VivienOblivion
New Born Pup
Hi everyone!
First of all, Merry Christmas
On Wednesday last week, I noticed that my guinea pig Bebita (6 years old female) had been doing half-sneezes occasionally, accompanied by some weight loss and a little bit of blood found in one of her nostrils. I took her to the vet, and according to her, it was a "superficial nasal infection". It didn't spread to/derive from the lungs. Bebita was prescribed Doxycycline (0.8 ml, twice a day) for 8 days. Bebita was also already on 5 kg Metacam (twice a day) prior to this for her arthritis. Starting from Friday, 2 days after she began her antibiotic treatment, she began to have acute diarrhoea. I know that this is probably because we didn't give her any probiotic. This was because my vet, who is usually quite cavy savvy, told us that the use of probiotics is optional. She also strongly discouraged the use of commercial probiotics like Benebac/Fibreplex/Zoolac Propaste, and said we could use poop soup if we really want to. We were then told to continue the use of Metacam, but to lower the dose to 4 kg (twice a day). As a result of this information, we decided that it was better not to administer yet another (and this one supposedly optional) substance into her, on top of the whole concoction already. She also has been taking Thiamacare (0.15 ml, twice a day) everyday for the past year for her hyperthyroidism
I really regret not giving it anyway. The consistency of her poop ranges from watery cream to moist Play-Doh. The poops are not formed at all, and they smear all over the dog training pee mats we have to replace frequently in her enclosure. Furthermore, she farts a lot and seems to frequently strain while going, squeaking in pain or out of discomfort. Besides that, she still seems alert, eats a little bit of hay by herself, still has an appetite for vegetables, walks around occasionally, etc. Basically, she didn't seem "extremely" ill aside from the diarrhoea. But she is definitely less active than she usually is, which is especially noticeable because she has hyperthyroidism.
After the discovery on Friday, I started to follow all the recommended procedures on this forum & other sources. These include removing fresh vegetables/fruits, increasing fibre intake, maintaining hydration, syringe feeding her Oxbow Critical Care/Selective Recovery+/mashed up high-fibre pallets/wheat powder with water, etc., giving poop soup from a healthy companion. We also read that it was good to stop with the antibiotic that is causing issues, or else the piggy might die very quickly. However, this is also a highly debated subject it seems, because a lot of people also recommend continuing with the antibiotics, despite the adverse effects, in order to remove the infection thoroughly.
On Saturday, I went to one of the only vets that was open, for a consultation. They had only very basic knowledge of guinea pigs, and absolutely no medicine or information that could help me in that moment. Bebita's symptoms continued, with no significant improvement. On Sunday evening, I went to the emergency vet hospital, which has an exotic pets' section, for a consultation. This visit was a bit more helpful. The vet told me that Bebita does not seem like an animal who was dying, and she still seemed alert and had some appetite. He then put a fresh sample of her poop under the microscope, which apparently had a large amount of yeast. This suggests Candidiasis and gut imbalance, probably indeed developed as a result of the use of Doxycycline and Metacam. I had suspected as much, so it all seemed to make sense. Her situation & symptoms do seem to match those of Candidiasis. He injected subcutaneous fluid under her skin to keep her hydrated. She was then prescribed Nystatin (0.65 ml, twice a day) and Cisaral Drops (0.4 ml, twice a day) for a week. I immediately questioned this of course, because providing gut stimulant in the case of diarrhoea seems odd, even potentially dangerous, to me. He explained that it does indeed seem counterintuitive, but Cisapride can potentially help with normalising gut mobility, and diarrhoea is still a form of irregular gut movement.
Her diarrhoea still hasn't improved much since Friday, but her condition does seem stable. I am still freaking out though, because you never know when it will suddenly take a downturn...it is frustrating and saddening that her diarrhoea just won't seem to go away or improve. Hearing her squeak in pain/discomfort while passing and having her feet and bum covered in her own faeces (despite the constant cleaning) breaks my heart...
I am currently waiting for the Fibreplex to be delivered, but it is a long wait because of Christmas of course. No vets or pet stores in the Netherlands carry Fibreplex because most of them don't even know what it is, and otherwise discourage the use of it. The vet from the emergency vet hospital even strongly advised against poop soup, because he suggests that to do this safely requires confirming the health status of the source guinea pig more accurately and thoroughly to prevent the spread of other diseases/bacteria.
Below are some questions I have about her condition:
1. Could it ever be helpful to use Cisapride for diarrhoea? Does anyone here have any experience with this?
2. Is it normal for diarrhoea to still be present after almost 5 days (from Candidiasis)?
3. How soon should I see an improvement with her diarrhoea while using Nystatin, on top of all the other measures that are already taken?
4. All the vets I have spoken to advise against taking guinea pigs off vegetables even while they suffer from diarrhoea, because especially during an illness, they need their nutrients. A lot of these nutrients come from vegetables, and it would be difficult to solely rely on syringe feeding to meet all of these needs. I know that this is the complete opposite of what many other sources, including this forum, advise. So what would be the right thing to do in Bebita's situation?
5. How long (approximately) does it take to see an effect from the use of poop soup as a probiotic to return the gut balance after the use of antibiotics?
I would really really appreciate any information you can provide that could potentially help Bebita with her speedy recovery
Thank you in advance!
First of all, Merry Christmas
On Wednesday last week, I noticed that my guinea pig Bebita (6 years old female) had been doing half-sneezes occasionally, accompanied by some weight loss and a little bit of blood found in one of her nostrils. I took her to the vet, and according to her, it was a "superficial nasal infection". It didn't spread to/derive from the lungs. Bebita was prescribed Doxycycline (0.8 ml, twice a day) for 8 days. Bebita was also already on 5 kg Metacam (twice a day) prior to this for her arthritis. Starting from Friday, 2 days after she began her antibiotic treatment, she began to have acute diarrhoea. I know that this is probably because we didn't give her any probiotic. This was because my vet, who is usually quite cavy savvy, told us that the use of probiotics is optional. She also strongly discouraged the use of commercial probiotics like Benebac/Fibreplex/Zoolac Propaste, and said we could use poop soup if we really want to. We were then told to continue the use of Metacam, but to lower the dose to 4 kg (twice a day). As a result of this information, we decided that it was better not to administer yet another (and this one supposedly optional) substance into her, on top of the whole concoction already. She also has been taking Thiamacare (0.15 ml, twice a day) everyday for the past year for her hyperthyroidism
I really regret not giving it anyway. The consistency of her poop ranges from watery cream to moist Play-Doh. The poops are not formed at all, and they smear all over the dog training pee mats we have to replace frequently in her enclosure. Furthermore, she farts a lot and seems to frequently strain while going, squeaking in pain or out of discomfort. Besides that, she still seems alert, eats a little bit of hay by herself, still has an appetite for vegetables, walks around occasionally, etc. Basically, she didn't seem "extremely" ill aside from the diarrhoea. But she is definitely less active than she usually is, which is especially noticeable because she has hyperthyroidism.
After the discovery on Friday, I started to follow all the recommended procedures on this forum & other sources. These include removing fresh vegetables/fruits, increasing fibre intake, maintaining hydration, syringe feeding her Oxbow Critical Care/Selective Recovery+/mashed up high-fibre pallets/wheat powder with water, etc., giving poop soup from a healthy companion. We also read that it was good to stop with the antibiotic that is causing issues, or else the piggy might die very quickly. However, this is also a highly debated subject it seems, because a lot of people also recommend continuing with the antibiotics, despite the adverse effects, in order to remove the infection thoroughly.
On Saturday, I went to one of the only vets that was open, for a consultation. They had only very basic knowledge of guinea pigs, and absolutely no medicine or information that could help me in that moment. Bebita's symptoms continued, with no significant improvement. On Sunday evening, I went to the emergency vet hospital, which has an exotic pets' section, for a consultation. This visit was a bit more helpful. The vet told me that Bebita does not seem like an animal who was dying, and she still seemed alert and had some appetite. He then put a fresh sample of her poop under the microscope, which apparently had a large amount of yeast. This suggests Candidiasis and gut imbalance, probably indeed developed as a result of the use of Doxycycline and Metacam. I had suspected as much, so it all seemed to make sense. Her situation & symptoms do seem to match those of Candidiasis. He injected subcutaneous fluid under her skin to keep her hydrated. She was then prescribed Nystatin (0.65 ml, twice a day) and Cisaral Drops (0.4 ml, twice a day) for a week. I immediately questioned this of course, because providing gut stimulant in the case of diarrhoea seems odd, even potentially dangerous, to me. He explained that it does indeed seem counterintuitive, but Cisapride can potentially help with normalising gut mobility, and diarrhoea is still a form of irregular gut movement.
Her diarrhoea still hasn't improved much since Friday, but her condition does seem stable. I am still freaking out though, because you never know when it will suddenly take a downturn...it is frustrating and saddening that her diarrhoea just won't seem to go away or improve. Hearing her squeak in pain/discomfort while passing and having her feet and bum covered in her own faeces (despite the constant cleaning) breaks my heart...
I am currently waiting for the Fibreplex to be delivered, but it is a long wait because of Christmas of course. No vets or pet stores in the Netherlands carry Fibreplex because most of them don't even know what it is, and otherwise discourage the use of it. The vet from the emergency vet hospital even strongly advised against poop soup, because he suggests that to do this safely requires confirming the health status of the source guinea pig more accurately and thoroughly to prevent the spread of other diseases/bacteria.
Below are some questions I have about her condition:
1. Could it ever be helpful to use Cisapride for diarrhoea? Does anyone here have any experience with this?
2. Is it normal for diarrhoea to still be present after almost 5 days (from Candidiasis)?
3. How soon should I see an improvement with her diarrhoea while using Nystatin, on top of all the other measures that are already taken?
4. All the vets I have spoken to advise against taking guinea pigs off vegetables even while they suffer from diarrhoea, because especially during an illness, they need their nutrients. A lot of these nutrients come from vegetables, and it would be difficult to solely rely on syringe feeding to meet all of these needs. I know that this is the complete opposite of what many other sources, including this forum, advise. So what would be the right thing to do in Bebita's situation?
5. How long (approximately) does it take to see an effect from the use of poop soup as a probiotic to return the gut balance after the use of antibiotics?
I would really really appreciate any information you can provide that could potentially help Bebita with her speedy recovery
Thank you in advance!
