Recommendations on what to do

Post Reply
mar-mar

Post   » Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:44 pm


Hello first time here and I have a question. My head tilt Rosita does have an URI and is in baytril. Her appetite and normal acitivity are normal but she is sleeping more and longer and heavier. I got an appointment for my vet on Monday morning(soonest I could get) and wanted to know if there are any herbs that may help her out or anything I can do. She lives in a fleece lined c&c cage and gets all the hay and veggies she likes. She has had this for almost three weeks and I’m very worried about her. Also is it possible that the disease that gave her her head tilt weakened her immune system and is there anything else I can do besides the care I am giving her now. (And yes she is from a pet store I know that can be a big no no in a lot of places in the guinea pig community but my heart went out when I saw her and I had to save her)

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:54 pm


Weigh her daily, preferably first thing in the morning before her breakfast, to make sure she's not losing weight.

Baytril doesn't generally make pigs sleep more, but her sleeping pattern could be suggestive of heart issues. I'd want an x-ray to see if there's an enlarged heart.

There's really nothing you can do other than continuing her medication and making sure she gets plenty of food AND water.

Keep us posted on how she's doing and what the vet says.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Feb 10, 2018 4:39 pm


If you need tips for hand feeding, read over:
handfeeding.html

It may be your guinea pig needs a different medication. Ideally, one tests to determine what bacteria is making the guinea pig ill. Perhaps doxycycline would help. Watch to see if breathing is labored or if there are any sounds associated with the breathing. Generally heart problems crop up in older pigs but a few have issues begin when they are younger.
heart.html

If there are respiratory issues, nebulizing an antibiotic like gentomycin can help.

An xray can show if there is an infection causing the head tilt.

Let us know how things go.

mar-mar

Post   » Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:17 pm


So my vet unfortunately couldn’t find anything wrong with her but did recommend a specialist. So I got her an appointment for tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Tjphantom1552

Post   » Tue Feb 13, 2018 2:00 pm


Okay so I have a problem I lost a tube of lotramin apparently in the guinea pigs hutch and I come out to find the tube chewed up I'm not sure what to do or what to look for please help.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:06 pm


Here's the list of possible problems:
Common side effects of clotrimazole include redness, stinging, blistering, peeling, swelling, itching, burning, and irritation at the site of application. Stomach upset and vomiting may occur with the oral lozenge.
So watch for diarrhea and loss of appetite.

mar-mar

Post   » Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:49 pm


So thankfully no heart issues just a chronic uri and ear infection and whatever caused her head tilt before I got weaker her immune system so she’s most likely going to have more uri. We switched to another antibiotic and and heavier vitamin c supplement to help her little piggy system as well as doing a nasal swab if it worsens or doesn’t improve. I feel much better knowing there aren’t any issues with her heart.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:14 pm


Do watch closely to make sure heart issues don't show up. They would explain recurrent URIs.

Signs of heart problems on this page:
www.guinealynx.info/heart.html

mar-mar

Post   » Fri Mar 09, 2018 5:48 pm


Just an update from her follow up today. She is doing much better sleep and attitude wise and has her sass back after three weeks of antibiotics and nebulizing. The X-ray did show some thing in front of her heart which the dr thinks may be a collapsed lung or an absese. We’ll know more on the 27or 28 she she gets to be a test subject for one of the new small animal ct machines in the field so they can see what’s wrong and show students what to look for. I very happy with her improvements and am excited about the ct scan. Will update when I see her results.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Mar 09, 2018 7:28 pm


Thanks for the update. I am interested to see what they find too.

mar-mar

Post   » Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:39 pm


So after a the machine breaking and other things we finally know what’s going on with her. The mass in front of her heart is just a fat deposit and her heart looks fine. She will be on lasix and meloxicam for the rest of her life as well as her nebulizing treatments. The best way the dr described it after getting past a bad flair up is she is a piggy who is like someone with the worst allergy’s ever and has bad asthma on top. Thankfully she is still as sassy as ever and I’m just thankful it is something manageable and able to be cared for.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:42 pm


All in all, good news!

Post Reply