Vet Talwar's Medical thread

[Guinea Pig Papa]

@bpatters or @GuineaPigPapa (who I can't tag???), will you please change the title to Talwar's medical thread?

His meds finally shipped and should arrive tomorrow. I asked the vet for something to get him started, and we picked up some Sulfatrim. To elaborate on his diagnosis, our dr wanted to treat him as pneumonia possibly caused by bordetella. Our compounded meds are a baytril/doxy combo. Interestingly, she stated that furosemide would thicken his 'secretions' so she didn't give us any. I googled this as it was new to me, but it seems it is true that in human patients, furosemide is not recommended for pneumonia patients.

So, if he doesn't improve, I'll be back at the vet on Saturday. From there we may explore heart issues I guess. His heart was visible and the xrays were perfect aside from the fluid in his right lung.

Done. Now titled Talwar's Medical thread.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

@bpatters or @GuineaPigPapa (who I can't tag???), will you please change the title to Talwar's medical thread?

His meds finally shipped and should arrive tomorrow. I asked the vet for something to get him started, and we picked up some Sulfatrim. To elaborate on his diagnosis, our dr wanted to treat him as pneumonia possibly caused by bordetella. Our compounded meds are a baytril/doxy combo. Interestingly, she stated that furosemide would thicken his 'secretions' so she didn't give us any. I googled this as it was new to me, but it seems it is true that in human patients, furosemide is not recommended for pneumonia patients.

So, if he doesn't improve, I'll be back at the vet on Saturday. From there we may explore heart issues I guess. His heart was visible and the xrays were perfect aside from the fluid in his right lung.

You can't tag @GuineaPigPapa because that's the temporary account I made, after I was accidentally banned. You can tag me using @Guinea Pig Papa

 

[4boipigs]

Can anyone recommend how often or when to give Benebac? He is now on baytril and doxycycline twice a day. Even the wrong amount of veggies messes up his poop, so I imagine the meds will make things interesting. He got the meds around 5pm and I gave him a bit of Benebac around 8pm.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Can anyone recommend how often or when to give Benebac? He is now on baytril and doxycycline twice a day. Even the wrong amount of veggies messes up his poop, so I imagine the meds will make things interesting. He got the meds around 5pm and I gave him a bit of Benebac around 8pm.

Give him the benebac 2 hrs before, or 60-90 minutes after each dose of antibiotic.

Currently doing the exact same thing with Simon.

 

[bpatters]

Ditto @Guinea Pig Papa, except that I always gave it an hour before rather than two.

 

[ItsaZoo]

I can understand about the furosemide, since it’s a diuretic. I hope you see some improvement once the meds start working.

 

[4boipigs]

I'll try giving it to him an hour to two hours before and see how he does.

I'm grateful for the cheap insurance thru work. This round was about $470, and after the rest of the deductible, we got about $275 back. It's a shame his policy will start over again in November!

 

[4boipigs]

He appears to be doing better. I haven't heard any noisy breathing, but I can't tell if he's breathing easier. No tummy/poop issues since he's been getting Benebac an hour or two before his meds.

Looks like I didn't include his vet visit pic, so here he is. He is much more manageable than the wild animal that Wally was at the vet.

I wish we knew why he got ill, and no one else did. The vet suggested it could have been something he's had and it now decided to manifest itself.

 

[4boipigs]

Talwar looked horrible last night. I thought he was doing okay so I stopped the meds at 2 weeks as the vet stated. I think I stopped Sun or Mon. Well last night in the span of a few hours, he was hooting, hunched up, puffy, not eating and his eyes were super crusty!! Due to some not too great visits at the ER recently, I decided not to take him and I was tired. So I prepared myself to run to the ER this morning...well this morning (I got up at 3.30am) he appears to be okay. He took a carrot from me and ran off. His tummy isn't hard and he is eating/drinking a bit on his own. I started the meds again last night.

I don't understand what happened. So unfortunately, I'm thinking of a vet visit tomorrow on my day off.

 

[4boipigs]

We went to the vet and Talwar must have mild gut stasis from the meds…or the pneumonia came back from me stopping meds too soon and knocked him on his ass.

The good new is his lungs are clearing up and he sounded better to the doctor.

The bad news is he had decreased gut sounds and gas on xrays.

He improved thru the day and ate on his own at the vet, but now he is just picking at food again. I did syringe feed some CC tonight and gave meds, metaclopromide (sp?) and simethicone.

Luckily I am off work tomorrow

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Hoping he's feeling better in short order. he's a fighter.

 

[ItsaZoo]

I hope he starts improving. Things change so fast in the guinea pig world, it’s hard to treat them when they’re sick.

 

[4boipigs]

I'm not sure if there's really any change. He will eat on his own (sometimes) but still needs syringe feeding. He will take treats sometimes, and he will fight me for the Sherwood Appetite Restore. He still likes to take Benebac too. He does a lot of sitting around, hunched up. When he is out of the cage for feeding, he does like to run around. He's been getting metoclopromide and simethicone, altho over on the UK forum they disagree with simethicone as it can collect gas into one big bubble that gpigs can't pass. They recommend gripe water, which I have seen at drug stores but haven't bought any. He was a little more receptive to syringe feeding today. I've also tried massaging his tummy but I have no idea if that actually helps.

So basically he's having ups and downs. He will eat on his own a bit and come running for treats like normal, but he also sits around like he's in pain.

I noticed there is not much poop, but what poop there isn't the bad stringy kind at least.

 

[4boipigs]

Talwar seems to be picking up. He is eating more but I'm still syringe feeding him. From time to time he will fight me for the syringe. He is becoming more active, altho he still does sit out in the open hunched up. His poop has been very soft/clumpy today, but towards the evening it's been more normal sized and solid.

 

[4boipigs]

Taltal is improving. He is eating and drinking normally it seems. He does have moments still of appearing uncomfortable. His poops are more regular but some are so mushy and so soft. Is there anything I could do about it?! He already gets Benebac and their veggies are reduced until Talwar gets back to normal.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

The only thing you can do from here is cut veggies entirely. might not be a bad idea even only for a day or two.

 

[ItsaZoo]

In response to your post regarding simethicone, I had an exotic vet recommend this for bloat. I bought baby drops and with massage and a little exercise it did reduce the gas bubble.

I also tried the gripe water and it did nothing. I told the vet I tried it and she just smiled and shook her head, so she didn’t think much of gripe water.

I’m glad to hear things seem to be improving. Hope it continues!

 

[4boipigs]

In response to your post regarding simethicone, I had an exotic vet recommend this for bloat. I bought baby drops and with massage and a little exercise it did reduce the gas bubble.

I also tried the gripe water and it did nothing. I told the vet I tried it and she just smiled and shook her head, so she didn’t think much of gripe water.

I’m glad to hear things seem to be improving. Hope it continues!

I have no idea if it helped. It seems like opinions are different everywhere! My vet does recommend it but she seemed skeptical as one of those things that either helps or does nothing. Frankly, I have no clue if it helped.

Luckily he's still picking up but his poop is so mushy! I asked our vet but there's nothing else to be done. He is acting more like himself today.

 

[4boipigs]

I think he is getting stasis again...he was hooting yesterday and his poopies are smaller and he didn't eat his vitamin c treat. He looks uncomfortable. He is eating on his own tho. We're to continue the meds, as we have been, til our recheck on Nov 14. I'm going to start him on metaclopramine again.

 

[4boipigs]

Talwar is perking back up. I have an idea on what triggered this. I gave them all a bit of green leaf lettuce. I wonder if that triggered something in his tummy. Last week he did have gas. Maybe the lettuce gave him gas? It is so hard to reduce veggies for him because everyone else wants/needs them. I don't like giving everyone something and he gets nothing. I have refrained from giving them all a normal amount of veggies this week.