Medication advice please!

[Piggly&Weeny]

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for any advice on this!
Long story short, I adopted a male (Mister Woo) around a month ago to eventually keep my female adoptee (Piggly Wiggly Woo) company after her sister sadly passed away shortly before I got her. Had him roughly 2 1/2 weeks before he went in for castration, and then since then he was going downhill slowly after the op, losing weight and not really interested in eating much. Finally got him in to see a specialist after a week of fluids at my normal vets, where he has been for the last week, and got him home tonight with some meds. The specialist found an inner ear infection, and also perhaps some calcium stones in his bladder/kidneys, and his blood tests were reading high creatinine levels (although apparently not the worst thing in the world?).
The meds he has come home with are Cerenia (quarter of a tablet daily), Nutracys+ (half capsule daily) and Nutracalm (half capsule daily). The vet nurse said to crush them up and mix with some water to give him, which I have done tonight and hated every minute of it (although probably not as much as Mister). I was wondering if anyone has advice for the best way to get the meds in him, I was thinking perhaps mixing with some critical care as he is still having that twice daily to get his weight up (on top of his veggies etc). Any recommendations would really be appreciated!

Also, if anyone has info on what these meds are supposed to help with? I feel like I haven't really got a difinitive answer as to what is actually causing the weight loss to begin with.

Thanks again in advance!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear he isn’t well.

While it isn’t their main use, they are all seem to be used in bladder issues In guinea pigs.

Has he not been prescribed antibiotics and pain killers (baytril etc and metacam?) (ear infection?)

Are further checks for bladder stones being done (x ray)?

Is he eating hay for himself at all and is he still losing weight?

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Medicating your guinea pig - Instructional video on Facebook

 

[Piggly&Weeny]

I’m sorry to hear he isn’t well.

While it isn’t their main use, they are all seem to be used in bladder issues In guinea pigs.

Has he not been prescribed antibiotics and pain killers (baytril etc and metacam?) (ear infection?)

Are further checks for bladder stones being done (x ray)?

Is he eating hay for himself at all and is he still losing weight?

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Medicating your guinea pig - Instructional video on Facebook

Hi there! Thank you so much for your reply! I did think they were for bladder issues, that seems to be his main problem, along with the ear infection.
He has just come home from a week at the Specialists, where they did an xray which indicated the stones, however aside from giving him fluids I am unsure what is going to be done to help clear the stones? The vet hasn't said.
He has anti-inflammatories now, that I am continuing now that he's home, but the vets were hesitant to give any meds that affect the kidneys as his kidney blood results were quite high for creatinine. He was originally on pain meds after the castration but they were stopped once the vets saw his high blood results. The bloods also showed high white blood cell count so he's obviously fighting the infection.

Throughout all of this though, he has been eating himself (alongside having critical care) just not as keen as he used to (he would clean his nugget bowl every night - only a small handful of Burgess excel, whereas he hasn't touched nuggets for a while up until last night) and does still leave some greens, whereas pre op he would clear the cage! But hay has been a constant, he always seems to be munching on that thankfully.

When I got him he was roughly 1.1kg, vets weighed him out at 930g yesterday (he was 925g when they took him in) so he seems to now be holding weight, so weighing every day and updating vets on this.

Sorry for such long posts, I'm just trying to give as much info to help with any advice. Thank you again

 

[Free Ranger]

As you are feeding him CC anyway I would mix the crushed meds in with a small amount of this slurry rather than liquid. It is easy for them to inhale the liquid.
Stones are not really a 'perhaps' sort of issue so maybe his x-rays showed up small dots that - if they do turn out to be stones - might be passed with bladder support meds. I can't comment on that any further... usually we get a post about great big problem stones that need surgery!

I'm assuming you have antibiotics either post-castration or certainly for the inner ear infection. There are different ones and some are more notorious for affecting appetite than others so it would help to know what they are and what the dose is. How long ago was the castration and how is his castration wound? Has it healed well or is it still inflamed and tender.

There are different sorts of recovery food. Green packet CC is aniseed flavoured and mine are not fond of it, my vet stocks Science Selective Recovery which they are better with but I recently tried brown packet CC which is papaya flavoured and has been very popular with the healthy piggies who smell it and appear from nowhere to get a bit! I had to send off for it - it is also a 'fine grind' version so easier to syringe.

Good luck little man x

 

[Piggly&Weeny]

As you are feeding him CC anyway I would mix the crushed meds in with a small amount of this slurry rather than liquid. It is easy for them to inhale the liquid.
Stones are not really a 'perhaps' sort of issue so maybe his x-rays showed up small dots that - if they do turn out to be stones - might be passed with bladder support meds. I can't comment on that any further... usually we get a post about great big problem stones that need surgery!

I'm assuming you have antibiotics either post-castration or certainly for the inner ear infection. There are different ones and some are more notorious for affecting appetite than others so it would help to know what they are and what the dose is. How long ago was the castration and how is his castration wound? Has it healed well or is it still inflamed and tender.

There are different sorts of recovery food. Green packet CC is aniseed flavoured and mine are not fond of it, my vet stocks Science Selective Recovery which they are better with but I recently tried brown packet CC which is papaya flavoured and has been very popular with the healthy piggies who smell it and appear from nowhere to get a bit! I had to send off for it - it is also a 'fine grind' version so easier to syringe.

Good luck little man x

Thank you so much for your help and advice!
After last night trying him with the meds in water I did think of putting it in the CC so giving that a go tonight!
The vet said the stones were small (if indeed that's what they are) so hopefully passed/will pass.

I have been given anti-inflammatory for his ear infection (a kidney friendly one) but he was given paid meds for the castration (he was originally not even given pain meds bless him, until I queried it) but due to his kidney readings these were stopped, but he'd pretty much finished them anyway.
His castration was almost 3 weeks ago (3 weeks this Tuesday) and his wounds seem good!

I got him Burgess excel dualcare critical care, I hope this would be OK? I'm so worried I'm doing the wrong things for him! X

 

[Piggies&buns]

Stones in boars, particularly bigger ones, can be a problem due to the angle they have in their urethra. If they do try to pass bigger ones and they get stuck in the angle in the urethra then it requires emergency surgery as urine flow can be compromised. If the vet is confident they are very small and can pass without being caught in the angle, then that’s good

Pellets are the least important part of the diet and not eating them in itself is not a problem - reduced hay intake is a problem. They should have just one tablespoon of nuggets per day. A ‘small handful’ could mean too much. Pellets (and unfiltered drinking water) contribute most calcium into the diet and too much calcium can contribute to bladder stones formation

 

[Piggly&Weeny]

Stones in boars, particularly bigger ones, can be a problem due to the angle they have in their urethra. If they do try to pass bigger ones and they get stuck in the angle in the urethra then it requires emergency surgery as urine flow can be compromised. If the vet is confident they are very small and can pass without being caught in the angle, then that’s good

Pellets are the least important part of the diet and not eating them in itself is not a problem - reduced hay intake is a problem. They should have just one tablespoon of nuggets per day. A ‘small handful’ could mean too much. Pellets (and unfiltered drinking water) contribute most calcium into the diet and too much calcium can contribute to bladder stones formation

The vet certainly didn't seem too concerned about removing the stones, but when I follow up with them tomorrow I am going to ask for more clarification on it!

Pellets are definitely not much of a concern for me, I was slowly reducing how much I gave him anyway pre op due to the fact he was scoffing the lot in one go! (however I do have quite small hands which probably was about a tablespoon anyway haha). Hay intake has definitely not been an issue, that's the thing he's paid most attention to thankfully.
I have also started giving them filtered water, I live down near London now so the water is much harder than I'm used to (I'm originally from Bolton where the water is quite soft) having done more research on calcium stones.

Thank you so much again for the help and advice, it's greatly appreciated!

 

[WobblyPiggy]

Hi,

Id advise probably mixing it with some critical care or some crushed up banana maybe...ive never thankfully had to give tablets before just liquid meds but if he enjoys the critical care then it could be worth putting in a little extra to mask the tast and sticking it in...I was recommended one on a previous post...ive been able to hide all his meds in it because the taste is so strong for him...but he loves it...its called Emerald Sustain Herbivore its mint flavoured...