Dilly's Piggies
Teenage Guinea Pig
Hey, I'm just in need of a bit of advice/support regarding my 7 year 4 month old sow Delilah. Of course due to her age, she has a few health issues going on but she was doing fantastic on her medication and has recently started going downhill again, I'm not entirely sure what to do. This is a very long post so I apologise in advance, I just feel I need to talk about things and give as much info as possible.
Delilah was diagnosed with an enlarged heart via xray and ultrasound back around October 2022 due to laboured rapid breathing, weight loss and lethargy and has been on heart medication since then (1/4 tablet Cardisure twice daily and also a diuretic Frusol 0.5ml twice daily. These two medications have proven successful and helpful for Delilah and stabilised her condition for a good while. Due to arthritis she was put on cat meloxidyl 0.2ml twice per day too.
Her symptoms did come back around November and she started going downhill, losing weight again. I took her back to the vet and they felt a lump on her thyroid, did a needle aspiration and a diagnosis of thyroid cancer was given. (It wasn't biopsied so we aren't 100% sure, it's just most likely) she was prescribed Thyronorm 0.15ml once per day.
Around Christmas she got what I think was an upper respiratory infection which I seriously thought I was going to lose her then, she was so poorly. She lost weight, refused to eat, had discharge from her eyes and nose, loud snuffly/crackly breathing and was lethargic. Because of this she was put on sulfatrim (antibiotic) 0.2ml twice per day and fibreplex for 4 weeks.
I'm not exaggerating when I say she completely turned around and recovered while being on sulfatrim, it was incredible. I really thought we were at the end but literally all of her symptoms went away, her appetite immediately improved and she gained weight back up to 1080g, which is incredible and made me so happy, I wasn't expecting her to do a complete U turn like that at her age. She was basically back to normal before all of these diagnosis and like none of it happened...
Because she was doing so well, we stopped the sulfatrim at the end of February, but within a few days she already started going downhill again, losing weight, pancaking, eye and nose discharge, crackly breathing came back again. Honestly I was so heart broken when this happened, I was hopeful we'd got it under control but I guess not.
So we put her on sulfatrim again for 2 more weeks which again stabilised her, we stopped it again and she went downhill. It's clear that she is battling a very stubborn infection because every time she goes on sulfatrim she stabilises and improves, the moment its stopped she goes downhill.
So this brings us to now... I had been using the same 30ml bottle since Christmas and it worked perfectly every time she went back on it, but of course I've used it all now and don't have any left. So a week ago I asked the vet for more sulfatrim, but there has been a bit of drama with it this time. There is currently a shortage of sulfatrim so it was difficult to get ahold of some, my vet did give me about 10ml in a different generic brown bottle. Normally they give me the full unopened original 30ml bottle by virbac.
The problem is that the sulfatrim they gave me had an awful gross fishy smell, I've used this medication a lot over the years with many piggies and it has never smelled like that. When I gave it to Delilah she got an upset stomach, it gave her diarrhoea and she went off her food, which has never happened before.
I of course told the vet about this, I took the medication in, they smelled it and agreed it's not right, then they gave me what looks like the other half of the first lot they gave me. This one is in the original bottle but it's opened and only half full, I didn't realise until getting home, but this bottle has the same awful fishy smell. I asked them for a fresh new full bottle but they refused to give me one because there's a shortage.
They told me it should still be fine to give her, but I'm skeptical due to the reaction she had. The diarrhoea has improved now, but she is still off her food and losing weight, she still has constant nasal discharge and heavy breathing too, this batch just doesn't seem to be working like the other bottle did consistently, I feel like it is 'off' and not working as it should and that's why she's not responding this time.
I've discussed this with the vet but they don't seem to believe me and they won't give me a fresh bottle, I can't find this medication anywhere else either because of the shortage. I'm just at a loss on what to do, I don't want to lose Delilah due to potentially faulty medication, she was doing so well on the last bottle. I don't know whether to try baytril instead, but she had that before and it didn't really work, plus it gave her digestive upset even with probiotics, I don't know what other antibiotics could work, sulfatrim is always my preferred choice as it has always worked and been well tolerated, even without probiotics, unlike others like baytril which I've had a few gut stasis situations with, even lost a piggie from it.
I'm not sure what to do with this situation, she weighs 950g right now which seems fine in reality but she was maintaining over 1000g for a while before, she's dropping about 20g per day right now, isn't eating much hay or veggies, hard laboured breathing with the nasal discharge, it just doesn't seem to be working this time and I'm not happy with it all. She is of course being topped up with syringe feed but it's not really helping much. I've also noticed that when she grooms herself, the milky white fluid that is supposed to comes from their eyes normally is actually coming out of her nose instead, she has had this little quirk for a couple years now and its odd but nobody seems to know why she's like that. The discharge she's been getting is clear but dries around her nose as a white flaky substance, I've wondered if its actually cleaning fluid rather than mucus discharge and something funky is going on, but I digress, I do think she has a URI on top of this quirk too.
Of course there's also the issue of why didn't the last bottle get rid of the infection either since she was on it for so long, it improved her a lot, but didn't get rid of it completely, so I'm at a loss there too. I have had a piggie before that was similar and she was kept on sulfatrim for the remainder of her life, which might be what Delilah needs too, just to buy her a few more happy and comfortable todays.
I understand she is very old and I cannot stop nature, but with the dramatic improvement she showed while on sulfatrim and the circumstances surrounding the fishy smell, shortage and her bad reaction to this specific bottle I can't help but feel a fresh, non fishy bottle is worth a try. I just wish there wasn't a shortage and hope the vet can source one for her soon, I worry even if I got one it might be from the same bad batch.
I just have a lot of stress and anxiety with this whole situation at the moment, I want to do what's best for her. She has been through so much and is still doing alright right now, she's not in emergency need of euthanasia or anything at this time, but I feel helpless and stuck because of this whole thing, I don't want to lose her due to a potentially bad bottle of meds when she showed such great improvement and potential recently. Does anyone have advice on what I could do? I'm sorry for the long rant, thank you for reading...
Here's a picture of her, she has me well trained and makes me stand at the hay box every night picking the best 'fluffy tops' out for her which she loves. She's not eating hay like she should but she still likes these!
Delilah was diagnosed with an enlarged heart via xray and ultrasound back around October 2022 due to laboured rapid breathing, weight loss and lethargy and has been on heart medication since then (1/4 tablet Cardisure twice daily and also a diuretic Frusol 0.5ml twice daily. These two medications have proven successful and helpful for Delilah and stabilised her condition for a good while. Due to arthritis she was put on cat meloxidyl 0.2ml twice per day too.
Her symptoms did come back around November and she started going downhill, losing weight again. I took her back to the vet and they felt a lump on her thyroid, did a needle aspiration and a diagnosis of thyroid cancer was given. (It wasn't biopsied so we aren't 100% sure, it's just most likely) she was prescribed Thyronorm 0.15ml once per day.
Around Christmas she got what I think was an upper respiratory infection which I seriously thought I was going to lose her then, she was so poorly. She lost weight, refused to eat, had discharge from her eyes and nose, loud snuffly/crackly breathing and was lethargic. Because of this she was put on sulfatrim (antibiotic) 0.2ml twice per day and fibreplex for 4 weeks.
I'm not exaggerating when I say she completely turned around and recovered while being on sulfatrim, it was incredible. I really thought we were at the end but literally all of her symptoms went away, her appetite immediately improved and she gained weight back up to 1080g, which is incredible and made me so happy, I wasn't expecting her to do a complete U turn like that at her age. She was basically back to normal before all of these diagnosis and like none of it happened...
Because she was doing so well, we stopped the sulfatrim at the end of February, but within a few days she already started going downhill again, losing weight, pancaking, eye and nose discharge, crackly breathing came back again. Honestly I was so heart broken when this happened, I was hopeful we'd got it under control but I guess not.
So we put her on sulfatrim again for 2 more weeks which again stabilised her, we stopped it again and she went downhill. It's clear that she is battling a very stubborn infection because every time she goes on sulfatrim she stabilises and improves, the moment its stopped she goes downhill.
So this brings us to now... I had been using the same 30ml bottle since Christmas and it worked perfectly every time she went back on it, but of course I've used it all now and don't have any left. So a week ago I asked the vet for more sulfatrim, but there has been a bit of drama with it this time. There is currently a shortage of sulfatrim so it was difficult to get ahold of some, my vet did give me about 10ml in a different generic brown bottle. Normally they give me the full unopened original 30ml bottle by virbac.
The problem is that the sulfatrim they gave me had an awful gross fishy smell, I've used this medication a lot over the years with many piggies and it has never smelled like that. When I gave it to Delilah she got an upset stomach, it gave her diarrhoea and she went off her food, which has never happened before.
I of course told the vet about this, I took the medication in, they smelled it and agreed it's not right, then they gave me what looks like the other half of the first lot they gave me. This one is in the original bottle but it's opened and only half full, I didn't realise until getting home, but this bottle has the same awful fishy smell. I asked them for a fresh new full bottle but they refused to give me one because there's a shortage.
They told me it should still be fine to give her, but I'm skeptical due to the reaction she had. The diarrhoea has improved now, but she is still off her food and losing weight, she still has constant nasal discharge and heavy breathing too, this batch just doesn't seem to be working like the other bottle did consistently, I feel like it is 'off' and not working as it should and that's why she's not responding this time.
I've discussed this with the vet but they don't seem to believe me and they won't give me a fresh bottle, I can't find this medication anywhere else either because of the shortage. I'm just at a loss on what to do, I don't want to lose Delilah due to potentially faulty medication, she was doing so well on the last bottle. I don't know whether to try baytril instead, but she had that before and it didn't really work, plus it gave her digestive upset even with probiotics, I don't know what other antibiotics could work, sulfatrim is always my preferred choice as it has always worked and been well tolerated, even without probiotics, unlike others like baytril which I've had a few gut stasis situations with, even lost a piggie from it.
I'm not sure what to do with this situation, she weighs 950g right now which seems fine in reality but she was maintaining over 1000g for a while before, she's dropping about 20g per day right now, isn't eating much hay or veggies, hard laboured breathing with the nasal discharge, it just doesn't seem to be working this time and I'm not happy with it all. She is of course being topped up with syringe feed but it's not really helping much. I've also noticed that when she grooms herself, the milky white fluid that is supposed to comes from their eyes normally is actually coming out of her nose instead, she has had this little quirk for a couple years now and its odd but nobody seems to know why she's like that. The discharge she's been getting is clear but dries around her nose as a white flaky substance, I've wondered if its actually cleaning fluid rather than mucus discharge and something funky is going on, but I digress, I do think she has a URI on top of this quirk too.
Of course there's also the issue of why didn't the last bottle get rid of the infection either since she was on it for so long, it improved her a lot, but didn't get rid of it completely, so I'm at a loss there too. I have had a piggie before that was similar and she was kept on sulfatrim for the remainder of her life, which might be what Delilah needs too, just to buy her a few more happy and comfortable todays.
I understand she is very old and I cannot stop nature, but with the dramatic improvement she showed while on sulfatrim and the circumstances surrounding the fishy smell, shortage and her bad reaction to this specific bottle I can't help but feel a fresh, non fishy bottle is worth a try. I just wish there wasn't a shortage and hope the vet can source one for her soon, I worry even if I got one it might be from the same bad batch.
I just have a lot of stress and anxiety with this whole situation at the moment, I want to do what's best for her. She has been through so much and is still doing alright right now, she's not in emergency need of euthanasia or anything at this time, but I feel helpless and stuck because of this whole thing, I don't want to lose her due to a potentially bad bottle of meds when she showed such great improvement and potential recently. Does anyone have advice on what I could do? I'm sorry for the long rant, thank you for reading...
Here's a picture of her, she has me well trained and makes me stand at the hay box every night picking the best 'fluffy tops' out for her which she loves. She's not eating hay like she should but she still likes these!
That is so kind of you, I have been phoning other vets and looking online but I've had no luck even finding it anywhere. Out of curiosity does your bottle smell fishy too? I wondered if I'm just crazy but I'm sure it's not normal... Delilah gets soft liquid gross smelly poop for a few hours after every dose plus it's not helping her this time so I'm sure something is off with it ❤
You would be most welcome to it. I don't think I'm likely to need it before it goes out of date in June. It worked to resolve Winifred's UTI, but she died shortly after. Squeaks seems to enjoy robust good health fortunately.
❤
