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Baytril not working?

Staphylococcus is a group of bacteria which cause ‘staph’ infections. Staph aureus is a gram positive strain of staph. It lives harmlessly on the skin and nasal passages of many people. However if it gets into cuts or wounds then you get an active staph infection. Will show up as abscesses, boils etc.

It can also cause respiratory infections in piggies, and it is an opportunistic bug which will spread.

When you hear of MRSA infections, that is a staphylococcus aureus infection but an antibiotic resistant one (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).

My whole family has been on the receiving end of a staph infection - was not a pleasant time. Endless cycles of washes with hibiscrub, antibiotics and treatments to try to get rid of it.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Staphylococcus is a group of bacteria which cause ‘staph’ infections. Staph aureus is a gram positive strain of staph. It lives harmlessly on the skin and nasal passages of many people. However if it gets into cuts or wounds then you get an active staph infection. Will show up as abscesses, boils etc.

It can also cause respiratory infections in piggies, and it is an opportunistic bug which will spread.

When you hear of MRSA infections, that is a staphylococcus aureus infection but an antibiotic resistant one (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).

My whole family has been on the receiving end of a staph infection - was not a pleasant time. Endless cycles of washes with hibiscrub, antibiotics and treatments to try to get rid of it.
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I’m so sorry to hear that :( Any advice on caring for piggies with it?
 
Just got the Marbocyl. It got crushed into syrup by another vet and they wrote the label as once a day 1ml and 1.2ml for meep as she’s larger. Should I split the dose? This seems incorrect as all other antibiotics we’ve been given have been split.
 
Staph aureus is both a biofilm maker and a facultative anaerobe - so it does better under aerobic conditions but can manage if it gets stuck in anaerobic places. All this means is that it can be flexible, which is why it is such a good 'opportunistic pathogen'.

A Pathogen is what we call a disease-causing organism which survives by harming it's host. Then we have the beneficial bacteria that we'd struggle without, like the ones in our gut that digest our food for us. But actually most of the bacteria we're lathered in (and that's a lot) live as Commensals - they do us no harm and we don't notice they're there. This is their preferred 'lifestyle' in many ways because if the body is alerted to the presence of bacteria (when they start to cause harm) it will rouse the immune system to attack so by keeping their head down they have no trouble! Thus Staph aureus bugs have no 'intent' to harm, if you can put it that way, but because they're all over the place they have more opportunity to spread into areas where they can do harm and if they get stuck there they have the toolkit to survive. They've gained this toolkit over time by acquiring bits of DNA from other bacteria, some of which carries useful genes which give them a survival advantage. They have a long history as an opportunistic pathogen and consequently have been exposed to a lot of antibiotics - some of which they've acquired resistance to. Hence MRSA. As a microbiologist they are a bit of a pain because when you're trying to grow up some stubborn bug that needs TLC and special conditions you seem to always get big fat Staph colonies appearing out of the blue to contaminate your 'sterile' plates! Common as muck, they get everywhere, and are an unfussy guest.

Your antibiotic regime is interesting in that it will be once a day. Medicines in the body are eventually broken down and excreted. Some will last longer than others - so if you have an active medicine that is going to hang around a long time it will actually be detrimental to use it more often as you will build up more and more in the body with each dose, if you see what I mean. The vet will be using guidance to keep the active dose working in the body between upper and lower limits without under-dosing or over-dosing. The other thing that can affect dose is how much the body actually absorbs - we'd hope for 100% but sometimes it's less. All these things will have been worked out in experiments before this stuff is approved for use in animals or people and put on the market. The battle against infections is always a bit of a balancing act. I hope those piggies (and you) start to feel better soon x
 
Oh, a quick note on pro-biotics... many of them contain yeasts, not bacteria - one exception being the US product Benebac which does actually contain a mix of bacteria. All Saccharomyces species are yeasts, and you'll see Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the labels of Fibreplex and bio-lapis. Why is this important? Well the gut micro-flora is made up of different types of microbes - some are bacteria, some are yeasts (there's a lot of weird stuff in there). And although yeast cells look a bit like bacterial cells under a microscope they are actually completely different and much more like people cells in a lot of ways. They are our very (very) distant cousins on the family tree of life. And the antibiotics prescribed for bacterial infection don't attack the yeast cells any more than they would attack our cells. Antibiotics can strip the gut of bacteria but yeasts will remain to carry on the good work and and make it much easier for the good bacteria to re-establish. This is reassuring when you're thinking about timings of giving pro-biotics.

PS: this is actually why people on antibiotics can suddenly get a bout of yeast infection like Candida (orally, or... erm, elsewhere) as their commensal bacteria which normally keep it in check by jostling for space and resources are suddenly wiped out by the AB and Candida spreads her wings!
 
Thank you so much that’s so informative. I’m struggling to afford fibreplex 3x a day for three piggies (9ml of a 15ml tube), do you guys reckon 6ml morning and evening would be okay? :)
 
piggy.pack said:
Thank you so much that’s so informative. I’m struggling to afford fibreplex 3x a day for three piggies (9ml of a 15ml tube), do you guys reckon 6ml morning and evening would be okay? :)
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Is it 9ml a day between the three? So each gets 1ml three times a day?
 
I have to say mine have never got the full ml. They never actually liked it. I just give a little dollop - maybe about a third of a ml in a syringe feed - a couple of times a day depending on the other meds. I know there is other good stuff in there to help gut microbes grow and that, but it is pricey and if I can manage with less I do. If you try dropping the amount (so less each time, but still regularly throughout the day) and see whether they still manage OK to eat and keep their strength up and their weight on... if it starts to drop you can always up the amount again. My vet doesn't stock this but they have had Bio-lapis in stock, which comes as a sachet of powder you sprinkle in the syringe food. Fibreplex is supposed to be the tip-top stuff but for minor gut issues that catch us unawares we've managed fine with Bio-lapis because it was most quickly available. For a pig in serious trouble I'd probably give a bit more, if they'd take it. But that's just me.
 
Can syringe feeding reduce a pig’s appetite for normal hay? Because they are always so exhausted until around the time of their next feed (4/5 hours?)
 
piggy.pack said:
Can syringe feeding reduce a pig’s appetite for normal hay? Because they are always so exhausted until around the time of their next feed (4/5 hours?)
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No it should not do so. A piggy who can eat enough hay for themselves to maintain their weight will do so. They normally then refuse syringe feeding because they are eating enough hay independently.

If they are eating lots of hay independently then you can try to cut down on a syringe feed to see if their weight maintains. If it does then they have a balance and are eating well. If they lose weight if you cut out one syringe feed (or reduce the total amount over a day) then they are not eating enough hay and you need to increase the syringe feed again
 
Piggies&buns said:
No it should not do so. A piggy who can eat enough hay for themselves to maintain their weight will do so. They normally then refuse syringe feeding because they are eating enough hay independently.

If they are eating lots of hay independently then you can try to cut down on a syringe feed to see if their weight maintains. If it does then they have a balance and are eating well. If they lose weight if you cut out one syringe feed (or reduce the total amount over a day) then they are not eating enough hay and you need to increase the syringe feed again
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I think I may miss their middle day feed and evaluate from there. Mouse and Meep were very much refusing, but sweet Bea was taking it like a champ bless her.
 
piggy.pack said:
I think I may miss their middle day feed and evaluate from there. Mouse and Meep were very much refusing, but sweet Bea was taking it like a champ bless her.
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Only do it if they are independently eating hay and are feeling well in themselves. It doesn’t mean they are eating enough hay of course so id by the next day the weight has dropped then you need to go back to the mid day feed
 
I’m so exhausted. I’m syringe feeding three pigs 3x a day, giving 3 to 4 meds, fibreplex, nebulising, I have about 4 hours to myself everyday. I’ve spent every penny I have and I’m struggling so much. I want them to keep going but no antibiotic is working. I just don’t want to feel like I’m giving up when I feel like there’s a chance they could make it. I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore and I’m so frightened.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Marbocyl is in the same antibiotic family as baytril. It is a good antibiotic, but I’ve found it more effective when injected. Piggies aren’t nice to inject though! They have really tough skin.
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Mine hate me enough already at the moment and are so stressed with their treatment, I’m not sure if I could manage it.
 
I am sorry to hear you are having such issues with your gorgeous girls.

I can not add anything but wish the best and I hope you can get some good news soon.
You are doing so well for them, I can tell how loved they are, but please remember to take care of yourself as well.
My thoughts are with you all x
 
Hi guys! Just wondering about introducing dried herbs and flowers to some pigs prone bloat and that have been off veggies for a while. It’s so depressing them not being able to have treats and I was wondering if marigold and nettle would be okay? I own a dehydrator and I’m growing both in my garden :)
 
I've never dried anything so can't advise here. I was about to put why not just give fresh then I realised fresh Nettle probably wouldn't be such a good idea! Sorry x
 
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