Sick Lily's Medical Thread

[Lilythepig2017]

So on Saturday we got our first beautiful little guinea pig. By Monday she developed a stuffy nose (no chest involvement) so we took her to an exotic vet (the same we know and trust for our birds)

we came out of there with three medications and vitamin c. At first she liked them. The other day she didn?t poo so back again we went to the vet. There she got gut motility medicine and now critical care mash food to feed with syringe. Since yesterday when the vet manually stimulated her intestinal tract she has had great poops and seems very happy.

Last night and today though while feeding her medicines she protested HARD. she fought the whole way through all of that stuff. 45 minutes. For the first time she head bumped my head and very very gently placed her teeth on me to say enough!

I feel I have only had her since Saturday and every day twice a day we are having this negative interaction. Will she end up not liking/ trusting my hands?

furthermore, I know the reasons it?s not good to do so, but may I combine her antibiotics? She doesn?t dribble out when I feed her medications. But I feel if we are fighting 30 or 40 minutes that will make her MORE sick. Anyone else ever combined some medications to cut down on the trauma to the animal?

thanks so much

 

[bpatters]

Re: Is my guinea pig going to hate me??

No, she won't hate you. It is CRITICALLY important that you feed her, whether she likes it or not. Guinea pigs MUST eat regularly or they'll die.

What medications are you giving? And why are you not giving them at the same time?

Here's some recommended reading for new guinea pig owners, and some tips on hand-feeding:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/115000-Handfeeding-a-guinea-pig

 

[Lilythepig2017]

Re: Is my guinea pig going to hate me??

I am giving medicines in am and pm and food at lunch and dinner because she was full and not hungry for critical care food if after her meds.

or do you mean why I am I not syringing all meds into her in one syringe? Is that possible? I was wondering this.

thanks!

 

[bpatters]

Re: Is my guinea pig going to hate me??

I wouldn't put them all in the same syringe.

And I'd give her meds at the same time as the food. There's not enough medicine in the syringe to affect how full she is, and they tolerate antibiotics better if given with food. So you only need to catch her twice a day.

 

[Lilythepig2017]

Re: Is my guinea pig going to hate me??

I wouldn't put them all in the same syringe.

And I'd give her meds at the same time as the food. There's not enough medicine in the syringe to affect how full she is, and they tolerate antibiotics better if given with food. So you only need to catch her twice a day.

True. I forgot about that. THey probably shouldn't be taken on an empty stomach like people.

I may try the same syringe for her meds though. I know not recommended but I feel that so many syringes, when it causes her SO much stress, is the best way to go maybe. I feel more stress = more unwell pig. She really hates being given these syringes and today it took 45 minutes to give them all with her upset the whole way...

Has anyone combined them before?

 

[bpatters]

Re: Is my guinea pig going to hate me??

I think what you need is better technique in giving her the meds. If you snuggle her in the crook of your arm, next to your body, and cover her eyes with the hand you're holding her with, you can insert the syringe in the side of her mouth without her knowing it's coming.

 

[Lilythepig2017]

Re: Is my guinea pig going to hate me??

I think what you need is better technique in giving her the meds. If you snuggle her in the crook of your arm, next to your body, and cover her eyes with the hand you're holding her with, you can insert the syringe in the side of her mouth without her knowing it's coming.

Yes, my technique was awful for sure. Thank you for your tip! Tonight it went MUCH much better. Took not very long and she seemed happy which = less stress. Tonight she was much more energetic and exploration as well. It's so hard when you're a new guinea pig owner and first week you get sent home with 4 or 5 medicines and you've never given a small creature medicine before . But I was determined for her not to go back to the pet store. They would treat her for free but I didn't want her to be in the back of the store alone for two weeks like that. It would be sad. I feel like both her and I made progress tonight. May it continue!

 

[Lilythepig2017]

Re: Is my guinea pig going to hate me??

Is there a way to change the title of this thread? I'm not worried about her hating me, I'm just wanting advice on her health issue currently so I don't feel the title reflects this. I have a feeling this issue may be ongoing for the next couple weeks. If this could be done I'd be so grateful.


A little more info about Lily's situation:

So we got a beautiful new guinea pig on Saturday exactly one week ago.

She had clear eyes cleared nose really healthy for very alert very bright eyes .

With the stress of the move she came down with a little sneeze on Monday . We took her to an exotic vet and they put her on two antibiotics and one anti-inflammatory medication .
Two days later she stopped eating save a strand of hay here and there she seem to get worse while on the antibiotics. She also stopped pooping for more than 12 hours .

So back we went to the vet again . She had no fever and her cold was not in her chest only in her nose still. They gave us medicine to move her G.I. tract, manually stimulated her bowels and gave us critical care to syringe feed her . Her poops resumed nicely.

Friday, while her nose was no longer wet or is runny I felt that these antibiotics really truly were killing her . Her Poos, while many were very hard, dry and very small . She has not come out to explore very much in her cage and she seems very tired . And she is not as alert. At night when time for a new dose she is always more alert eating etc, I give her the meds and she gets sleepy again. Could be coincidental as I'm sure the act of feeding her is stressful and wears her out but I'm worried.

I read on this website that if your guinea pig has a loss of appetite and they aren't feeling well that you should switch antibiotics as they may be intolerant . I ran this by my vet but they said that they would like to keep her on the same antibiotics . On this website here I came across a story of a woman who had the exact same scenario .
https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotic_intolerance.html

Her medications and dosage:

trimethoprim 0.2 ml
meloxicam 0.07 ml
enrofloxacin 0.15 ml ( I now know this is Baytril and can stunt growth in young pigs and hard on them. I feel sad she was given this...)
cisapride 0.09 ml
(sorry if any typos)
plus vitamin C 5 ml child grade serum I give via syringe
Yesterday I added probiotics (bene bac gel)

Her pig had a small cold not in the lungs. it went on antibiotics and it got worse and worse and stopped eating exactly like mine. She pulled her pig off of the antibiotics and fed him with critical care and fresh veggies and lots of rest and it seemed it took him five days to get better . I feel every step of intervention from the vet has made her worse and worse and worse so I wanted to know has anyone else besides this woman decided to stop the antibiotics ? I do feel that if the infection didn't kill her the antibiotics may finish off this pig .

Last night I stopped her antibiotics all together so she only had one dose yesterday. By this morning she had the most poos I've seen. They are still lighter colored than when I got her but they are more hydrated and they were 20 +. They are still on the small side though. During the day today I gave her cisapride for gut motility but I'm wondering if that makes them drowsy. She ate less and didn't move around as much. When it wore off again back to her hay rack and eating. All through the day today she refused syringe feeding but she had 50 + poos that were small but many.

Her nose is still the same. A few sneezes but no no liquid, no wetness, no discharge, to no discharge, no wheezing. I plan to monitor her like a hawk. If she gets worse I will start her possibly back on trimethoprim.

If her poos are small but plenty and the amount of them is increasing is this a good sign? Has anyone else pulled their pig off like the woman in that article? Can they pull through? She is so young I feel the cold may kill her, but those antibiotics were definitely going to kill her.

Thanks so much

 

[Lilythepig2017]

Thank you so much for combining the two threads with a new title

 

[Lilythepig2017]

Since late Dec 25th she has totally returned to health and gets better every day. Now, the 30th, she is SO energetic. Zooms around her play pen, doesn't ever stop eating, poos are normal and great size. She is a totally different pig. I think she had had allergies to her bedding she came with from the pet store. We now use fleece. I am SO so grateful we pulled her off the meds. I dont think she was ever sick. I firmly believe the meds would have killed her. When I found out she was on baytril that could stunt a young pigs growth I felt sad. When I also looked up her her anti inflammatory it was banned in the USA for causing heart attack or stroke (can't remember which or both?) in humans. I can't even imagine it for guinea pigs. Since we pulled her off we gave her probiotics daily, vitamin C serum, guinea pig hers/ flowers from Fuzzy Kingdom and their echinacea whole driedplant. No idea if that made a difference but whatever we did worked.

Anyway just wanted to update to everyone! have a nice New Years and thank you for your help.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Thanks for the update!

I'm very happy that Lily is doing much, much better!

Happy New Year to you all!