Guinea Pig Baytril Problems

[mehartr]

Hello, I took my piggy to the vet for a possible URI - sneezing, crusty nose and small amounts of wheezing. They prescribed him with Baytril and Doxycycline twice a day for 10 days. By the fourth day, Chester had stopped eating and drinking, wouldn’t touch his pellets or hay, but he still went crazy over his veggies. And he would only poop MAYBE 10 times a day, if not less. I have been force feeding him critical care.

I called the vet since I am away at college, they prescribed him with metoclopramide. I have given him his first dose and he started eating and became a pooping machine! I’ve also been sprinkling little amounts of Bene-Bac on his veggies, as the vet told me to.

When he began pooping again after the meds, he had been running around my living room for about 4-5 hours, pooping continuously. But when I put him back in his cage for the night and woke up, there were about 10-20 pieces. He starts pooping right after his doses (which he should be), but what happens when I run out of this medication? I know Baytril is harsh on their tummies and it’s only been less than 2 days off of it. How long until he’s starting to feel like himself again?

He’s about a year and a half old!

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, I took my piggy to the vet for a possible URI - sneezing, crusty nose and small amounts of wheezing. They prescribed him with Baytril and Doxycycline twice a day for 10 days. By the fourth day, Chester had stopped eating and drinking, wouldn’t touch his pellets or hay, but he still went crazy over his veggies. And he would only poop MAYBE 10 times a day, if not less. I have been force feeding him critical care.

I called the vet since I am away at college, they prescribed him with metoclopramide. I have given him his first dose and he started eating and became a pooping machine! I’ve also been sprinkling little amounts of Bene-Bac on his veggies, as the vet told me to.

When he began pooping again after the meds, he had been running around my living room for about 4-5 hours, pooping continuously. But when I put him back in his cage for the night and woke up, there were about 10-20 pieces. He starts pooping right after his doses (which he should be), but what happens when I run out of this medication? I know Baytril is harsh on their tummies and it’s only been less than 2 days off of it. How long until he’s starting to feel like himself again?

He’s about a year and a half old!

Hi and welcome!

Please continue with syringe feeding until your boy is eating all by himself; when the appetite is coming back there is usually a transition period over several days where topping up is still needed.
The poo output generally reflects the food intake over the last day or two. If you want to monitor the actual food intake on the day and be able to tailor you feeding top-up accordingly, then please weigh him once daily at the same time in the feeding cycle on the kitchen scales.
Please take the time to read these guides here; you should find them very helpful:
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Strong antibiotics can impact on or totally wipe out the gut microbiome that is necessary for the digestive process and kill the appetite as a result. The appetite will come back to the degree the biome is being restored.
The most effective way to do this is by fresh live guinea pig biome transfer from a healthy companion ('poo soup'); it provides all the 'right' stuff if done correctly. If you do not have a companion or the companion is on medication as well, then probiotics can help.
You can find all the necessary information on how to make 'poo soup' and other support products in this link here: Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

It depends on how badly the gut has been affected for the appetite to come back again. Please be aware that antibiotics build up gradually and their optimum effect lasts for several days after the end of a course.
Hang on in there!

PS: We prefer not to use the common US term 'force feeding' for syringe feeding support because 'force feeding' is a very problematic concept that can lead to potentially fatal complications if the 'force' bit is evoking the wrong idea.
When feeding a very ill guinea pig you should never just squirt feed into the mouth at full strength and empty a syringe nilly willy; you should only feed as much in one go as your piggy is fit to hold in their mouth and strong enough to swallow (about 0.1-0.5 ml depending on how weak or cooperative your piggy is) in order to prevent any feed from going up into the nose or into the lungs in order to not obstruct breathing (guinea pigs are not mouth breathers) or cause pneumonia.
In babies the concept of force feeding can kill if the least bit of food is going down the wrong way.

 

[mehartr]

Hi and welcome!

Please continue with syringe feeding until your boy is eating all by himself; when the appetite is coming back there is usually a transition period over several days where topping up is still needed.
The poo output generally reflects the food intake over the last day or two. If you want to monitor the actual food intake on the day and be able to tailor you feeding top-up accordingly, then please weigh him once daily at the same time in the feeding cycle on the kitchen scales.
Please take the time to read these guides here; you should find them very helpful:
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Strong antibiotics can impact on or totally wipe out the gut microbiome that is necessary for the digestive process and kill the appetite as a result. The appetite will come back to the degree the biome is being restored.
The most effective way to do this is by fresh live guinea pig biome transfer from a healthy companion ('poo soup'); it provides all the 'right' stuff if done correctly. If you do not have a companion or the companion is on medication as well, then probiotics can help.
You can find all the necessary information on how to make 'poo soup' and other support products in this link here: Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

It depends on how badly the gut has been affected for the appetite to come back again. Please be aware that antibiotics build up gradually and their optimum effect lasts for several days after the end of a course.
Hang on in there!

PS: We prefer not to use the common US term 'force feeding' for syringe feeding support because 'force feeding' is a very problematic concept that can lead to potentially fatal complications if the 'force' bit is evoking the wrong idea.
When feeding a very ill guinea pig you should never just squirt feed into the mouth at full strength and empty a syringe nilly willy; you should only feed as much in one go as your piggy is fit to hold in their mouth and strong enough to swallow (about 0.1-0.5 ml depending on how weak or cooperative your piggy is) in order to prevent any feed from going up into the nose or into the lungs in order to not obstruct breathing (guinea pigs are not mouth breathers) or cause pneumonia.
In babies the concept of force feeding can kill if the least bit of food is going down the wrong way.

thank you! i apologize for using “force feeding”, i never put the whole syringe in his mouth at once, i give him little by little to allow him to swallow. he’s gotten to the point where he likes to lick the critical care off my finger or a plate

 

[Wiebke]

thank you! i apologize for using “force feeding”, i never put the whole syringe in his mouth at once, i give him little by little to allow him to swallow. he’s gotten to the point where he likes to lick the critical care off my finger or a plate

That is actually a very good sign and means that is appetite is starting to return. See how he is with eating from a spoon or bowl and whether he is interested in some fresh herbs like a little parsley - they are generally the first thing that goes down. Take it from there.

I would still recommend to bolster the gut recovery with supportive measures; they are free or not very expensive.

I know that the expression is unfortunately rather wide spread in some parts of the world.