Why are my piggies getting sick?

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Fri Feb 04, 2022 1:19 am


The eye looks worse after the second day of treatment. I expected this as the ulcer heals and the infection gets expelled from the eye. Not a whole lot worse, but the eye has a slight haze to it. The discharge is a little bit more than it was too. Still no decrease in appetite or activity. He still hops to the front of the cage to greet us and he still moves his hut around. His weight has not dropped either. It's holding steady at 2.7 lbs. I'm monitoring him closely and keeping it as clean as I can. The vet mentioned that the ulcer could be from a hay poke. With as much as he moves his hut around, I can totally see that happening. To move it, he gets under it, lifts it with his nose and pushes it where he wants it. Plenty of ways to get a hay poke doing that.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Feb 04, 2022 9:20 am


Yes, if his vision is somewhat obscured, that could also mean he'd have a more difficult time avoiding abrasions. Can he close his eye okay? Can you choose softer, less pokey hay? Could you deleaf some hay and offer just the leaves?

With this being present for so long, it would still seem he has some kind of long term systemic infection that needs to be treated. I can understand your reluctance due to antibiotic intolerance and wanting to make sure he east well (so important!!).

It would be so helpful to identify precisely what you are dealing with. Hoping for a resolution!

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sat Feb 05, 2022 1:13 am


He can close his eye. He does it when I'm trying to clean it and put the drops in it. The eyeball actually looks better, but the conjunctivitis is about the same. It's not getting worse either. Still no decrease in appetite or activity level. I'm going to give it the weekend to see if it improves. If it doesn't, I'm going to have to go with the oral antibiotics. I have orbax, but is it the best antibiotic for this? I'm going to discuss that with the vet as well.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Feb 05, 2022 9:16 am


Ideally, you get a positive identification of the bacteria and decide from there (using safe antibiotics). I thought that link I found about conjunctivitis was pretty helpful.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sat Feb 05, 2022 7:32 pm


It was helpful. I showed it to the vet, which is where they got the idea to treat with both antibiotic and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drops. They will prescribe oral antibiotics if the drops don't help. They want to try that before they risk killing his appetite. Monday will be the 6th day of treatment so we'll have a pretty good idea by then. It looks as though the ulcer is much better. The conjunctivitis is a little better, but not as much as I hoped.

I noticed him very gingerly digging some of the crust out of the corner of his eye and the fur around it with his hind claw. He was very careful and he cleaned the claw between swipes. I take him wanting to clean it himself as a good sign. There were some decent sized clumps of really sticky stuff when we started treatment, but now there's noticeably less. I wasn't sure I was getting enough of the drops into his eye before. He doesn't make it easy. It's possible that most of the medicine was running down his cheek. I made sure the last 3 drops went in.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Tue Feb 08, 2022 8:02 pm


Got up today to a completely closed eye covered over with puss. Had to clean it to get it to open. That's it. We're switching to oral meds since the drops clearly aren't helping much.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:19 pm


I sure as heck hope oral meds work! I think I mentioned determining the bacteria involved so you can better select an antibiotic. I hope he does not lose his appetite!

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Wed Feb 09, 2022 12:47 am


I'm ready for that. I have a half full bag of fine grind critical care, another partial one from the vet which was for Sammy and the new bag arrived yesterday. He's going to be on orbax 0.8 ml once a day for 7 days. He's got melodic anti inflammatory to help with the swelling. He gets 0.2 ml from preloaded oral syringes of that for 5 days. He got the first dose of both this evening about 2 hours before veggie time. He ate his veggies normally and went to eating his hay right after. So far, so good. I'll be keeping a close eye on this. I get double the pleasure since little Ruffles stopped eating this afternoon. I'm starting her on critical care and taking her to the vet.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:23 am


It is helpful that you give such detailed info on your guinea pigs. A good record of treatment!

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed Feb 09, 2022 10:00 am


Glad the vet suggested Meloxicam. I believe I mentioned it earlier. Hope that the combination of ABs and anti-inflammatory helps. If it were me, I'd add probiotics to the plan---you can sprinkle it on veggies an hour before or after the Orbax.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Wed Feb 09, 2022 3:29 pm


I have plenty of probiotic left over from Sammy. I've learned about probiotic and the importance of giving it while on an antibiotic. I've had good results giving it about 60-90 minutes after the antibiotic dose. I gave Mr Bubbles some critical care last night too even though he's eating just fine. It wasn't much and he licks it off of the end of the syringe. The eye looks better today. Let's hope we're finally on the right track.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Feb 09, 2022 8:12 pm


"Let's hope we're finally on the right track."

No kidding! I hope so too!

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