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Stubborn URI and need advice

Io341

New Born Pup
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Hi. My little pig Amelia has been suffering from some sort of lung problem for months now, and it just isn't getting any better. She went to the emergency vet as soon as we noticed something but were told she was fine and given a 1 week precautionary course of Baytril, which didn't help symptoms. As soon as she started losing weight we took her to our normal vet who said she had some congestion in her left lung, and we had another course of Baytril, Fibreplex and critical care supplements. She improved after this for a week and vet said she sounded fine and that any remaining sneeze could be allergies, but she dropped another 50g in a few days so we took her back and was prescribed co-trimoxazole twice daily. vet cautioned that there is only so far we could go in terms of types of medication though. took her back today and was told breathing was less congested but hadn't cleared and now have to keep giving the same medication twice daily for the forseeable future. She recieves 20-30 mls of critical every day as well as water through a syringe, and she is eating on her own, and her poos are regular shape- water has helped the previously light colour. they are small, but she has a lot more than our other pig. I'm just worried because we lost another in July who was only 6 months from pneumonia that came on overnight, and Amelia's cage partner was the sister of that pig. She hasn't been affected and has just reached a year old, but Amelia is around 6 and a half months old and has had this for 4 out of 6 months.
Any advice on stuff we can do at home would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sorry your piggy is unwell. The best antibiotic for getting on top of lung infections/pneumonia in piggies is zithtomax. Not all vets are familiar with it but I would speak to your vet and ask them to look into it. For lung infections my vet also prescribes metacam (anti inflammatory) and if necessary furosimide (diuretic) and sometimes a drug called corvental, which helps expand the airways. I would advise discussing these options with your vet to see if they are appropriate in your case.
 
and in addition, keep a daily check on her weight and if she continues to lose weight, then you will need to syringe her more often during the day to stop any weight loss.
 
I will talk to them about that- we weigh her daily and she has gone up from 639 to 691 (weighed just before breakfast) in 6 days so should I continue with the 30g?
 
If she is gaining weight then she is eating enough. Stick to what you are doing for now.
If she loses any weight (outside of normal daily fluctuations allowing for full/empty bladder/tummy), then increase syringe feeding.
 
Just an update- Amelia was doing well and put on a lot of weight but she deteriorated yesterday and sadly passed this morning in her cage. She will be greatly missed.
 
Thank you x
I was wondering if you had any advice on Holly?- she lost Juniper and bonded a lot more closely with Amelia because of it- can we keep her on her own? She's only a year old but that's twice she's lost a friend now so I don't know how she will cope.
 
Thank you x
I was wondering if you had any advice on Holly?- she lost Juniper and bonded a lot more closely with Amelia because of it- can we keep her on her own? She's only a year old but that's twice she's lost a friend now so I don't know how she will cope.

Give her some time to grieve, but she is too young to be alone so she will need to find a new friend. They adapt and can be bonded and rebonded.

Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
How long should we leave her to grieve? Thanks so much for the advice btw.
 
How long should we leave her to grieve? Thanks so much for the advice btw.

she will need to be your guide really but the link above will help with further information. Piggies can be ok alone for anything up to a few weeks after a bereavement, but some aren’t and need a friend sooner
 
she will need to be your guide really but the link above will help with further information. Piggies can be ok alone for anything up to a few weeks after a bereavement, but some aren’t and need a friend sooner
She's coping remarkably well- we've known it was coming for a while now. Thanks for the link and all the information, it's really helped us process it.
 
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