• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Took guinea pig herd to the vet today. All have URI 🥺

Tara95 said:
Thank you that was very informative and reassuring, I feel much better. Winston looks completely fine to me I haven't heard him cough or wheeze once in the whole time I've had him yet he's on antibiotics. He seems really healthy 1000g at 5-6 months, lively eating well. They all have a good diet and have haybox hay, limited pellets, fresh grass (apart from recently with the weather) They mainly have daily vegetables and not fruit with limited calcium veg such as Parsley. The two new arrivals I can understand having antibiotics and Bear as she does have a very occasional cough/hiccupping sound but otherwise is healthy. Tempted to take Winston off as he's been on so many antibiotics before when he has his infection for Neutering but maybe it's worth it as a precaution and won't do him any harm I guess although he hates the medicine. Thank you for your time ☺
Click to expand...

Definitely don’t stop Winston’s meds - stopping prematurely allows for the bacteria to take off again and can lead to resistance to the medication
 
Piggies&buns said:
Or, if their tummies do get upset by the antibiotics and you have to syringe feed critical care, then you can add it directly to the syringe feed.

just ensure you don’t give probiotic and antibiotic at the same time, give the probiotic either a couple of hours before or a couple of hours after the antibiotic dose
Click to expand...
Thank you. I brought some Probiotics today from pets at home for quickness. Just checking this is okay as it says for rabbits and other small animals but doesn't specifically say guinea pigs. Many thanks again. MVIMG_20210206_194637.webp
 
Please don't panic, the term URI can really cover everything from a minor runny nose and sore throat to full blown pneumonia! Its very important to complete the course of antibiotics, and if symptoms persist or get worse or recur to go back to the vet for either a higher dose of antibiotics, or a different type of antibiotic. If your piggies are mostly free of symptoms and active and eating that is a very good sign. If untreated then URI symptoms can get worse and the infection might spread down into the lungs which can of course be very serious. But many URIs if treated promptly are no worse than a mild cough or sore throat is in humans and will clear up in a week or so with antibiotics.
Even if it doesnt clear completely, then consulting the vet and continuing treatment or trying a different antibiotic can still help avoid things getting worse.
Pro-C is fine as a probiotic, I would syringe feed 1 or 2 mls an hour or two after giving the antibiotic- or you could sprinkle a little on the food- I would avoud putting it in the water bottle because the probiotics can then turn your drinking water into stinky pond water in a few hours, they are designed to encourage bacterial growth after all! And the dextrose is sugar so you dont want that in every mouthful of water. Hope your puggies are ok! I currently have a URI piggy who is very prone to URIs, and the baytril never gets any easier to give her- Blodwen sends you all honky grunty infectious virtual piggy kisses x
 
PigglePuggle said:
Please don't panic, the term URI can really cover everything from a minor runny nose and sore throat to full blown pneumonia! Its very important to complete the course of antibiotics, and if symptoms persist or get worse or recur to go back to the vet for either a higher dose of antibiotics, or a different type of antibiotic. If your piggies are mostly free of symptoms and active and eating that is a very good sign. If untreated then URI symptoms can get worse and the infection might spread down into the lungs which can of course be very serious. But many URIs if treated promptly are no worse than a mild cough or sore throat is in humans and will clear up in a week or so with antibiotics.
Even if it doesnt clear completely, then consulting the vet and continuing treatment or trying a different antibiotic can still help avoid things getting worse.
Pro-C is fine as a probiotic, I would syringe feed 1 or 2 mls an hour or two after giving the antibiotic- or you could sprinkle a little on the food- I would avoud putting it in the water bottle because the probiotics can then turn your drinking water into stinky pond water in a few hours, they are designed to encourage bacterial growth after all! And the dextrose is sugar so you dont want that in every mouthful of water. Hope your puggies are ok! I currently have a URI piggy who is very prone to URIs, and the baytril never gets any easier to give her- Blodwen sends you all honky grunty infectious virtual piggy kisses x
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply, sorry to hear you have a sick piggy who's is prone to these things! Hopefully she'll improve and won't have one again! Mine all hate me for giving them the medicine! In the evenings I'm able to reason with them a bit more but I fear when I have work in the morning and I have to rush things and traumatise them more! Thank you for your advice and reassurance. It is scary what some URI's can do and they seem to be the ones that are always talked about online. I've just been sprinkling the Probiotics on grass and they seem to be eating this. You can't overdose on probiotic can you? thank you Blodwen, my herd send you luck escaping when you have your medicine 💉❤️
 
Hey sorry I missed this. Well done for getting them to the vets quick. I think these young small piggies must be very prone to illness, like said above, it’s all the stress and upheaval.
You’ve caught it early and so I’m sure all will get over it super fast.
 
Lavinia said:
Hey sorry I missed this. Well done for getting them to the vets quick. I think these young small piggies must be very prone to illness, like said above, it’s all the stress and upheaval.
You’ve caught it early and so I’m sure all will get over it super fast.
Click to expand...
I do really worry for my herd, they're too stressed with taking their medicine and vet visits (something I would've always tried to avoid due to stress).
I've even avoided handling them regularly to not stress them out as much and now obviously they've got all that do deal with! and thank you. How're your herd doing?:)
 
I know what you mean @Tara95 but you can’t avoid stress when they need their medicine. It’s just one of those things. I’ve just quickly had mine out for weights and health checks and they don’t like it at all but it’s over as quick as possible and is in their best interests.
They are ok thanks. Probably feeling a bit neglected due to me working shifts atm! I was gone all day yesterday 6:30am till 10pm so barely saw them! Hopefully daddy looked after them good enough!
Baby bubbles/Ruffles weighed in at 422g today. She’s slowly growing and looking more like a guinea pig rather than a hamster!
 
Lavinia said:
I know what you mean @Tara95 but you can’t avoid stress when they need their medicine. It’s just one of those things. I’ve just quickly had mine out for weights and health checks and they don’t like it at all but it’s over as quick as possible and is in their best interests.
They are ok thanks. Probably feeling a bit neglected due to me working shifts atm! I was gone all day yesterday 6:30am till 10pm so barely saw them! Hopefully daddy looked after them good enough!
Baby bubbles/Ruffles weighed in at 422g today. She’s slowly growing and looking more like a guinea pig rather than a hamster!
Click to expand...
That's what I keep telling myself it's in their best interests when I'm being teeth chattered at and having to chase them round the cage. (I'm not the most skilled at catching them which doesn't help and they're constantly moving their heads so I can't give them their medicine without a fight 😂) ohh gosh how is work with your new job? Those hours sound deadly! and bless her, I could never have imaged how small she was when she arrived until I had the babies which were around 220g when they arrived! I imagine very similar weights to ruffles! Part of me believes that they're much younger than 8 weeks!
 
Haha yes it’s hard catching them. I bet in your huge enclosure it’s even harder! I herd and trap them inside cosy bits and that makes it easier. Ginny and Ruffles both bite me and teeth chatter haha. They don’t bite hard, I think it’s a warning nibble! 😂
Yes Ruffles was 224 when I first weighed her but that was a few days after having her as I didn’t want to upset her too much! So she was very small, much the same as your babies!
ah it’s not so bad. If I do the long day then that’s two shifts in one and I get an extra day off! I’m off now till Thursday so shifts aren’t all bad. Just getting my head round them. And the animals miss me, I imagine the pigs don’t notice but the dogs do. My photo gallery on my phone is full of photos my husband has sent me of the dogs waiting and looking for me! ☹️
I do hope your lovely herd all get over this super fast and forgive you quick! X
 
Lavinia said:
Haha yes it’s hard catching them. I bet in your huge enclosure it’s even harder! I herd and trap them inside cosy bits and that makes it easier. Ginny and Ruffles both bite me and teeth chatter haha. They don’t bite hard, I think it’s a warning nibble! 😂
Yes Ruffles was 224 when I first weighed her but that was a few days after having her as I didn’t want to upset her too much! So she was very small, much the same as your babies!
ah it’s not so bad. If I do the long day then that’s two shifts in one and I get an extra day off! I’m off now till Thursday so shifts aren’t all bad. Just getting my head round them. And the animals miss me, I imagine the pigs don’t notice but the dogs do. My photo gallery on my phone is full of photos my husband has sent me of the dogs waiting and looking for me! ☹️
I do hope your lovely herd all get over this super fast and forgive you quick! X
Click to expand...
Thank you! Yours bite?! I haven't been bitten yet but I'm fearful of my large white guinea pig Boo as she's always teeth chattering at me! For a guinea pig she's rather intimidating! And glad the shifts aren't too bad and you get a good break in-between! Bless them! Atleast you get nearly a week off with them!:)
 
When I rescued Ginny she always bit me when I handled her. Never broken the skin or anything! And I think she’s taught baby to do it too as she does it. I think hers was out of frustration of having to be handled so much for the endless weeks of meds when she was poorly right away.
 
When do you know an URI is over? I went back to the vets today for the follow up appointment and said after the first 3 days I noticed an improvement on the antibiotic Sulfatrim and then it seemed to plateau for almost a week and there was still regular sneezes. I also stated since Friday and this morning they seem much better but I am still hearing the occasional sneeze from a few of them which I wouldn't have heard before the URI. The vet said it could have left scarring on the lungs for example like in an asthmatic but it's generally okay. She checked them over and said they seemed much better and she couldn't see any sign of the URI when I presume she was listening to their chest and recommended to stop the antibiotic as she couldn't hear any sign of the URI. I am still a bit concerned as it has only dramatically improved really since last night/today. I am also worried about the occasional sneezes as I always thought a guinea pig should not sneeze in general and that you need to go as hard as you can on the antibiotics to stop it coming back. I still have quite a bit of antibiotic left long story short as my boyfriend spilled some so I had to pick up some more medication a few days ago. Obviously she's a really good exotic vet and I trust her advice I just really don't want it coming back! Many thanks everyone 🥰
 
Hi does anyone have any idea? Sorry to double message not sure whether to give a dose this morning or just stop completely. Many thanks hope everyone is having a good weekend xx
 
Hi. I’m no expert but baby still sneezes and I think it’s due to scaring now. I think if there’s no discharge and no crackling breathing then it may have resolved?
I think you have to trust your vet in these circumstances if she’s a good one and wait and see what happens next. X
 
Hi thank you for your response there was never any crackling breathing to start with apart from in one of the babies.(perhaps there was and only the vet has the specialist equipment to hear their chest). There was just sneezes beforehand. Is it quite common for there to be scarring afterwards and will this be there for life? Many thanks sorry for all the questions xx
 
I’m really not sure to be honest. I’m guessing really! But with baby being so bad so early in her life and it took a long time to resolve I think that is why she’s still not quite right now. Despite the vets clearing her too.
I hope they are all sorted and it doesn’t recur. Xx
 
Lavinia said:
I’m really not sure to be honest. I’m guessing really! But with baby being so bad so early in her life and it took a long time to resolve I think that is why she’s still not quite right now. Despite the vets clearing her too.
I hope they are all sorted and it doesn’t recur. Xx
Click to expand...
Thank you I'm sure it's sorted you just never know with these things xx
 
I think you should be guided by your vet. But if it appears that they may sound more crackly or symptoms start up again then you can take them in again.
 
Siikibam said:
I think you should be guided by your vet. But if it appears that they may sound more crackly or symptoms start up again then you can take them in again.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply. It's just the sneezing that panics me but as there are 7 it probably sounds 7 x as bad as it actually is. It's probably very occasional. Just can't believe it's "over" I don't believe the guinea pigs when they're not ill anymore 😂
 
It’s normal to worry. I always used to stop what I was doing if one sneezed! If go over to see who was doing it. That’s the life of a piggy slave.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top