Not Eating Abscess treated with Baytril. Now Piggy won't eat or drink

[Animal lover 44]

Hi Everyone! I'm so happy to find this site, and I'm hoping someone can help me. First, the background info. My 5yo girl, Piggy (original name, huh?), had a bump on her back for a few years. The skin broke open a month ago; and when I took her to the vet, they lanced the abscess, cleaned it, and sent us home with a 10-day supply of Baytril. She loved the Baytril (mixed with cherry, I think they said) and would squeal in the morning when I got up because she couldn't wait for it. I brought her back for a followup 2 weeks later, and they said there was still some infection. They cleaned it again and sent us home with another 10-day supply of Baytril (again mixed with cherry) and SSD cream. This time, she didn't want ANYTHING to do with the Baytril. It was quite a struggle every time to get it in her. Toward the end of that round of antibiotics, the wound was looking better. It had scabbed over nicely and the swelling was improved. Then I got up one morning, and she had chewed the "scab" off, and it was bloody again. I took her back in, just to be sure it was okay. The vet cleaned it one more time but said it was definitely improving. This time they sent me home with a 20-day supply of Baytril and a bag containing gauze pads soaked in a blue antiseptic type of liquid. They said to clean it with the blue stuff before applying the SSD. This was a Wednesday.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday she would not leave the wound alone. I was cleaning it and reapplying the cream several times a day. (She was still fighting me over the Baytril.) By Friday night, it seemed she was losing interest in the wound. Yay, I thought! By late Saturday, I was noticing her habits seemed a bit "off." She was still eating and drinking, but she was sitting in a different spot in her cage, wasn't going crazy over the spinach I gave her like she usually does, etc., just small things. We were gone all day Sunday; and when we returned home, it didn't look like much of her water was missing. Her food bowl had been flung around, which she never does. And her hay holder was still pretty full. I started watching her like a hawk; and by Monday, I realized she wasn't eating or drinking at all. Plus she had blood in her urine and would whimper a quiet little cry when she would pee. :-(

We went back to the vet. They did an ultrasound and didn't see any stones. They did what appeared to be a pretty thorough exam. Decided to change her antibiotic and sent me home with critical care and switched me to betadine to clean the wound instead of the blue antiseptic. I am really struggling to get her to eat and drink. She HATES the critical care stuff. (Don't blame her! That stuff smells so nasty!!) I've tried mixing it with different things to try to make it more palatable (100% cranberry juice w/no sugar, pumpkin, pedialyte, baby foods), but she keeps spitting it out. Today I tried just mashing up her pellets into a powder and mixing it with water and a little pumpkin. She still fought me, but she kept it down without spitting it out. She's drinking only a few drops of water a day. I'm so worried about her. The abscess finally looks so much better! I don't want to lose her!

Anyone have any ideas? After reading some posts on here, I'm wondering if her stomach became upset from all the Baytril and maybe I should be giving her some probiotics?? Or maybe licking all the blue antiseptic and SSD cream off upset her tummy? I don't know what else to do. Her poops are about 1/4th the size they normally are (the size of each, not the quantity; quantity is greatly diminished), and she's hardly peeing since she's not drinking. I'm so scared her kidneys will shut down. Her weight isn't going down dramatically yet, but I'm scared it will soon.

Sorry for the long post! I just didn't want to leave out some detail that might be important. Thank you so, so much for any suggestions!!!

 

[Soecara]

You should have been giving a pro-biotic (https://www.guinealynx.info/probiotics.html) an hour after the antibiotic. However, I do not think the baytril is the issue here, if it was she should have gotten worse when she was first on the baytril, not the third time. I think the cream was the issue, when you apply creams you are only supposed to put on a small amount and rub it in well so there isn't anything for them to lick off. Often antibiotic creams can be safe to applied to the skin, but if ingested can be fatal.

What type of critical care have you got? I assume since you said it smells nasty that it is the original/anise flavoured, they also have apple/banana flavoured which she might be more fond of. The change in the size of poops would be because of the decrease in the amount she is eating. Also were you asked to keep her abscess open, the only way to effectively heal them is from the inside out (or removing the capsule before the abscess bursts), as guinea pigs bodies naturally wall off infections causing a capsule. If it closes without the pocket healing this causes the infection to build up again in the pocket. You don't have to worry about that now, it seems piggy kept it open on her own.

I would get her on pro-biotics A.S.A.P, keep up with the force feeding, and syringe her some water to which you can add unflavoured pedialyte to help keep her hydrated.

 

[Rywen]

I hope she feels better soon!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

If she had it for a few years it's doubtful it was an abscess. Most likely it was a sebaceous cyst.

I don't know what SSD cream is. Antibiotic cream? I wouldn't use it.

The blue solution should be fine. It's most likely chlorhexidine.

If she had blood in her urine she either has an urinary tract infection or a bladder stone. Baytril isn't the best antibiotic for UTIs. I would switch to Bactrim, which is better on the stomach as well (prolonged use of any antibiotic can cause gastro-intestinal upset). You might want to consider an xray, though, to check for bladder stones--I believe they are better for diagnosing stones than ultrasounds. At any rate, see if the vet will give you Bactrim instead of Baytril. Give her a probiotic, and continue to handfeed. Weigh her at the same time every day and keep a record of the weights. Try to tempt her to eat with a bit of fresh grass.

 

[Animal lover 44]

Thank you, everyone, for your good thoughts and advice! After 4 days of hand feeding, she is improving. YAY!! She has started drinking on her own today, and eating her hay. I wish I knew what caused her behavior and eating habits to change, but I'm thankful and hopeful that she is getting back to normal. I really thought we might lose her. :-( Still a little blood in her urine, but I'm hoping the more she drinks that may improve. Her antibiotic has been changed, and I've cut back on the SSD (silver sulfadiazine) and stopped the chlorhexidine. And we are starting probiotics now that she is eating again.

Many thanks for taking the time to read my story and try to help!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

What antibiotic is she on now?

There really shouldn't be any bleeding anymore if it were a UTI. I am thinking a stone or some sludge that's irritating her bladder.