Baytril Concerns- Possible UTI? (Urgent)

[guineapigsandcoffee]

Hello all!

I have a guinea pig named Meeko; she is 5.5 years old! I adopted her from a rescue since she was a month old, so I have watched her through all of her life stages!
This past weekend, I noticed that she was sitting hunched/fluffed out in her pigloo. (It's clear so it was easy to see in). I noticed that, after sitting hunched for a while, she would appear to eat a cecal poop and then lay down like normal. Though I thought that she was simply hunched to have easy access to the poop, the fluffing out concerned me. She was eating normal, drinking normal, and not losing weight, but I booked an appointment with a new vet yesterday (my usual one recently retired).

The new vet did not feel any stones, said her breathing/heart sounded good, etc. The only thing he could figure was that it was a UTI. I am not convinced that it is a UTI, simply because she has been quite prone to UTIs and, when she has one, you can hear her loudly squeaking as she pees. Unless she has been squeaking when she pees when I am not home, I have not heard it. I am also used to seeing blood when she has a UTI, and I have not seen any. I switched from fleece to paper bedding (it is better for her feet, as they get irritated very easily), so I realize that it would be harder to see as it tends to dry brown and the bedding is brown. However, there hasn't been any blood in her white bed either.

I say all of this to ask about Baytril. The vet prescribed her Baytril, which I realize is a very heavy-duty antibiotic that can lead to gut stasis. Since I was unsure of how to use it with probiotics and she doesn't appear to be in any pain, I have not yet given her her first dose because I want to make sure I am doing it right. If she is eating, drinking, maintaining her weight, and only sits hunched/fluffed before she appears to be eating a cecal poop, would it be risky to give Baytril? If Baytril is necessary, would poo soup be an adequate probiotic? (I live in a rural town where it would take several days to order a probiotic, which I can do if necessary, I am just afraid to start giving her a dose without a probiotic on hand)

I am quite nervous because I have heard horror stories about Baytril, and I want to make sure my baby girl isn't getting anything she shouldn't have to take. For reference, she is about 1.6lbs and her Baytril prescription says that she is to get 0.2 ml by mouth every 12 hours for 10 days.

Thanks!

 

[Seven7]

If your vet prescribed it, I would give it but go slowly since you don't feel good about it. If the vet said twice a day, just go easy. Baytril won't hurt your GP especially if the vet prescribed it.

My Bear who came to me with multiple sickness from a pet shop was prescribed Baytril from our vet. On the 5th day on Baytril, Bear had diarrhea, but he was much better after he took it. I was glad I took Bear to see the vet soon after he became out family.

 

[Seven7]

I want to point out that I stopped Baytril when my Bear started having diarrhea after taking Baytril for 5 days. Our vet wanted Bear to take Baytril for full 7 days twice a day, but Bear was better after 5 days of taking it so I took him off Baytril.

I took Bear to the vet after a couple of days of becoming our family from a pet shop.

 

[piggl]

Fluffing up fur can be a sign of a couple things. They can be cold, angry/scared or in some sort of pain/discomfort.
There are a couple more signs you would likely see if this was pain, such as weight loss. Or just anything out of the normal.
If she is acting completely normal then there is a chance nothing is really going on, but obviously I am just going off your description and without a hands on assessment could not really tell (I am also not a vet)

Baytril is the most common antibiotic prescribed for pigs and is the most affective generally speaking, which is why it is so commonly prescribed, but that also means less knowledgeable vets prescribe it perhaps a bit more than they should.
Hopefully if anything is going on the baytril should help.

Baytril can affect the stomach, but not always. If she has a healthy counterpart you can make her poop soup. Poops should be as fresh as possible and fed quickly.
Probiotics should be given 1-2 hours after antibiotics, I do not know if this is the same with poop soup but I would follow that guideline just to be safe.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

I would follow their instruction and see how it goes.
Daily weighing would be a good idea for the next couple of days.
Weight Monitoring and Management

Let us know how you get on x

 

[Wiebke]

Hello all!

I have a guinea pig named Meeko; she is 5.5 years old! I adopted her from a rescue since she was a month old, so I have watched her through all of her life stages!
This past weekend, I noticed that she was sitting hunched/fluffed out in her pigloo. (It's clear so it was easy to see in). I noticed that, after sitting hunched for a while, she would appear to eat a cecal poop and then lay down like normal. Though I thought that she was simply hunched to have easy access to the poop, the fluffing out concerned me. She was eating normal, drinking normal, and not losing weight, but I booked an appointment with a new vet yesterday (my usual one recently retired).

The new vet did not feel any stones, said her breathing/heart sounded good, etc. The only thing he could figure was that it was a UTI. I am not convinced that it is a UTI, simply because she has been quite prone to UTIs and, when she has one, you can hear her loudly squeaking as she pees. Unless she has been squeaking when she pees when I am not home, I have not heard it. I am also used to seeing blood when she has a UTI, and I have not seen any. I switched from fleece to paper bedding (it is better for her feet, as they get irritated very easily), so I realize that it would be harder to see as it tends to dry brown and the bedding is brown. However, there hasn't been any blood in her white bed either.

I say all of this to ask about Baytril. The vet prescribed her Baytril, which I realize is a very heavy-duty antibiotic that can lead to gut stasis. Since I was unsure of how to use it with probiotics and she doesn't appear to be in any pain, I have not yet given her her first dose because I want to make sure I am doing it right. If she is eating, drinking, maintaining her weight, and only sits hunched/fluffed before she appears to be eating a cecal poop, would it be risky to give Baytril? If Baytril is necessary, would poo soup be an adequate probiotic? (I live in a rural town where it would take several days to order a probiotic, which I can do if necessary, I am just afraid to start giving her a dose without a probiotic on hand)

I am quite nervous because I have heard horror stories about Baytril, and I want to make sure my baby girl isn't getting anything she shouldn't have to take. For reference, she is about 1.6lbs and her Baytril prescription says that she is to get 0.2 ml by mouth every 12 hours for 10 days.

Thanks!

Hi

Baytril is in most countries the only officially licensed antibiotic for guinea pigs. In some countries bactrim and corresponding brands with the active ingredient trimethoprim/sulamethoxacole are additionally licensed.

Please be aware that when you rely on online research you will always get all the horror stories but never the vast majority of perfectly unspectacular normal recoveries because they are not considered worth writing about. Baytril is by far the most used antibiotic world-wide for guinea pigs; it would simply not continue to be widely used if it was really as bad as it is made out to be.
Anyway, at the medium dosage you have been prescribed you may expect some softer poos but I would not expect any stronger adverse reactions. My own piggies have always tolerated it well, by the way. The soft poos will disappear on their own after the course. Please brace for the bad taste of baytril and make use of the tips on how to deal with uncooperative piggies in our Support feeding and medicating guide link below.

You can give the probiotic either one hour before or two hours after the antibiotic. If you have a healthy companion, you can also do a daily live healthy microbiome transfer. If done correctly, it is actually even more effective than probiotics.
You can find more information on probiotics and 'poo soup' (which is not as gross as the name implies) via this link here: Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

Please also accept that sitting hunched up is a sign of pain/discomfort). Signs of Pain in Guinea Pigs

Every bit as important as any medication is your own care at home. Please switch from the regular life-long once weekly weigh-in to weighing daily first thing in the morning on your kitchen scales so you can monitor the food intake and the level of your own support feeding care for the coming 24 hours. Any poo output always runs 1-2 days behind, during which time a piggy off their food can lose a major amount of weight. No medication can get to work successfully if your piggy is not getting enough food and the gut slows down and stops eventually because of that.
Our comprehensive practical feeding and medicating guide has all the necessary tips, advice and information needed getting your piggy through a health crisis or what to do if your piggy continues to deteriorate: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

All the best for a good recovery. Keep in mind that you may be dealing with very a different health issue than a UTI in an older piggy.
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection