Respiratory Infection not improving

[Stacey9292]

Hi all, I need advice.

Monday i took my guinea pig to the vets as he had a little wheeze. By the time we got there the wheeze was gone and they listened to his lungs, heart, weighed him etc and he was in perfect health from what they could tell.
Tuesday morning I went to check on him and he was laying in his shelter in his own wee and poop. He can walk but it's like he didn't have the energy to walk. He also had bad breathing and wasn't eating. We took him to the vets and over night his weight had dropped from 1.15kg to 0.93 kg. His right lung had a wheeze and anti biotics were injected into him and an anti inflammatory. We got the antibiotics to continue giving him (baytril). 0.2mg morning and evening. We were also given critical care food which we have to syringe into his mouth as he isn't eating or drinking.
Today we woke up and he is still no better. Still lethargic. Not eating or drinking and also stopped pooping and peeing. Went back to the vets and they have given him an injection that should help him start peeing and pooping. That was at 3pm this afternoon. It's now 7pm and no change. We're continuing with the critical care food and also instructed to give 0.1mg of sulfatrim once daily to help combat the infection.
Is there anything else we should be doing? We're trying our best to get him well but nothing seems to be improving. He just hides in his house not moving. He can still walk but just doesn't.

Thanks
Stacey.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I'm sorry to hear he isnt well. Treating a URI will take time and oral antibiotics take 3-4 days to really kick in.

Weigh him every day so you can know how much syringe feed to give him - in a piggy with total appetite loss, you aim for at least 60ml of syringe feed in a 24 hour period but his daily weight checks are your guide. If he is continuing to lose weight then he isnt getting enough syringe feeds.

Piggies will stop pooping when they haven't eaten enough 1-2 days ago. Once he gets enough food into him, you should start to see poops again but there is the 1-2 day delay between food intake and poop output. The gut stimulant will also help

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Merab]

I can only add support.
Hope your boy recovers soon

 

[weepweeps]

Hope he starts to feel better soon.

 

[PigglePuggle]

I'm sorry your piggy is so unwell, as @Piggies&buns says the antibiotics will take time to work, and increasingly we hear of piggies with very stubborn respiratory infections that require very strong off-label antibiotics to clear, and of course that comes with its own risks especially for a weak piggy who is barely eating. The vet sounds to be doing all the right things, there are some additional respiratory symptom relief suggestions you might discuss with the vet- bisolvon, a decongestant- frusol, a diuretic that might clear fluid from the lungs- or nebulising with either sterile saline and/or a suitable antiseptic- also more anti-inflammatory metacam/loxicom to give orally at home.
But, these will only relieve respiratory symptoms and not address the underlying infection. Healing wheeks and paws crossed your piggy improves and gets his appetite back, that is the biggest worry with piggies if you need to support the feeding as well as the breathing x

 

[tabelmabel]

Poor wee soul - sending lots of healing vibes. The other important thing to give him is probiotics - those are essential for a good recovery as well as the anti biotics.

Fingers crossed he pulls through