Constant Cow Pads

[Little Ones]

Update and need advice:
So we’ve picked up some medication however Little’s poos have been surprisingly good for about a week or two now. This makes me wonder if what was picked up on the testing was the probiotic even though we waited a week from the last dose before sending a stool sample in.
He’s been giving Nystan (nystatin) and is meant to have 1.2ml twice a day for 10 days.
I wasn’t sure whether to give it due to the chance the probiotic may have swung the results and also because his poos have been the best they’ve been for a long time.
My only concern is a sudden loss of weight:

The 29th drop I presume was because was he stopped eating due to an unrelated health issue (for some reason, he stopped peeing so made himself feel ill from holding pee in). The 31st increase was from lots of syringe feeding I believe as he wasn’t eating for himself.
My main concern is the difference between yesterday and today. If he did actually have yeast in his tummy unrelated to the probiotic, would I be seeing this loss in weight (and so should give the medication) or could this be due to another issue (potentially organ)?
Should I give the medication anyway? I can’t really afford another stool sample to be done nor do I think the vets will agree to it. I read that nystatin is harsh on the organs which makes me think I shouldn’t unless I need to.
Anyway, advice would be appreciated

 

[Little Ones]

Update: so we called the vet and were told that the fungus/yeast found was an overgrowth of saccharomyces guttulatus.
The probiotic contains Saccharomyces cerevisiae. So I’m assuming these two are completely separate things and so it would be best for us to give the medication?
Little has lost even more weight today, another 40 grams. We’ve started syringe feeding as a top up food. My other concern with his age is that the weight loss may be attributed to his organs going which means I’m hesitant to give the nystatin due to harshness I’ve read it can have on the organs. But if these two yeasts are different (which I believe they are) then I need to definitely give the medication, right?
I also thought about asking Simon (who has seen Little’s notes) if he’s able to send a prescription for itrafungal as I believe that might be better for Little to have but I’m unsure.
Also, is the dose of 1.2ml twice a day too much? Or is that the right amount? It just seems a lot, that’s all

 

[Free Ranger]

I have no experience here so looked up Nystatin on guinea lynx. Guinea Lynx :: Antifungal Agents
It says that "It is not absorbed systemically when taken by mouth" which if true means it's just working in the gut which is good because it looks like that's where your problem is, and it says toxicity is 'rare' - so have a look and see what you think. Perhaps this is why you were given this rather than other anti-fungals?
It also mentions high doses can cause some gut problems, but not what a 'high' dose is! Your bug looks like a gut dwelling opportunist... something that is there all the time but for some reason it has overgrown and started to cause him problems.

If you are already syringing to top him up he doesn't seem to be getting better on his own... but you might want to wait and see what dose others have used on their piggies. Volume isn't much indication of dose unless it also says how many units per ml etc. I think Little will be more concerned about whether it's tasty or grim!

Good luck fella x

 

[Little Ones]

I have no experience here so looked up Nystatin on guinea lynx. Guinea Lynx :: Antifungal Agents
It says that "It is not absorbed systemically when taken by mouth" which if true means it's just working in the gut which is good because it looks like that's where your problem is, and it says toxicity is 'rare' - so have a look and see what you think. Perhaps this is why you were given this rather than other anti-fungals?
It also mentions high doses can cause some gut problems, but not what a 'high' dose is! Your bug looks like a gut dwelling opportunist... something that is there all the time but for some reason it has overgrown and started to cause him problems.

If you are already syringing to top him up he doesn't seem to be getting better on his own... but you might want to wait and see what dose others have used on their piggies. Volume isn't much indication of dose unless it also says how many units per ml etc. I think Little will be more concerned about whether it's tasty or grim!

Good luck fella x

I hope that’s the case, when I read past threads about it on here, other members were saying their vets didn’t really want to give it due to the effect on the organs. It’s hard to know. Obviously I want to give him it if it makes him better, but I don’t want to if it’s going to have a knock on effect where the end result is one where I wish I hadn’t bothered.
We have only started syringe feeding today, I purposefully held off yesterday as I wanted to see if the decline was consistent or just a fluke. But another 40 grams has come off him which has pretty much confirmed to me that something is happening. My only worry is that it is the yeast causing the weight loss but that doesn’t seem overly likely to me, but I’m no where near an expert.
The nystatin is 100,000 units per ml.