URI/Upper Respiratory Infection Piggy diagnosed with a URI and started on bactrim but think dose may be off?

[drschneider]

Hi All, I took my 690 gram piggy (6 months old) to the vet after she started sneezing with slight clear nasal discharge the night before. She was diagnosed with a URI and given bactrim oral suspension (said something about bubble gum flavor) 0.26mls every 12 hours for ten days. Based on what I am reading on guinea lynx, I am concerned she is being under dosed. Would be willing and grateful to get your opinion/advice. Thanks so much!

https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotics.html

 

[bpatters]

You can't know until you find out what the strength of the Bactrim is. It comes in different strengths, so she would be given a smaller dose of a stronger medicine, and a larger dose of a weaker medicine.

I'd be more concerned that she's being given Bactrim for a URI. It's far more effective against urinary tract infections, and Baytril works better on URIs. It is true that Baytril can stunt the growth of young pigs, but at six months, that effect, if any, would be negligible.

Was this an exotic vet, or a small animal (dog and cat) vet?

 

[drschneider]

I dont think it was an exotic vet. I tried to get in with the exotic vet and they didn't have anything for until Tuesday. I am a doctor (but for humans) and can write scripts. Should I switch her to baytril? Also, the concentration is not listed so I could not provide that information. Do you think I should call for the concentration (but they are closed now) and dose accordingly or should I switch to baytril. Thanks for your quick replay bpatters. Also, my pig is not better, discharge has increased, sneezing may have slightly decreased in frequency but still is present. She is still eating well, pooping well. Does not seem quite as active but now is in a pet store cage so she could be separated. She has had two doses of bactrim at the .26 mls.

 

[drschneider]

Guinea lynx is providing the dosage in the concentration of 40/200. The suspension is generally 80/400 with pediatric humans, so if this is the pediatric antibiotic, the .26mls does coincide with the recommended dose on guinea lynx using a concentration of 40/200 and her current weight. They are open in the morning and I will call then to confirm the concentration and to ask about the baytril. She's actually closer to 7 months, I think. I am just worried to wait even that long as I am pretty inexperienced with guinea pig and animal care in general and know they can go downhill fast. Thanks again.

 

[bpatters]

I think I'd definitely go ahead with the Bactrim tonight. Baytril can really do a number on a pig's appetite and it's digestive system, and Bactrim doesn't usually do that. You can see how she is in the morning, and switch to Baytril if you need to. But when you do that, you'll need a probiotic and syringes for hand-feeding. A few people get by without having to hand-feed a pig on Baytril, but I've never been that lucky.

The other thing I'd do is put her back with her cagemate(s). Any other pig has already been thoroughly exposed, and separating a pig from its buddies can cause stress which can aggravate an illness. I'm not a big fan of separating pigs unless one has some fulminating infection that may kill them all. In spite of what you might think, URI's don't seem to be very contagious. I've never had one pig catch one from a cage mate, and I've never separated them for that.

 

[drschneider]

Thanks so much Bpatters, youre such an asset to gp owners. I felt so bad about taking her out from her cagemates. I have adopted four pigs over the past several months (one boar who is to be neutered this thurs and is divided with a cage divider, this one will be done by an exotic vet) and three girls. The other two girls and my boar have dry noses, good appetite, good drinking, and no sneezing I have heard while around them. I felt very bad about taking her away because the boar loves her more than the other gals haha (through the divider), and I can tell one of the other girls is looking for her. The one thing is the other girl tends to chase her and pick on her a little (grabs food from her), and I am worried about this while she's ill. I'll strongly consider adding her back though. Thanks again.

 

[bpatters]

You can always take her out and plop her in a laundry basket with some extra food a couple of times a day. That's what I do if one is off her feed and her greedy cage mates are hogging the food.

 

[drschneider]

I put the store pet cage into the C&C cage. I just want her to feel secure from the other piggy and have her own food and water supply but am hoping they can smell each other and have seen each other. Might give in and put her back in tomorrow as long as she's still eating well. Will update hopefully when she's feeling better! Thank you!

 

[bpatters]

Depending on how long you've had them apart, you may need to put them in a neutral area for a while. A few years ago, one of my pigs had to have a bladder stone removed. She had one cagemate, who was also her littermate. We were gone five hours for the surgery, and I confined her in one end of the cage while she was recuperating. I put the hay piles on the common wall so they'd have to get close to each other. Since they'd always lived together, and had spend so little time apart, I thought I could just remove the divider and everything would be fine. Wrong.

 

[drschneider]

Okay in that case, I may leave the pet store cage in the C&C until she's better, then reintroduce on a neutral ground. They have been apart for just over 24 hours at this point.

 

[drschneider]

I would like to update and request advice again. This is day 8 of bactrim. My little piggy is no better but no worse, still has nasal discharge and sneezing and crusty feet from wiping her nose. She also is still eating, running around, and pooping.

I have been aggravated by the vets around here. I got my boar neutered on Thursday by an exotic vet (procedure went okay, I guess, but piggy is having rhonchi/poppy sounds in his nose due to secretions). I was talking to the exotic vet about these sounds and asked about my other pig. He said he also thought that Baytril at 7 months is okay and does work better but then said that some pigs are just poorly and may need to be on it for their lives or on pulse antibiotics. I thought maybe he was being educative and maybe it was a little early to bring this up since she has been healthy her whole life until this URI. I then tried to make another appointment with him and he's booked through tomorrow and on vacation for the next two weeks.

I then called the non exotic vet who inititially gave Marilyn, the URI piggy, Bactrim. She said to bring her back when the course was over (2 days from now) even though I told her things were the same clinically. I feel a bit demoralized here with my poor boar who's now making these poppy sounds every time he breathes and with Marilyn who's URI is not budging.

What would you do? Also, if youre experienced with piggies, have you heard of these pigs who just kind of carry around their URI and need antibiotics constantly? Thanks again for anyone who reads this!

 

[drschneider]

Also, both pigs are eating, interested in food, and stooling. Both pigs are also on Bactrim.

 

[bpatters]

First, Bactrim is not the first choice for a URI. It's much more effective against anaerobic organisms such as you'd find in the urinary tract, not in the lungs.

Second, six months is fine for Baytril. They've done most of their growing by then, and the Baytril is less likely to affect their growth because they're growing more slowly.

It can be difficult to get a pig over a stubborn URI, and I have known of a couple who've been on long-term antibiotics, But I wouldn't be nearly ready to say that's the case with your two. What I'd want to do is get an x-ray for the pig with the breathing sounds and see what his lungs look like. Then I want them either on a course of both doxycycline and Baytril, or pulsed -- one after the other. If that didn't clear things up in a couple of weeks, I'd want nebulized gentamycin for 10-21 days. Gentamycin is a very strong AB that can't be given orally to guinea pigs, but works fine in a nebulizer. I've had two guinea pigs cleared of a URI by using nebulized gentamycin.

 

[drschneider]

Thank you for your usual helpful advice, bpatters. Would you try doxy before baytril because the side effects of baytril (the anorexia, or feeding issues) are so likely?

 

[drschneider]

Thank you for your usual helpful advice, bpatters. Would you try doxy before baytril because the side effects of baytril (the anorexia, or feeding issues) are so likely? If you tried one before the other, would you recommend continuing the second even if symptoms cleared up?

 

[bpatters]

No. Baytril is stronger, and I'd start with that, with the caveat that I'd give a probiotic after every antibiotic dose, and I'd be prepared to aggressively hand-feed if necessary. If the Baytril doesn't take care of it, then the doxy can be added, and even the gentamycin if necessary. I had one pig that required all three at the same time to clear a pneumonia.

 

[drschneider]

Thank you very much, bpatters, I will actually request it from the vet this time. I am done messing around. Hopefully this will take care of it!