Baytril Not Eating

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TulipTova

Post   » Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:19 am


My approximately three year old sow has a UTI. She was given Baytril and on the third morning was puffed up, lethargic and not eating or drinking. I called the vet and told them I thought she was having a bad reaction to the Baytril. They told me that lack of appetite was a side effect, but to continue the Baytril to clear up the UTI. I called again and told them that she was shivering a little while I pet her, and could they please prescribe something different. They the prescribed chloramphenicol, but I am nervous about giving it to her because I'm afraid it will make her sick like the Baytril. I understand that I need to treat the UTI, however, so I will give her the evening off to let the Baytril further leave her system, and start the new medicine in the morning. Has anyone had a similar experience with an older pig having trouble with Baytril? (By the way, I've been feeding her critical care since she's not eating/drinking much.) Thank you

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Catie Cavy
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Post   » Tue Oct 16, 2018 6:47 am


Most of my guinea pigs have tolerated Baytril, but I had one who completely stopped eating after a few days on Baytril. Her eating picked up as soon as I stopped it. Chloramphenicol is less likely to disturb the appetite, but bactrim is usually the best antibiotic for a UTI and is easily tolerated. Be sure you are handfeeding her sufficiently until she is eating again on her own.

https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html#quantity

Good luck and keep us posted.

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Lynx
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Post   » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:48 am


How was the UTI diagnosed? Has she had an xray to rule out stones? I take it you are weighing her daily to make sure she is getting enough food? When you say she was puffed up, was there any bloat involved?

If there is a stone, it can block passage of urine, which is an emergency.
www.guinealynx.info/stones.html

Clint The Cuy

Post   » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:37 am


If they suspect a UTI, a sulfa based drug such as Bactrim, as catie cavy stated, is the drug of choice. And that goes for most animals, humans included. Sulfa drugs have better penetration of the urinary tract than other abx. Baytril and chloramphenicol are more aggressive drugs with more risks involved and aren’t usually a first choice for a UTI.

And as Lynx inquired, was a radiograph taken to determine if there are bladder stones? And how did they diagnose her UTI?

Also, be sure to give her a probiotic 1-2 hrs after you give her any antibiotic.

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:50 pm


One of our girls, Nala, just finished about 6 weeks on Chloramphenicol and Lasix to sort out fluid on her lungs and breathing issues along with a swelling on her right cheek.
She seems fine although we did syringe feed her about one and a half Tablespoons of Critical Care powder every day and also gave her Bene-Bac 60-90 minutes after the Chloramphenicol each time. She is a younger Guinea pig though.
Just make sure you use gloves when handling the Chloramphenicol

A few months back Suzi was put on Baytril for a suspected ear infection and that did seem to adversely affect her appetite and since she had been having problems with GI Stasis previously the vet took her off of it after 10 days rather than keeping her on it for the planned 6 weeks. Again she is a younger Guinea pig and we didn't know about Bene-Bac at that point so i dont know if that was a factor

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Lynx
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Post   » Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:10 pm


For future readers, I will add that you mean "about one and a half Tablespoons of Critical Care powder" mixed with water.

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:43 pm


Yes, sorry, I phrased it that way as before when I would say how many syringes of critical care they had been given I was told that because you can mix it with different amounts of water what was important was how much of the dry powder was in the mix not how many syringes of the mix.
We had been given a number of different mix amounts ranging from 1 part powder to 1 part water up to 1 part powder to 3 parts water. I usually use 1 to 2 or 1 Level Table Spoon of powder mixed with 40ml of water.

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Lynx
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Post   » Sat Oct 20, 2018 12:03 am


I agree the amount of dry powder is useful. I used to add extra water.

TulipTova

Post   » Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:13 pm


Hello,
It all started with bloody urine (as in blood red) which prompted me to take her to the vet. My vet did an x-ray which showed a thickened bladder that had sludge in it AND what the vet thought was a blood clot. The vet did a urinalysis and a culture to identify the UTI. After her bad reaction to Baytril (4 days worth), the vet switched her to chloramphenicol. She was on that for two week. I syringe fed her Critical Care the whole time because her appetite was low. Since she's been off of the antibiotics (six days now), her appetite fluctuates from not eating at all to nibbling a little on hay and greens, so I continue to feed syringe her with the help of a friend when I'm at work. I also give her simethicone once a day to help with any gas she might be having from eating veggies again, and continue the meticam twice a day for pain. The vet said we can do another x-ray to see if there have been any changes with her bladder. I asked the vet about probiotics and she said there aren't any for piggies, other than feeding her a healthy pig's feces, and that's usually not suggested unless there is diarrhea, which my girl doesn't have. I am in need of some good 1 mL syringes. I don't like the ones I ordered on Amazon. Any suggestions on where I can buy some?
Thank you

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:30 pm


if you need them for feeding Critical Care we use 5ml oral syringes that we get from Walgreens. We usually ask the pharmacy and they have given us 1 or 2 for free in the past.

All of the 1ml syringes we have came from the Vet as they were for meds.

As far as Probiotics what we have been told was there were no studies in to the effects or benefits for Guinea Pigs (like so much Guinea pig related health stuff) but we started to use Bene-Bac and have seemed to avoid serious appetite issues (although that could just be coincidental). We also give our girls the Oxbow tabs for Digestive Health (and also for Vitamin C and other stuff) again no studies in to whether they actually do anything but they seem to like them.

When Nala was on chloramphenicol we found that she became selective about what veggies she would eat. She wouldn't touch stuff that she had eaten before but woudl eat Peppers and Green chard. All of them love wheatgrass too and Nala would eat that even when she was being picky.

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Lynx
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Post   » Thu Nov 08, 2018 7:55 pm


Can't hurt and may help.
www.guinealynx.info/probiotics.html

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