So here we go again. Not even 2 months since I lost Wilber and now it's Gilligan. He's had a loud wheezing off and on for almost a month. When it started, he didn't have any visible discharge. The vet prescribed orbax for 14 days. It helped a little bit, but he started the wheezing again 2 days after his regimen was done. I actually managed to get him to Dr Hardy at James River 3 days after that and he prescribed a more aggressive course of Baytril. It was.93 ml twice a day for 7 days. Gilligan seemed to get better. Then yesterday his wheezing came back and he's got a white discharge coming from his nose. It really comes out when he sneezes.
Of course, it's the weekend so there's no taking him to the vet. Emergency after hours vets around here only offer euthanasia for anything other than cats and dogs. This sucks. I'll have to call Dr Hardy first thing in the morning and see if he will prescribe more antibiotics. Gilligan has been eating and drinking normally thus far and his weight is holding steady at 2.5 lbs. He does rest more than usual but he's responsive and not lethargic. I expect this considering he's probably having a hard time breathing. He did have that big abscess a year or so ago. It was right on his nose about where his sinuses are. I just hope it hasn't returned and is in his sinus this time. Don't feel any lump like he had before, so I'm hoping it's just a URI.
I probably should have posted about this when it started. I didn't for a couple of reasons. First, it looked like it would be a short lived URI we could knock out with the antibiotics. Then I have this sort of mental block and worry about jinxing things when it comes to posting my guinea pig illness after Sammy and Ruffles. I really need to get over that. I'll work hard on it. In the meantime I'll call the vet in the morning and hopefully they can do something for Gilligan. As a minimum, maybe they'll call Ava Animal Hospital and do the prescription with them so I can pick it up there.
Gilligan
I'll get the antibiotics one way or another. I still have the orbax that was prescribed to treat him for this to begin with. Ava gives me the whole package instead of putting the 14 day supply in a prescription container. That's a month's supply at the dose they prescribed. James River only gave me enough Baytril for the 7 days. The orbax didn't completely cure the infection, but it did knock it down quite a bit, so I can use that if I have to. Anything is better than letting the infection run unabated.
I wonder if oxygen would help. I could always rig some kind of oxygen tent for him. He's congested for sure but it's discharging and not just sitting there in his sinuses. He sneezes it out and cleans it off with his front paws. Not sure if it makes any difference that it's coming out. I guess it depends on how big the infection is and how much discharge is being generated.
I wonder if oxygen would help. I could always rig some kind of oxygen tent for him. He's congested for sure but it's discharging and not just sitting there in his sinuses. He sneezes it out and cleans it off with his front paws. Not sure if it makes any difference that it's coming out. I guess it depends on how big the infection is and how much discharge is being generated.
In my experience with pigs and URIs(:,() you have 4 options:
1. Change AB to Bactrim or Azithromycin
2. put Gentamcin in nebulizer
3. ask experienced vet for advice and to listen to his lungs
4. ask vet for bacterial culture of nasal discharge
Ignore my comment if its not helpful..i wish Gilligan speedy recovery!
1. Change AB to Bactrim or Azithromycin
2. put Gentamcin in nebulizer
3. ask experienced vet for advice and to listen to his lungs
4. ask vet for bacterial culture of nasal discharge
Ignore my comment if its not helpful..i wish Gilligan speedy recovery!
I called the vet first thing this morning. Dr. Hardy is in surgery most of the day today but they put the message in to have him call me back ASAP. I stressed to the receptionist how important it is that he call me and refill Gilligan's medicine. I was very adamant. Wouldn't you know it? He called me back 20 minutes later and I explained what is going on. He put in the refill and I was able to pick it up and give it to Gilligan.
He was in rough shape yesterday so I gave him a dose of the Orbax in anticipation of having to wait a day or two for the other antibiotics. That was over 12 hours before this latest dose of Baytril and it seems to have helped a little. He was looking a little bit better this morning. He hasn't missed a feeding yet, he still climbs and nibbles the cage for food and treats and he's maintaining his weight, so I am cautiously optimistic. I've seen my pigs take a turn for the worst very quickly in the past, which is why I'm being cautious about the optimism. His nose has a significant amount of discharge now, whereas it's been pretty dry up until Saturday. Gilligan isn't exactly young, but at under 4 years old, he's not quite in what I call the "window", which is the 4-6 year old range. He's been pretty healthy most of his life, so I think that works in his favor. Keep our fingers crossed..
He was in rough shape yesterday so I gave him a dose of the Orbax in anticipation of having to wait a day or two for the other antibiotics. That was over 12 hours before this latest dose of Baytril and it seems to have helped a little. He was looking a little bit better this morning. He hasn't missed a feeding yet, he still climbs and nibbles the cage for food and treats and he's maintaining his weight, so I am cautiously optimistic. I've seen my pigs take a turn for the worst very quickly in the past, which is why I'm being cautious about the optimism. His nose has a significant amount of discharge now, whereas it's been pretty dry up until Saturday. Gilligan isn't exactly young, but at under 4 years old, he's not quite in what I call the "window", which is the 4-6 year old range. He's been pretty healthy most of his life, so I think that works in his favor. Keep our fingers crossed..
It's really hard to get an exact read on Gilligan's progress. He does seem better for the most part, but I'm still worried about him. His wheezing is down since yesterday. It looks like he's still breathing hard, but the wheezing is intermittent and has declined. I check on him regularly and I usually find him laying down more often than not. It's not lethargy because he perks up to see what's happening, but his fur is poofed out a little bit. That much is expected since he's not feeling well and can't really afford to get too winded. He can tell when I have food though. When I bring his veggies, treats, hay and pellets, he does his usual amount of climbing up on the cage and nibbling the wires with Skipper. It's good to see him still excited about food and eating.
The discharge from his nose is still there, but it's not as pasty white as it was. He's got a tiny bit more clear moisture in his eyes. It's not running out or anything, but it does gather on the bottom of his eyeballs. I think the antibiotics cause that. I've been holding him a whole lot more than usual and he likes to sit on my shoulder. He seems to be able to breathe better in that position. Makes me wonder if he has pneumonia rather than a URI. Whatever he needs to do to be comfortable and breathe better is fine with me.
The discharge from his nose is still there, but it's not as pasty white as it was. He's got a tiny bit more clear moisture in his eyes. It's not running out or anything, but it does gather on the bottom of his eyeballs. I think the antibiotics cause that. I've been holding him a whole lot more than usual and he likes to sit on my shoulder. He seems to be able to breathe better in that position. Makes me wonder if he has pneumonia rather than a URI. Whatever he needs to do to be comfortable and breathe better is fine with me.
Gilligan is doing better today. No wheezing since Monday. Still breathing a little bit heavy but better. Haven't seen any discharge from his nose today. He's moving around a little more with Skipper's encouragement. I'm now convinced that a well paired set of guinea pigs will help each other get better when one of them gets sick. He's also cleaning himself more. His squeaks are sounding normal again and he even purred a little when I held him. He actually enjoys being held and petted. That is, until he starts missing his brother. Then he lets me know by getting squirmy.
I'm telling you that Gilligan is the sweetest of all my pigs. He's very easy to give meds to. He doesn't fight the syringe. Doesn't get mad either. He's quite the little snuggle bug. Dean is too, but Gilligan just melts my heart when I hold him. I'm doing everything I can to get him well. I got a couple of pictures of him and Skipper in the pen while I changed their bedding. One of them is on their chronical page. Here's the other one. You can see him cleaning himself under his brother's watchful eye.
I'm telling you that Gilligan is the sweetest of all my pigs. He's very easy to give meds to. He doesn't fight the syringe. Doesn't get mad either. He's quite the little snuggle bug. Dean is too, but Gilligan just melts my heart when I hold him. I'm doing everything I can to get him well. I got a couple of pictures of him and Skipper in the pen while I changed their bedding. One of them is on their chronical page. Here's the other one. You can see him cleaning himself under his brother's watchful eye.
“ I'm now convinced that a well paired set of guinea pigs will help each other get better when one of them gets sick”
I have one girl who has some eye issues, mostly stemming from a (probable) hay poke. After the poke healed I still needed to clean her eye most days, but after a while her cage mates took over. Haven’t had to clean her eye since. (The issue might have resolved by now, but I caught the other piggies cleaning her for at least a couple of weeks (I have stopped looking for this behaviour) and always that eye, no other grooming)
I hope Gilligan will continue to improve!
I have one girl who has some eye issues, mostly stemming from a (probable) hay poke. After the poke healed I still needed to clean her eye most days, but after a while her cage mates took over. Haven’t had to clean her eye since. (The issue might have resolved by now, but I caught the other piggies cleaning her for at least a couple of weeks (I have stopped looking for this behaviour) and always that eye, no other grooming)
I hope Gilligan will continue to improve!
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