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Sick Alternatives to Bene bac?

Mamabug

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Hello, new member here. The guinea pigs are actually my daughter’s but I mainly take care of them, spoil them, etc. We have a 6 year old and two 8 month olds, all female. They’ve all got issues right now but I believe the younger two will be fine. They both have an upper respiratory infection but are being treated and it did not get into their lungs. The 6 year old is who I’m worried about. She has diarrhea and been losing weight. I took all of them to the vet two days ago. The younger ones got an antibiotic. The 6yo is on what’s supposed to be an anti diarrhea antibiotic, plus an ointment for her feet as they have some sores on them. The vet says that the sores are due to her losing muscle and padding and she suggested I put extra padding in the cage. They’re on fleece bedding. She recommended Bene bac since she’s on antibiotics and she said with her age she’s probably got arthritis and can’t get her natural probiotic, which is causing her to not digest her food properly. Problem is no one has Bene bac gel locally so I had to order it online and it won’t be delivered until Saturday. Has anyone here ever given their guinea pig another probiotic to hold them over until they could get the right one? I called and left a message for the vet and am waiting to hear back from them to see if they can recommend something. I was just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this. I’m worried sick about her. I don’t want to think about losing her. We lost her cage mate back in April. She was 7 years old. We got the two younger ones afterwards so the 6yo wouldn’t be lonely. So losing the 7 yo hurt and now I’m scared we’re going to lose the 6yo too. This is the hardest part about having a pet.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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You can use acidophilus powder in a pinch. I have used acidophilus capsules and broken them open, mixed a small amount of the powder up with about 2ml HOT water and stirred until it was mixed as it could get. I then drew it up with a 1ml syringe and allowed it to cool before administering to the pig.

You CAN mix the whole capsule with a larger amount of water, and draw up several 1ml syringes and then refrigerate until needed.
 

4boipigs

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Does the vet not have any other sort of probiotic? My vet gave my pigs a powder to sprinkle over food. I would use it on wet veggies so it would stick. I can't remember the name tho. Maybe they have something like that for you.
 

Mamabug

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They only recommend Bene bac. I heard back from them yesterday and that’s what they told me. Now it’s coming today. Gotta love Amazon and the postal service. I’m going to get her a multivitamin as well in the hopes of it helping her. It’s available here locally so I can give her that today. I have thought about buying her that Oxbow Critical Care. The vet didn’t mention her needing it. No one has it local that I can see so I’d have to order it and it wouldn’t be here until Tuesday probably. That’s with Prime. She is still eating and drinking. I go in and encourage her to throughout the day too. She’ll take the water when I offer it to her and will eat the timothy hay that I give her. I always keep their bags full but she seems to like it when I put a pile of it beside her just for her. She was dehydrated Tuesday but the vet said she wasn’t bad dehydrated. She gave her some IV fluids while she was there.
 

4boipigs

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Where are you located? I know Pet Supplies Plus carries the Benebac tubes, and possibly Petco but it's hard to find it in stock at Petco. Petsmart definitely doesn't carry it.
 

bpatters

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You can also use poop soup with poop from a healthy pig. That sometimes works better than Bene-Bac.
 

Mamabug

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The Bene bac came yesterday so I started her on it. She’s not walking very well at all today. She almost can’t move. She’s also got white discharge around one eye. She’s at the vet right now. They were booked so had me to drop her off so they could work her in. She’s still eating and drinking on her own, plus I put the water bottle up to her so she can drink too and she takes it. I put a pile of hay next to her and she’ll eat some of it. I left some hay in the carrier for her but they’re going to see to it that she eats and drinks while she’s with them. They’re supposed to be calling me before 5. I’ve heard that the loss in mobility can be reversed and I pray that that is true for her. She hasn’t given up yet and I hope she doesn’t. I refuse to give up on her. I love her too much to do that. I’d be lying though if I said I wasn’t worried sick.

I had thought about trying to get her to eat poop from one of the other guinea pigs but they’re on an antibiotic too, so I don’t know if it would have helped her.
 

Mamabug

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The vet was no help at all. He doesn’t know why she can’t walk and mentioned possibly putting her down. She’s still eating and drinking on her own, plus takes food and drink when I offer it to her. She’s not walking but does crawl around. The diarrhea I think is gone. Her poops have been normal today. The probiotic seems to have helped with that. All the vet said about her not walking was to give her pain medicine. She can move all four legs but can’t stand or walk. She just crawls around the best she can, which means she gets poop on her. I’ve kept her clean the best I can. She just sits on her side. She’s sitting up but on her side, kinda like a cat would. I’m scared I’m going to lose her. That I’ve done all that I’m doing, running myself ragged, only to lose her anyway. The thought of losing her breaks my heart. He did put her on an additional antibiotic for the sores on her feet and an antibiotic eye drop for her eye. It’s already looking better. She’s in good spirits it seems. She seemed happier after her bath, which she normally hates.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Have you been supplementing her with Vitamin C? You can get Oasis Vitamin C drops at PetSmart or other pet supply places. Just make sure you get the vitamin C and NOT the multivitamin. The packaging is similar so you have to really read it.

Is she on metacam by chance? It could be arthritis and that would help her if she is in pain.

Many of us here know too well what it's like to fight, and fight hard, and lose them anyway. Do everything you can and the rest is up to her. I can most definitely empathize with what you're going through.
 

Mamabug

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I started her on vitamin C and a multivitamin. The vet said that was fine. It’s not the drops. I bought the Oxbow chewable tabs. My guinea pig, Tia, loves them and thinks they’re treats. The vet prescribed meloxicam.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Ok good, so she is getting extra vitamin C. How long has she been on the meloxicam? I know from personal experience that it can take several days for her to start to benefit from that treatment.
 

Mamabug

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Will it help her to walk again? It’s like the diarrhea got better and the loss of mobility took its place.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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If it IS arthritis, it should definitely help.
 

Mamabug

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We lost her Monday evening. She joins her former cage mate who left us back in April. We are heartbroken. She was such a sweet little old lady.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Awwww....not the outcome I wanted to hear. I am so sorry for your loss. I know she will be reunited with her cagemate, and make many new friends at the Rainbow Bridge. They will wait for you there until it's time.
 

SSLee

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So very sorry that you lost your piggy and she put up a good fight. You did all you could to help her overcome the health issues.
 
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