Hello all! I have a guinea pig around a year old named McFly, and he's been a bit under the weather lately. Two weeks ago, he was exhibiting symptoms of a URI - puffed up coat, wheezing and hooting, very lethargic and watery eyes. I rushed him to a vet that sees guinea pigs (I live in the US, and it seems that we don't have many good piggy vets) and they officially diagnosed him and gave me a vial of baytril to help get rid of his pneumonia. After the third day on his medicine, his symptoms had completely vanished and now he seems his bubbly happy self again! (:
However, today I noticed diarrhea in his cage when I was cleaning it out. I read that antibiotics can do that, so I'm cutting him off from his baytril. His diarrhea isn't horrible - it isn't liquid, just softer than it should be - and since his pneumonia has gone away I'm not too worried about cutting him off from his baytril.
Any advice? Has anyone else had this or something similar happen to their piggy? Thanks in advance for any tips/stories/advice y'all have for me. (:
Please take him off fresh veg for a day or two until after the poos have firmed up again.
You can help bolster the guts by giving a pinch of probiotics either an hour before (new US recommendation) or an hour after (UK recommendation) the antibiotic. Probiotics should be available in your pet store, but you can also order them online.
Make sure that you have always got some as well as recovery formula at home, in case your piggy stops eating or is losing weight very quickly. Guinea pigs cannot wait for several days or weeks until their appetite comes back. It is vital that you can keep your guinea pig alive until it can be seen by a vet and until treatment has kicked in.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
First Aid Kit For Guinea Pigs
If McFly has got a companion, poo soup is also effective, if a bit gross - but it mimics natural behaviour. Soak a some fresh healthy poos from a companion in a little water and then syringe the water. it is near impossible to get hold of the precious redigested poos that are usually picked directly from the bum, but even what is left after the second run through the guts contains enough bacteria and stuff to help re-stock the guts. Also offer some very rough fibre like brown cardboard that guinea pigs seem to crave when in need to rebalance their guts.
Baytril is known to be fairly harsh on the gut bacteria, too, so soft poos are not uncommon.
As long as the poos are just soft, but not runny and your guinea pig is not suffering from complete loss of appetite, please continue and finish the course of baytril.
Piggy savvy vets are sadly not all that common; Guinea pigs fall unfortuantely very much in that gap of being classed as an "exotic" species, but they are usually too mundane and common a pet to be of real interest to many exotic vets.
Depending on where you are, finding a decent vet can be a struggle; not just in the US!
We have got a recommended UK vets locator on the top bar. For people in the US, Canada and some other countries, you can find a list of recommended vets on Guinea Lynx. They have revamped their vet list and have made it more easily accessible now. Here is the link:
Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List
