It really is an emotional rollercoaster. I have gone from sobbing thinking he needs to be put down, to feeling like he could live another year happily. It’s hard because I know their health can change so rapidly.
His lungs look good, just a couple more days of the Baytril then I think his GI stuff will return to normal. With the Metoclopramide, he’s pooping really good. There are times when it’s not very much but for the most part he is pooping good with medication while on the antibiotic.
The X-ray showed there is still gas in his stomach but not as much and that things are starting to move. She recommended a low dose of Simethicon (spelling error probably) baby gas drops but I don’t really feel safe using that. If it comes to it okay but right now I don’t feel the need to give him that.
Today the bloating is down even more so that’s a good sign. I’m still syringe feeding him in the morning and before bed because I don’t think he can always keep up on his hay intake, but he’s showing interest in and is eating well.
She prescribed him a higher dose of Meloxicam. .15cc instead of just .1cc. He seems to be hurting less with this dose.
He’s itchy but no mites. She checked again. Gave me gabapentin in case of emergency pain situations.
And she went ahead and treated him with a single dose of Revolution just in case of fleas or mites because he’s got black specks in his hair.
There was no “wrong medication” prescribed it *did* look like meloxicam but it’s a different flavor or something. She took it very seriously and checked it and I really appreciate that.
I struggle with depression and anxiety chronically, and have for years so I’m starting to focus on self care during this time because it’s really taking a toll on me.
But I think he’s gonna beat this and he’ll be able to stay with us for a bit longer. <3
Ah well I don’t know. She looked at it under the microscope, and didn’t see anything.Black specks which are stuck fast to the hair shaft are indeed a clear sign of mites - the specks which are stuck are the egg casings.
Piggies do not get fleas.
I don’t know if revolution works differently so you would need to check whether a single dose is actually enough. It is a selamectin based product which I am not familiar with. The most common ivermectin product used here requires three separate doses to fully cure mites (one treatment isn’t enough as it doesn’t kill eggs so you have to wait for the eggs to hatch and then repeat treatment).
New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights
We don’t recommend simethicone is used in piggies. It gathers gas into one big bubble which is fine for human babies but piggy gut is different and using simethicone can make passing gas more painful.
Make sure you are weighing him yourself every morning so you can monitor food intake daily.
Sending you hugs
I don’t think it’s fleas as I haven’t seen any on him but it is possible from what I’ve read. My vet’s guinea pig had fleas. I live in the USA in an area that has a lot of fleas so maybe. Idk.
Well he’s already had the revolution put on his neck. I can’t do anything about it now.Please never try any common flea treatments because they contain substances that fatal for guinea pigs. Guinea pigs don't have species specific fleas.
Fleas And Flea Powders - Risk of Death Warning
Well he’s already had the revolution put on his neck. I can’t do anything about it now.
The amount you syringe feed depends entirely on how much he is eating independently gauged by what his weight checks are telling you.
A few top up feeds a day if piggy is otherwise eating hay for themselves right up to feeding every 2 hours throughout the whole day where there is loss of appetite.
I looked it up online and I keep seeing different information about Doxycycline? Some saying it's less harsh, some saying it's more?Doxycycline tends to be much harder on the gut than baytril. It unfortunately can really wipe out he gut and affect appetite
I hope he is ok
I looked it up online and I keep seeing different information about Doxycycline? Some saying it's less harsh, some saying it's more?
Alright he had his last dose of Baytril Saturday evening. I heard a sneeze Sunday morning, could be possible he has allergies. Because he's itching a lot, but she's testing several times for mites and other stuff and seen nothing (nonetheless was treated with a small bit of Revolution on his neck, which is a safe medication against fleas and mites.) The itching does seem less the past few days, though.
I haven't heard a sneeze since the other day, thankfully. He goes to the vet today to x-ray his lungs again to make sure they're still looking good, and to x-ray to see if there is still gas in his stomach. The last x-ray for his stomach was looking better, like things were moving through there definitely but slight bloat (this was caused by Baytril.)
I listened to his lungs and heart with a stethoscope, sounded good, but I'm not a doctor, obviously.
I expect his GI system will return to normal now that he's off the Baytril.
If his URI symptoms reappear again, we will know the low dose of Baytril was ineffective at healing it completely, though it took the symptoms away. He was only on .1cc once a day.
This is his second time on Baytril. But the first time he was only on it for 6 days, the vet told me to stop when his symptoms disappeared though I didn't really like that idea. He started having URI symptoms again three days later, so I immediately restarted the Baytril.
She agreed with me and prescribed .074cc twice a day, but I did not feel safe giving it twice a day this second time around since the one dose was already causing GI issues.
So this second time, he took it once a day for 8 days. I was going to do one extra day, but I do not feel comfortable because of the on-and-off GI bloat.
At this point there are no URI symptoms other than that one sneeze I heard 24 hours ago.
The plan is, only if his symptoms return/the infection does not appear to be fully healed, we will start him on Doxycycline.
(My question: I have read that Doxycycline is a lot easier on the gut, is that true?) If so, that does make me feel hopeful, in case he does end up needing a different antibiotic. I'm hoping this time the infection is fully cleared, though, and he won't need another one, but we'll take it one step at a time.
His stomach is less bloated already, and he's pooping better. Note that he never stopped eating, but I did and am still doing a couple of syringe feedings a day, because he is 8 years old and sometimes I don't think he can quite keep up with the amount he needs to eat, especially when his stomach was hurting from the bloat. BUT was still eating MOSTLY normally. He does have Meloxicam at a dose of .15cc which seems to give him good quality of life.
All in all he is doing well right now. He will be rechecked at the vet today.
Thank you. I've had Baytril cause GI stasis in all three of the three guinea pigs I've had that took it so I'm always so nervous about Baytril particularly but I will keep that in mind.Wishing you all the best. Doxy in our forum experience is one of the harshed antibiotics on the gut, even more so than baytril. We just see more baytril cases because it is the most prescribed antibiotic by far.
Fingers crossed for your old boy.
Hi!I googled it, listened to his lungs, I hear like a... breathy sound? for lack of a better word? but that's probably normal? just sounds like he's breathing hard or something. but didn't hear any popping or crackling noises
I googled it, listened to his lungs, I hear like a... breathy sound? for lack of a better word? but that's probably normal? just sounds like he's breathing hard or something. but didn't hear any popping or crackling noises