Adult male guinea pig not seeming to feel better (URI)

Post Reply
qbtol11

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:07 pm


Hi everyone,

My piggie Clove is 3 and a half years old. He started showing symptoms of a URI again (I dealt with one in May of this year) but seemed much sicker this time. I took him to the vet Tuesday and was prescribed the antibiotic Bactrim and the probiotic Bene-Bac. I've been giving him 0.5ml of Bactrim day and night, as well as a pea size dollop of the probiotic right after the antibiotic.

This is his fourth day of being on his treatment and I am still really concerned. He is not eating well; I've seen him nibble on pellets, not much hay, not drinking much water (i've been syringing him water), and hardly touching his veggies. This is completely unusual for him. Last night I got him to eat a bit of a carrot but no other veggies.

The thing that is concerning me also is that he's still making a sorts of 'croaking' noise. Im not really sure how else to describe it. His poops have also been not normal. This morning he pooped out this long string. It looks like it could be mucus covered in his poop but i'm not sure. I haven't seen him drop a normal bean in a few days. Im just at a loss; I called the vet's office yesterday and the vet techs were wholly unhelpful.

I've been really torn up and upset about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. He's my baby and I would do anything to have him back to normal again.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 4:53 pm


Bactrim is not the drug of choice for a URI in an adult pig? Are you seeing an exotic vet? If not, find one. Small animal vets are almost always useless in treating guinea pigs, and some are just downright dangerous.

Give the probiotic 60-90 minutes after the antibiotic, not immediately after.

Antibiotics of any kind can upset a pig's digestive tract. And if he's not eating normally, you need to be syringe feeding him. He undoubtedly won't like it, but it's critical that you do so. Guinea pigs must have food going through their gut at all times to keep from developing painful stomach ulcers and/or bloat.

qbtol11

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:26 pm


The vet I go to is an exotic vet, I’m going to call back about maybe switching antibiotics.

Thanks for the advice, I just went out and bought oxbow critical care and i’m going to give that to him until he’s eating on his own.

It was really weird, last night when he was eating bits of the carrot it almost seemed like he forgot how to eat.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 10:50 pm



qbtol11

Post   » Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:50 am


Update;

I can tell he's feeling loads better this evening, just from getting some of that critical care in his belly---(side note: im actually really impressed that he didn't fight me too much about the syringe feeding). I can hear him messing around with his water bottle, which I haven't heard him do in a few days. He's also moving around and climbed the cage so i would pet his nose.

I feel so immensely happy right now!! I hope he continues to improve like this. Thank you for the advice!

Post Reply