• 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

Specialist Antibiotic treatment

Rosekiss55

Rosekiss55

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 26, 2019
Messages
5
Reaction score
8
Points
85
Hi I'm a new member but have always used this site for help with my piggies in the past. I do t know where to turn.

My little piggie came to us just under two years ago, we adopted him in a pair after he was abandoned by his prev owners. Within 2 months of having him hed had a bladder infection and this has continued ever since over the last 16 months. We've seen the vets around 10 times in this time, he has antibiotics and metacam then Mono gets better for 6 to 8 weeks and its back to smelly wee and squeaking when weeing. Hes had multiple xrays which always rule out stones/sludge and a more recently a few lab tests on his wee to see what bacteria were up against. Baytil and Bactrim have been used previously (always with vitc probiotics) but because its back again the vet has said we need to inject antibiotics daily and the only antibiotic that works on one of the bacteria present in the bladder is Synulox.

He had the first injection last night and although it hurt him, he was fine all evening and playing with his brother and eating. Today hes not active at all, just hiding in his house and for the first time ever hes not touched his veggies. This is not because hes unwell, even with his bladder infection hes always eaten well and played with his brother, it only affected him when he peed.

Ive read online that Synulox should not be used on guinea pigs, should i be concerned?
 
I can’t help specifically regarding this particular drug as I have not heard of it before, but I also did find a statement saying that it should not be used in small herbivores, but I would not like to say whether there are vet prescribed exceptions to that. You obviously need to be able to trust your vet but maybe you could ask another vet (or different surgery) for advice to put your mind at rest. I am going to tag in some other health members @Wiebke @Abi_nurse who may be able to help specifically

Is he eating today? You say he hasn’t touched his veggies, but hay is the most important part of the diet, so has he tried to eat any hay?
 
Thanks so much for responding.

Yeah he has eaten some hay, a few strands here and there when i try to encourage him to. Hes usually a good drinker and hasnt gone to the water bottles either but he did have a goid drink when i brought it over and offered it. Ive given him some probiotics via syringe too because he wouldn't eat in on his veggies.

I want to add that i do trust my vets, they have been wonderful with all 6 of our piggies, especially Pepper (named after the condiment and not cartoon lol) when he had bladder stone surgery. Its just i worry so much about them as i know they can get so seriously ill so quickly. I also know that google is not always correct too.

They seem so fragile and need such careful care, i wonder how guinea pigs ever survived in the wild.
 
Piggies&buns said:
I can’t help specifically regarding this particular drug as I have not heard of it before, but I also did find a statement saying that it should not be used in small herbivores, but I would not like to say whether there are vet prescribed exceptions to that. You obviously need to be able to trust your vet but maybe you could ask another vet (or different surgery) for advice to put your mind at rest. I am going to tag in some other health members @Wiebke @Abi_nurse who may be able to help specifically

Is he eating today? You say he hasn’t touched his veggies, but hay is the most important part of the diet, so has he tried to eat any hay?
Click to expand...
The exceptions could well be because its being injected and not given oraly. I had a guine apig injected by needle instead because of a dangerous antibiotic if given by mouth. It wasn't this antibiotic though, so I don't know how safe it is
 
Rosekiss55 said:
Thanks so much for responding.

Yeah he has eaten some hay, a few strands here and there when i try to encourage him to. Hes usually a good drinker and hasnt gone to the water bottles either but he did have a goid drink when i brought it over and offered it. Ive given him some probiotics via syringe too because he wouldn't eat in on his veggies.

I want to add that i do trust my vets, they have been wonderful with all 6 of our piggies, especially Pepper (named after the condiment and not cartoon lol) when he had bladder stone surgery. Its just i worry so much about them as i know they can get so seriously ill so quickly. I also know that google is not always correct too.

They seem so fragile and need such careful care, i wonder how guinea pigs ever survived in the wild.
Click to expand...
They probably don't survive long, like wild rats only live around 8 months old. Not sure, could be why they breed so young
 
Yes that absolutely could be the reason but without having knowledge of the specific antibiotic, we can’t say. You would think the vet would not have prescribed it without being sure it was ok to use though, and that him not seeming as bright today is a coincidence...You really should speak to your vet if you are at all concerned about him though
 
It could be. I'm waiting on a callback from the vets as my usual exotic vet isn't in this week so they are contacting him about it. Fingers crosed I'm just being overly worried. Thanks to all that have helped x
 
Rosekiss55 said:
It could be. I'm waiting on a callback from the vets as my usual exotic vet isn't in this week so they are contacting him about it. Fingers crosed I'm just being overly worried. Thanks to all that have helped x
Click to expand...
I don't think you are being overly worried according to what the above thinks
 
Rosekiss55 said:
Thanks so much for responding.

Yeah he has eaten some hay, a few strands here and there when i try to encourage him to. Hes usually a good drinker and hasnt gone to the water bottles either but he did have a goid drink when i brought it over and offered it. Ive given him some probiotics via syringe too because he wouldn't eat in on his veggies.

I want to add that i do trust my vets, they have been wonderful with all 6 of our piggies, especially Pepper (named after the condiment and not cartoon lol) when he had bladder stone surgery. Its just i worry so much about them as i know they can get so seriously ill so quickly. I also know that google is not always correct too.

They seem so fragile and need such careful care, i wonder how guinea pigs ever survived in the wild.
Click to expand...

Please stop giving synolux ASAP. It contains penicillin (amoxillin) as an active ingredient, which is fatal for any rodents!
Guinea Lynx :: Dangerous Medications

Synolux active ingredients: The active ingredients are amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. Amoxicillin is a penicillin antibiotic which fights bacteria.
 
I've used this for Rats. It's penicillin and definately not piggy safe.
 
Thank you so much for all your help. He's only had 1ml shot last night and hasn't any further since and the Vets have confirmed to not give him anymore. Hes been given a longer dose of his previous oral antibiotics - 4 weeks this time to see if that nips it in the bud. I give him a daily dose of cystease too which seems to help.

Hes started to improve slighty this afternoon, come out for a drink on his own and moved to another cushion afterwards. He also snatched a timothy hay based treat off me and ate that, even if hes still not interested in hay.

Ive started with critical care now too. Thanks again all, i really cant tell you how grateful i am and how much my little boys mean to me. Ill keep you updated x
 
Rosekiss55 said:
Thank you so much for all your help. He's only had 1ml shot last night and hasn't any further since and the Vets have confirmed to not give him anymore. Hes been given a longer dose of his previous oral antibiotics - 4 weeks this time to see if that nips it in the bud. I give him a daily dose of cystease too which seems to help.

Hes started to improve slighty this afternoon, come out for a drink on his own and moved to another cushion afterwards. He also snatched a timothy hay based treat off me and ate that, even if hes still not interested in hay.

Ive started with critical care now too. Thanks again all, i really cant tell you how grateful i am and how much my little boys mean to me. Ill keep you updated x
Click to expand...
Which antibiotic are you giving now?
 
Apologies for delay in updating. Mono is doing alot better today. Still not his normal self but hes eating some more hay and veggies. Hes come up a few times for water from the bottle too. New antibiotics is Sulfatrim. I'm giving him probiotics about 30 mins before antibiotics. He even got a little excited when cut his veggoes,
 
Rosekiss55 said:
Apologies for delay in updating. Mono is doing alot better today. Still not his normal self but hes eating some more hay and veggies. Hes come up a few times for water from the bottle too. New antibiotics is Sulfatrim. I'm giving him probiotics about 30 mins before antibiotics. He even got a little excited when cut his veggoes,
Click to expand...

Sulfatrim is a safe antibiotic, so Mono will hopefully make a good recovery! Keep weighing him daily until he has made a full recovery and his weight/appetite have fully stabilised.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top