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Wheezing Wheezing while breathing, meds not helping so far?

mimipig

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My pig Lulu started wheezing/squeaking when exhaling about a week ago. She had no other symptoms, a clean nose/eyes and eating normally, about normal energy level.
We took her to the vet on the 20th, she did some tests just tapping her face and looking at eyes/nose etc., and listened with a stethoscope. She said that she was definitely breathing with a little more difficulty than normal. She offered us to have further testing which she would need to be sedated for, and said they couldn't really tell any further what was wrong without that. Or she would give us antibiotics and and anti-inflammatory which would most likely cure her. So we opted for the meds, and have been giving them to her for the past 4 days. I double checked the dosages and they seem correct. Meloxicam 1.5mg/ML, 0.4mL every 24 hours, and "Trimeth" 48mg/ML, 0.7mL every 12 hours.


I have not really seen much improvement in her wheezing yet, with the meds and also putting a humidifier in the room (which has dry winter air).Today I heard her wheezing and went to check her and she was puffed up, and when I pet her she seemed to shiver. I am wondering if it is normal to not see an improvement yet on antibiotics/anti-inflammatory meds? Today will be the 4th day of meds. Is there anything else I should be doing? Thanks very much for your time and any advice.
 

spy9doc

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I have not really seen much improvement in her wheezing yet, with the meds and also putting a humidifier in the room (which has dry winter air).Today I heard her wheezing and went to check her and she was puffed up, and when I pet her she seemed to shiver. I am wondering if it is normal to not see an improvement yet on antibiotics/anti-inflammatory meds?

She doesn't sound as though she's recovering. Yes, it's normal not to see an improvement on meds, but obviously something different needs to be done. She should be responding by now. Try making a tent (sheet) over the cage and directing the humidifier under it to envelope her in warm moist air to help her breathe easier. Honestly, I think I would consult a different Vet.......ASAP.
 

bpatters

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Ditto [MENTION=19714]spy9doc[/MENTION]. Trimeth (Bactrim) is not the drug of choice for a URI except for very young pigs where Baytril would stunt their growth.
 

mimipig

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Thanks both of you very much and merry Christmas eve as well. Could anyone let me know what would be the drug of choice instead of Trimeth? There is not a specific exotic vet in my area (Madison, WI) and the one I've been going to seems to have the most experience with them but I will definitely keep looking around/calling places some more as soon as they are open again.

Should I still continue with the course of meds that she has started? There may be a slight improvement, the wheezing was never constant to begin with just intermittent but it may be a bit less frequent now, it's quite hard to tell unless I sat with a timer all day but I do think its a bit lighter at least...
 

mimipig

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A couple more questions- Should I separate her from her cagemate? And is it possible she caught something from me, as I have been very sick with a cold/flu for over a week..
 

bpatters

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There's an exotic vet at UW Vet School in Madison.

I wouldn't separate them. The stress may make things worse, and most URIs aren't all that contagious.

For adult pigs, vets usually start with Baytril (enrofloxacin), or with doxycycline, or add doxy if the Baytril doesn't clear it up alone. They can also give much stronger meds via a nebulizer, such as Gentamycin.
 

mimipig

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There's an exotic vet at UW Vet School in Madison.

I wouldn't separate them. The stress may make things worse, and most URIs aren't all that contagious.

For adult pigs, vets usually start with Baytril (enrofloxacin), or with doxycycline, or add doxy if the Baytril doesn't clear it up alone. They can also give much stronger meds via a nebulizer, such as Gentamycin.

That's the vet that I take both my pigs to, the UW Vet School. They prescribed these meds and examined her :( And okay, I will keep them together, thank you! I will call the vet as soon as they are open again and let them know I need to switch medicines, she did say to call her back if things didn't improve so I hope that she will be able to correctly diagnose/treat this...thanks so much again for your help.
 

mimipig

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Hi again, so I have been trying to get in touch with the doctor since I last posted. I called yesterday when they opened and she was busy and I didn't get a call back, but this morning I was able to get a hold of her. She wanted to go ahead with sedation and having a scan because she thought if the antibiotic she prescribed didn't help it might be something more serious like heart disease or cancer...I asked her if we could try switching to Baytril before we went ahead with that and she said alright so I will be going over to pick up the new meds tonight when they're ready. She told me that she thought the opposite was true, that Baytril was better for young guinea pigs and the one she gave me better for adults...I just asked her if we could try it out before the sedation/scan just to make sure as long as it wouldn't hurt Lulu at all.

So just double checking again, will it be okay to discontinue the course of antibiotics I had been doing and start right away with the Baytril instead? Thanks everyone
 

bpatters

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Got another vet? That one doesn't sound like she knows what she's talking about.
 

mimipig

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This is the one in town that says they treat exotic animals, any of the others will just be a regular cat/dog vet...Should I switch to one of those anyway?

If I stop her antibiotics she's on now would there be adverse effects? I read somewhere on an old thread here that maybe you should finish the current course before starting a new one, but the vet didn't mention anything like that she just said I could have the baytril tonight...Should I hold off on giving it to Lulu or start immediately?

Edit: to clarify, this vet is kind of like a teaching hospital. There is a licensed vet and then they are teaching university students, who come in and observe etc...It's always jam packed with dogs whenever I go there, its an extremely busy place, I know that they do have experience with guinea pigs, they even gave me a fridge magnet of a guinea pig with their number on it but the vet has just given me such conflicting information to what I've been told here and now I'm confused what action to take next. I just want to do the best thing for Lulu and I'm very confused what my next step should be :( The vet wants do the whole sedation/scan thing, should that not be a consideration yet?
 

mimipig

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Just wanted to add there is one vet in town I know of that is good with rabbits, I could try taking her there instead, I think I will call today for an appointment.
 

bpatters

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Can you look at the staff bios on their website and see which vets actually have training in the care of exotics?

If she were my pig, there are a couple of things I'd want to try first. I'd give the Baytril a 10-day trial, assuming she can tolerate it. Always give it with food, always give probiotics about 60-90 minutes later, and always be prepared to handfeed if necessary.

If that didn't work, I'd want to try nebulized Gentamycin, maybe with a steroid added in, also for a 10 day trial. Then, if none of that worked, I'd consider anesthesia and testing.

ETA: I'd definitely ask if the rabbit vet has experience with guinea pigs. Their treatments are very similar, and you might be better off switching to him.
 

mimipig

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Thanks bpatters, I just scheduled an appointment for tomorrow at 2:30 at the new vet...I called and they said they do specialize in guinea pigs too
I guess I will still pick up the baytril today from the other vet but wait until after the appointment tomorrow to start for sure or not.
 

mimipig

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Here's the update: The new vet had just about the same opinion, and suggested there may be something wrong that can't be cured with an antibiotic because there is no visible discharge from her nose/eyes...Both vets seem doubtful that any type of antibiotic will cure her. She said if I want to try the Baytril it will be fine so I'm going to do that still. She also said it may be something like allergies and we could try an antihistamine afterwards. I asked about using a probiotic with the Baytril and she said there was no conclusive proof that it helped or something similar, so I don't have a probiotic. Is it still going to be okay to use the Baytril? I'm at a bit of a loss again. She said it will be fine to keep trying but to be careful it doesn't ruin her gut balance. Should I be considering having her sedated and scanned now? The first vet has the CT Scanner, this new vet said she doesn't have one and they only do xrays. I don't want to wait too long to have things progress and get to a worse point, though the vet said she seems healthy other than the slight noise in the lungs and should be fine to wait.
 

bpatters

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I disagree with the vet about the probiotics. I once had a GI bug that caused six weeks of diarrhea. I lost about 40 pounds, and NOTHING cleared it up until a GI specialist put me on probiotics. So I'm a big believer in them, and wouldn't dare give my pigs antibiotics without probiotics.
 

mimipig

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That sounds really scary :( She was saying about how when they studied the digestive tract of guinea pigs, there were so many different types of microorganisms when compared to humans so it wasn't possible to know which ones were good/beneficial in order to prescribe a specific probiotic...Do you have any suggestion of one I could get on my own to give her with the Baytril? I would always err on the side of caution...I feel bad giving her a medicine that 2 vets have told me probably won't help but I also would feel bad having her put through sedation or scans if this could clear it up first...The fact that she doesn't have any discharge from nose/eyes is strange, or could it still be early? She has had the wheezing for about 1.5-2 weeks now.
 

bpatters

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It's true that they don't know exactly which organisms are especially beneficial for guinea pigs, but Bene-Bac Plus for small animals seems to work very well.
 

mimipig

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Just wanted to give an update. Lulu had an xray done and turns out to be issues with her heart. :( The heart showed up enlarged, and seems to be fluid around it making it difficult for her to breathe, her trachea is being pushed very narrow and her lungs also dont have as much space. We got a diuretic for her to try to flush out some of the excess fluids and will be going back to the vet at the university to see the heart disease specialists...
 

bpatters

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I'm sorry, See https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html for some more info.

Many pigs have lived a long time with heart problems. The meds generally need to tweaked every few weeks or months, but you'll learn to recognize the symptoms when that's the case.
 

mimipig

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Thanks bpatters, I am reading up on heart issues. I can't believe it, she's only 2-3 years old :( Poor little thing
 
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