Unsure of what happened to my pig

Post Reply
Lisa12

Post   » Sat Sep 29, 2018 9:35 pm


Hello ! I hope its okay if I post about my pigs here that i dont open new topic..

I try to write short and i am new to this forum and english is not my native language..I Will try not to write too long letter
I lost my pig too..he was 8months old. I adopted him from some vets who were not for exotic animals..he had three legs(he was operated and castrated by them), they said he wasnt born with that, it was some sort of accident and they had to amputed his leg. He was so loud, lovely and social and we loved to have him..his name was Galli, we spent every day with him, he was never alone.

His problems started about half month as he came in our home. Our vet is one of the best for exotic animals in the country, but despite we tried to do everything to save him, the main cause of his death was not found out as it was unexpected. He had nose discharge and was sneezing.the antibiotics didnt work so they did baccteria culture and it shows positive on two things..And he got antibiotic that cures exactly that two groups of bacteria that needs to treated.

He was Quite in good mood most of the time. HE stopped sneezing and hasnt got discharge about week or so before his death. But his stomach was always so wierd(because of three legs and some other issues he had, that it was hard to say whats normal for him). I was beyond pain as he passed in my arms. So it must be something wrong with his stomach..i dont know what, vet didnt know..we saw him Quite a few times.

The problem is I have another pig who is almost three years now. They met, but they were in separate cages. (really big ones). Irie take it so bad. HE was hopping (i hope is the right expression..i took him to the same vet. I told him everything. He said that it seems he had asthma(or something like that)..and he got antibiotic for uri..he was better..but than after a week he started sneezing and had nose discharge.. he got the same antibiotic that worked for Galli.

It didnt work for him, not the way it should..it seems a little better..but than it only got worse..we did baccterial culture or how you say for him, too..it showed negative and postive on fungus..but vet was not able to confirm that the cause of discharge and sneezing is fungus..I am so worried about him, i cant even tell you..this is my fourth pig and last probably.

I paid so a lot of money for both, for the best doctors. I am prepared to do aynthing to save him..vet say to call him on moneday if he s still not better..of course i Will, all those vet visits are stresfull for him, tough..
Any advice how to save my pig is really appriciated!!!! Cause i dont know what Will do without Irie:(. He is so irreplacable to us..
Best regards from us!

Lisa12

Post   » Sat Sep 29, 2018 9:40 pm


I forgot to write he got Sporanox (3 dossages, he took one, now..)

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sun Sep 30, 2018 12:31 pm


Lisa12, I've opened a new topic on your pig. It's very difficult to keep up with problems with pigs when more than one pig is on the same thread.

It sounds like Galli died of a respiratory infection, but there's really no way to know.

There's really no way for us to know what Irie needs. I hope the vet can diagnose and treat him properly. The Sporanox is for a fungal infection.

It's very difficult to have guinea pigs as pets in countries where there are few or no vets who can adequately treat them. It's sometimes difficult to find a good vet even in the U.S. -- there are many, many vets who can treat dogs and cats, but few who know anything about exotic pets.

Good luck with him, and keep us posted on how he is.

Lisa12

Post   » Sun Sep 30, 2018 1:50 pm


Thank you very much for your answer!!:)

See that was wierd with Galli cause he seemed finally cured and than..And even more wierd is that Irie is negative on baccteria with same sympthoms.

I agree with you for vets, our vet is for exotic animals. But hes the only one around that at least knows something and has some experience:(

However can you please please tell me than, can you rule out URI with chest x-ray or not?? I need to know what i can ask him to do.

I hate to keep problems open. But Irie already took two antibiotics. (one for a week and the other for two weeks)-now we Will see if fungal infection cause all this.. but he should be totally okay by tuesday than, he seems a little better after one dose, but i can hardly say its because of the Sporanox or not. He s eating a lot and getting even fatter than usual and is running around the room..

I appriciate your kindness and i Will do everything that is in my power and even what is not to solve this sad situation.:( You all seem here like an experts so I hope you can help me at leat with some advices..

Lisa12

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:22 am


Okay..here is an update on Irie..

Irie actually is still sick.

We went back to vet and i told him thats my last pig and if he could please do everything he can to save him...and he said okay..

He was giving him bactrim injections..for two days, like moneday, wednesday, friday moneday..and than cause it didnt get any better..significally you know..i was frustrated and upset over Galli and over the fact that Irie didnt really made progress(he was still sneezing y know, altough he was without dicharge few days it returned:().. and i am so sorry i was, cause he than say okay, if its not really that much better i wont give him this anymore(he got like 4 dossage i think large ones as it was for twice and so maybe thats like 8 times, but thats not enough or..

And than the weekend he got really apathic.. and didnt wanna eat i have to force fed him..he couldnt poop normal and..i dont know he s better now but still to lazy for my crazy pig that he once was!

However vet suggested Azytromicin(oral once a day) for week..he said that if its bacterial infection it must be okay...thats our last option..

I read here its not really good for pigs..Galli got that too..but didnt have any reactions to it. If you have ny comments on that, i would be very grateful..i am so upset sometimes i dont even know if he ll ever got better and he had this goin on for month now..Best regards, L.

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:50 pm


We have had a number of respiratory problems with out girls over the last few months.

Initially when we first got them Mu Mu was on Cipro for breathing problems and a mass in her stomach but that didn't work and sadly we lost her

A few months back Two of them were on Bactrim (Sulfatrim) and Doxycycline (Vibramycin) for 6 weeks and that seemed to work ok and more recently one was on Chloramphenicol and Lasix for breathing issues and liquid/fluid in her chest and she just finished the course and seems OK, which is a relief as the vet was talking about putting her to sleep at one point.

I am not sure if X-Rays ca rule out URIs but they can potentially show other issues that may not be being treated by the antibiotics your piggy is on. The reason one of ours was on Lasix was because in addition to having breathing problems she also had a lot of fluid in her chest area, this only showed up on the X-Ray.

The other important thing, as I am sure you know, is they must keep eating even if it means syringe/force feeding them.

Have you had any luck tracking down anything in their environment that may be causing the breathing issues in the first place?

Lisa12

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:18 pm


Thanks so much for this informations..

I am so sorry for your Mu Mu:,(. Galli had both problems, too.. stomach and URI and maybe even something else. We still miss him.
IRie only had nasal discharge and sneezing, he doesnt have breathing problems-or so they say. He s adopted(i adopt piggies too), so he sometimes makes sounds when his sniffing, but otherwise he was perfectly healthy when he was alone.

They said(i asked all three vets, separately) there is nothing wrong with his breathing so there is no need for an x-ray. But yeah, i would rather get that done, cause of what you said..(this only shows on x-ray). The thing is that he s kind of very they said impulsive, lol..he got pissed off if you try to mess with him:) and really pissed off, he s such a character and got very long hair. So I am not sure how they would(they dont want, right) x-ray without anasthesia-and i dont want that, cause he s sick..i dont wanna risk it.. and they dont even agree to do it:/

I know that about force feding i didnt even sleep cause i was so afraid i would loose him+now he s luckily eating by himself.

I did try yeah..vet said that too..but no diference. He even slept in my bed that he wasnt on hay..no results. Still sneezing.

On top of that i think azytromicin is not that good for the heart if i am not mistaken..thanks again..i ask themstuff all the time, just to solve our issues..i think nobody asks as much as me, but thats my Irie and he s important to me and i hope we ll get better oneday.. good luck to your piggies too!!!:)

Lisa12

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:23 pm


Oh, and i am even thinking of asking our dear dog vet to do Iries x-ray, cause he s very kind and he knows me very well..and maybe he would have even do it, y know..cause he does what i ask him:) And our dog is 14 and in great great form. HE doesnt know much about piggies but i am sure he can say if fluid is in lungs or not.

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:46 pm


When Nala had fluid in her lungs she was having noticeable problems breathing, her head was bobbing, she was all fluffed up and you could see her chest and stomach moving. If Irie seems to be breathing well then you may be OK or he may just be good at hiding his illness.

We tracked down what we thought was the cause of our girls breathing issues. It was the fleece pockets on the blankets we use. They were trapping the smell of urine under the blanket with the piggies when they slept. Since we stopped them using the pockets they appear to be doing much better.

I dont think any of ours had nasal discharge but we did have one who would sneeze a lot. She had to have medication twice and now seems ok since we stopped them using the pockets on the fleeces.

Is there anything else in or around the cage that could be causing allergies or irritation? What sort of bedding do you use? How often to you change it/clean? What is the temperature? What is the humidity? Do you use candles/incense/oil burners or anything else that produces smoke?

Just trying to think of anything that could introduce irritants in to the air that Irie is breathing.

Here is a link to info on hand feeding.

https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

by force feeding what I mean is Syringe feeding with Critical care but sometimes the piggies may be reluctant to eat it so you have to be prepared to get the syringe in to the side of their mouth and get them to eat that way, just do it slow enough for them to chew and swallow safely.

Our 3 girls are usually OK with syringe feeding but sometimes they can really struggle so you may have to be prepared to be firm with them if they aren't eating properly, and ignore their protests and get some food in to them. If they aren't eating and are losing weight their lives may literally depend on it. Do you weigh Irie regularly? Has he lost weight?

Lisa12

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:25 pm


Okay thank you, thats very usefull, so is probably really nothing wrong with his heart than..

Yeah..but are you trying to say that pocket on the flences cause URI? Or they just cause breathing problems?

I use newspaper and hay.. Irie eats everything so I cant really put him on blankets..I clean it nearly every day as he had cage for two(160x60)so I remove parts that are not clean every day. Temperature is around 22 °Celsius as he lives in my room, where i sleep..so i know he s sneezing at night..and i am not smoking in there lol as vet points out looking at my bob marley wallet..i mean..he should have rather find out a problem.

I know..

I read whole gunnea lynx page..its very helpful.

I think Irie must have some sort of URi and not allergy..i think, really. But than results should have shown it or antibiotic cured it. And plus he s so pro diharea and he s still crying when he poops cause of bactrim so i cant really give him another antibiotic straight away-who is well known to cause dhiarrea.i mean..its just all a little hopless...

MAybe we Will have baccterial test repeated-and that is not so accurate as for rabbits either, i heard..eh:( i ll let you know if there Will be some positive news..

Lisa12

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:29 pm


No, he didnt loose weight...he gained 30g so that okay..i weight him every day now..

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:33 pm


Only a good exotic vet would be able to tell you whats really wrong. I'm no vet, I am just going through all the things we checked when our girls had breathing problems.

We looked for any sources of smoke,dust, pollen, mold, etc and tried to eliminate it.

We finally seemed to have narrowed it down to them sleeping in the enclosed pockets on the fleece liners we have, they weren't getting enough clean air circulating while they slept and were breathing in urine/ammonia which we believe was causing them breathing problems and possibly URIs as well.
The Smallest one, Suzi, had harsh breathing but recovered by herself without drugs but the other two (Nala and Chunkita) had to have 6 weeks of the two antibiotics to recover and then Nala two had further breathing problems a couple of months later and had to have 6 weeks of the antibiotics and Lasix for the fluid. Nala had always sneezed more than the others (but no nasal discharge) but doesn't seem to sneeze as much now.

Since we stopped them using the pockets they seem to be doing better in general. We also made sure any hideys we use are well ventilated as well.

I hope your vet is able to help with answers and that Irie makes a speedy recovery. If he is gaining weight then that is good.

Post Reply