Sneezing and choking

[3 little piggies]

Evening!
We have a 12 week old boar who we took to the vets yesterday.
He was listless, sneezing (phlegm coming out) & when drinking he seems to be regularly choking. Also his urine smells very strong.
The vet checked him over and said there was no visible problems other than low temperature, but put him on a 5 day course of baytril. We cannot get him to take the baytril - any tips would be welcome!
Also any advice on what anyone thinks may be wrong.
Thanks....

 

[Hermes]

This link may be helpful, I mean it in the nicest way but it really is just a matter of force - http://www.guinealynx.info/tips.html. Some people say to add cranberry juice or similar to make it more palatable (it's very bitter) but personally I feel this just means there's more liquid to try and get into the pig and it doesn't necessarily make it go down any easier.

If you have a look around on the guinealynx site then it also explains about probiotics potentially being beneficial for pigs on antibiotics.

As for what's wrong with him the sneezing and discharge sound like a upper respiratory tract infection and smelly urine can indicate urinary tract infection either way antibiotics should help. It's difficult to say online, only a reputable exotics vet can give an accurate diagnosis.

 

[sport_billy]

Baytril can be awkward as it tastes foul.

We do a 2 person technique, one person holds pig in air close to their chest while other holds head and syringes from side of mouth.

Please keep an eye on him and weigh daily, if he gets worse then get back to the vets ASAP. Lots of healing vibes to him, keep us updated

 

[3 little piggies]

We managed a two person approach, ignored him crying and had flat leaf parsley on hand for afterwards. He is now dozing on hubby's chest. Poor little baby!

 

[Freela]

I have found that the easiest way to get Baytril into my pigs is to sit down, stand the piggie on her back legs with one hand supporting her middle and her back pressed against my stomach, and then bend forward so I can see her mouth and then reach around with the other arm and syringe the meds into her mouth. It keeps her fairly restrained and gives me one free hand to get the meds in. She takes a lot of meds to manage bladder issues, so I have unfortunately gotten this down to a fine art by now! You may also want to try a probiotic. Baytril can upset their stomach sometimes. I have had some pigs be absolutely fine on it, and others have soft poos and lack of appetite. Keep weighing to make sure he is not losing. HTH a bit!

 

[wenton5]

Forgive me if I'm wrong everyone but could he possibly switch to Bactrim? If the Baytril doesn't help then you may want to get an xray, there could be a problem with the teeth or throat, he is so young I would look into getting a probiotic. I personally would also weight him to be sure that his appetite is staying up, that he is eating enough, weeing, pooping and warm. Is he having a negative response to drinking? You could try syringe feeding with some hay and pellet sludge. Is his urine clear or sludgy? You also may want to consider a urinalysis if it doesn't clear up. He is so young. Thank you. L

 

[shiny]

Any news on your baby guinea? How is his weight holding up? I would be weighing daily at the moment & second what wenton5 says about making sure his appetite is ok.

This sounds very much like a respiratory infection & will need close attention is such a youngster. Five days of baytril is unlikely to be long enough I would think so please do go back to your vet if he is not better. I would consider switching to an exotics vet too as I would have expected the vet to suggest more than just 'he is ok but temperature low'. I would also be worried about the strong-smelling urine. This could be due to an urine infection or possibly him being dehyrated & making his urine more concentrated I guess. I would keep a close eye on that too.

I would also be using a probiotic, we get Bio-Lapis which you can buy online.

Did you have a look at the guinealynx link? Just make sure that when you are syringing anything into a guinea's mouth, to insert the syringe at the side & not put in too much liquid at once or they can end up breathing it in which can lead to further chest problems.

Best wishes to your little guy.