneeze a few more times but it helps enormously for a stubborn URI. Is your Vet an exotic by any chance ?
We've had great results with Marbocyl/Bisolvon and the brilliant Metacam which acts as an anti inflammatory as well as analgesic, one of my girls developed Pleurisy after being seen by a local Vet, Baytril didn't touch her so her URI had got worse. That's when we discovered the amazing world of Exotic Vets specifically trained in small animals etc. She made a massive turn around in 10 days on different medications and saved her life :)
 
betty was given baytril as well just to be on the safe side so now i am thinking is it the hay i am buying the best hay for food (dust free hay company)but i use a cheaper one for the bedding maybe it is dusty.
i feed them Beaphar guinea pig food and veg, hay and they have a oxbow vit C tablet every day they are eating and drinking and pooing, weeing i want to give these piggies a better life they have had 3 years of existing not living...makes me angry :cen:

i have them in a 5ft hutch in our shed it is a lovely 12 ft shed i have a heater in there to keep the temperature at an even keel usually 13c in the day and put it up to 15 at night its lovely and warm but not humid there is no condensation at all.

i live in oxfordshire please can anyone recommend a good exotic vet please

ps i am just off out to buy some carefresh bedding.
 
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How were the girls when you took them in ? Any illnesses notable ? Just trying to eliminate causes. They came from a bad background so am swayed to thinking a change of environment, hay as you said could be factors. Have you thought of fleece bedding at all - it's extremely popular with the lovely colours/designs with piggy owners ? We use vet bed as it suits our piggies but not all people like it.
The dust free hay co. sent me a large bag of hay a few yrs back and it was musty/damp etc. :( All hay stored in bags may have been there for 12 months so imagine...shudders...do not wish to scaremonger people but when I discovered this, switched to farm bales...we go and pick the bale we want...always the stalkiest and greenest of course :whistle: Much cheaper, freshly cut and you can pile it in for your furries :yahoo: Since doing this, touches wood, have not had a single issue with chesty piggies :) :) Maybe the heating is a little dry ? Process of elimination is what I always do as more often than not, it is something we can learn from and avoid :D x
 
It is not unusual for a change in living conditions, especially from poor to good, to be accompanied by the development of a URI (and certain skin conditions may also be manifest such as mites and fungal)

Guinea pigs carry the bugs and parasites that cause these infections around with them all the time and for the most part their immune system is strong and healthy enough to fight them off. Poor living conditions, Vit C deficiency, or an environmental shock (ie sudden change in temperature by +/- 10deg C) will weaken the immune system so it is not surprising that both girls have developed rattly chests given where they came from and is in no way a reflection on their current living conditions. When I take in rescue guinea pigs from poor conditions, I am always watching for URI's which normally show themselves within 72hours of rescue but can take a week to show.

Definitely do not bathe as you will be introducing more environmental shock and that will make the infection worse.

The respiratory condition needs to be treated first - then worry about the skin/fur once it has cleared up. Baytril is still the antibioitc of choice for most vets and it is effective against a wide range of bugs. however some bugs are developing resistance to baytril and if there is no improvement after 10 days then it would be worth discussing an alternative with the vet.

Bisolven will help and as Helen has said, a good cavy savvy vet will be able to tell if there is also pneumonia/fluid in the lungs in which case fruseamide will assist greatly or whether the infection is located just in the upper respiratory tract (nose and throat area). If their breathing does not imporve or gets worse they need to gop straight back to the vet for re-assessment.

The most important thing is to make sure they are eating and pooping as piggies with blocked noses don;t like to eat and their guts slow down from lack of food/fibre. If necessary you need to hand feed with mushed pellets or critical care to suppolement their food intake as well as wieghing them daily for signs of weight loss.

Not sure which end of Oxon you are located but the best vet to see is Simon Maddock in Northampton at Cat and Rabbit if you can travel that far. He may decide to prescibe an alternative antibiotic to baytril.

HTH
x
 
i got them 2 weeks ago and i noticed the rattling the next day she had lots of crusty stuff around her eyes but that has gone now and it is just clean bare skin their coats were dirty and dull i have given them a good brush today and the coats are beginining to shine Betty has a rex type coat and Hattie is long haired i noticed tiny little brown specs in the brush after brushing Betty so i gave them a drop of ivermectin each.

when i put them back in the hutch i am sure Betty was popcorning ...hope so that means she must be happy?

good point maybe the air is too dry i have put vet bed in now the hay from dust free hay company comes in boxes i normally empty them out straight away might try some ings hay sadly i don't think we have room to store a bale.

thank you all so much for you input it is so helpful...:D
 
Popcorning means that Betty is happy and that she is also feeling well enough in herself to express her joy and extra energy.
 
Baytril will probably not work very well if it is a respiratory infection. Septrin would be my antibiotic of choice. One of my sows was rattling recently and also has recurrent fungal infections on her back. She had a course of itrafungol (an antifungal, antibiotic cat med) to kill and fungal spores that may have got into her lungs and then a course of septrin and she's hugely improved. You're doing a great job!
 
i had a good listen tonight and it sounds like the rattling is more in her nose but there is no discharge from her nose or her eyes she is eating but to be honest i am not sure about the baytril either i am going to a different vet if there is not improvement by the week end.

hey thank you Elwickcavies i am doing my best loving looking after these little piggies :luv:
 
Get the vet to listen to her lungs, it may well be just in her nose. You could try a small dab of Vick's on her nose to see if that helps any. Let me know how you get on! x
 
I've used Vick before & can recommend it. One of my piggies, Rhubarb was a bit rattly a fortnight ago & she went on Baytril 0.3ml twice a day for 7 days & was back to normal before the week was out.
 
As Pebble says, Simon Mattock in Northampton is considered to be one of leading exotic vets, so he would be well worth going to if you can.

We had a very good experience with Great Western Exotics in Swindon, they saved our boys life when our old vets couldn't.
 
thank you so much everybody well tonight there is no rattling! i stopped the baytril yesterday i think it was affecting her appetite when i changed her vet bed tonight it was soaked in pee and a whole bottle of water had been drunk is this bad she did pee at the vets and vet commented that it was quite dilute? is that bad? finger crossed the rattling has gone! that would be amazing!
 
If she is drinking a lot that needs to be checked out too as she may have something going on with her bladder or an infection. I have not really known Baytril affect the bladder though someone else may have more info. It would be very dilute if she has drunk a lot. Good the rattling has stopped.
 
thought i would update all you caring people who were so kind to advise , well i stopped the baytril after all the advice and she didn't get any worse in fact she improved she ate better and was generally looking better the rattling has now virtually disappeared i hear it only very occasionally if she is feeling a little stressed like after she has had a brush and a trim i have also now bathed them both and the coats look much better. They eat well and have time out on the lawn every day i am just looking for a guinea pig ark now i have just started a thread , they are currently having time in my rabbits run which is about 16 ft long but its not really suitable for piggies to be left alone i want to put the ark inside the run so they have added protection if i were to pop out. my rabbits only go in there for grazing as they live in a aviary.

so looks like a happy ending for these little piggies massive thanks for everyone's input!
 
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