UTI treatment

[CrestedPiggies]

I took Hermione (roughly 18 months) to the vet this morning as I'd noticed some pinkish wees and also she had started squealing when urinating. She's still eating and pooing fine, and her behaviour hasn't changed. She's lost 30g since the last weigh in which was on Sunday but I know this isn't an amount to be concerned about, however I'm going to start weighing daily just to keep an eye on it (currently 1085g).

As suspected, the vet diagnosed a UTI and prescribed baytril (0.2ml twice daily)
and cat metacam (0.1ml once a day). Some quick research when we got home though is making me think the dosages are a bit low? Especially the metacam at only once a day.

Also he said to only give one of the medications on a full stomach, but unfortunately I can't recall which one! Although she's constantly eating so I can't imagine her stomach is ever empty!

The examination seemed thorough enough to me however I couldn't get to one of the recommended vets as I don't drive, and this is our first vet trip with an actual issue rather than just a health check.

Any help and advice is much appreciated, thanks

 

[Piggies&buns]

0.1ml of cat metacam once per day isn’t really going to do anything to take away any pain.
i don’t know why the vet has said anything about an empty stomach - its an odd thing to say for an animal that needs to eat hay constantly.
Id call the vet back and see what they say. is there another vet you can get to?

 

[PigglePuggle]

The metacam dose does sound very low, I would expect a starting dose to be about 0.4mls of cat metacam once a day but it would be quite safe to give that twice a day if needed, or even more. A fairly high but not exceptionally high metacam dose would be 0.4mls of dog metacam... which equates to 1.2mls of cat metacam! The only published scientific study on cat metacam use in piggies concluded that up to 1ml a day is perfectly safe.
The baytril dose may be effective but could also be increased if it isnt, many piggies take 0.5mls baytril twice daily but I believe we have been given 0.5mls once daily before for a UTI, those infections tend to shift easier than respiratory infections that usually need higher doses for longer...
If you are concerned I would ask the vet why they are dosing so low, especially with the metacam... sending healing wheeks anyway that the squeaky wees go away fast! X

 

[CrestedPiggies]

Thank you @Piggies&buns and @PigglePuggle. I did look around on here before going so I had an idea of what to expect, I obviously neglected to look at dosages though!

0.1ml of cat metacam once per day isn’t really going to do anything to take away any pain.
i don’t know why the vet has said anything about an empty stomach - its an odd thing to say for an animal that needs to eat hay constantly.
Id call the vet back and see what they say. is there another vet you can get to?

Yes there are other vets I could try, none as far as I could tell with an exotics vet though from looking at their websites. I could certainly phone a few and see if any have a vet more experienced with guinea pigs

The metacam dose does sound very low, I would expect a starting dose to be about 0.4mls of cat metacam once a day but it would be quite safe to give that twice a day if needed, or even more. A fairly high but not exceptionally high metacam dose would be 0.4mls of dog metacam... which equates to 1.2mls of cat metacam! The only published scientific study on cat metacam use in piggies concluded that up to 1ml a day is perfectly safe.
The baytril dose may be effective but could also be increased if it isnt, many piggies take 0.5mls baytril twice daily but I believe we have been given 0.5mls once daily before for a UTI, those infections tend to shift easier than respiratory infections that usually need higher doses for longer...
If you are concerned I would ask the vet why they are dosing so low, especially with the metacam... sending healing wheeks anyway that the squeaky wees go away fast! X

Thanks! We have a follow up appointment next Friday, and he did say that if needed he would then increase the baytril. Fingers crossed it's enough to make an improvement in the meantime. Thankfully she's not sounded in pain today but I'll phone the vet about the metacam if I think she needs more.

Having never had to medicate a piggy before, my first time didn't go too well! I've watched the videos of how to do it, I think I just need to be more firm. I guess I'll get lots of practice over the next few days!