Two pigs: tooth abscess, enlarged heart & liver, fluid in lungs and separately, a URI

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:23 pm


Gentamycin is a drug that people have used in a nebulizer. It can't be used orally but could help with a difficult URI.

I am sorry you are having a recurrence of issues. I don't think the Vita C Oxbow treat was the cause.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:26 pm


Medicines don't have to be in "nebulized form." They just have to be liquid, and most meds are available that way.

Pboots

Post   » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:30 pm


Lynx- Good to note about the gentamycin. I'll ask if the culture was sensitive to it if we ever hear back from the vet. Thank you for your sympathetic thoughts. I agree about the oxbow treat, it seems so unlikely. However, it's the only inconsistency in his diet after we were out of the woods with blood in the urine for a good week. The vets don't seem to think much of the blood + urine situation, so I can't do much but hold onto the hope that it is just his urethra bleeding/inflamed from a 'bout of calcium grit + dehydration. They believe he didn't get up and drink as much due to the azithromycin causing great discomfort. I think it was a combination of that and unappetizing distilled water mixed in with hard tap water. We've since switched to jugs of spring water with less calcium mg/L than the city tap water. When he's not in immense discomfort, he will help himself to water. When he doesn't appear to be helping himself to water, I step in and hand-hydrate when I can.

Bpatters- Sorry for being unspecific, what I mean to say is they did not prescribe a form of azithromycin powder that could have been nebulized---or so they told me. It was a bottle of (cherry flavored, sticky once wet) powder that required 9ml of distilled water to activate it. I asked if I could add a saline solution to nebulize it and they said it was the incorrect form and they did not know of any form of azithromycin that could be nebulized.

Our vet, whom I fully trust to "work" with (she listens and responds even when she hits the limits of her knowledge), happens to be sick this week and will be out on maternity leave starting February--given the baby doesn't come earlier.

I fear not being able to get Butter's needs met should this be a relapse after all. But will try to keep positive thoughts. But... Will also not get my hopes up. I was let go from my job from all the time I was taking off. I was expecting it. Admittedly it makes me a bit discouraged and at times resentful that the vet didn't give two figs about trying to work with me to get azithromycin in a form where we could administer it so it would bypass his gut--but that time has passed and nothing can be done now.

I'll still see if I can get some documented evidence of antibiotics that have been nebulized for guinea pigs for the specific purpose of bypassing their gut and directly treating the URI in his one lung. I suspect that there is no documentation of chloramphenicol being nebulized to treat URI's.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Jan 16, 2018 4:47 pm


Yes, I should have been more specific about the liquid form of the antibiotic. It has to be a clear liquid, not something that has been put in a suspension for oral dosage.

Pboots

Post   » Tue Jan 16, 2018 5:26 pm


Bpatters-

That's very helpful thank you very much. Learning this kind of information enables me to better advocate for the pigs.

Pboots

Post   » Fri Jan 19, 2018 9:45 am


Any chance anyone still has a bottle/image of a prescription bottle of azithromycin that they had nebulized? This is kind of my last ditch effort to try and get Butter a nebulized antibiotic--should they choose to prescribe azithromycin again. I can't even find an example of it online. Part of my problem is my inexperience when it comes to searching for medications as well, though I'm surprised I am unable to find it listed anywhere. I've only come across it in ncbi journals with no specifics on the prescriptive form of azithromycin that is being used in nebulization, I can only find information on azithro in the form of an oral dose.

I feel my chances are pretty slim, but you don't know if you don't ask. Any help anyone could offer in this department would be amazing

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:14 am


Maybe it would be easier to find another antibiotic that can be nebulized.

Pboots

Post   » Fri Jan 19, 2018 12:19 pm


I would hope so too, they just offered the two options of chloramphenicol and azithromycin without budging last time.

Butter just had a sneeze so I ran over and it was opaque with a streak of blood. It's very dry in this house (Chicago winter and central heating) but with a room humidity of roughly 28-30%. He does have a sensitivity to orchard and blue grass hay dust (way more intense to Timothy dust). I read up on a thread from 2006 about a pig with a URI and a bit of blood. Everyone seemed to not think much of it (that they weren't related). Really hoping that's the case here. He's due for a recheck next Wednesday. I wonder if we need to go sooner.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Jan 19, 2018 12:28 pm


I've used gentamycin several times when my pigs needed a nebulized antibiotic.

Pboots

Post   » Fri Jan 19, 2018 12:31 pm


I'll ask to see if his new culture shows sensitivity to that, thank you.

I don't suppose the blood from the nose seems alarming to anyone?

Pboots

Post   » Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:11 pm


So it seems Butter's time has come. To my great sadness. There's quite a bit of story leading up to this moment including vet visits and no results except elevated calcium levels and low levels of phosphorus in his blood.

So all the vet can suspect is that he's crashing.

Any advice in making his passing more comfortable is welcome. It's quiet, he's limply laying in his bed and is covered a bit to stay warm. I don't know whether it's worth forcing him to eat and drink fluids anymore.

His eyes have sunken very deep, into their pockets. And he hasn't urinated for 8 hours despite having had 30 ml.

They say his wbc is low. So they don't think it's the URI relapsing. I feel differently about that. The culture won't be back for a week.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Jan 23, 2018 7:02 pm


No, don't force him to eat or drink. Dying people, or animals, are not hungry and usually not thirsty. You can offer him a little water with a syringe, but if he doesn't want it, don't push the issue.

You're doing the right thing by keeping him warm. You may need to cover him with something a little heavier, as body temperature also drops during the dying process.

I'm so sorry, for him and for you.

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