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Serious issues with syringe meds

A

Aaaaa7

New Born Pup
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at least my older Guinea pig is sick. Boardatella or something? The problem is he has a huge syringe of nasty tasting meds he has to take. And he simply won’t take them. I’ve tried holding him in different angles, going slow, sweet talk on him, speaking to him firmly, wrapping him in a blanket, giving him cucumber after every single attempt or dose, putting banana on the end of the syringe. I missed his mouth and lost some of the antibiotic. So I basically had to pin him to my legs and pin his head down to get him to take some, which still led to some missing his mouth and now I’m worried he only got half the dose he should have. Plus I’m worried he’s going to twist and hurt himself trying to get away, not to mention how unpleasant it is for him and I hate doing it this way. I suggested mixing with the rescue food, but the vet said it would increase the volume he had to take in and still taste horrible and make it harder.

Is there anything else I can do to make this easier on him while making sure he gets the full dose? He’s nearly 6 years old, so if he’s not treated he will almost certainly die. And I believe I caught it early so there is a solid chance he will beat it with treatment.

I also just had his cage mate die a few months ago after a week of trying to save him, so having to do this again is extremely stressful for me even if it’s not as dire of a situation (yet).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I have 8 more days of this at least…
 
I’m so sorry to hear this.

Is his diagnosis actually bordatella?

What antibiotic has he got?
Baytril has a bitter taste and most piggies don’t like taking it.
What is the dosage?

The vet is right - you don’t want to mix it with anything as you just increase the volume and make it harder. I would not suggest mixing it with syringe feed in any event - the last thing you would want is for an animal to associate syringe feed with a nasty tasting medication as you then risk them refusing potentially life saving syringe feeds as well.

Do you have anyone who can help you?
It can make it easier if you have one person holding piggy and you then have two hands free - one to hold the syringe and the other hand to hold the head and guide the syringe into the side of his mouth and into the gap between the incisors and molars.
 
Hi

What are the meds that have been prescribed and in which quantities?

Are you sure that your piggy has bordetella because that is generally pretty quickly fatal for piggies?
Contagion - Inter-species transmission and pet care during owner illness/pregnancy (incl. Covid) (see chapter 4 for information on bordetella)

You may find the videos, pictures and tips in our medicating guide helpful; we have a chapter on medicating uncooperative piggies. If you have got a second person to hold him, then you can use one hand to gently force his mouth open to get the medication in.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

All the best.
 
Unfortunately, no one to help. Recently relocated to a new country and don’t really have any friends here yet.

She didn’t run diagnostics tests. She said she never runs the nose swabs and even if she did, by the time the results came in it would have already been a full antibiotic run anyway. We discussed an X-ray but I was uneasy without diagnostics as that’s what happened with bear, but I was uneasy about the anesthetic and, to be honest, costs also as I’d rather save the money for an emergency. This is what happened with bear, vet visits drained my account and I didn’t have enough when the emergency happened. She didn’t seem to think X-rays were necessary at this stage.

She said his breathing was a little raspy and heavy. But that it was mild. He also has been sneezing, a bit lethargic, and had some clear dry eye discharge.

She is also treating the baby although he didn’t show symptoms. She thought maybe he brought it in or that the stress of the changes might have caused it. I was worried it was also the location of their cage because it’s by a door. My place is small and it’s difficult to find a spot for them although I’m hoping to do some rearranging and move them to the bedroom.

One was enrocare and the other was ronaxan. She said two together work better. The Enrocare is the problem. Coco paws at his face every time he takes it, so it must taste awful.

The dosage is different based on their sizes. Skunk has .3 ronoxan and .95ml of enrocare a day. Coco has .19 and .6.

It was an exotic vet specialist with 12 years of experience and 2 masters degrees in exotic animals
 
You might be able to control him by wrapping him gently in a pet blanket. I hope you are successful 🙏
 
Aaaaa7 said:
Unfortunately, no one to help. Recently relocated to a new country and don’t really have any friends here yet.

She didn’t run diagnostics tests. She said she never runs the nose swabs and even if she did, by the time the results came in it would have already been a full antibiotic run anyway. We discussed an X-ray but I was uneasy without diagnostics as that’s what happened with bear, but I was uneasy about the anesthetic and, to be honest, costs also as I’d rather save the money for an emergency. This is what happened with bear, vet visits drained my account and I didn’t have enough when the emergency happened. She didn’t seem to think X-rays were necessary at this stage.

She said his breathing was a little raspy and heavy. But that it was mild. He also has been sneezing, a bit lethargic, and had some clear dry eye discharge.

She is also treating the baby although he didn’t show symptoms. She thought maybe he brought it in or that the stress of the changes might have caused it. I was worried it was also the location of their cage because it’s by a door. My place is small and it’s difficult to find a spot for them although I’m hoping to do some rearranging and move them to the bedroom.

One was enrocare and the other was ronaxan. She said two together work better. The Enrocare is the problem. Coco paws at his face every time he takes it, so it must taste awful.

The dosage is different based on their sizes. Skunk has .3 ronoxan and .95ml of enrocare a day. Coco has .19 and .6.

It was an exotic vet specialist with 12 years of experience and 2 masters degrees in exotic animals
Click to expand...

Enrocare is another generic brand name for baytril and ronaxan is a generic of doxycycline if that helps you, so your vet is definitely bringing out the heavy guns.

Please brace for loss of appetite; both antibiotics are the ones most known for that.
 
So far I am not seeing that, but I will watch for it. I’ll also brace myself that this could turn serious for the older one. I do think I caught whatever it is rather early, but I had thought that with Bear, too. Although I’ve come to terms with the fact that his was likely cancer and the outcome would have been the same regardless. But the little one was bought from a private home, not a pet shop. So I wouldn’t think he would have brought it in, but I guess you never know.

As for the giving of the meds, the same issue happened with the little one where I unfortunately lost some of the meds on his chin. So I think I’m just going to have to pin them and do it that way to make sure they get the meds, although I really don’t want to do this. The nearest exotic vet is over an hour away, so I have to make sure they get these meds because there is no fast emergency support if they get sicker
 
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