Guinea Pig with URI

[Sapphire]

Hey! My Guinea Pig, Princess has URI and I’m very worried about her, she has her medication and we’re feeding her critical food, but she has no intentions to swallow or want to eat food. She has been seen by the vet yesterday and is on medication for the next 15 days.
I was just wondering wether Someone else may have had a Guinea with an URI and they’ve recovered. Just looking for some positive stories really
Thanks

 

[tabelmabel]

Yes, i have had pigs that have picked up fast with baytril - and one baby at the moment that is trundling along slowly on week 5 of anti bs but looks like she will make it through.

Unfortunately, though i have also had 2 pigs that didnt make it through.

Is your piggy not managing to swallow the critical care?

Are you managing to get the meds in?

Did the vet give a first dose by injection?

I have had pigs that have stopped self feeding and then picked up, but i havent had any refusing to syringe feed until the very end. That could be technique maybe though - I'm sure others will have more advice for you.

Sending healing vibes and fingers firmly crossed that your piggy picks up soon.

I make the cc up into a sloppy paste and use a syringe from children's nurofen/calpol.

Both the orange and purple syringes work perfectly for c c.

 

[Josie_lg]

Yes, i have had pigs that have picked up fast with baytril - and one baby at the moment that is trundling along slowly on week 5 of anti bs but looks like she will make it through.

Unfortunately, though i have also had 2 pigs that didnt make it through.

Is your piggy not managing to swallow the critical care?

Are you managing to get the meds in?

Did the vet give a first dose by injection?

I have had pigs that have stopped self feeding and then picked up, but i havent had any refusing to syringe feed until the very end. That could be technique maybe though - I'm sure others will have more advice for you.

Sending healing vibes and fingers firmly crossed that your piggy picks up soon.

I make the cc up into a sloppy paste and use a syringe from children's nurofen/calpol.

Both the orange and purple syringes work perfectly

Hey! My Guinea Pig, Princess has URI and I’m very worried about her, she has her medication and we’re feeding her critical food, but she has no intentions to swallow or want to eat food. She has been seen by the vet yesterday and is on medication for the next 15 days.
I was just wondering wether Someone else may have had a Guinea with an URI and they’ve recovered. Just looking for some positive stories really
Thanks

Yes, i have had pigs that have picked up fast with baytril - and one baby at the moment that is trundling along slowly on week 5 of anti bs but looks like she will make it through.

Unfortunately, though i have also had 2 pigs that didnt make it through.

Is your piggy not managing to swallow the critical care?

Are you managing to get the meds in?

Did the vet give a first dose by injection?

I have had pigs that have stopped self feeding and then picked up, but i havent had any refusing to syringe feed until the very end. That could be technique maybe though - I'm sure others will have more advice for you.

Sending healing vibes and fingers firmly crossed that your piggy picks up soon.

I make the cc up into a sloppy paste and use a syringe from children's nurofen/calpol.

Both the orange and purple syringes work perfectly for c c.

If she isn’t taking the syringe food do you have an emergency out of hours vet you can take her to. Is she pooping ok? My piggie was treated for a lower respiratory tract infection diagnosed by x rays. They may be able to give some medication to your piggie via a sub cut injection as this gets into the system quicker and you know that she has had her first doses if she isn’t wanting to swallow. I would call the vet and ask
how is her breathing?

 

[Josie_lg]

No idea why my message uploaded like that! Haha you will have to expand to read x

 

[G&C]

Hey! My Guinea Pig, Princess has URI and I’m very worried about her, she has her medication and we’re feeding her critical food, but she has no intentions to swallow or want to eat food. She has been seen by the vet yesterday and is on medication for the next 15 days.
I was just wondering wether Someone else may have had a Guinea with an URI and they’ve recovered. Just looking for some positive stories really
Thanks

I’m currently in the same position with my boy, he’s just come out of vet hospital after 3 nights in there. They have given him doxycycline antibiotic though. He’s eating bits of veg and possibly hay (it’s hard to tell) but his veggies are untouched this morning. When he was bad it was like his nose was so blocked he couldn’t chew very fast at all but he is slowly improving (I can tell as the snot coming out his nose is getting less and he’s putting on weight).

 

[Wiebke]

Hey! My Guinea Pig, Princess has URI and I’m very worried about her, she has her medication and we’re feeding her critical food, but she has no intentions to swallow or want to eat food. She has been seen by the vet yesterday and is on medication for the next 15 days.
I was just wondering wether Someone else may have had a Guinea with an URI and they’ve recovered. Just looking for some positive stories really
Thanks

Hi!

We have seen quite a lot of positive outcomes on here.

Please keep in mind that the need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. This means that a serious URI is usually accompanied by a loss of appetite.
The antibiotics that act on the bacteria in the respiratory tract (URI is a bacterial and not a viral infection, unlike a human cold or flu) can also impact on the gut microbiome, which means basically a double whammy on the appetite.
Antibiotics work differently to painkillers or gut medication; they build up over several days until they reach optimum efficiency and then gradually wane after the end of the course. We are also seeing in recent years that some respiratory bacteria are becoming more resistant to some antibiotics due to overuse in some chain shops/commercial breeders. In this case, a lab test for the best antibiotic may be needed.

Please hang on in there with syringe feeding fibre and offering water around the clock; aim for 60 ml in 24 hours if possible but the closer you can come to 40 ml to keep a really struggling piggy going, the better. Ideally, you feed every 2 hours during the day and if necessary once in the night, depending on how much you can get in. It is always a struggle to get food into a piggy that is totally off it but your persistence can make all the difference.

Add probiotics generously to the syringe feed and - if you have a healthy companion not on medication - also try 'poo soup', i.e. live healthy gut microbiome transfer) to help support the gut microbiome.
I would also recommend a 2-3 weeks booster course with extra vitamin C to strengthen the immune system; vitamin C additives should not be given long term as the body adapts to the higher levels and can react with scurvy symptoms. But a short term booster is perfect for doing the trick when it is really needed.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links (also includes tips on how to make 'poo
soup').

Please try and see whether a bowl of steaming water next to the cage can help ease the breathing. If yes, I would look into improvised nebulising (like a half hours session on a dry towel in a steamed up shower).
It is not recommend to do this on spec because it can do more harm than good, depending on the nature of the respiratory problem. A little tester like a steaming bowl by the cage is always the best way of making sure that you are not making things worse. if in any doubt, please speak to your vet.

All the best! You should hopefully see an improvement in the breathing and hopefully accordingly in the appetite, too.