Ciprofloxacin Ear Drops for Ear Infection

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Akozar3

Post   » Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:32 pm


I have a 2 year old female, Champion, that was exhibiting a pronounced head tilt yesterday (1/1) morning. She was eating, drinking, pooping, and behaving normally. Since it was a holiday and she seemed stable, I decided to wait until today (1/2) to take her in to see a vet. This morning her head tilt was all but gone. There was only a slight tip of her head when she walked, but I still decided to take her in to be safe.

I recently moved to a new town and this was my first time at this particular vet's office. The vet had good reviews and assured me over the phone that he could treat guinea pigs.

Overall I was rather unhappy with the treatment. The vet was excessively rough with Champion. She is a feisty pig, but the way he (and the assistant) handled her was much more rough than any other vet I have experienced. Champion was writhing and screaming, unlike any other sound I've heard her make, as he attempted to take her temperature. After struggling for a minute to get at reading, I asked him to just stop. It was very distressing and I was extremely worried that she was going to be injured.

Anyways, the vet said that her outer ears looked clean and since she no longer had a head tilt he decided it was up to me if I wanted to go ahead with antibiotics or wait and see if her symptoms progressed. I decided to go ahead and at least get the antibiotics just in case. He seemed unsure of what to prescribe, which concerned me a little. He said multiple times that he would have to double check which meds would be safe.

I ended up leaving with Baytril 22.7 mg pills- the bottle says take 1/4 pill twice a day. He also prescribed Ciprofloxacin Opthalamic (yes, eye) 0.3% drops- she is to have one drop in each ear twice a day. He said these eye drops are the same as ear drops. He also said something about ciprofloxacin being "metabolized" or something with Baytril, or it being essentially the same thing.

I tried researching using ciprofloxacin in guinea pigs but I couldn't find too much, so I wanted to post on here to see if anyone has experience using this drug/if it is safe.

For reference, Champion weighs 1.1 pounds.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:41 pm


Yeah, I can see why you weren't too happy.

If her ears were clear, I can't see any reason for giving the drops in the ear. Cipro is a good antibiotic when you need it, but it's very strong. I'm not sure how much the pig would absorb with it being given topically, but I'd want to try to Baytril first and see what happens. If that doesn't work, you could add Doxycycline with fewer potential side effects than Cipro.

I'm also not a fan of giving pills to guinea pigs. They have very small throats, and a pill could easily get stuck. That tells me that he probably doesn't prescribe enough of the stuff to have any on hand from a compounding pharmacy, which would be a liquid with some flavor to kill the taste of the Baytril (which is awful).

If you look at the staff bios at the clinic website, is there any indication that this vet has any training in the care of exotics? If not, I'd google exotic vets in the town where you live and see if I couldn't find one that would do better than that.

Akozar3

Post   » Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:49 pm


Thank you. I also have only ever been prescribed liquid, flavored Baytril from other vets so I did find the pill to be rather strange. My main concern was the Cipro, but I feel better knowing that it is at least safe. Since her symptoms have all subsided, I may just hold out and if she exhibits any further symptoms, I will take her to a different vet and get liquid antibiotics/baytril.

It seems rather difficult to find a vet that has true exotics experience. It always seems that once I think I've found one, I realize after I get there, based on their handling/seemingly little knowledge of guinea pigs, that they are basically just a feline/canine vet that is willing to take a stab at treating a pig in order to get more business. I will definitely do some more research and try to find a better vet in town.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:12 pm


It is possible to finely crush the pill, mix with a tiny bit of water, and give by syringe. I like the liquid better too. I understand why you were disappointed with the visit, however (as you point out), sometimes choices are limited. I hope you can find a vet that you are happier with.

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