Care question

[Piggyfriends]

Hi, my 5 years old piggie isn't well. Been to the vet and got Baytril 2.5% 0.5ml twice a day, Bisolvon 10mg small pinch a day and eye drops. I am mashing some food and syringe feed her a bit 3 times a day. I also made some veg liquid with vitamin c to syringe feed her with. I am weighing her every day. Last Friday she was her usual 1200g, by Monday the vet measured 980g. She is holding that weight since. But her breathing is still laboured. She can eat a bit by herself too, mainly cucumber. I know anything can happen but I would like to try my best for her. If there is anything else I could do please advise. Also she is sharing a large c&c with two of her sisters. My sick piggie can't be without them. Could they catch this from her? The vet couldn't quite tell what it is exactly (cold, utr or pneumonia). Apart from weighting them all is there any other way to tell if the others get infected? Can I protect them somehow? They can't be separated as emotionally that would be too hard for my sick piggie. Thank you.

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’s good her weight is holding. Syringe feed a recovery feed or mushed pellets as much as is necessary to keep her weight stable. The syringe feed is replacing her hay intake so it is essential she gets enough in each 24 hour period - the weight checks are that guide. Eating cucumber by herself isn’t enough.

There is always a risk that a transmissible illness can bypass the immune system and make companions unwell.
All you can do is keep an eye on them. A functioning immune system will hopefully protect them from it.
Piggies do not get colds though.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, my 5 years old piggie isn't well. Been to the vet and got Baytril 2.5% 0.5ml twice a day, Bisolvon 10mg small pinch a day and eye drops. I am mashing some food and syringe feed her a bit 3 times a day. I also made some veg liquid with vitamin c to syringe feed her with. I am weighing her every day. Last Friday she was her usual 1200g, by Monday the vet measured 980g. She is holding that weight since. But her breathing is still laboured. She can eat a bit by herself too, mainly cucumber. I know anything can happen but I would like to try my best for her. If there is anything else I could do please advise. Also she is sharing a large c&c with two of her sisters. My sick piggie can't be without them. Could they catch this from her? The vet couldn't quite tell what it is exactly (cold, utr or pneumonia). Apart from weighting them all is there any other way to tell if the others get infected? Can I protect them somehow? They can't be separated as emotionally that would be too hard for my sick piggie. Thank you.

Hi

I am very sorry.

Unfortunately, it really depends on what is behind the illness. By now, the companion will have been in contact with the infection anyway.
There are more (and unfortunately some really nasty) repiratory bugs other than just the normal bacterial URI which piggies which a fully working immune system in the adult companions can usually fend off it is usually not a problem. Guinea pigs don't normally have viral colds like our human ones.

All you can do is trying to get your girl through it; unless your girl is unlucky to have caught one of the nasties, companionship is generally not an issue unless a companion is really young and stressed out with a not yet fully developed immune system or very old and frail with a fragile immune system - if both girls are fit for their age, I would not worry too much.

Speak to your vet again if there is no improvement in a week (respiratory illnesses can have individual resistancies from antibiotic overuse) or sooner if there is a sudden marked deterioration.

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

 

[Free Ranger]

Whenever I've had a piggy with respiratory problems I've not separated them from their friends and it's never been something the friends have picked up. The friends provide comfort in times of need. Older piggies can have weaker immune systems. You can check their weight as when pigs lose weight it is usually because they are not eating enough hay. Your girl won't be, because she's unwell - her friends might go up and down a bit each day but should maintain their weight. How are her poops? Is she still pooping OK? This will tell you whether she's getting enough fibre. If she's losing weight like that she could probably do with more fibre in the form of recovery food or mushed pellets but it's good at least that it's stabilised for now at least. You shouldn't need to give liquids by syringe as there is a risk of them inhaling it and making things worse - but you can make the slurry more runny by adding liquid to it. At on point I was pounding parsley in a splash of water using a mortar and pestle to try and entice a poorly girl to eat more pellet mush. We tried carrot in water too but they were harder to pound! Their tummy is pretty small though - usually mine will take 5-8ml but then resist any more at that sitting so you just have to give them a beak and go back again a couple hours later. Sometimes they will eat mush out of a bowl overnight (or from a spoon instead of a syringe) but healthy friends might get there first!

Pigs don't get colds and my experience has been that antibiotics usually take a few days to kick in so if her first dose was on Monday you should start to see some improvement by tomorrow if not tonight. The course will be longer - 5 days or 10 days or even longer term - but if you've seen no change after 72 hours (3 days) it's worth giving the vet a call back. Sometimes a different antibiotic is needed.

There is a well used painkiller for piggies called metacam (or loxicom - these are UK names - in the US they might be different). This stuff is tasty for pigs and effective pain relief which might help her appetite. There are 2 strengths and although the 0.5mg/ml is now licensed for piggies many vets will still offer the stronger 1.5 version as this is what was used for years. My boy with arthritis has it twice a day. There is also something called emeprid (again in the UK) which stimulates the gut and is prescribed to piggies who's digestion is slowing down as we don't want gut stasis to occur before the antibiotics have had a chance to work! That's why you want to keep an eye on her poops - they may be smaller and thinner but she should still be producing if it's going in at the top end.

She is an older girl and there might well be some underlying problem that you won't be able to help with but you are doing right by her for trying and making her as comfortable as she can be. I hope she can turn a corner, we'll be thinking of you x

 

[Piggyfriends]

Thank you, will talk to the vet on Friday. This is only the second course of antibiotics she ever had in her life, she has been our trooper and the the best emotional support for my daughter.

 

[Piggyfriends]

Whenever I've had a piggy with respiratory problems I've not separated them from their friends and it's never been something the friends have picked up. The friends provide comfort in times of need. Older piggies can have weaker immune systems. You can check their weight as when pigs lose weight it is usually because they are not eating enough hay. Your girl won't be, because she's unwell - her friends might go up and down a bit each day but should maintain their weight. How are her poops? Is she still pooping OK? This will tell you whether she's getting enough fibre. If she's losing weight like that she could probably do with more fibre in the form of recovery food or mushed pellets but it's good at least that it's stabilised for now at least. You shouldn't need to give liquids by syringe as there is a risk of them inhaling it and making things worse - but you can make the slurry more runny by adding liquid to it. At on point I was pounding parsley in a splash of water using a mortar and pestle to try and entice a poorly girl to eat more pellet mush. We tried carrot in water too but they were harder to pound! Their tummy is pretty small though - usually mine will take 5-8ml but then resist any more at that sitting so you just have to give them a beak and go back again a couple hours later. Sometimes they will eat mush out of a bowl overnight (or from a spoon instead of a syringe) but healthy friends might get there first!

Pigs don't get colds and my experience has been that antibiotics usually take a few days to kick in so if her first dose was on Monday you should start to see some improvement by tomorrow if not tonight. The course will be longer - 5 days or 10 days or even longer term - but if you've seen no change after 72 hours (3 days) it's worth giving the vet a call back. Sometimes a different antibiotic is needed.

There is a well used painkiller for piggies called metacam (or loxicom - these are UK names - in the US they might be different). This stuff is tasty for pigs and effective pain relief which might help her appetite. There are 2 strengths and although the 0.5mg/ml is now licensed for piggies many vets will still offer the stronger 1.5 version as this is what was used for years. My boy with arthritis has it twice a day. There is also something called emeprid (again in the UK) which stimulates the gut and is prescribed to piggies who's digestion is slowing down as we don't want gut stasis to occur before the antibiotics have had a chance to work! That's why you want to keep an eye on her poops - they may be smaller and thinner but she should still be producing if it's going in at the top end.

She is an older girl and there might well be some underlying problem that you won't be able to help with but you are doing right by her for trying and making her as comfortable as she can be. I hope she can turn a corner, we'll be thinking of you x

Thank you so much! She hasn't taken food from the spoon but eats from the syringe. Ok, will give more cucumbers to her for liquid intake and take her out for separate pureed meal times during the day. I put her in a little Carrier next to her cage with food and pellets so that she can eat slowly. I put her back with the others after 20-30 minutes. There was no poop in the carrier but when she was in the cage I think she had a few. She has ovarian cyst which was diagnosed a year ago.
I will ask my vet about the other medicines you mentioned. Thank you!

 

[Siikibam]

You are better off feeding her recovery food or soaking her usual pellets in hot water and syringing it to her when cool enough. They need fibre when not eating enough hay. Veg is a smaller part of their diet and so wouldn’t make a big difference for you to liquidise veg and feed that to her. It’s good that she is maintaining her weight though. Hopefully she starts to feel better soon.

 

[Free Ranger]

If there are times when the others are naturally eating she will be wanting to join in. I used to sit on the floor with my girl in my lap and syringe her as her friends were busy with their hay and pellets. The main times for communal eating were breakfast and tea time so I took my breakfast in too as she would take a very long time to eat! Sometimes in the day I took her outside to sit and syringe as it took her mind off being unwell for a time. We used a food from the vets that was actually called Recovery - it was bland but palatable. There is an aniseed flavoured Critical Care in a green pack that mine couldn't stand but others have found popular. There is also a pricey papaya flavoured 'fine grind' version in a brown pack that we sent off for and it was much preferred by my little sow.