CV26
Junior Guinea Pig
For the last 2 months Dash has been treated for a URI. The only starting symptoms I'd noticed were that he was closing one eye (thought it was an eye injury at first) and a slightly increased amount of sneezing. I took Spud along as a precaution and the exotics vet diagnosed a URI.
Initially both Dash and Spud were given Sulfatrim. I was also asked to feed Emeraid as they were both underweight. Spud put on loads of weight and never showed any obvious symptoms to me (the vet had been able to detect some signs initially though) and was given a clean bill of health in late September. Since then he's been absolutely fine.
Dash on the other hand never really recovered and he ended up on Marbocare - another antibiotic. We also had an emergency day at the vets as his digestive system went off and he wasnt eating or pooping. So we were given more drugs to tackle the back end too.
Throughout October I religiously gave all the meds. His poop started to get more solid and formed again but then went back to very soft, sticky and squishy. I didnt notice too much in the way of other symptoms from the URI - in fact he perked up massively and was being a lovely sociable pig (still is). His weight did go up, but not as drastically as Spud and we seem to be a bit stuck around the 560-570g mark for a couple of weeks now.
The drugs all ended this time last week and we went back to the vets. But before that, early last week I'd noticed that he was back to snuffling and having crackling nose breathing. He was throwing his head up too. His poop was also still very soft and unformed, and he seemed to be in discomfort getting it out.
The vet decided not to explore the URI route any further, and instead decided it might be a hay dust sensitivity. He said if the noise hadn't reduced then we'd try Piriton next.
So Dash now has his hay served in loo roll tubes so he cant burrow into it. He has Hay Box hay and I cant really see any dust - in the last batch there was hardly any dust at the bottom of the boxes. One week on though and he's still got a lot of nasal noise. His poop finally seems to be more bean like and he seems more comfortable passing it now so I'm less concerned about that. He's also still on Emeraid to help with his weight and generally seems quite perky in himself.
But I was worried about the flip from URI to hay allergy. I sought a second opinion, although the vet was not an exotic specialist, she and a knowledgeable colleague spent a good hour with both boys checking them over. They concluded that they'd have taken the same course of action as the original vet (fine, all happy with that). They said their next thoughts would be hay allergy or to try and figure out exactly what type of bug Dash might have...they thought that as he'd improved a bit on the antibiotics there could be a more stubborn underlying infection going on that eased and then resurfaced once the drugs stopped. They conceded they weren't specialists though but their thoughts were reassuring at least and they have given me the number of an exotic vet about an hour away who might be to help too.
I'm going to call the original vet today to talk about next steps, but wondered if you lovely people had any experience to offer, particularly around the hay allergy thing. I'm a bit baffled as to the best way to give him hay and also where to even really start trying to figure out a long term plan of it does turn out to be that.
I've spent a fortune on vets fees and feel a little bit like I'm still at square one with no definite answer. Dash has had a horrible few weeks having lots of meds and I'm reluctant to throw more down his neck if we're just throwing at a dart board for the next idea - especially as his poop finally seems a bit more stable. I know I've done the right thing getting vet treatment but I cant help feeling terrible at the whole situation.
Any thoughts?
Initially both Dash and Spud were given Sulfatrim. I was also asked to feed Emeraid as they were both underweight. Spud put on loads of weight and never showed any obvious symptoms to me (the vet had been able to detect some signs initially though) and was given a clean bill of health in late September. Since then he's been absolutely fine.
Dash on the other hand never really recovered and he ended up on Marbocare - another antibiotic. We also had an emergency day at the vets as his digestive system went off and he wasnt eating or pooping. So we were given more drugs to tackle the back end too.
Throughout October I religiously gave all the meds. His poop started to get more solid and formed again but then went back to very soft, sticky and squishy. I didnt notice too much in the way of other symptoms from the URI - in fact he perked up massively and was being a lovely sociable pig (still is). His weight did go up, but not as drastically as Spud and we seem to be a bit stuck around the 560-570g mark for a couple of weeks now.
The drugs all ended this time last week and we went back to the vets. But before that, early last week I'd noticed that he was back to snuffling and having crackling nose breathing. He was throwing his head up too. His poop was also still very soft and unformed, and he seemed to be in discomfort getting it out.
The vet decided not to explore the URI route any further, and instead decided it might be a hay dust sensitivity. He said if the noise hadn't reduced then we'd try Piriton next.
So Dash now has his hay served in loo roll tubes so he cant burrow into it. He has Hay Box hay and I cant really see any dust - in the last batch there was hardly any dust at the bottom of the boxes. One week on though and he's still got a lot of nasal noise. His poop finally seems to be more bean like and he seems more comfortable passing it now so I'm less concerned about that. He's also still on Emeraid to help with his weight and generally seems quite perky in himself.
But I was worried about the flip from URI to hay allergy. I sought a second opinion, although the vet was not an exotic specialist, she and a knowledgeable colleague spent a good hour with both boys checking them over. They concluded that they'd have taken the same course of action as the original vet (fine, all happy with that). They said their next thoughts would be hay allergy or to try and figure out exactly what type of bug Dash might have...they thought that as he'd improved a bit on the antibiotics there could be a more stubborn underlying infection going on that eased and then resurfaced once the drugs stopped. They conceded they weren't specialists though but their thoughts were reassuring at least and they have given me the number of an exotic vet about an hour away who might be to help too.
I'm going to call the original vet today to talk about next steps, but wondered if you lovely people had any experience to offer, particularly around the hay allergy thing. I'm a bit baffled as to the best way to give him hay and also where to even really start trying to figure out a long term plan of it does turn out to be that.
I've spent a fortune on vets fees and feel a little bit like I'm still at square one with no definite answer. Dash has had a horrible few weeks having lots of meds and I'm reluctant to throw more down his neck if we're just throwing at a dart board for the next idea - especially as his poop finally seems a bit more stable. I know I've done the right thing getting vet treatment but I cant help feeling terrible at the whole situation.
Any thoughts?
I was putting a bit of the Nutrabio on the syringe each time as he wont take the Sulfatrim that easily and I hoped the probiotic would help his gut but it hasn't quite worked out. 
