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Guinea Pig with URI, new to this!

Rory4062

New Born Pup
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Hi everyone, I'm new to these forums and still pretty new to experiencing owning a guinea pig. I had gotten my Bubba from my animal science trade program, we weren't sure how old he was but I had taken him home for the "2 weeks" my school had closed, 2 weeks turned into months and when it was finally time to bring him back I didn't (with permission of course.) My poor Bubba was incredibly ill on the night of 2/18. Prior to this night he had been making disgruntled sounds but no real symptoms that I could see, so I thought it was him being upset that I wasn't giving him a slice of my orange (it's his favorite food). Earlier in the day of the 18th, he was "wheeking" and seemed normal, and then that night he let me pick him up (very unlike him), so I put him down to see if he was okay and he fell over onto his side and wouldn't get up. This is the first time he's ever been sick and even as someone who is studying to be in the animal field, I panicked because I know what that meant. I rushed him to the hospital and he was put in an incubator and given antibiotics and fluids as the doctor saw discharge inside his nostrils, meaning there was an infection. The first night was the worst and I was told it would be 50/50 if he would make it. I got about 30 minutes of sleep bc all I wanted to do was be by my boy. At around 7am on the 19th I checked on him and found that he had crawled out of his little pouch and was laying in front of it. He was still not wanting to walk or move much but when I put him upright he could stand. He wasn't eating or drinking at that point but then started chugging water (I held the bottle for him). This gave me hope. A few min later he ate about 3/4 of an orange slice and then refused to eat more. Throughout the day he ate more but very little. He's still drinking, but not as much. I called the hospital to see what they recommended and I'm going to be picking up "EmerAid" powder to get him something in his little belly. For now I was told to entice him to eat anything he likes even if it's high in sugar and not the best for him. Right now he can walk and stand by himself and is passing stool and urine, but he will not eat more than a few bites of his favorite food (refuses to eat pellets) and doesn't drink as much as the first time and sometimes will not drink at all. I've been trying to let him rest in my room by himself, but every two hours I check on him just in case. I try to offer some water and if he seems interested in the water, I offer an orange slice. Overall he seems to be improving slowly, but this has never happened and I have no idea what to expect or how long until he shows more signs of improvement. He is on "enrofloxacin" and I definitely notice a decent difference from the first night, however, doing some more research it seems as if this antibiotic is more of a general medicine that vets give when they don't specialize in exotics (which is fine!). Should I wait or should I ask about it? I want to give him time to rest (it hasn't been a full 48 hours yet on antibiotics) and don't want to stress him by taking him to another doctor while he's sick, but I'm worried! I'm probably worried for nothing, and he just needs time and nutrients but when it's your baby all you do is worry. Definitely going to save up for a follow up with our primary vet, however I just want to know if I should be worried or if I need to give the antibiotic more time!

Edit: I'm American, but this is where I had first found the information about everything!
 
Please urgently step in and syringe feed him. You can mush up his normal pellets with water until you get Emeraid or oxbow critical care. They need fibre going through their system to keep the guts functioning. Fruit and veg will not sufficiently do this given hay fibre is around 80% of the food intake.
You will need to make sure you weigh him every day so you can be sure he is getting enough syringe feed, and adjust your syringe feeding accordingly to keep his weight stable. The less he eats at each sitting, the more sittings you will need to give - aiming for feeding every two hours and around 60ml of syringe feed per day (although your weight checks are your guide, he may need more than that amount).

Do bear in mind that the need to breathe comes first and a piggy who cannot breathe clearly will not eat enough independently.

Baytril (enrofloxacin) is the go to antibiotic but it does need time to work. Sometimes baytril isn’t enough and a different antibiotic can be used, but this is something to discuss with a vet once the course of baytril is complete and if his symptoms aren’t improved.

It’s advisable to give a probiotic while a piggy is on antibiotics to help settle their system as antibiotics also kill off the good gut bacteria. BeneBac is the commonly used US probiotic.

The guides below detail further,

I hope he is ok

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management
 
Please urgently step in and syringe feed him. You can mush up his normal pellets with water until you get Emeraid or oxbow critical care. They need fibre going through their system to keep the guts functioning. Fruit and veg will not sufficiently do this given hay fibre is around 80% of the food intake.
You will need to make sure you weigh him every day so you can be sure he is getting enough syringe feed, and adjust your syringe feeding accordingly to keep his weight stable. The less he eats at each sitting, the more sittings you will need to give - aiming for feeding every two hours and around 60ml of syringe feed per day (although your weight checks are your guide, he may need more than that amount).

Do bear in mind that the need to breathe comes first and a piggy who cannot breathe clearly will not eat enough independently.

Baytril (enrofloxacin) is the go to antibiotic but it does need time to work. Sometimes baytril isn’t enough and a different antibiotic can be used, but this is something to discuss with a vet once the course of baytril is complete and if his symptoms aren’t improved.

It’s advisable to give a probiotic while a piggy is on antibiotics to help settle their system as antibiotics also kill off the good gut bacteria. BeneBac is the commonly used US probiotic.

The guides below detail further,

I hope he is ok

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Thank you so much for this! As for the BeneBac, is there a suggested amount or is there dosage on the bottle/packaging?
 
The packaging should tell you.
You do need to make sure probiotic is given 1-2 hours either before or after a dose of antibiotic, not at the same time as an dose of antibiotic
 
Keeping my fingers firmly crossed for poor Bubba. He is very glad to have found you.

You will find all the necessary information and practical tips in the links.
The Emergency care guide information contains a chapter on how you can improvise in a pinch until you can get hold of any necessary support products or see a vet (as not everybody has quick vet access).
 
The packaging should tell you.
You do need to make sure probiotic is given 1-2 hours either before or after a dose of antibiotic, not at the same time as an dose of antibiotic
I haven't given him a probiotic yet, he will be taking his next dose in about 2 hours, ist
Please urgently step in and syringe feed him. You can mush up his normal pellets with water until you get Emeraid or oxbow critical care. They need fibre going through their system to keep the guts functioning. Fruit and veg will not sufficiently do this given hay fibre is around 80% of the food intake.
You will need to make sure you weigh him every day so you can be sure he is getting enough syringe feed, and adjust your syringe feeding accordingly to keep his weight stable. The less he eats at each sitting, the more sittings you will need to give - aiming for feeding every two hours and around 60ml of syringe feed per day (although your weight checks are your guide, he may need more than that amount).

Do bear in mind that the need to breathe comes first and a piggy who cannot breathe clearly will not eat enough independently.

Baytril (enrofloxacin) is the go to antibiotic but it does need time to work. Sometimes baytril isn’t enough and a different antibiotic can be used, but this is something to discuss with a vet once the course of baytril is complete and if his symptoms aren’t improved.

It’s advisable to give a probiotic while a piggy is on antibiotics to help settle their system as antibiotics also kill off the good gut bacteria. BeneBac is the commonly used US probiotic.

The guides below detail further,

I hope he is ok

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Update, he likes the EmerAid, or at least takes it very well. As of now he has about 20mL in him (not in one sitting ofc). I couldn’t get ahold of the probiotic just yet but I did order it and it’s gonna be shipped tomorrow. Overall he seems okay, I just hope he recovers fast I hate seeing my baby so sick.
 
I haven't given him a probiotic yet, he will be taking his next dose in about 2 hours, ist

Update, he likes the EmerAid, or at least takes it very well. As of now he has about 20mL in him (not in one sitting ofc). I couldn’t get ahold of the probiotic just yet but I did order it and it’s gonna be shipped tomorrow. Overall he seems okay, I just hope he recovers fast I hate seeing my baby so sick.

Try to get about 60 ml of recovery formula into him over the course of 24 hours. You feed the more often, the less you get into him on one session. About 10-15 ml is a good session; he's likely not lost all appetite.
5-10 ml per feeding session means round the clock care to get enough feed into him and it can be a real struggle to get enough into him as he would have lost all his appetite.

If he has a companion, then 'poo soup' from a healthy companion (live healthy gut microbiome transfer when done correctly) can make a very effective tailor-made instant probiotic support. You can find the 'recipe' in our support products link: Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
 
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