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Advice Please! - Uri Treatment

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Nicola92

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My guinea pig soot has been on baytril for URI for 9 days today. He's on a porbiotic and eating/drinking/pooping fine. The vet presribed metcam on friday as there was very little improvement if any but he seems less wet today if you know what i mean? My question is, is this the baytril working or the metacam and if so will he sound worse again when taken off the metacam? He's got another 5 days of baytril anyways so I will finish the course. Thanks in advance
 
Can I just clarify what you mean by less wet? was he dribbling or did he have runny eyes/snotty nose? Is he making a hooting type sound? I would think the Baytril should be kicking in by now but the Metacam will help reduce any inflammation and is a pain killer so may make him feel a bit better. Is his breathing laboured at all?
 
Sorry lol, by less wet i mean doesn't sound as snotty when he sneezes and is breathing. His breathing does seem less of an effort and less noisy
 
What do you mean by hooting sound? There was like a clicking sound last night but didm't notice it tonight
 
It could be a bit of both. Metacam is a pain killer but it also reduces inflammation, and if Soot has an inflammation then perhaps the Metacam is helping to reduce that. But it could also be the Baytril kicking in. Sometimes it does take a while for anti-biotics to start showing an affect.
If the Baytril doesn't resolve the issue there are other antibiotics that can help with respiratory infections, but Baytril is the one licenced for Guinea Pigs, and is the most commonly used.
 
I hope its the baytril kicking in, i just want him to get better, i got them from pets at home 3 weeks ago and they both had ringworm but thats been treated and has gone
 
The hooting sounds isn't like an owl, it's like cross between a hoot, a grunt and a honk, but it's hard to explain. If I'm understanding correctly anyhow, I've had a hooting piggy....
 
Aw I feel for you. It is likely that they had the infection brewing before they were sold. May I ask if you are seeing Pets at Home vet? Often they will treat a pet for free if they have been purchased from one of their stores recently. But as with any vet it helps to be a little informed on possible treatment options, because not all vets are fully aware of all the types of meds and procedures that guinea pigs can have.
 
Yeah they deffinately did! Yeah seeing the vets at pets at home atm but everything the have prescribed has been spot on as far as i can tell from researching (i've looked all meds up before i've given). I did speak to the manager though and i said if he doesn't improve this week then I'm taking him to an exotic vet and they can pay - I'm thinking of going to see an exotic vet anyways to make sure there are no other problems but they seem happy and healthy otherwise
 
Nicola92 said:
My guinea pig soot has been on baytril for URI for 9 days today. He's on a porbiotic and eating/drinking/pooping fine. The vet presribed metcam on friday as there was very little improvement if any but he seems less wet today if you know what i mean? My question is, is this the baytril working or the metacam and if so will he sound worse again when taken off the metacam? He's got another 5 days of baytril anyways so I will finish the course. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome!

So your guinea pig is being treated for a respiratory infection? Has your vet checked for a build-up of fluid in the lungs or on the chest, in which case he may want to prescribe a diuretic. If there is a lot of mucus, then a pinch of bisolvon powder can help with getting the mucus out. Hooting is likely stemming from a partially blocked nose.

If the URI symptoms are not going down, your vet will have to look to either switching to a higher dosage, a different antibiotic for which you may have to sign a form, as baytril is the only licensed antibiotic for guinea pigs, or he may have to consider other avenues, like an allergy. Are you using scent sticks and perfumes in the piggy room?

You can additionally help ease the breathing by placing a bowl of steaming water next to the cage to help ease the breathing, but it is just an additional support, not a medication.

I would also strongly recommend that you weigh your guinea pig daily at the same time and if necessary, top it up with syringe feed and water. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and thirdly the need to eat.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-syringe-feeding-guide.115359/
 
Yeah they've listened to his chest a few times but haven't given a duiretic - is this necessary to treat a URI? No the room they are in does not have anything sprayed in there. He hasn't loat any weight but hasn't put on either but vet said this was normal when feeling unwell and as long as he doesn't lose weight
 
The diuretic helps if there's fluid build up around the chest cavity or around the heart. If there's no fluid build up there's no need for the diuretics. My vet could tell by the sound whether there was fluid build-up or not, so perhaps yours listened for this too. :)
 
I will ask when i go back on thursday to be sure :) I just want him to get over this so much, i know they can deterioate really quickly so i've been keeping a close eye. Been to the vets 3 times routinely and twice as an emergency as I was worried about him but i have to be honest the vets have been great x
 
Nicola92 said:
Yeah they've listened to his chest a few times but haven't given a duiretic - is this necessary to treat a URI? No the room they are in does not have anything sprayed in there. He hasn't loat any weight but hasn't put on either but vet said this was normal when feeling unwell and as long as he doesn't lose weight
Click to expand...

A diuretic is recommended if the lungs or the chest cavity are congested. It helps to clear the fluid build-up.
 
Hi Wiebke , lungs and chest aria is the most common , but a diuretic can be used for oedemas anywere on the body. My boar Teddy Teff RIP had fluid retention on his front legs , and was on frusol (diuretic , for the condition , he lived a happy long life despite his puffy front legs).

Just for reference , frusol is very light sensitive, more so than other meds :lol!: to much information lol :btt:
 
gizzy said:
Hi Wiebke , lungs and chest aria is the most common , but a diuretic can be used for oedemas anywere on the body. My boar Teddy Teff RIP had fluid retention on his front legs , and was on frusol (diuretic , for the condition , he lived a happy long life despite his puffy front legs).

Just for reference , frusol is very light sensitive, more so than other meds :lol!: to much information lol :btt:
Click to expand...

As we are dealing with a guinea pig with URI symptoms, I doubt that the other issues apply to this specific case, @gizzy.
 
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