Syringe feeding while on meds

[darcidual]

My 5 year old Pepper was put on Baytril and Arthrocam last wedneday (11th March) for a URI which we believed we caught early. Since then I have been to the vets 3 more times and now she is also on Doxycare, Emeprid and Cisapride. She's on these until Tuesday.

We see an exotic vet and chose to add another antibiotic (doxy) into the mix because she didn't seem to be getting better on the Baytril alone, and this was prescribed for only 5 days. I guess I was worrying she was developing resistance. She had up and down days and the day before the last visit was sneezing so much. This has massively subsided with no other visible symptoms.

I posted a thread last week, asking for tips on how to syringe feed because Pepper was refusing to eat. I have had her on Emeraid Herbivore and Oxbow CC. She is the most resistant, wriggly and stubborn pig when it comes to the syringe. Anyway, I have been averaging 27-45ml a day and she is pooping. The poops are mostly very soft and sometimes like a row of sausages - pic attached.

My questions are:
1. Are the poops messed up because of the meds or is it a combination of this and the fact she's not getting enough CC? (I just want to add she has been maintaining her weight the entire time).
2. She seems much better symptom wise now (far less sneezing, no snot or eye gunk). Does she need all these meds until next Tuesday? I feel like the one thing stopping her from eating on her own is all the meds.
3. Does it matter that I am not physically able to give her more than 40ish ml of CC a day when she is maintaining weight?

I am getting so tired from looking after her full time but I am determined that she will get better. It's hard seeing how much she hates the syringe but I know its ultimately going to be what saves her life.

I have attached some pics of her poops for reference.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Poops on a string point to a significant digestive upset - this could well be because of the meds. Doxy is a very strong antibiotic.

If she is maintaining her weight then she may well be eating enough but it is something you will need to continue to monitor closely. If she is not eating any hay for herself then 40ml is the minimum amount of syringe feed needed to maintain gut function.

The poops being soft may be because she is not getting enough fibre even though her weight has been stable.

The emeprid and cisapride are very important to keep her gut moving.
The antibiotics - the worst thing that you can do is stop (which you cannot do without a vets say so in any event) too early. Any bacteria which is left due to an incomplete course will just start to multiply again and then you are back to square one. A course, once started, needs to be seen through unless there is a serious enough reaction to the meds for a vet to decide the risk of stopping is worth taking. Doxy is known to affect appetite and often majorly.

I hope she is ok

Wiebke's Guide to Poops

 

[darcidual]

Poops on a string point to a significant digestive upset - this could well be because of the meds. Doxy is a very strong antibiotic.

If she is maintaining her weight then she may well be eating enough but it is something you will need to continue to monitor closely. If she is not eating any hay for herself then 40ml is the minimum amount of syringe feed needed to maintain gut function.

The poops being soft may be because she is not getting enough fibre even though her weight has been stable.

The emeprid and cisapride are very important to keep her gut moving.
The antibiotics - the worst thing that you can do is stop (which you cannot do without a vets say so in any event) too early. Any bacteria which is left due to an incomplete course will just start to multiply again and then you are back to square one. A course, once started, needs to be seen through unless there is a serious enough reaction to the meds for a vet to decide the risk of stopping is worth taking. Doxy is known to affect appetite and often majorly.

I hope she is ok

Wiebke's Guide to Poops

Thank you for you reply

I will continue the meds as advised!

Pepper picks at her nuggets and is fine eating veggies after her evening syringe feed but occasionally will choke/gag on the first few bites. Teeth appear fine from what the vet can see but he has suggested having a more thorough look under anesthetic, which for now I have declined, unless she seems to decline. I don't think its a teeth issue as there is always stuff for her to gnaw and she is usually a keen grazer on hay.

I have attached a screenshot from a video of her behaviour as mentioned above. I have never seen it to the extent she is doing it. This is what I think is putting her off trying to eat on her own.

 

[Piggies&buns]

If she isn’t getting enough fibre through hay or syringe feed, then the veg may be making her fibre to veg ratio to low and hence the soft poops.
Poops won’t normalise until her digestion gets back working properly.
If you can try to get a little more syringe feed then that would be good but if she is maintaining her weight each day they she must be eating enough from somewhere!

It’s only eating hay which wears the teeth - gnawing on toys etc doesn’t do anything for the molars which is where issues would occur. The incisors are self sharpening and are kept in check by the action of the molars. Molars go wrong then the incisors go wrong as a result.
Don’t forget that it’s not only issues with the teeth which can result in these kinds of gagging behaviours - any issue inside the mouth can cause it

 

[darcidual]

If she isn’t getting enough fibre through hay or syringe feed, then the veg may be making her fibre to veg ratio to low and hence the soft poops.
Poops won’t normalise until her digestion gets back working properly.
If you can try to get a little more syringe feed then that would be good but if she is maintaining her weight each day they she must be eating enough from somewhere!

It’s only eating hay which wears the teeth - gnawing on toys etc doesn’t do anything for the molars which is where issues would occur. The incisors are self sharpening and are kept in check by the action of the molars. Molars go wrong then the incisors go wrong as a result.
Don’t forget that it’s not only issues with the teeth which can result in these kinds of gagging behaviours - any issue inside the mouth can cause it

Ah, I thought getting veggies in would be helping. Shall I still give daily veggies? Or focus more on syringe feeding? As I said, it really is a struggle to get more in her as I'm already feeding approx every 2 hours. She's just hard work on my own (with no one to help). She also gets really stressed and I have to give regular breaks.

Another thought I'm having is that she's not getting her appetite back because I'm not syringing her enough. I know its partly due to the meds, but I'm worried once she's stopped the meds that she won't feel well enough because I'm not getting enough in her. Last thing I want is the poops to stop. I'm thinking to see how she goes once the meds stop but if the gaging continues then may have to opt for anesthetic for a more thorough investigation. I worry we'll be back to square one then.

Pic is the record I'm keeping of how often I'm feeding and how much she's taking

 

[Piggies&buns]

Eating the veggies means she still has appetite and shows her gut is still moving but you still need her fibre intake to be high enough to balance that.
You can still give her some veggies provided her poops aren’t too soft.

Can she swallow ok - I’m assuming (reading vs j on your thread) that she is chewing and swallowing veg and nuggets ok?
Or is it that she doesn’t like the taste of the syringe feed?