The Never-Ending URI

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MyckiCade

Post   » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:39 am


Hello. I was wondering if you had the vet swab and if the results had come back? I read your post and it is very similar to what I just went through with Teddy. He was the only one of my two that had any illness, sneezing, sniffling, and discharge. He had always been a little bit sniffly and I made some changes like bedding and increased their vitamin C intake...but in the end after trying ABs nothing helped. Had them both 3 years in June.
I am sorry to read this. ;^; Poor Darlin'. We went through the shifting of things, too... We went from paper bedding, to fleece. We shook the hay out, better. Tried to get as much dust from the pellets, as possible. You try to go through process of elimination, and get left beating your head against a rock, trying to work it out... *BIG HUGS!!*

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:46 am


That is quite interesting!

Please do keep us in mind and periodically post updates so we know if this was a definitive cure.

It is also possible it was something else that finally resolved.

MyckiCade

Post   » Wed Sep 20, 2017 3:20 pm


Most definitely! So far, so good, a month out. The only sneezes we've heard were from burying their faces in the food dishes. It's music, to my ears, one sneeze, every once in a great while, as opposed to five or six every twenty minutes! But, we keep the saline handy, just in case. :)

We discussed, too, that there could have been a URI, at one point, and the gunk just managed to get stuck in her nose. Or, goodness knows what managed to get at her. Hopefully, that was the end of it. But, should it crop back up, we've got the vet on speed dial.

MyckiCade

Post   » Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:01 am


And, as I am in the neighbourhood, I thought to give an update, here. Gypsy his still down to just the odd sneeze, here or there. She's gained a couple of ounces, since this ordeal, and is an active, chatty little piglet. :) We haven't needed the saline, since, either.

MyckiCade

Post   » Sun Dec 15, 2019 12:13 am


Hello, again. It has been a while. Gypsy had been doing very well, until recently.

I apologize, in advance, if this is a little scattered. I am very tired.

A few weeks back, we found a sebaceous cyst on Gypsy's back leg. This passed Tuesday, it burst, and we took her to the vet on Wednesday. This is our only local exotic clinic, and I do love them to bits. They put Gypsy on Baytril, oral 10 mg/ml, 0.5 ccs twice a day.

This morning, she wasn't eating, or drinking. No hay, no treats, nothing. I didn't give her anymore Baytril, as I had been afraid of this, to begin with, and she hasn't had any since. We began with Critical Care, to which I had added some Bene-Bac Plus powder. She had a dose of simethicone (0.15 ccs), as well, for suspected gas. I hadn't seen any poops for a while, and I was going by previous advice from my vet, with a previous fluff. By her second feeding, she had the runs. (I suspect she had had diarrhea once already, before I first got up). There was a good deal of it, not terribly watery, but soft enough to splatter. After that, Gypsy started acting lethargic, and we made a run down to the emergency vet.

Granted, this vet isn't an exotic specialist, but she has seen some of my fluffs before, and she researches everything before she gives us anything. She said she felt gut movement, and we could hear some noises. They gave her fluids, and an injection of buprenorphine, 0.3 mg/ml. On the way out, she had another round of diarrhea, which had both loose, and half-formed jellybeans in it.

We are back home. Gypsy has had another feeding of Critical Care. While she was eating, she had a bit more diarrhea, BUT, there was a fully-formed jellybean in it. Not huge, but very close to normal. I wanted to cry, I was so happy to see it. We are going to make a little poop soup, in a little while, with some of her sister's offerings.

Now... I have never had a guinea pig with diarrhea. Not in twelve years of keeping them. My questions are:

1. Is the sight of fully-formed poops a good thing, even amongst the loose stools?

2. Does anyone have experience with buprenorphine? The vet wrote down that it could "may cause a bit of sedation". How long would that be expected to last? She seems quite out of it, right now, and still isn't eating on her own.

3. Is there anything else I should do, that would be a good idea? She is presently separated from her sister, just so I can monitor her potty breaks.

Thank you, so very much, in advance. I'm beside myself on this, and don't know what else to do.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:33 am


When mine was on Baytril it messed up her digestion for a week. She wouldn’t eat pellets and just picked at hay. Although she didn’t get diarrhea, it seemed she stopped pooping but I think she was eating it to get her gut back to normal.

The fiber in Critical Care should help firm things up. I don’t know about feeding fresh veggies. On the one hand, they help with hydration which could be a problem with diarrhea. On the other hand they can cause loose stools. But the main thing is to keep food moving through her gut.

MyckiCade

Post   » Sun Dec 15, 2019 3:13 am


Thank you, very much. We are not giving her any vegetables, at the moment, for fear of making her diarrhea worse.

She's not done much for pooping, or peeing (that we have seen) since getting home. But, there was quite a gap of time that she didn't eat, while down at the vet. I figure it to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of four hours. She sounds to be passing a bit of gas, and she looks far less puffed up, fur-wise.

I'm presently sitting with Gypsy's sister, Rosie, waiting for an offering. She's looking at me like I'm a lunatic, but, hey. I keep telling her, "These are the most important jellybeans you will ever drop, Girlfriend!"

MyckiCade

Post   » Sun Dec 15, 2019 4:31 am


We have accomplished poop soup. Whether amazingly, she took THAT better than she has taken most of what we have tried to give to her. How often should this be given? Rosie has more to give, thank goodness. But, she really made us hold it, with both hands. I felt like Willy Wonka, waiting around for the golden egg!

On the bright side, Gypsy left one good-sized, well-formed jellybean in the cage, before she had the soup of the day. It was definitely wet, and it was only one, but I'll take it. Especially since my understanding is that buprenorphine can slow down the GI tract, yes? She had the injection nearly seven hours ago, so I'm hoping things are just forming up.

We're giving her some time to rest, before we give her another round of yummies. I'm going to sneak in a nap, in the meanwhile.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Dec 15, 2019 8:09 am


"Is the sight of fully-formed poops a good thing, even amongst the loose stools?"
Hopefully so. The key, of course, would be to start seeing more and more of them over the next few days.

Buprenorphine can be quite sedating, depending on the dose. I'd expect to see the effects of it lessening after 24 hours, but as with people, some animals are more sensitive to it than others. Do continue with the handfeeding until she is eating normally, as this will be critical to keep the gut moving. I would agree with withholding veggies for now.

MyckiCade

Post   » Sun Dec 15, 2019 8:43 am


Thank you, very much. I did try putting a single piece of parsley in front of her, just to see if it sparked any interest. She chewed the stem, and dropped it. (She's mad, but I'll take it over no response, at all). But, beyond that, no veggies.

Still not eating on her own. Still pooping small bits. She's having runny bits, while she's being fed. But, the minute she's back in her cage, she leaves a more solid-looking jellybean. I don't know if she's holding back until she's in her cage, or what.

Thank you, as well, for the buprenorphine information. I didn't realize it could last that long. She kind of looks like a space case, poor thing. We'll be back at another round of yummies, in a couple of hours.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Dec 15, 2019 9:52 am


Dehydration could be factoring into this, too, making her a little lethargic. I'd try to push fluids as much as possible today (plain water in a 1cc syringe, or you could try a little unflavored Pedialyte).

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Dec 15, 2019 10:11 am


I take it you have read https://www.guinealynx.info/diarrhea.html ?

Tell us about the cyst that burst. Did the vet flush it? Was a drain put in? Were you given instructions to flush it?

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