Possible URI

Cutepiggies

Post   » Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:20 am


My older guinea pig Pumpkin has been sneezing ever since I got her, but the vet said her lungs sounded clear so I thought it was just because of the bedding I was using. I changed them to fleece but it didn’t stop. I thought she might just have some kind of allergy as she never showed any other signs of illness. As of now she’s still eating and not losing weight.

Yesterday I noticed one of her eyes looked inflamed. It’s smaller and pink around the edges, I am wondering if this is a sign she did have an URI but a slow progressing one. I had some antibiotic ointment and genteal that I applied to her eye, but it didn’t help, her eye looks worse now. She’s also tilting her head to the side of the affected eye. I made an appointment for the vet for later today. My question is would it be alright for her to start on baytril? She’s 4 months old.

I tried uploading an image of her eye I am not sure if I did it correctly.

Image

Thank you in advance.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:10 am


I wouldn't put just any antibiotic ointment in her eye. Eye medications are especially designed not to harm the eye, and the fact that it's worse today may mean that the medication was the problem, or part of it. Genteal is specifically for dry eye, not for infection, and is not likely to help.

Guinea pigs can go from mild URI to dead in less than 24 hours. I'd get her to a good exotic vet for another checkup.

Cutepiggies

Post   » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:21 am


Thanks for your reply!
Well it is ophthalmologic antibiotic ointment so it was designed for the eyes. I got it from the vet to prevent eye infections when another one of my guinea pigs had an abscess behind her eye. I applied it because I didn’t want it to get worse but it did. It’s been progressively worse since Saturday actually. It started with her closing her eye. Then yesterday it started swelling up, before I applied the ointment, and today it swelled up more.

Do you think she’s old enough to be put on baytril or should I opt for bactrim? My vet has just baytril on hand and if I go for bactrim I have to wait for the pharmacy to make it.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:45 pm


Then it's probably an infection of some kind.

She's a little young for Baytril, but they could try doxycycline. It's more apt to be effective than Bactrim.

Cutepiggies

Post   » Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:00 pm


Thank you so much!
I actually thought bactrim was a good antibiotic, I’ll ask for doxycycline.

Also just for future reference at how many months is it safe to start baytril?

Do you know if URIs sometimes cause eye swelling? I did see some discharge in the morning but her eyes were not crusty. I’ll have to see if that changed once I get home. I am just trying to figure out if this is related to her chronic sneezing or perhaps it’s an ear infection due to the head tilting.
Last edited by Cutepiggies on Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Lynx
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Post   » Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:01 pm


Here is your picture (that we couldn't see):



The eye looks irritated. Perhaps a prolapsed gland?

See also:
eyes.html

Cutepiggies

Post   » Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:18 pm


Oh thank you for posting that, I wasn’t sure if it worked or not. I still don’t know how to post photos here.

I’ll ask the vet about that, the eyelids are inflamed too.

Yes, thank you for the link, I was trying to use it earlier to get a better understanding of what she might have.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:25 pm


Baytril is usually given when most of the bone growth is complete, around six to seven months.

Bactrim IS good, for gram-negative organisms such as those that cause infections in the urinary tract. But most things that cause URIs are gram-positive, and Bactrim doesn't work nearly as well on those.

Looking at that eye, I'd think it's the problem, not a URI. But it could be either, I suppose.

Cutepiggies

Post   » Tue Nov 14, 2017 7:01 am


Thank you, I thought it was around 6 months but I wasn’t sure.

I see, that makes sense thanks for explaining it.

I keep thinking she has an URI because of the continuous sneezing.

We went to the vet and there is no damage to the cornea and she had nothing stuck in the eyelids so the vet did give me doxycycline. He mentioned in humans it sometimes treats eye problems without being applied directly to the eye. Hopefully it will treat whatever is causing her sneezing too.

He wanted to give me an antibiotic eye ointment but the one he had on hand had an ingredient that was harmful to guinea pigs. I am going to have to give him a call and ask if I can use the one I have at home because that one doesn’t have the harmful ingredient. I would’ve asked at the visit but I couldn’t remember the ingredients offhand.

Since I am now weighing her daily I noticed she’s not gaining weight anymore, she is stuck at 523-525g. Is this something I should be worried about?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Nov 14, 2017 10:37 am


As long as she's not losing, I wouldn't worry much.

How old is she?

Cutepiggies

Post   » Tue Nov 14, 2017 12:51 pm


She’s somewhere between 2 to 3 1/2 months old. She was around 1 month when I got her and I’ve had her for a month.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Nov 14, 2017 1:07 pm


I'd just weigh her daily to make sure she's not losing, and watch her closely. After they've been on an antibiotic, it sometimes takes a bit for them to start gaining again.

Are you feeding her Critical Care? That's good for ailing piggies, and she might eat a glop of it off a spoon or her feeding plate. Just mix it according to directions and let it set a few minutes. It will thicken up and you can offer it to her. If she won't take it that way, mush up some of her favorite food and stir into it and try again.

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