Antibiotics for liver inflammation? Advice needed!

[S'mores and Pockets]

Hello,

My 3-year-old boar has been having gut issues since mid-January. His fecal test came back negative, so he had a blood test done. He has some liver changes and signs of inflammation. The vet spoke to a zoo medicine specialist, and here were their suggestions:
1) Liver inflammation could be an issue (he is also drinking a lot of water, which is associated with that condition) - can't diagnose it without doing a biopsy, which is risky (even in bigger animals), so they suggest giving him antibiotics for 2 weeks and see how that goes.
2) The vet can test S'mores urine to see if his sugar levels suggest diabetes. I will probably wait on that, if he does have diabetes it will be much harder to treat. Requires insulin injections regularly. Also, look at dietary changes for him if he does have diabetes.
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My questions:
1) What are the effects of having a piggie on antibiotics?
2) Has anyone had experience with piggie liver problems or diabetes?

Picking up antibiotics on Monday. Don't know what kind, I will ask.

Thank you!

 

[weepweeps]

Hello. Sorry I can’t help but I hope someone comes along soon with some experience with this. I hope your piggy improves soon.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

Treating liver problems in guinea pigs is still very tricky and like with kidney issues, not a huge lot can be done.

Diabetes in guinea pigs is usually better diagnosed by a blood test (a nick of the quick in a toe) than from urine. In most cases, diet is the best to tackle it; it tends to normalise again within a few months unless you are dealing with a rather rare severe diabetes (usually in connection with a genetic issue).
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets (see chapter special needs diets)

Any antibiotic can also impact on the gut microbiome that is responsible for the digestive process. Some antibiotics are more prone for a bad reaction (lowered or total loss of appetite or soft poos/diarrhea); but like with humans, an adverse reaction can individually happen to any of them. In this case, you will have to contact your clinic and support your piggy with syringe feed. Please keep in mind that the majority of cases are well tolerated with all antibiotics (or they wouldn't be still in use for a specific species).
Probiotics can help to buffer the effect somewhat. We recommend to have some recovery formula and probiotics at home but in a pinch you can improvise with mushed up pellets (cut off the syringe tip just below where it widens to allow the rougher pellet fibre to pass through but still hold the plunger in) in the meantime.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All the best!

 

[S'mores and Pockets]

Hi!

Treating liver problems in guinea pigs is still very tricky and like with kidney issues, not a huge lot can be done.

Diabetes in guinea pigs is usually better diagnosed by a blood test (a nick of the quick in a toe) than from urine. In most cases, diet is the best to tackle it; it tends to normalise again within a few months unless you are dealing with a rather rare severe diabetes (usually in connection with a genetic issue).
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets (see chapter special needs diets)

Any antibiotic can also impact on the gut microbiome that is responsible for the digestive process. Some antibiotics are more prone for a bad reaction (lowered or total loss of appetite or soft poos/diarrhea); but like with humans, an adverse reaction can individually happen to any of them. In this case, you will have to contact your clinic and support your piggy with syringe feed. Please keep in mind that the majority of cases are well tolerated with all antibiotics (or they wouldn't be still in use for a specific species).
Probiotics can help to buffer the effect somewhat. We recommend to have some recovery formula and probiotics at home but in a pinch you can improvise with mushed up pellets (cut off the syringe tip just below where it widens to allow the rougher pellet fibre to pass through but still hold the plunger in) in the meantime.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All the best!

Thank you! He is currently off veggies, has been for about a month. He still has soft and abnormal stools frequently, gets better then suddenly gets worse. I’m also feeding him Critical Care here and there, because of his weight fluctuations. I will look into a probiotic. Is ordering Benebac online okay? I’ll ask my vet as well.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

2) Has anyone had experience with piggie liver problems or diabetes?


Thank you!

Hi, last year I had a piggy with liver disease. Her symptoms were that one morning she was a little slow to come out of her hidey for veggies, I regard any behavioural changes as red flags, so weighed her and she had lost over 100g since her weekly weigh in just a few days earlier. A scan at the vets showed she had an inflamed gall bladder and was prescribed metacam and a 10 day course of destolit (a drug used to treat gall bladder/liver issues) but not antibiotics. She responded well to the drugs and was her usual self in just a few days. She was re-scanned after the 10 days and her gall bladder had gone back down to normal.

Sadly a couple of months later the same thing happened again, she saw the vet the same day and started meds but this time she just went downhill rapidly and had to be pts within 24 hours

A post mortem revealed her whole liver was completely mottled, meaning she had advanced liver disease and that there was nothing that could have been done. Although the destolit couldn't save her it had given her an extra couple of months of good quality life.

If your pigggy's problem is his liver it could quite well be a different condition to what mine had and worth remembering that the liver is good at repairing itself if damaged. Foods that are beneficial to the liver are milk thistle and beetroot (raw).

 

[S'mores and Pockets]

Hi, last year I had a piggy with liver disease. Her symptoms were that one morning she was a little slow to come out of her hidey for veggies, I regard any behavioural changes as red flags, so weighed her and she had lost over 100g since her weekly weigh in just a few days earlier. A scan at the vets showed she had an inflamed gall bladder and was prescribed metacam and a 10 day course of destolit (a drug used to treat gall bladder/liver issues) but not antibiotics. She responded well to the drugs and was her usual self in just a few days. She was re-scanned after the 10 days and her gall bladder had gone back down to normal.

Sadly a couple of months later the same thing happened again, she saw the vet the same day and started meds but this time she just went downhill rapidly and had to be pts within 24 hours

A post mortem revealed her whole liver was completely mottled, meaning she had advanced liver disease and that there was nothing that could have been done. Although the destolit couldn't save her it had given her an extra couple of months of good quality life.

If your pigggy's problem is his liver it could quite well be a different condition to what mine had and worth remembering that the liver is good at repairing itself if damaged. Foods that are beneficial to the liver are milk thistle and beetroot (raw).

Thank you for sharing. I’m so sorry you had to put down your sweet piggie.

 

[S'mores and Pockets]

Update: S’mores started his antibiotics on Monday, seems to have a healthy appetite still. The vet says they prefer to not give him probiotics unless his stool gets bad. I still have been giving 5ml of poo soup 1 hour after his antibiotics.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

The boys and I are sending lots of love and healing vibes for S'mores!

 

[S'mores and Pockets]

The boys and I are sending lots of love and healing vibes for S'mores!

Thank you! His appetite has noticeably decreased and he is having soft poops (probably a mix between his condition and the antibiotics...) He is running out of CC, and his next package doesn't come until May 3-5, he doesn't like his mushed pellets as much, but I'm feeding it to him. Just a very stressful situation, thank you for all your support!

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Thank you! His appetite has noticeably decreased and he is having soft poops (probably a mix between his condition and the antibiotics...) He is running out of CC, and his next package doesn't come until May 3-5, he doesn't like his mushed pellets as much, but I'm feeding it to him. Just a very stressful situation, thank you for all your support!

I can fully sympathise. It is very stressful. Make sure you take care of yourself too. I nursed my boy day and night for most of last year.

The antibiotics will be playing havoc with his natural gut bacteria and upsetting his tummy - have you discussed supplementing probiotics with your vet? When my critical care was running low and I was waiting for a delivery, I rang around a few local vets (as mine didn't stock it at the time) and managed to buy some from them. The vets that are based in the Pets at Home stores actually weighed some out for me and sold me some. So may be worth an ask if you are running low?

 

[S'mores and Pockets]

I can fully sympathise. It is very stressful. Make sure you take care of yourself too. I nursed my boy day and night for most of last year.

The antibiotics will be playing havoc with his natural gut bacteria and upsetting his tummy - have you discussed supplementing probiotics with your vet? When my critical care was running low and I was waiting for a delivery, I rang around a few local vets (as mine didn't stock it at the time) and managed to buy some from them. The vets that are based in the Pets at Home stores actually weighed some out for me and sold me some. So may be worth an ask if you are running low?

❤
Yes, I will get in contact with them and ask about a probiotic. I am giving him poo soup, but will definitely ask. My vets do have CC, they were the ones who gave me the first packet, so I will ask about that as well.

 

[S'mores and Pockets]

Update #2: S'mores finished his antibiotic course Monday. His water intake is still high, and his poop still goes back and forth from being okay to bad. Last evening it was very soft but then maybe 1-2 hours later, it was much better. His poop changes really quickly, and it's very strange. He is still showing signs he is happy (squeaking, running around, excited for his food, etc) but his behavior has definitely changed since this problem came up, such as (laying down more, weight fluctuations, drinking more water.) He never has really shown that he feels sickly or unhappy, just his medical signs are prominent.

I don't know what to do, or how to help him... I'll call the vet, but seems like we tried a lot of options already.

So tired and anxious.