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Uri Advice Needed Please

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Mishka

Mishka

Junior Guinea Pig
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My little girl, Mab, was diagnosed with a URI on Wednesday. She was prescribed Baytril orally once a day at o.25ml, 2.5% suspension.

She's eating and drinking but she is just not herself, she's normally very active and playful, but as expected right now, she's lethargic and sad. She's also wheezing through her nose, gutwrenching little squeaks with every breath.

On Friday I was concerned that we'd seen no improvement so we took her back tot he vets, they gave her a vitamin injection of some kind (I'm not sure exactly what, my partner took her), an anti-inflammatory injection and started her on Bisolovon twice a day.

But she's still not getting better. She doesn't seem to be getting worse but she's not getting better either. I've tried helping her with steaming sessions, I'm following all the instructions the vet gave regarding meds, but my gut is telling me something more needs to be done.

For a start, I am not 100% sure that her dose of baytril is high enough. She is a very tiny pig, always has been at 650g, but 0.25ml of a 2.5% only once a day seems like it's not high enough.

Should I go back to the vet and ask for a second antibioitic to be added into her rotation, since perhaps baytril doesn't seem to be doing the trick. She's had URIs before over the years, so what if she's built up a resistance?

I'm just so lost. I'm at the point where I'm throwing up from worry and I know every hour counts with an infection like this (I lost my first pig to a URI years ago that was just the most awful thing I have ever seen...)

What more can I do for her to try and beat this thing?
 
If you are not happy- seek veterinary attention sooner rather than later. It is good she is still eating but it might be she needs a different antibiotic.

Its worth getting her rechecked as soon as u can, they may want to check for fluid on her lungs too and treat appropriately.

Keep her eating and drinking and continue with the steaming/biosolvin. You are doing the right thing x
 
Please weigh her daily at the same time to make sure that she is eating enough to keep her weight and therefore the strength to fight. Baytril is an additional appetite killer, as it doesn't just kill the bad bacteria but also the good ones in the gut. I would recommend that you also add a pinch of probiotics to help bolster the guts.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Keep steaming and keep the extra vitamin C going.

Speak to your vet again whether it would be advisable to have a swab taken from her nose to see what antibiotic would work best. You have to accept the fact that that may take a few days however. Baytril is still the only officially licensed antibiotic for guinea pigs, so many general vets are reluctant to lool at others or give a higher dose.

Could you please add your country, state/province or UK county to your details. We have members from all over the world. Without knowing what is available and possible where you are, we have to keep any advice much more general. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!
 
I just tried to weigh her but couldn't get her steady for long enough to get an accurate weight, though she looks as if she's stayed around the same from what I could tell.

I just gave her her early evening steam, I swear she sounds worse after she comes out for a while, then goes quiet, then starts wheezing again...

Updated my profile to include my location for you. I am going to get her to the vet tomorrow morning, it's the earliest I can do as to get her to the 24 hour vet means over 190 pounds just to get an appointment...
 
It's so upsetting when they are poorly but I agree that it is worth getting her re-checked by the vet tomorrow. The steaming and bisolvon are definitely the right things to be doing for your piggy plus the vitamin c also. With regard to antibiotics Wiebke has pointed out that there are very few licensed for use on piggies and Baytril is one of those. However, it can cause stomach upsets and doesn't always work as well as some of the other antibiotics. Have you checked out our recommended vet locator for an exotics vet near to you? Sometimes the exotics vets use different antibiotics. My Violet has just finished a course of Ronaxan for URTI and Mr Ted is currently having Marbocyl for his pneumonia. However, I'm not vet qualified and would stress that you have to trust your vet to a certain extent.
 
Okay, I will continue with the steaming, she does actually sound a bit better this evening after her most recent one. My vet is actually pretty good, I'm just very frightened after we lost our girl Wibble to such a violent URI a few years ago. I know there's not many antibiotics available, I just wondered if maybe something like septrin added in might help, we've had that for other pigs before and it seemed to be absolutely magic, I just don't know if it was an option for URI treatment?
 
As an extra precaution I have begun giving her some Critical Care, to really, really make sure she is getting enough to eat. Luckily, she is very eagerly taking it off a spoon, so I am currently not needing to put her through the added stress of a syringe feed.
 
So my BF took Mab back to the vets this morning, and I have to say, I am now sweating bullets. She was given a B12 injection and another anti-inflammatory injection, and the vet has said she will switch her to Septrin, but there is none in stock until tomorrow morning... In the meantime Mab has now started to lose interest in her food. I've started syringe feeding but she gets so stressed it makes her breathing absolutely horrendous. I am really frightened me trying to save her is going to end up killing her before I can get her new meds tomorrow...
 
Having done more research I am now 100% convinced she was not given a strong/regular enough dosage of baytril... It seems the most common dosage used by cavy savvy vets is 06.ml a day split into 0.3ml twice a day... I know my vet is the professional but I'm now so sure that she got it wrong and it's making me crazy, especially watching my little girl suffering so much...
 
Aw so sorry, sleep well little one. You did all you can it's so difficult trying to find the right treatment.
 
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