Patches, my guinea pig, was recommended some baytril for red urine, as in possible UTI. The vet did not know much about what was to be done as I am in India and you rarely find guinea pigs here. After baytril he said no probiotics were needed. I gave Patches the medicine Thursday night and on Friday afternoon she stopped eating. I was extremely worried and did all I could. After a while she started eating again. The vet did not know what was to be done and told us to take her to some other clinic which was bigger but that is not possible for me currently. He had no probiotics for her and so I was wondering if I should stop the medicine for her but he said dont or the medicine won't work how it is supposed to. The dosage currently was 0.1 ml every day for a week but now he said give it for three days instead. Her poop is now smaller and her food intake is most def lesser. I have no critical care but I made a pellet Mash and she loved it and ate it very fast. What can I do for the small poop? What should I do if she stops eating again and should I continue the medicine? Is it safe for the vet to just make the dosage lesser like that?
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Not eating on baytril
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First, don’t stop giving an antibiotic unless a vet tells you to do so. Doing so will mean she won’t get better and can cause antibiotic resistance to form.
If the dosage is not high enough or the course of antibiotics not given for long enough, then quite simply the bacteria will remain and she will not get better. An antibiotic course for a UTI is usually given for 7-10 days. Some infections can be stubborn and need longer than that even.
Has she been given any painkillers? Urine infections are painful for the piggy.
I know it’s very difficult when you dont have a knowledgeable vet though.
Antibiotics can dampen their appetite as it also kills the good gut bacteria. Unfortunately its just something that can happen
As this has occured, you must syringe feed her regularly to replace the lost hay intake. You switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead you need to weigh her every day so you can be sure she is getting enough syringe feed to keep her weight stable every day.
Her poops are small because she isn’t eating enough. Poops will get better again once she is getting enough food but poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake so even if you get enough food into her today, you will not see any improvement in her poops for another couple of days. This is why the daily weight checks are essential as it is the only way to know she is getting enough syringe feed each day.
We do also recommend giving a probiotic to a piggy on antibiotics. It obviously depends on easily you can get hold of that.
If Patches lives with another piggy, then you can use the very fresh poops poops from the other piggy to make poop soup . You soak the very fresh, just produced poops (put the companion piggy in a box with some snacks and wsit for some poops to be produced) from the companion piggy in water for 15 I tues You can then syringe the water (not the poops) to your poorly piggy. This helps replace the gut micro biome and can be better than a commercial probiotic provided the poops you use have just been produced, don’t use any that have been laying around the cage as the good gut bacteria will have died.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
If the dosage is not high enough or the course of antibiotics not given for long enough, then quite simply the bacteria will remain and she will not get better. An antibiotic course for a UTI is usually given for 7-10 days. Some infections can be stubborn and need longer than that even.
Has she been given any painkillers? Urine infections are painful for the piggy.
I know it’s very difficult when you dont have a knowledgeable vet though.
Antibiotics can dampen their appetite as it also kills the good gut bacteria. Unfortunately its just something that can happen
As this has occured, you must syringe feed her regularly to replace the lost hay intake. You switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead you need to weigh her every day so you can be sure she is getting enough syringe feed to keep her weight stable every day.
Her poops are small because she isn’t eating enough. Poops will get better again once she is getting enough food but poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake so even if you get enough food into her today, you will not see any improvement in her poops for another couple of days. This is why the daily weight checks are essential as it is the only way to know she is getting enough syringe feed each day.
We do also recommend giving a probiotic to a piggy on antibiotics. It obviously depends on easily you can get hold of that.
If Patches lives with another piggy, then you can use the very fresh poops poops from the other piggy to make poop soup . You soak the very fresh, just produced poops (put the companion piggy in a box with some snacks and wsit for some poops to be produced) from the companion piggy in water for 15 I tues You can then syringe the water (not the poops) to your poorly piggy. This helps replace the gut micro biome and can be better than a commercial probiotic provided the poops you use have just been produced, don’t use any that have been laying around the cage as the good gut bacteria will have died.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
You syringe feed her to make up the hay she is not eating.
You need to syringe feed her at least 40-60ml of syringe feed each day.
As I said weighing her on kitchen scales is the only way to know you are getting enough syringe feed into her to keep her weight stable.
If 40-60ml is not enough and she still loses weight then you need to feed more than that - you feed as much as is needed to stop her from losing weight. She will need to be fed probably every two hours while she isn’t eating enough hay for herself
Yes, mashed pellets is absolutely fine to use. It’s the emergency alternative to a proper recovery feed.
Eating vegetables isn’t enough because they are not a major part of the food intake.
Its hay which is their main food source (80% of their daily food intake is hay) so if they don’t eat enough then it is essential you replace it with the syringe feeding
you she is definitely not having hay. I keep giving her a fresh batch, she has some of it and then stops again. I dont see any poops anymore. Can i stop the antibiotic since I just want her to start eating again? I can take her to proper wet next week but not any time soon and I don't know what to do.
if she isn’t pooping at all then her food intake has dropped critically low 1-2 days ago. It is urgent you immediately syringe feed her more. If you have been syringing and she still isn’t pooping then she needs to have much more.
Please weigh her - this is so important as you cannot know if she is getting enough food without the weight checks
If you stop the antibiotic without a vet telling you to do so, her infection will get worse. We would never advise you to stop giving an antibiotic without a vets consent.
She will not necessarily start eating again if you stop the antibiotic because she may become even more poorly from the infection anyway.
Is she on a painkiller?
Ordinarily you only give them one tablespoon of pellets per day (1/8 or 1/4 of a cup is too much normally). However, when a piggy isn’t eating hay you must forget the normal pellet rules and syringe feed as much mushed pellets as it needed to stop weight loss and keep the gut functioning.
Syringe feeding mushed pellets is about managing the crisis. Very bluntly if they don’t get enough food, their guts can shut down which can be fatal.
How many times you feed in a day depends on how much syringe feed you get into her at each sitting. If she only takes a few ml at each sitting, then you will need to feed much more often than if she takes , say, 20ml at a time.
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I can’t add anything to the excellent advice from @Piggies&buns but wanted to offer support
No she isn't on a pain killer. I can't see any red urine anymore so I was just wondering. The Doctor dint look like he had any idea what he was doing so I can't really trust him.
Also thanku for your support!
Also thanku for your support!
If she has a urine infection, then it is painful so painkillers should always be given. not much you can do with the vet isn’t experienced with piggies though.
Urine can be clear but still contain traces of blood. An infection and bacteria can still be present which is why a course needs to be completed.
Equally, red urine does not always need to be blood. There is a natural dye in urine called porphyrins which can change the colour of blood but are harmless.
Being prescribed antibiotics when a UTI is suspected is routine, but without urine testing being done then knowing whether it is actually blood is difficult
do you know how much she weighs?
Keep up with the daily weight checks, syringe feed her a lot and see a vet as soon as you can
She is definitely willing to eat. I mashed the pellets in a bowl and she ate those but she is not having hay. There is no poop still. She is not on a painkiller and the vet has no probiotics. He probably has no idea what he is doing and I am extremely worried.
Thanku for it support!
Thanku for it support!
You need to buy kitchen scales and weigh her every day at morning (she should be weighed once a week as routine care anyway but you switch to daily weight checks when they are unwell). Weighing at the vet just isn’t enough as you can’t go there everyday. You won’t know she is getting enough without the scales and weighing her at home. 1 Bowl of pellet mush unfortunately doesn’t mean much in terms if quantity
We can’t know how many bowls because it’s not an accurate way to measure it - we don’t know how much your bowls hold etc.
She needs to have at least 40-60ml of feed a day potentially as much as 100ml per day. As she isn’t eating hay (nibbling on a bit is good but will not be anywhere near enough) then the mushed pellets are directly replacing her hay intake.
But as we have said the only way to know you are giving enough is by weighing your piggy every day on kitchen scales at home.
Yes you need to give the baytril. You must not stop an antibiotic without the consent of a vet. If you don’t give her the antibiotic then the bacteria causing her infection will continue to make her ill
Nibbling at hay is nowhere near enough. Hay makes up 80% of what a piggy eats in a day
If she had a good amount at that point then maybe she isn’t hungry enough yet.
The problem is it is harder to gauge amounts if you are using a bowl and not a 1ml syringe.
The only way to know she is eating enough is to weigh her - can you go to a shop and buy a digital kitchen scale?
You need to know how much she weighs today so that when you weigh her tomorrow that you know whether she has had enough food today
The only way to know she is eating enough is to weigh her - can you go to a shop and buy a digital kitchen scale?
You need to know how much she weighs today so that when you weigh her tomorrow that you know whether she has had enough food today
Be very careful with such a big syringe - they can only take about 0.3ml in their mouth at a time. It’s recommended to use a 1ml syringe.
It’s good that she is nibbling, shows she still has some interest, even though nibbling isn’t enough
Can you get a set of scales?
It’s good that she is nibbling, shows she still has some interest, even though nibbling isn’t enough
Can you get a set of scales?