My piggy barely eats after antibiotics.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue May 18, 2021 9:40 pm


I am guessing many over the counter human antifungal medications should be safe and effective if this is a fungus. She suggested Revolution to cover her bases. So try the antifungal first and the antiparasitic (Revolution) if you see signs it might be mites.

As has been pointed out, a fungus is the more likely.
https://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html

Peanutpiggy

Post   » Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:10 pm


Hi! I just saw the comment, thank you so much for the info. Harry is doing well. His scab healed and happy.

Another thing I want to ask is if there is a way for Harry to eat more vitamin C.
I feed him mini sweet bell peppers (usually yellow and red), chopped. But lately, he is not a fan of them.
So I give him a vitamin C tablet from Amazon, and tangerines. I wonder if there is any other veggies for vitamin C?
Thank you in advance.
Hope everyone is safe and well.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Aug 04, 2021 10:23 pm


The peppers are a great choice. Fresh greens in general should have some vitamin C. And fresh, high quality guinea pig pellets will have vitamin C in them too. Giving a tablet from Amazon is a good idea. There are also drops that can be put on anything he scarfs up. I would look at vegetables as a source rather than fruits like tangerines.

There is a sortable chart here:
https://www.guinealynx.info/chart.html

Peanutpiggy

Post   » Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:05 pm


Hi. Hope everyone is well.

My pig, Harry has been going through URI issues again in late June and the last two weeks (late September). Each time the vet prescribed him SMZ.
His symptom is getting milky discharges around his eyes. I often see him one eye shut when it is bad - usually, the eye that has lots of discharges on it. I also use MicrocynAH (eye and ear wash) for cleaning his eyes.

He recovered fine in July after 2 weeks of SMZ but this time, it seems the symptoms are not clearing up. Some days are better than others but this time it is taking way longer than usual for him to recover. I talked to the vet and he suggested doing nasal cleaning. I wonder if anyone has done it for their piggy? Is it painful? :( The bill would cost around ~$200. I would do anything to help my pig to get better and say goodbye to this chronic URI.

I even switched to giving orchard hay which has less dust than timothy hay. And I spray a small amount of water (1-3 pumps) when I feed him in order to let the dust not spread.

Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Thanks for reading!

Peanutpiggy

Post   » Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:06 pm


Oh, I didn't see your comment, Lynx. Thank you so much..!

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Oct 09, 2021 9:47 pm


You mentioned MicrocynAH (eye and ear wash). Looks like this is:

https://www.domyown.com/microcynah-eye- ... 20699.html
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS:
Hypochlorous Acid, Sodium Hypochlorite

INACTIVE INGREDIENTS:
Water, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Chloride

I find it kind of disconcerting that they are using parts of words that suggest an antifungal agent (using micro which could be taken as "mico") along with a word that suggests an antibiotic (many antibiotics end with the word "cyn").

Tell me what the signs of illness are? Is it only the problem with the eyes? Guinea pigs can even get conjunctivitis (an eye condition).

The eye discharge can be due to blocked tear ducts too.

Peanutpiggy

Post   » Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:38 pm


Hi Lynx,
Thank you so much for your comment.

My piggy had white discharge from his eyes. One eye was was particularly bad but the other eye was clean.
He is currently doing good- no discharge. Eats and poops well.

Yes, I had been using the eye drop you mentioned. But I don't think I will use it again because the vet told me it is not good. If someone is using that product, I would highly recommend NOT USING IT!

The vet looked at my pig and said his tear ducts are clogged but since guinea pigs' tear ducts are too small, they don't clean them.
He said it is fine not to treat him with antibiotics because it is not URI. I feel bad because my last visits were all because of being misdiagnosed.
I am glad my piggy is fine and the new vet was able to diagnose him correctly.
But boy, I am frustrated and feel sorry for my piggy going through unnecessary antibiotics and vet visits. :(

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Oct 12, 2021 11:03 pm


If it is indeed blocked tear ducts, the warm wet compresses and gentle massage may help open them up.

I was surprised the drops didn't seem to actually have any active ingredients that were antifungals or antibiotics. Actually glad your vet said not to use it -- I wondered about the utility of the product too.

Peanutpiggy

Post   » Tue Oct 12, 2021 11:31 pm


Thank you, Lynx for your advice!
Did you mean warm massage around his eyes? I will try it..

Yes, the vet says the eye drop is diluted bleach(!!), which was so shocking to hear. I feel horrible using it but I am glad I have not been using it too much though.
I would just use purified drinking water. I won't use any over the counter meds for my pigs :((

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Oct 13, 2021 10:23 am


Diluted bleach!!! Yes, shocking!

From above:
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS:
Hypochlorous Acid, Sodium Hypochlorite

On my bleach container the active ingredient is indeed Sodium Hypochlorite.

Yes, massage around the eye, hopefully loosening whatever is blocking the tear duct. I will try to remember later today to look at some references I have to tell you where it is located.

p.s. there is a tear duct (tears come out) and a "return" duct. If the "return" duct is blocked, the tearing fluid accumulates.

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