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Can Antibiotics cause loss of appetite?

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boureki

boureki

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We've had Pepe and Dylan on Baytril for 7 days (until yesterday morning) and Dylan's appetite seems fine and usual, but Pepe seems to be barely touching either wet or dry food. He was never that fussed about the wet food, but always tucked into his dry, but since he's been about halfway through the Baytril we've started to worry about him, although he dives on celery (which strangely he didn't like before!), cucumber and grass/dandies however. He won't take the syringed food I've prepared for him on several occasions either, but does eat a bit of hay. He reluctantly takes the pro-biotic but only with a little drop of Tropicana ::) I'm going to get some Critical Care tomorrow from the vets if I can and see if I can get that into him.

Is it normal for piggies to lose their appetites on antibiotics? I was hoping as he has not had any Baytril for over a day he would have started to feed again :-\ Apart from the food thing he seems normal - rumbling a bit at Dylan next door, even a couple of small popcorns in the last two days!

I'm going to email Vedra that he is experiencing this and has lost over 20 grams in the last couple of days, but was wondering in the meantime if anyone has any experience of this?
 
I'm sure i've read on here that antibiotics DO/CAN impair appetite.
When i've had to syringe feed i've given either p@h nuggets or Wagg Optimum Pellets mushed with some baby food added for flavour because mine wouldn't eat recovery food
 
Agree with Niki, they do loose their appetite :( Good idea to get the CC, also try offering fav tid bits and even try cutting up new ones but into small pieces as a treat :)
I'm just about to finish a course of Baytril with Duke, this is the first time he's not lost his appetite, but that's cause of what he had, this time a rattly throat. Other times i find it does affect his appetite so lots of treats, and mushed up oxbow pellets and the CC

Good luck love, keep us posted, crossing our paws for them both :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Thanks both, I'll try again. I have a bag of Cavy Cuisine they didn't want to eat when I tried switching them over, I know you are supposed to work new food in slowly but I'm desperate! The nuggets have more goodness I think, I would rather him have an upset tum rather than no food at all! He's so good with the actual meds, just a terror with the food. My biggest worry is that he's been intolerant to the Baytril (on Guinea Lynx) although he does show interest in certain foods.

I know it shouldn't be teeth as they were checked very thoroughly by Vedra last time we went up (just over a week ago) unless a problem can develop in a week, I'm pretty sure its the Baytril. I've emailed Vedra, so hopefully she'll get back to me today.

It's just been one thing after another with them all at the moment :-\ After losing Scampy and Blaze last month, I couldn't bear to lose Pepe too.

Glynis, hope Duke is on the mend soon! How soon did he regain his appetite after his previous courses of antibiotics?
 
Hiya,

After Cuzzy had his first mites injection he did go off his food and had loose stools. I laid of the veg just offered some dried and hay and the following day he is was fine.

Louise
x
 
Hi Louise, a tiny bit of wet is all he's eating at the mo, I daren't withdraw that :-\

I've just syringed him some Cavy Cuisine which was mushed with boiled water - it was too thick to feed through a normal 1ml syringe, so I nipped up the local pet shop and bought a cat one, but the hole is still too small. it was useless, it wouldn't even draw up water very well, and just high pressured the CC out all over both Pepe and me, it looks like a baby has vommed all over my chest and legs! waste of three quid! Good news is he took about 5 ml of it and seems to like it warm and mushy! O0
 
Mine were the same as yours, the little one, bee, was on twice the dose of baytril that bumble was on and was completely fine and normal but it really seemed to affect bumble, she ate but not with the usual gusto and she just seemed to sleep all day, even with grass she just nibbled a little bit and then stopped and just went back to sleep. Mine were only on it for a week and as soon as they came off it she was fine again so i agree it will probably be the baytril, hope he feels better soon, how long is he on them for? x
 
Poor Pepe, I do hope his appetite picks up. If you make the mushed up pellets a bit runnier (thick soup consistency) it should go through the syringe better. Let us know how he gets on :)
 
Boureki said:
just high pressured the CC out all over both Pepe and me, it looks like a baby has vommed all over my chest and legs! waste of three quid! Good news is he took about 5 ml of it and seems to like it warm and mushy! O0
Click to expand...

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Been there done that too! So sorry to hear Pepe isn't so good Julie. I've found that making the food like thick soup, as suggested by lavenderjade, usually does the trick and you can draw it up the syringe. Good luck and give the little man a kiss from us.
 
Thank you :) He doesn't seem quite so bright this afternoon, he seems to be hiding in his Playstix most of the time :-\ I just hope he snaps out of it and it's not something more serious.
 
awwww come on Pepe sending you more healing wheeks :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

Love it just depends on how sick they are and the length of time on the baytril, i find it takes a few days before they perk up again :-\
Keep up all the good work, i'm sure with all the TLC he's getting he'll snap out of it soon, keeping our paws crossed for you all :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Hiya,
One of our boys (Flash) is recovering at the moment. He's due to finish his course of Baytril.
He was definatly off his food!
I was giving him water through a pipett and mushed pellets which he took, eventually, off a teaspoon! Cucumber & leafy greens he'd have a little munch of too...but not much. Mainly things with high water content and not much else!

I hope Pepe feels better soon...tis worrying isn't it. Keep on with your TLC and I'm sure he'll be fine ;)

Take care,
Cathy
XoXoX
 
Glynis, he finished the Baytril Wed morning (his last dose) it's Sat morning as I type this and he's eating hay thank goodness, but completely ignoring his dry food, thanks for the support :)

Cathy, the high water content foods are EXACTLY what Pepe seems to be craving at the moment, although he started guzzling water again late last night, so I'm taking that as a good sign, the water bottle was almost untouched for a couple of days (probably because he was off the dry food which makes him more thirsty). He's just taken a couple of ml of mushed Cavy Cuisine as well, so it should line his tum a bit for a few hours! At least he's not totally off his food, just the stuff he seemed to like before.
 
Aw glad he's feeling better, was probably the baytril then. Mine don't eat much dry food and the water bottles never have much missing. I'm sure he'll gradually start to love his food again, it will just be the baytril wearing off? Is he any better by the way? I mean is the problem he went on the baytril for sorted out now? x
 
Well. we had two guineas die very suddenly with diahorrea, so in an attempt to try and find out if our others were at risk, we had a throat swab on Pepe that found bacteria. They all seem fine, but were put on Baytril to get rid of the nasties, so he wasn't visibly ill as such! So hopefully the antibiotics will do the job!
 
Ah right, hope they've done the trick for him and your other piggie :) and hope he's feeling more hungry soon :) x
 
I no its a bit late, but there is not reason why baytril will should lower the appetite, its does taste very bad though.
 
when bob was on it, he did loose his appetite, and the vet gave me food to syringe feed him as he was losing weight. after a few days he was much better though
 
Antibiotics most definately affect appetite. What probiotic do you have?

Try fibreplex from the vet. It's like toothpaste and is carrot flavoured. The exact dose squirts into their mouth and they have no choice but to swallow it. It settles their tummy and brings back their appetitie.

I had a piggy on baytril a few years ago and he really took a bad reaction to it. Despite the water diluting probiotics, he just would not eat and was later changed to Septrim, a banana flavoured antibiotic. Perked up and got better. Some pigs can't tolerate Baytril and you need a really effective pro-biotic to counteract it.
 
He was on Baytril. His appetite is still not back to normal and he finished the course a week ago. He's nibbling enough to keep alive but is still losing weight. He looked like he was perking up yesterday and showed a renewed interest in food, but today seems to have stepped backwards. :-\ We were using the Vetark ProC (think its called that) for the pro biotic. I'll check out Fibreplex tomorrow, thanks for the tip :)
 
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