URI/Upper Respiratory Infection URI but Baytril Gone Wrong! Already been to Vets Twice! New Memember!

First of all, if she's eating and pooping she doesn't have GI stasis. Stasis is when the gut stops moving, so nothing comes out.

Eating her poop has nothing to do with stasis. Guinea pigs that are not feeling well often eat all, or almost all, of their poop. It's a normal thing for them to do, and nothing to worry about it and of itself. If they're in the cage with another pig, they'll often eat the other pig's poop. If whatever is making them sick is getting worse, or not getting better, that's the issue to address, not the poop eating.

An intolerance to Baytril means that she would be very ill, and you'd be seeing frank diarrhea, lethargy, and other nasty symptoms. Baytril often causes inappetence (loss of appetite), but that's totally different from intolerance. Pigs on Baytril should get a probiotic about 1-2 hours after every dose of antibiotic, and the owner should be prepared to hand-feed them, forcibly if necessary, if they stop eating.

I don't see that there's anything unusual going on with your pig. If I had a pig on Baytril that was eating hay, pellets and veggies and didn't have to be hand-fed, I'd be ecstatic.

But what I would do is keep a very close eye on her. Weigh her daily, preferably in the morning before breakfast, to see if she's maintaining her weight. If she's losing, she's not getting enough to eat. If she's gaining during an illness, she may indeed have GI stasis. If you don't already have what you need to hand-feed her, get the stuff together and be ready to feed her.

See https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for info on how to do it. A guinea pig that's eating nothing else needs 100+ cc. of Critical Care or a pellet slurry for every kilogram it weighs, every day, broken up into 6-8 feedings, around the clock. Adjust up or down according to the pig's weight, and also according to how much the pig is eating.

Just a suggestion... Your posts will be much easier to read if you don't use a bold font. And many people will see such a long post and consider it tl;dr (too long, don't read). When you're presenting a lot of symptom information, it helps the people who will try to help you if you will present it clearly, concisely, in order, and leave off the commentary. That way, we can pick out the most important stuff without have to sift it out of your reactions to the vet and/or techs, who talked to whom, etc.

bpatters said:

First of all, if she's eating and pooping she doesn't have GI stasis. Stasis is when the gut stops moving, so nothing comes out.

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Thank you bpatters! That was why I made this post. I know eating their poop is nothing to be concerned about and that is why I could not figure out why the vet today was totally convinced that she had stasis when she was still producing stool to eat. I want to thank you for your quick response and apologize for my rambling.

Without reading back, did she see an exotic vet?

bpatters said:

Without reading back, did she see an exotic vet?

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Yes she did. The animal hospital that my piggies go to is an Exotic Animal hospital and I've been going there for years.

If any members have given Bactrim as an antibiotic let me know how well your piggies have tolerated it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed Ginger tolerates this well.

I've had piggies on both and they seemed to tolerate each the same.with the bactrim I did notice symptoms cleared up a little faster with one of my piggies she had a uti.

Hi mdodge, thanks so much for sharing your experience. Ginger does have the beginning symptoms of a URI and I want to clear it out as quickly as possible, and it's good to know that the bactrim cleared up your piggy's symptoms faster. So that makes me hopeful. Ginger had her second dose of bactrim this morning and the Cisapride. Now I am just waiting to give her the probiotic. Sneezing doesn't seem as bad as it was so I am keeping my fingers crossed tightly this bactrim does the trick.

Just so you know, Bactrim is much more effective against gram-negative bacteria, which are the kind that infect the urinary tract, than against gram-positive ones, which affect the respiratory system. Gram-positive bacteria are more sensitive to Baytril. So you can't assume that one of those medicines is going to treat both conditions adequately.

So you are saying that the bactrim will not get rid of the upper respiratory then bpatters? Ginger doesn't have a uti. And because of the tummy upset that Baytril caused, the vet agreed that Ginger can't continue taking that.

That's right. It's not at all likely to take care of the URI. It is sometimes given to young pigs for a URI because Baytril can stunt their growth, but it's just not as effective as Baytril.

IMO, and I'm not a vet, doxycycline is a better option for a URI than bactrim.

I'm not sure I understand why the Baytril was stopped. Was it just because she started eating her poops again? Or did she stop eating altogether? Or develop diarrhea?

To clarify, the Baytril was greatly effecting Ginger's eating, but more importantly after days of being on Baytril twice a day the sneezing was not letting up at all. And she is a young pig, the shelter and my vet placed her at 10-12 weeks of age. So far today she is doing so much better than she was 24hrs ago. If of course, there is no improvement, I will be taking her back to the vets.

OK, but just so you know, Baytril almost always affects eating. It's a very rare pig that can take it without losing its appetite. You mainly get around that by giving a probiotic about an hour and a half after every dose, and by hand-feeding when necessary.

Okay gotcha! Thanks bpatters! I appreciate all of your informative input and responses. An update on Ginger: she ate the majority of her vitamin C tablet today and is producing more stool. Her eating is slowly getting back to normal... thankfully.

Okay so an update on Ginger! This morning, I woke up to a cage covered in very mushy poops. I've attached 2 pictures below. I believe that it is the Cisapride in her system after 3 days and possibly a little too much lettuce. I am not giving Ginger any more Cisapride as she clearly is not backed up, but am continuing her on the Bactrim and Probiotic as directed. Still eating and drinking with no problems. I have never had this problem before with any of the other pigs, which is why I am thinking the Cisapride is what caused this since it gets things moving. Any other input would be greatly appreciated. BTW those stain marks are not blood, but from me trying to pick up the poop because Ginger was stepping in it and was getting all messy.

Okay so Ginger just did these, which seem to be more formed than the other ones I found in the cage this morning...

It may be the cisapride, and like you, I'd stop it. I'd also cut out all veggies until the soft poop clears up.

bpatters said:

It may be the cisapride, and like you, I'd stop it. I'd also cut out all veggies until the soft poop clears up.

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Yes, thank you bpatters. I actually just called up the vet as the poop has now turned completely mush. The actual vet is going to call me back as the tech is now thinking it is probably the Bactrim doing this.

Okay, so the vet called me back and now in addition to the Bactrim and Probiotic her vet is filling another antibiotic that starts with an "M". I cannot remember the whole name, but apparently they give this antibiotic to pigs when they are having diarrhea with antibiotics. :/ The reason her vet is not wanting me to stop this antibiotic completely is because she is worried that the bacteria will become resistant to treatment in the future. Does this sound correct? Anyone ever experience anything like this? Is this a normal protocol? I feel at such a loss right now.

I'd be very tempted to take her off the antibiotic altogether until her poop clears up. If it does, and she's still having URI symptoms, you could ask for nebulized antibiotic. That would pretty much avoid the gut, althrough a little is absorbed through the lungs.