URI

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Mosey

Post   » Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:03 pm


It's been a while, but every ones been healthy until now. I have a 2.5 year old piggy diagnosed with URI today. He was prescribed 0.42mg Bactrim every 12 hours for 14 days. I'm worried about gut flora and stasis as he's never been on an oral mediction before. Should be doing benebac as well? Did you use bactrim without prophylaxis with success? My ''gut'' is questioning not using it. Did you find any issues with Bactrim? Thank you in advance!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:15 pm


Usually Bactrim is well tolerated. Always wise to weigh daily when your guinea pig is ill so you will notice and take action (hand feed or whatever is needed).

Use the calculator here to check dose:

www.guinealynx.info/calculate_dose.html

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:19 pm


It certainly won't hurt to give him Bene-Bac.

Mosey

Post   » Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:11 pm


He has only been given one dose. I will be up at 4:30am to give him his second dose. I hope it's well tolerated. Thank you Lynx resist thanks for the dosage calculator. It all seems right I've recently seen on this site that there was some misinformation regarding Bactrim. It worried me as this is his first oral antibiotic. (He has been prescribed Climoxan for eye, pervious chronic reoccurring nasocriminal narrowing ) I may have to call the vet tomorrow about Benebac bpatters due to a gut feeling. We just lost a pet Monday this week (Wobbly hedgehog syndrome, not a guinea pig), so I wasn't sure if I was being overconciencious with the Prophylaxis or not (due to grief of another pet). I also was told by my Vet that human prohylaxis was too low in PH to make any difference on guinea pig GI? Wow, she said by the time it makes it through their GI tract any good bacteria is dead? Anybody heard this before?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:49 pm


BeneBac is made for several species, but humans aren't one of them. BeneBac Plus is made for small animals -- rabbits, chinchillas, guinea pigs, etc.

There are two schools of thought on probiotics -- some swear by them, others say they're useless. I suffered through a six-week bout of diarrhea in which I lost 40 pounds and no treatment they tried worked. The gastroenterologist they finally sent me to told me to go a natural food store and get some priobiotics. The diarrhea stopped within 24 hours, and I had no more problems. So put me down as a real believer. I never give my guinea pigs antibiotics of any kind without probiotics.

Mosey

Post   » Thu Feb 15, 2018 7:14 am


Thank you. I have always been a believer in them as well. Thanks for all your help. I just realized I've been saying prohylaxis this entire conversation. I work in a dental office where we recommend pretreatment of antibiotics before appointments for certain patients. They're very close words that mean entirely two different things. For anyone reading this you want probiotics.I will definitely call the vet about the Benebac today. Thanks a million again to both of you!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:18 am


Read over www.guinealynx.info/probiotics.html too.

It's a "might help", "can't hurt" kinda thing (reasonable doses).

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:31 am


You can get BeneBac over the counter, although the vet may have stuff in a big syringe. It's far easier to dispense. Amazon also carries it.

Mosey

Post   » Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:24 am


You guys are great! Thanks for all the help! I've been using probiotics 2 hours after each dose and things are going well. I've never had a vet brush off probiotics before. In the past I've given them just because droppings were slightly off normal. She just made me question if they were worth the added stress. She felt because of the PH of his stomach that the beneficial bacteria would be dead by the time it reached the point that it would do any good. I couldn't figure out how to give him the probiotics without doing another syringe because he would never eat any veg or even blueberries, his favorite rarely given treat if they contained probiotics. Since he's already stressed by the syringe with the antibiotic, but I've managed to sneak it into a half of a cherry tomato to my surprise. I squeezed out the seeds as I normally do and just kind of mashed it around inside. I think it's the texture of the tomato hid it well. I know they're on the acidic side and may kill some of the beneficial bacteria, but for once it wasn't a fight and some is better Than none. I'm convinced that they're working because the first day his droppings were unusually small and very few. Everything has returned to normal and no more tummy rumbles.
Thanks for all the advice!

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