How long for Baytril to work

[Hamandsammich]

Hi everyone,

My 6yo male Ham is unwell. We've visited our specialist small animal vet who said there was some blood in his urine, so we assume it is an infection. We've been sent home with baytril and metacam. He has also lost about 150g since we visited the vet about 6 months ago, so weekly weigh ins and extra high calorie food to put some weight on him.

My question is about how I can make him more comfortable. We visited the vet on Monday evening, but he is still clearly in a lot of pain, making high pitched crying noises. He is still eating and drinking normally, but it's horrible to hear him in pain and not know what to do about it.

The vet asked me to update him the following Monday, but I don't want to leave him in pain for all that time if the treatment isn't working.

Thanks for your advice

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear he is unwell.

Weight checks should be done weekly as routine but you must switch to daily weight checks while there are health concerns. This is to ensure he is eating enough hay independently. If he isn’t then you need to syringe feed and daily weight check to ensure his weight is stable each day.

It will take a few days for the antibiotics to work, it is a bacterial issue (other possible issues are non bacterial cystitis or bladder stones which obviously antibiotics won’t work for).
Is he in a good dose of painkillers twice a day?
Is he in dog or cat metacam?

 

[Hamandsammich]

I’m sorry to hear he is unwell.

Weight checks should be done weekly as routine but you must switch to daily weight checks while there are health concerns. This is to ensure he is eating enough hay independently. If he isn’t then you need to syringe feed and daily weight check to ensure his weight is stable each day.

It will take a few days for the antibiotics to work, it is a bacterial issue (other possible issues are non bacterial cystitis or bladder stones which obviously antibiotics won’t work for).
Is he in a good dose of painkillers twice a day?
Is he in dog or cat metacam?

Thanks for this advice.

It's actually meloxidyl because brand name metacam wasn't available. He's on 0.15ml twice daily. This was previously 0.3ml x 2 but after being weighed on Monday the vet changed the dosage.

Today will be his 3rd dose of antibiotics, so hopefully he starts to find some relief by this evening.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks for this advice.

It's actually meloxidyl because brand name metacam wasn't available. He's on 0.15ml twice daily. This was previously 0.3ml x 2 but after being weighed on Monday the vet changed the dosage.

Today will be his 3rd dose of antibiotics, so hopefully he starts to find some relief by this evening.

Is it cat or dog version?
It’s a very small dose and probably not doing much at all if it is cat version.

Cat is 0.5 mg/ml and dog is three times stronger at 1.5mg/ml.
Piggies can take and need quite high doses to manage pain.

 

[Hamandsammich]

Is it cat or dog version?
It’s a very small dose and probably not doing much at all if it is cat version.

Cat is 0.5 mg/ml and dog is three times stronger at 1.5mg/ml.
Piggies can take and need quite high doses to manage pain.

It's 0.5mg/ml so presumably cat, 0.15ml twice a day. The vet is a small animal specialist so I'd hope that he's done his calculations properly for his weight

 

[Piggies&buns]

It's 0.5mg/ml so presumably cat, 0.15ml twice a day. The vet is a small animal specialist so I'd hope that he's done his calculations properly for his weight

What is his weight?
You say he appears to be displaying signs of pain and has been since Monday but his dose was halved. I would therefore ask your vet whether reducing his pain meds is the right course of action.
Make sure to syringe feed him recovery feed and weigh him daily. A piggy who is in pain will usually not be willing to eat enough independently.

 

[Hamandsammich]

What is his weight?
You say he appears to be displaying signs of pain and has been since Monday but his dose was halved. I would therefore ask your vet whether reducing his pain meds is the right course of action.
Make sure to syringe feed him recovery feed and weigh him daily. A piggy who is in pain will usually not be willing to eat enough independently.

He was 770g on Monday (940g 6 months ago when the vet last weighed him to calculate the dose). He appeared to be in pain for a couple of days before I took him to the vet. He has an ongoing issue with his teeth growing into his jaw (fully investigated by the vet), which he occasionally needs meloxidyl or metacam for a couple of days. So we already had a bottle of the pain meds and the previous dose was stated at 0.3ml.
I've been giving him critical care since Monsay, although he does still appear to be eating as much as he normally would, and is taking all the extra veggies I've been giving him as well. He isn't lethargic or withdrawn, the only indication of pain is the high pitched squeaking.

I will call the vet tomorrow if he isn't showing any signs of improvement, thanks for your advice