Should I Stop Baytril Injection to my Piggy

[Drevan]

Hi,

One of my piggies is sneezing and wiping his nose for several days. So I took him to the vet two days ago, and the vet gave me Baytril 0.2ml/day for 7days, plus probiotics. I am not aware of the side effects of Baytril until tonight when I checked the Forums. I am very worried right now. My piggy is very young. about 3-4month. and I noticed some abnormal behaviors after the fourth dose.

He loses his appetite. He still eats, but eat less. I use veggies to lure him. firstly he showed no interest (didn't move, not even sniffing). I put veggies under his nose and try to wake him. Thankfully he eats but only the veggies, not hays. He loses his energy as well. He usually runs around the cage but now he sleeps a lot. His poops are smaller. And he is eating the fleece! This never happened before! Is it because of the irritating gut side effects?

He is so adorable and he allows me to pet his head even though I only have him for a week. I'm a new guinea pig owner, I did a lot of research before I had them but I guess I am still not prepared for their illness. I really don't want to lose him.

I also hesitate to take him to the vet again because he seemed so nervous when I took him last time. He sneezed more when he was back from the vet. It also took me 50 min drive one way to see my vet. Because of the Covid-19, all the guinea pig vet around my place is currently unavailable. He must be uncomfortable right now and I don't know how to help him. Should I give him the fifth dose? Should I call my vet about this?

 

[Siikibam]

Please don't stop antibiotics without consulting the vet. As with humans, not finishing the course prescribed means you won't effectively deal with the illness. Yes baytril is known to kill appetites and mess with their good bacteria. I will tag @PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns as I can't remember exactly, but I think you can give probiotic either 2 hours before or 2 hours after giving the antibiotics.

You will have to step in with syringe feeding if he's not eating enough hay. Eating veg isn't enough as hay makes up the majority of their diet. You also need to weigh him at the same time each day and adjust the syringe feeding according to whether he's maintaining or continually losing weight.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please continue to give the antibiotic. You must not stop as the illness will not be cured.

It is an effect of the antibiotics for it to upset their tummies and cause loss of appetite. The antibiotics can also kill off the good gut bacteria as well as the bad bacteria which is making your piggy ill. Loss of good gut bacteria causes them to not want to eat and have an upset tummy but you can combat this but you must complete the course of antibiotics. Your piggies poops are small because he isn’t eating enough. What you need to do is step in with syringe feeding your piggy. Weigh your piggy daily to ensure are getting enough syringe feed into him.
You can also give probiotics to help settle the tummy. As siikibam has said, you give probiotics between antibiotic doses (not at the same time as giving the antibiotic)
If your piggy has a healthy companion then you can also use poop soup in place of probiotics.

The guides below will help you

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

 

[piggieminder]

When their tummies are upset they like to eat odd things. Try giving him some brown cardboard (the inner from a toilet roll or kitchen paper is ideal) or brown paper, it won't harm him and may stop him eating the fleece. He needs to keep taking the antibiotics, unfortunately they do have side effects but the links in the above post will help you with these.
Sending your boy healing vibes, I hope he gets better very soon.