Baytril leading to Stasis?

[frankiethepiggie]

Hello, I’m finally joining on the forum. I’m eighteen with one piggy, Frank. He had a cage mate named George who passed away a little over a year ago. Frank’s now turning five in June. I had some questions about an antibiotic I’ve used a few times for my other pig a few years ago. My current pig Frank, was showing signs of arthritis in his back legs, he had slight swelling and redness so I took him to the vet. The vet gave me metacam for the pain and swelling and Baytril because they feared the redness was due to bumble foot (which it wasn’t). After about four or five doses into the medications, Frank suddenly stopped pooping and eating. He stopped eating for about 24 hours and hadn’t pooped for almost 48. I rushed him to the vet the next morning and he was given fluids, and a pain injection. The x ray showed an insane amount of bloat. They sent me home with some critical care until mine arrives in the mail and some gut stimulant every twelve hours. They told me to keep up the baytril even though I think he’s intolerant. I’ve been feeding him every few hours and he’s starting to have a FEW normal looking poops and started nibbling on hay. But his stomach still feels so rock hard with bloat. I know I’m being impatient I just care about him so much and want him to be okay, he’s definitely older and I thought I’d lose him. This morning, I went to the store and found some baby gas relief tablets. One tablet was the infant amount so I halved it and dissolved it in water and syringe fed him that along with some tummy rubs in hope of breaking down the gas bubbles so he can comfortably pass them. I’ve also been giving him his dose of metacam once a day in hopes of keeping him comfy considering he must be in so much pain being bloated and all. Am I doing anything wrong? I would love any advice, I hope I’m treating him well enough, I just want him to recover. If anyone has any experience or stories I would love to hear, thank you.

 

[Piggies&buns]

This guide will help with information about bloat

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

How much metacam is he being given and is it dog or cat metacam? Once a day is likely not enough as piggies as fast metabolisms and process their pain meds in around 12 hours - bloat is very painful. A dose can be split in half and given twice a day (Of course it’s important to ensure the dose is high enough in the first place)

Antibiotics can kill the good gut bacteria as well as any bad bacteria so being off food can be something which occurs. Stepping in with syringe feeding during such a case is important. Poop output is behind by 1-2 days so when there is a gap in how much food is consumed, you will see a reduction in poop until food intake normalises again and then poop will get back to normal.

 

[frankiethepiggie]

First, thank you

This guide will help with information about bloat

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

How much metacam is he being given and is it dog or cat metacam? Once a day is likely not enough as piggies as fast metabolisms and process their pain meds in around 12 hours - bloat is very painful. A dose can be split in half and given twice a day (Of course it’s important to ensure the dose is high enough in the first place)

Antibiotics can kill the good gut bacteria as well as any bad bacteria so being off food can be something which occurs. Stepping in with syringe feeding during such a case is important. Poop output is behind by 1-2 days so when there is a gap in how much food is consumed, you will see a reduction in poop until food intake normalises again and then poop will get back to normal.

First of all, thank you so much for replying. I really appreciate it. The vet we went to specializes in small animals so I’m pretty positive it’s not a dog and cat metacam. They told me to give him 0.53 ml every 24 hours but splitting the dose and giving every twelve hours sounds much more helpful for him. And he is getting syringe fed critical care every few hours to hopefully keep his gut moving. He’s starting to nibble on his hay and drink water but I’m syringe feeding him water just in case he isn’t getting enough.

 

[frankiethepiggie]

Also, I don’t plan on continuing the Baytril as this is what caused him to go into stasis, and the irritation on his foot pads were due to arthritis rather than bumblefoot, although this is what the vet advised me to do. Am I doing the right thing by stopping the Baytril? I stopped it the second I noticed that he stopped eating and pooping.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Guinea pigs are given metacam as routine pain relief and it comes in two strengths - the cat version of metacam is licensed for guinea pigs and is the ‘go to version’ (0.5mg/ml) but the dog version is three times stronger (1.5mg/ml) and is sometimes the preferred version by some exotic vets for that reason. The dose is based on their weight but they can tolerate higher doses at a vets discretion.

You should not stop a medication without a vet’s approval. We cannot say whether you are doing the right thing by stopping it - your vet must have his/her reasons for prescribing antibiotics.