Young GP with Coccidia and Roundworm Eggs?

[wizardly]

Hello! I am new to this forum and made an account today to post this. My guinea pig, Joey is fairly young, and I'm not sure of his age. Right now, he's 330grams so very underweight. He's been through 2 URIs. A few days ago he started puffing up and eating less. I immediately made an appointment with the vet thinking it was another URI. Vet did a fecal float on him and apparently there was Coccidia through the roof and roundworm eggs. He's currently on Albon every 24 hours and taking Critical Care. He's not really eating a lot of hay at one time, just a few nibbles. He will, however, eat pellets and cilantro/parsley. He's drinking water, but not enough.

His cagemate, Oscar has been through one URI and is doing great. The two are separated right now. I went to the vet on Wednesday and he's still puffy. I would say he's slightly more energetic, but he's still just sitting in the corner and breathing kinda hard. Is there anything else I should be doing? Thank you.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear he is unwell. I have no experience of such parasite/worm issues but ensure you weigh him daily while he is unwell so you can ensure you are getting enough syringe feed into him. With a complete loss of appetite, you are aiming for 60-90ml of syringe feed in a 24 hour period. The daily weighing will tell you if you are getting enough into him. I hope he recovers well.

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

 

[Wiebke]

Hello! I am new to this forum and made an account today to post this. My guinea pig, Joey is fairly young, and I'm not sure of his age. Right now, he's 330grams so very underweight. He's been through 2 URIs. A few days ago he started puffing up and eating less. I immediately made an appointment with the vet thinking it was another URI. Vet did a fecal float on him and apparently there was Coccidia through the roof and roundworm eggs. He's currently on Albon every 24 hours and taking Critical Care. He's not really eating a lot of hay at one time, just a few nibbles. He will, however, eat pellets and cilantro/parsley. He's drinking water, but not enough.

His cagemate, Oscar has been through one URI and is doing great. The two are separated right now. I went to the vet on Wednesday and he's still puffy. I would say he's slightly more energetic, but he's still just sitting in the corner and breathing kinda hard. Is there anything else I should be doing? Thank you.

Hi!

Please continue to support feed as much as needed; adjust the frequency and amount by weighing daily at the same time. He sounds like he is in pain. Heaving sides can indicate build up of fluid in the lungs (pneumonia). the need to breathe comes before the need to eat and only thirdly the need to eat; with a compromised gut, your little boy is unfortunately really up against it as it looks like his immune system is seriously compromised - all these issues are opportunistic illnesses that cannot be fended off with a lowered immune system.
Please contact your vet asap if there is any deterioration.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

How is your vet treating the problems? Usually panacur is the medication that is used for de-worming (worms are thankfully rare in guinea pigs).

@PigglePuggle

 

[PigglePuggle]

Hi! Albon is a medicine containing sulfadimethoxine which is completely the correct treatment for coccidosis. For a young animal, the prognosis is usually good, a severe infection can just catch a young animal's immune system unawares. Many different coccidial parasites exist though, and some may infect the liver which can cause complications- hopefully yours are just in the gut.
As @Wiebke says, roundworms in piggies are quite unusual- but panacur is usually a safe and effective treatment for intestinal roundworms.

Hope your piggy is ok, but sounds like your vet is pretty on the ball if they did a fecal float already and gave you a diagnosis! Keep up the critical care feeding, the treatment is correct but may take a week or 2 to shift the parasites. A probiotic to help balance the healthy gut bacteria may also help.

 

[wizardly]

@YvonneBlue @PigglePuggle Thank you so much for your replies! Continuing the Critical Care and checking on him as well. He is less puffy from yesterday and drinking water. Still not eating enough hay, so that’s my main concern. He’s also more energetic. I started weighing him daily yesterday but he’d already eaten so it wasn’t accurate. Started weighing him at the same time today. I can still feel his spine and ribs but he’s bigger than he was a few days ago. I will call the vet.

 

[Wiebke]

@YvonneBlue @PigglePuggle Thank you so much for your replies! Continuing the Critical Care and checking on him as well. He is less puffy from yesterday and drinking water. Still not eating enough hay, so that’s my main concern. He’s also more energetic. I started weighing him daily yesterday but he’d already eaten so it wasn’t accurate. Started weighing him at the same time today. I can still feel his spine and ribs but he’s bigger than he was a few days ago. I will call the vet.

I find weighing my piggies before I give them the first feed of the morning a very good time to get comparable day to day results as that is the time of day when the weight is lowest as gut and bladder are generally empty.

All the best. @PigglePuggle is our go-to when it comes to parasites.

 

[wizardly]

@Wiebke Yes! Thank you. His weight is going up. He’s not puffy anymore and is being noisy and active like normal (: I will continue his medication until it runs out and quarantine him for two more weeks! He seems to be doing much better!

 

[Wiebke]

Wishing him a smooth and full recovery!