I want to pull her off medication...

lilythepig2017

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 4:38 pm


So we got a beautiful new guinea pig on Saturday .

She had clear eyes cleared nose really healthy for very alert very bright eyes .

With the stress of the move she came down with a little sneeze on Monday . We took her to an exotic vet and they put her on two antibiotics and one anti-inflammatory medication .
Two days later she stopped eating save a strand of hay here and there she seem to get worse while on the anabiotics. She also stopped pooping for more than 12 hours .

So back we went to the vet again . She had no fever and her cold was not in her chest only in her nose still. They gave us medicine to move her G.I. tract, manually stimulated her bowels and gave us critical care to syringe feed her . Her poops resumed nicely. L

It is now Friday and while her nose is no longer is wet or is runny I feel that these anabiotic's really truly are killing her . Her Poos today while many are very hard, dry and very small . She has not come out to explore very much in her cage and she seems very tired . And she is not as alert . Her cold has not gotten worse though so I do feel that it is the antibiotics that is making her very unwell . At night when time for a new dose she is always more alert eating etc, I give her the meds and she gets sleepy again. Could be coincidental as I'm sure the act of feeding her is stressful and wears her out but I'm worried.

I read on this website that if your guinea pig has a loss of appetite and they aren't feeling well that you should switch antibiotics as they may be intolerant . I ran this by my vet but they said that they would like to keep her on the same antibiotics . On this website here I came across a story of a woman who had the exact same scenario .
https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotic_intolerance.html

Her pig had a small cold not in the luns. it went on anabiotic's and it got worse and worse and stopped eating exactly like mine. She pulled her pig off of the antibiotics and fed him with critical care and fresh veggies and lots of rest and it seemed it took him five days to get better . I feel every step of intervention from the vet has made her worse and worse and worse so I wanted to know has anyone else besides this woman decided to stop the antibiotics ? I do feel that if the infection didn't kill her the anabiotic's may finish off this pig .

Thanks so much for reading

User avatar
PooksiedAnimals
Supporting my GL Habit

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 6:15 pm


It would help to know exactly what medication your guinea pig is getting (the type of antibiotic as well as the anti-inflammatory.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 6:18 pm


Most pigs on antibiotics need to be force fed with Critical Care or a pellet slurry. The antibiotics really do a number on their appetites. But guinea pigs are wired to need food going through their gut at a pretty constant rate, so the vet should have instructed you to hand feed if her appetite dropped off.

I'm not sure why she'd be given an anti-inflammatory for a respiratory infection. What exact meds is she on? Name, strength and dosage, please.

I doubt that the problem is antibiotic intolerance. That usually results in a much sicker pig, much quicker. I think it's just more likely the usual reaction of GPs to an antibiotic, combined with the vet's failure to instruct you to hand feed. Or to give probiotics, for that matter.

If she were mine, I'd probably take her off all the meds and see what happens.

lilythepig2017

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:02 pm


Hello

Thank you so much for your responses. Here are her meds. She is on this plus critical care 5ml 2 or three times a day (was doing 2 times a day since wed but did 3 today):

trimethoprim 0.2 ml
meloxicam 0.07 ml
enrofloxacin 0.15 ml
cisapride 0.09 ml
(sorry if any typos)
plus vitamin C 5 ml child grade serum I give via syringe

I also started bene bac gel probiotics for small mammals today. My vet told me they do nothing as it wasn't formulated properly for guinea pigs. I'd like to see literature on this. I feel it's worth a shot. The label says it's for guinea pigs though and I am a strong believer of good bacteria and it's power to heal the immune system so I'd like to at least try it as I know how incredibly important the microbiome is for humans. I used bene bac for my parrot years ago (the parrot formula) when he had an infection and it cleared it up instead of putting him on antibiotics.

i wish I could see her report to know the exact thing the vet saw when she checked her over. As far as I know: No lung involvement. No fever. only in the nose. no eyes. no ears. Whether the lining of the nose was inflamed I do not know.

Right now, 10 hours after she received medications she is happy again. an hour from her next dose. she is eating. Moving around. Every night when the medication wears off she is out eating and moving around again.

If I took her off and still assist fed her for a few days as needed and even maybe gave a bit of human grade baby food in there like peas or sweet potato for more liquid and vitamins, gave probiotic, vitamin C, plenty of rest would that be best maybe? I feel like just lots of rest and nutrients might be best. I just don't know if there is an infection if it wil ravage her once I take her off. So hard these decisions but I'm leaning towards taking her off...

Any thoughts are most welcome

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:32 pm


And regarding the appetite falling off, you need to weigh a couple times daily right now. www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html

We do need to know what antibiotics your pet was given (as PooksiedAnimals and bpatters ask).

One side effect of losing appetite and not eating is they feel worse and eat even less. So hand feeding is vitally important.
www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

You read www.guinealynx.info/dangerous_medications.html ?

(oh, I see you just posted - We need the concentration in mg/ml and the weight of your guinea pig). Looks like a lot of meds.
www.guinealynx.info/calculate_dose.html

That you see her improving before her next dose is very telling and does support your view the antibiotics are causing problems.

If you stopped any, I would stop the enrofloxacin (Baytril) and keep the trimethoprim, which is usually well-tolerated. The Baytril tends to cause the most problems.
See also:
www.guinealynx.info/probiotics.html

lilythepig2017

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:35 pm


Her weight is 350 grams

Ok. So should I just keep her on only the one antibiotic then? The trimethoprim and cut everything else then except vitamin C, probiotic and feedings? I'm literally watching her stuff her face right now. The first time all day. Poor thing

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:48 pm


I am only saying if you choose to stop one of the two antibiotics, the Baytril (enrofloxacin) is the one that most frequently causes problems.

I still don't know how much you are giving them because you have not listed the mg/cc (which should be on the bottle, unless the vet failed to list it).

lilythepig2017

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:54 pm


Hello

Thanks so much

I listed the amounts above. Are you able to see them? Let me know if you need anymore info

lilythepig2017

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:56 pm


ah. So you need CCs as well. Ok as follows:

trimethoprim 10cc
meloxicam 3 cc
enrofloxacin Suspen 8cc
cisapride 3cc

the dosages I listed above.
Let me know if this helps

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:05 pm


I would definitely stop the enrofloxacin. She's awfully young for that -- vets don't usually prescribe it for young pigs because it can stunt growth. Sometimes a pig is sick enough that they just have to run that risk, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

If she's not in pain, I'd also drop the meloxicam. It's not usually prescribed for URI's and I don't know why they would have given it to her. If it turns out that she shows some pain behavior after you stop it, start it again, but cut the dosage in half and give it twice a day.

If I were you, I'd try another vet. That's a LOT of medicine for what seems to be a pretty minor problem, and it doesn't seem to me that they gave you very good instructions about the necessity for hand-feeding a pig on antibiotics.

lilythepig2017

Post   » Fri Dec 22, 2017 11:23 pm


Thanks for everyone's advice.

Ok. So tonight we just gave her dose of vitamin C she didn't have yet today. I tried to do a third syringe feed but she was wanting none of it. Then ate some hay and pellets in her cage. I think she is feeling more herself without the antibiotics. My husband thinks we should pull her off all medicine. He thinks she may die from no antibiotics, but will definitely die if she continues on them. If she gets worse in her cold I'll put her back on the antibiotics again but not the baytril.

I will keep you posted and let you know if she gets worse or better on vitamin C, probiotics, and syringe feeding if she isn't eating + plenty of rest in her cage. Wish her luck.

User avatar
PooksiedAnimals
Supporting my GL Habit

Post   » Sun Dec 24, 2017 9:58 am


I wouldn't pull her off of everything. If you do, make sure you continue to weigh her often. "Getting worse" many only start with a drop in weight - if you wait until she starts looking sick again may be too late, especially if it is an infection.

Fighting you on hand feeding is usually a good sign, but make sure you get it in her or at least she's keeping her weight up on her own.

We see the amount of fluid you're giving her - what people are asking you is the actual amount of the drug. The drugs are diluted in the fluid, so posting just the ccs or mls is just stating the volume of the fluid. It's not telling us the amount of the chemical she's getting. Somewhere on the bottle should be mg/ml. or mg/cc. That says how much medication is in each ml of fluid. I'm going to take a wild guess that your example of trimethoprim 10cc actually means 10mg/cc?

edit to change my mind - I bet the example of trimethoprim 10cc is the total amount of fluid in the bottle. So it still would be helpful to know the concentration.

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