• 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

Baytril help

Waterfallhannah

Waterfallhannah

New Born Pup
Joined
May 8, 2022
Messages
25
Reaction score
32
Points
160
Location
Bridport
Hi guys!
One of our boys was making noise when going to the toilet, so the vet has prescribed Baytril. I'm supposed to be giving it to him for nine more days, but it's been an absolute nightmare! He absolutely HATES the stuff and really fights against it, and when I can finally get the syringe in his mouth he just lets it dribble out down his front. I've tried carrot breaks as bribery but he's not having any of it. I'm worried that he's not taking enough in, I'm sure he's swallowing some but I'm concerned he's dribbling out too much!
Has anyone found a good way to convince their piggies to take it? I would love some tips if anyone has any!
Thank you!
Hannah
 
Hi, I find the best way is to sit with the piggy on my lap with his butt facing towards me, so he is unable to back away. Then hold his head with one hand and push the syringe into his mouth with the other hand. Put it in at the side, behind his front teeth and angle it into the opposite cheek. If it dribbles out you have most likely not put it in far enough. It can be a good idea to practice with just water in the syringe to get the hang of it. Some people find wrapping the piggy in a towel like a burrito can also help.
Baytril tastes disgusting so you are not going to be able to convince him to take it of his own accord. You just need to be firm and pop it in quickly, then give him a little treat as a reward.
 
Have you been given any pain relief for him? I usually give the metacam/loxicom first to lure them into a false sense of security and then quickly shove the baytril in before they know what's happening. It is vile stuff sadly
 
I managed to get Rey’s dose of baytril in with the metacam which she waits at the bars for; one syringe each side of her mouth and both plungers down! I don’t think she’ll fall for that again though as last time it was a bit of a struggle getting her to keep taking it.
 
Waterfallhannah said:
One of our boys was making noise when going to the toilet, so the vet has prescribed Baytril. I'm supposed to be giving it to him for nine more days, but it's been an absolute nightmare! He absolutely HATES the stuff and really fights against it, and when I can finally get the syringe in his mouth he just lets it dribble out down his front. I've tried carrot breaks as bribery but he's not having any of it. I'm worried that he's not taking enough in, I'm sure he's swallowing some but I'm concerned he's dribbling out too much!
Has anyone found a good way to convince their piggies to take it? I would love some tips if anyone has any!
Thank you!
Hannah
Click to expand...
Hi and welcome

Baytril is worst tasting of all meds that can be given to guinea pigs; unfortunately, it is also still main antibiotic prescribed and in many countries the only licensed antibiotic for guinea pigs.

You can find lots of very practical tips for how to deal with unccooperative piggies in our medicating guide (with pictures). Here is the link: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures (see especially chapters 8 and 10)

All the best!
 
Generally the volume of baytril in each dose is quite small - maybe 0.2 or 0.4ml or some such - which is a blessing at least. I was too confident the first time George had it as I'd dosed piggies before and once something is in there they can't spit it out, but George froze with his mouth hanging open and such a look of horror while the nasty medicine just rolled back out again! I had to resort to gently gripping his head and getting that little syringe into the back corner of his cheek. Then I followed up with sweet metacam which we never have a problem with. And a sprig of parsley to take away the taste for a treat.

If the Baytril works for his (presumably) urinary infection you should see a difference within the first few days - it shouldn't take until day 9 for him to stop squealing when he pees. If you get to about day 5 and there's no change in symptoms you might want to let your vet know early... they may offer a switch to a different antibiotic as there is a lot of resistance around. Also if you find his appetite drops off generally you will need to supplement-feed him and it will tell you more about that in the link. But most piggies tolerate Baytril pretty well so I hope he feels better soon!

If you have any updates later on add them to this thread - then we can see his history. It really helps ☺️
 
My girl had baytril previously for a uti and though she didn’t like taking it, she gained weight whilst on it, probably because she felt so much better. I’m hoping the same happens this time!
 
Update: the tips worked, thank you so much! We're managing to give him the Baytril much more successfully :)
We saw improvements in the first five days, he was making a lot less noise, however the last two days he seems to be making more noise again when pooping... we're going to give it another two days of antibiotics and, if nothing improves, call the vet again! Hopefully we can get him x-rayed to rule stones out! I hate seeing him uncomfortable :(
I saw a post on here that talked about non-bacterial cystitis being common in indoor pigs, I'm wondering if this is maybe something the poor little guy might have? Will update with more details!
Thanks for being so helpful and supportive, everyone! 😊
 
I don't know whether we'd say SIC was 'common' but it is being increasingly diagnosed. And it's hard to say whether indoor v outdoor is a 'thing' as you'd anticipate that illness in indoor piggies might be picked up more easily than outdoor ones? But it's possible - certainly people are keeping piggies indoors more and more. Sometimes they get to go outside to run round a bit, sometimes not. UTI is pretty common. Stones and sludge are unfortunately a bit of a 'thing' with guinea pigs (and bunnies too). Sometimes you get UTI and stones/sludge at the same time so keep up with the AB until the course is finished. But you might want to reassure yourself with an x-ray to at least rule out calcium stones/sludge, especially if your vet can manage to do a conscious one?

Is he an older boy? Does he show any signs of impaction? George was 3 1/2 when he first had a UTI and it coincided with him starting to get impacted and also (as it turned out) the beginning of arthritis in his knees. I saw him standing under a little stool one day and he hunched and gave a grunt and passed about 9 poops in one go. 9! It was at that point I began to turn him over once a day and make sure his back end was clear - sometimes he looked like he was about to lay an egg! Once he was unbunged he was dead cheerful 😜
 
Free Ranger said:
I don't know whether we'd say SIC was 'common' but it is being increasingly diagnosed. And it's hard to say whether indoor v outdoor is a 'thing' as you'd anticipate that illness in indoor piggies might be picked up more easily than outdoor ones? But it's possible - certainly people are keeping piggies indoors more and more. Sometimes they get to go outside to run round a bit, sometimes not. UTI is pretty common. Stones and sludge are unfortunately a bit of a 'thing' with guinea pigs (and bunnies too). Sometimes you get UTI and stones/sludge at the same time so keep up with the AB until the course is finished. But you might want to reassure yourself with an x-ray to at least rule out calcium stones/sludge, especially if your vet can manage to do a conscious one?

Is he an older boy? Does he show any signs of impaction? George was 3 1/2 when he first had a UTI and it coincided with him starting to get impacted and also (as it turned out) the beginning of arthritis in his knees. I saw him standing under a little stool one day and he hunched and gave a grunt and passed about 9 poops in one go. 9! It was at that point I began to turn him over once a day and make sure his back end was clear - sometimes he looked like he was about to lay an egg! Once he was unbunged he was dead cheerful 😜
Click to expand...
He's only one, bless him! He is doing about five in a row, making himself a nice little pile of them!
I'll finish the course and then give the vet a call.... hopefully we can get to the bottom of this!
 
Further update: we called the vet as he was still making noise going to the toilet. The vet scanned him and said there were no stones, however he did have some sludge. They changed his antibiotics and told us to keep giving him anti-inflammatories too. We've been giving him a low calcium diet and trying to give him lots of watery veg, which he's happily eating. However, he is now losing weight (I assume due to the antibiotics he's on). He's supposed to take these for another 11 days, but in the last week he's dropped from 1277g to 1213g and it's panicking me!
I saw something about critical care on here so I've just bought some on Amazon...does anyone have any advice? I'm so worried about him :(
 
Waterfallhannah said:
Further update: we called the vet as he was still making noise going to the toilet. The vet scanned him and said there were no stones, however he did have some sludge. They changed his antibiotics and told us to keep giving him anti-inflammatories too. We've been giving him a low calcium diet and trying to give him lots of watery veg, which he's happily eating. However, he is now losing weight (I assume due to the antibiotics he's on). He's supposed to take these for another 11 days, but in the last week he's dropped from 1277g to 1213g and it's panicking me!
I saw something about critical care on here so I've just bought some on Amazon...does anyone have any advice? I'm so worried about him :(
Click to expand...

This is our syringe feeding guide
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Syringe feed him as much as is necessary to keep his weight stable. Ensure you weigh him daily to monitor that he is getting enough syringe feed.

You can use his normal pellets and mush them with hot water, let it cook and then syringe the mush to him. You will need to cut the tapered end off a 1ml syringe to be able to get pellet mush through it.

You can also give a probiotic - something like Fibreplex - as if can help settle their tummies while on antibiotics. Ensure to leave 1-2 hours between a dose of antibiotics and a dose of probiotic (don’t give it at the same time)
 
I am pleased he hasn't got any stones. I'm not a health expert but if he were mine I would be giving him some Critical Care. Wiebke gave you the link for the syringe feeding guide above so I won't link it again. I hope he gets better soon.
 
Piggies&buns said:
This is our syringe feeding guide
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Syringe feed him as much as is necessary to keep his weight stable. Ensure you weigh him daily to monitor that he is getting enough syringe feed.

You can use his normal pellets and mush them with hot water, let it cook and then syringe the mush to him. You will need to cut the tapered end off a 1ml syringe to be able to get pellet mush through it.

You can also give a probiotic - something like Fibreplex - as if can help settle their tummies while on antibiotics. Ensure to leave 1-2 hours between a dose of antibiotics and a dose of probiotic (don’t give it at the same time)
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this advice, I've bought him some fibreplex and critical care which is arriving today!
In terms of fibreplex, I know you said I should wait 1-2 hours between a dose of antibiotics, but what about his anti-inflammatory? Can I give it to him when he has that?
Thank you!
 
Waterfallhannah said:
Thank you so much for this advice, I've bought him some fibreplex and critical care which is arriving today!
In terms of fibreplex, I know you said I should wait 1-2 hours between a dose of antibiotics, but what about his anti-inflammatory? Can I give it to him when he has that?
Thank you!
Click to expand...

Yes you can. It’s just the antibiotic a probiotic should not be given with
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top