• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

8 year old guinea pig with a URI

His lungs and heart look good, but she does think he still has the infection (since I heard crackling breathing sounds two days ago, slight eye drainage, and sneezing two days ago that has now stopped). We will do the Baytril for 7 days, 0.07cc twice a day this time instead of .1 once a day. There is gas in his stomach and he is a bit backed up, he is pooping still but as of the past 16 hours, a bit less, so we have increased his Metaclopramide from .2cc twice a day to .4cc twice a day. Ear is a lot better, ear infection appears to be gone, head tilt has been gone for days.

Any tips, advice, etc. would be greatly appreciated <3
 
Okay I've had him sitting on a fleece blanket next to me on the bed for 15 minutes, constantly eating hay, and he just had his vitamin C as well, and he hasn't pooped once. I am very worried.
 
The vet closes in 10 minutes. There is no other available exotic vet.
 
I gave him .4cc of the Metochlopromide, however you spell it, an hour ago.
 
rosequartz said:
He had one poo. Still constantly eating hay...
Click to expand...

Hi

Please take a deep breath. A piggy tucking into food is a piggy with a working gut - think of it as a big conveyor belt. If one bit is jammed, the rest will stop or snarl up - if your piggy is loading their inner conveyor belt with gusto, then that means that there are no major snarls. :tu:

Please accept that it takes 1-2 days for any food to pass from the mouth to the anus because a guinea pig gut is a lot longer and thinner than a carnivore pet or an omnivore human gut. Be patient; you will get your poos! It is just not going to happen quite as quickly as you'd like. The metoclopramide will vacate the gut but not instantly. ;)
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Please take a deep breath. A piggy tucking into food is a piggy with a working gut - think of it as a big conveyor belt. If one bit is jammed, the rest will stop or snarl up - if your piggy is loading their inner conveyor belt with gusto, then that means that there are no major snarls. :tu:

Please accept that it takes 1-2 days for any food to pass from the mouth to the anus because a guinea pig gut is a lot longer and thinner than a carnivore pet or an omnivore human gut. Be patient; you will get your poos! It is just not going to happen quite as quickly as you'd like. The metoclopramide will vacate the gut but not instantly. ;)
Click to expand...
Thank you… he’s barely pooping. Gonna wake up at midnight to check on him.
 
Are you still weighing him every day to ensure he is eating enough?
Are you still syringe feeding him?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Are you still weighing him every day to ensure he is eating enough?
Are you still syringe feeding him?
Click to expand...
He’s going to the vet twice a week, he has lost a tiny bit of weight but not much. He is eating still a little less but only because he doesn’t feel good. He’s mostly eating though. Yes I am syringe feeding him.
 
The Baytril probably caused bloat. He has a tight stomach and X-ray confirmed gas in his stomach. He pooped overnight not entirely normal for him but better
 
As long as he is eating some hay independently and you are continuing to syringe feed (enough to keep his weight stable each day) enough to bridge the gap in independent hay intake then you will get poops being produced
 
Piggies&buns said:
As long as he is eating some hay independently and you are continuing to syringe feed (enough to keep his weight stable each day) enough to bridge the gap in independent hay intake then you will get poops being produced
Click to expand...
I understand. I just know how fast this can go downhill, and I’m worried.
 
I will probably be putting Finn down on Thursday. That’s the soonest time the vet will work him in and I’m disgusted by them right now tbh. No other exotic vet is near me. Not even within a two hour drive which I would be willing to travel to help him in however he needs.

He’s not in agony but he’s in a lot of pain.

He has osteoarthritis, and URI flared up when the vet stopped Baytril at 5 days so he’s back on it because an URI can kill him so idk what to do but continue the Baytril; he’s on Meloxicam for the pain.

Eating and drinking mostly normally with additional syringe feedings. Maintaining weight.

Stomach is large and tight. Only really poops after having Metoclopramide at this point.

I am utterly shattered and heartbroken and I cannot stop crying. I cuddled him this morning, and he pressed his face so close to mine, rumbled softly, and kissed and ran his face against mine.

He’s 8, and he’s in a lot of pain even when I pick him up I have to do it so carefully because his ribs hurt, his feet hurt, his stomach. I love him so much and would do anything if I believed he could get better and be without painful sickness for a while. At this point he is breathing with his mouth open sort of. He can breathe out of his nose but I think it’s harder for him rn because well frankly his ribs hurt and his stomach is large so it probably hurts. He is very alert but I just can’t keep putting him through this unless there’s a good chance he’ll be okay for a while.

Is this the right decision?
 
rosequartz said:
I will probably be putting Finn down on Thursday. That’s the soonest time the vet will work him in and I’m disgusted by them right now tbh. No other exotic vet is near me. Not even within a two hour drive which I would be willing to travel to help him in however he needs.

He’s not in agony but he’s in a lot of pain.

He has osteoarthritis, and URI flared up when the vet stopped Baytril at 5 days so he’s back on it because an URI can kill him so idk what to do but continue the Baytril; he’s on Meloxicam for the pain.

Eating and drinking mostly normally with additional syringe feedings. Maintaining weight.

Stomach is large and tight. Only really poops after having Metoclopramide at this point.

I am utterly shattered and heartbroken and I cannot stop crying. I cuddled him this morning, and he pressed his face so close to mine, rumbled softly, and kissed and ran his face against mine.

He’s 8, and he’s in a lot of pain even when I pick him up I have to do it so carefully because his ribs hurt, his feet hurt, his stomach. I love him so much and would do anything if I believed he could get better and be without painful sickness for a while. At this point he is breathing with his mouth open sort of. He can breathe out of his nose but I think it’s harder for him rn because well frankly his ribs hurt and his stomach is large so it probably hurts. He is very alert but I just can’t keep putting him through this unless there’s a good chance he’ll be okay for a while.

Is this the right decision?
Click to expand...

I’m so sorry. Sending hugs to you. ❤️
Is he on a good amount of pain medication? That would at least keep him comfortable until you can see the vet.
 
weepweeps said:
I’m so sorry. Sending hugs to you. ❤️
Is he on a good amount of pain medication? That would at least keep him comfortable until you can see the vet.
Click to expand...
He’s on .1cc of Meloxicam once a day. I know he can’t have anymore but it just doesn’t seem to help enough.
 
rosequartz said:
He’s on .1cc of Meloxicam once a day. I know he can’t have anymore but it just doesn’t seem to help enough.
Click to expand...

I’m so sorry to hear this.

0.1ml once a day is a tiny dose and probably not doing much. There is leeway for him to have a higher dose and for it to be twice a day upon vets instructions if he is in pain.
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m so sorry to hear this.

0.1ml once a day is a tiny dose and probably not doing much. There is leeway for him to have a higher dose and for it to be twice a day upon vets instructions if he is in pain.
Click to expand...
Oh, I thought it was the maximum dose? I was told somewhere on here that .1cc was a large dose or something idk. He's 1.7 pounds
 
rosequartz said:
Oh, I thought it was the maximum dose? I was told somewhere on here that .1cc was a large dose or something idk. He's 1.7 pounds
Click to expand...

If it is cat version then 0.1ml once a day is a tiny dose.
At post #9 of this thread when you were asking about splitting the dose, wiebke commented and said it was as low as a dose comes so you couldn’t split it as it would basically render each half dose useless.
 
Piggies&buns said:
If it is cat version then 0.1ml once a day is a tiny dose.
At post #9 of this thread when you were asking about splitting the dose, wiebke commented and said it was as low as a dose comes so you couldn’t split it as it would basically render each half dose useless.
Click to expand...
I just checked, the concentration is 1.5mg/ml. Also sorry, I think in the moment I had completely misunderstood wiebke's statement <3 I hope I didn't come across as disrespectful or anything!
 
So he’s about 770g?

Just to give you something to compare it to I had a piggy who weighed 1.4 kg and was prescribed 0.56ml of dog loxicom TWICE a day for a URI.

Please speak to your vet about upping his pain medication. Piggies can metabolise it so much quicker than dogs. Good luck I hope he’s soon feeling more comfortable. ❤️
 
I'm honestly going to just give him a little more, he's already had .1 today but he's in a lot of pain I can tell and I'm a little irritated my vet knew that and didn't tell me that she only had him on a low dose. She acted weird like I shouldn't be giving it to him everyday, even though he has osteoarthritis and is going through sickness. That kind of makes me wonder if I should maybe not put him down. I don't know. Because if he can have more relief from pain maybe he'd feel better...

I'm going to have the vet x-ray everything tomorrow and see if there's been any improvement. I'll talk with her before making a decision but I will make it carefully.
 
And yes at the moment he's about 770 grams which is actually a good bit better than it was a couple months ago (he wasn't even sick a couple of months ago, just dealing with the arthritis); this year he has lost a lot of muscle mass from being so old.
 
I will not be putting him down today.

He is significantly less bloated, interested in life, and it’s not time quite yet. The vet gave me the wrong medicine btw. I am very glad I discovered it and he did not get any of it. I won’t report them at this time but I will certainly be bringing this up and some instances of what I believe to be negligence. They have also imo been undermedicating him at least as far as Meloxicam goes. He did so well yesterday with the extra meloxicam I gave him.

There is no other exotic vet in my area or surrounding areas. They are typically well known to be very good so it’s disappointing the things I’ve gone through lately with them.

They act like they’re tired of dealing with us and I feel because of his age they’ve written certain things off and I’m very angry.

They have also not been thorough at all despite me doling out money to them every week and advocating like hell for Finn.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top