Sneezing attacks

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daisymay
Supporter 2016-2021

Post   » Mon May 11, 2020 1:18 pm


For a guinea pig to have blood taken they MUST be sedated NOT awake! We have lost several pigs where they have had a sort of panic attack, fainted, stopped breathing and slipped away.

I do not like the sounds of this vet if they are taken bloods whilst Bella is awake. I know you said vets are hard to find but surely there is some-one better?

Here is a link to GL vets but when I click on PA I get Pennsylvania maybe you'll find one in Philadelphia? https://www.guinealynx.info/vetlist.html

Wishing you luck! I am off to bed now, I pray for good news. What antibiotics are they giving her? Baytril can affect appetite. Make sure she gets a Probiotic too. https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotics.html https://www.guinealynx.info/probiotics.html

Brist1cm

Post   » Mon May 11, 2020 1:49 pm


Oh gosh, I had no idea. Do you think we should even take blood though? They are force feeding her and she hasn't had an appetite since last night so I don't think her appetite could get worse.

Brist1cm

Post   » Mon May 11, 2020 2:19 pm


Once they are off of lunch I am going to talk to them to determine what the humane thing is to do. My heart is breaking.

Brist1cm

Post   » Mon May 11, 2020 3:26 pm


Update:

Quotes from vet (no particular order):

"I don't think it's her teeth" "she doesn't seem to be in any pain" "I don't want to lead you down the wrong path, but she's taking food like a champ, but I have no idea what it could be, I'd really like to see her blood" "If it is something else, it might not be fixable" "I did sedate her to take her blood but she'd pass out" "we could gas her, but if it's her heart, that could kill her" "maybe try to feed her a ton and get her calories and weight back up" "I wouldn't argue with you if you decided to put her down, but she is taking a food like a champ and she doesn't seem to be in any pain if that's what your basing your decision on"

So my partner and I will take her back in an hour and feed her like crazy throughout the night. They gave her antibiotics that are in the same category as ciprofloxacin to be as broad as possible since we don't know what's wrong. I don't under how she wouldn't be in pain if she's not eating or drinking though. Tomorrow depending on how she does tonight we will decide if euthanization is the most humane route.

Wish us luck.

Brist1cm

Post   » Mon May 11, 2020 11:56 pm


She's definitely doing better than last night. We've got her weight up by 30 grams since this morning, we're hoping for another 40-50g.

They prescribed baytril (50mg/mL) ONCE a day at 0.2mL. Bella currently weighs 976 grams. Based on the lynx conversion chart she would be getting 10.20mg/kg. Should we break this into 12 hours instead of 24? Aka reduce it to 0.1mL every 12 hours. Or should we stick to the 24hr dosage?

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daisymay
Supporter 2016-2021

Post   » Tue May 12, 2020 12:40 am


So glad Bella is having in there! If giving current medicine once a day is working I wouldn't touch it! So happy she is eating!

If Bella has heart problems there is NO reason she needs to be put down! Joy one of our babies had heart problems and she lived 2 years with it. A year before we could convince vet to try heart medication.

I have been told that the test for a heart pig is to try them on heart medication, if they improve then you continue. If the heart medication makes no difference then it's not the heart. Another test I found useful, was (a) listen to her chest and abdomen and (b) a chest X-rays-NO sedation just have someone holding her. If there is fluid it could be heart or pneumonia.
Here is GL's heart page see if anything on there helps? https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html

Just cause a piggy has a heart problem it is NOT a death sentence! Just like any other pet. It's just convincing vets to try the medication. I have lost too many pets this way. Talk to your vet or get them to try a vet website called VIN or get them to speak to an exotic vet. But don't PTS unless totally needed! Keep us posted!

Brist1cm

Post   » Tue May 12, 2020 4:47 am


Update: sneezing more, but definitely more lively and less limp. We're steadily increasing in weight. Not eating and drinking on her own yet, I hope so soon.

Brist1cm

Post   » Tue May 12, 2020 5:05 am


Also the antibiotic is baytril and her poops look so much better than the cipro poos (after only one dose)

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daisymay
Supporter 2016-2021

Post   » Tue May 12, 2020 5:21 am


So glad Bella is doing better. Still concerning she is not eating by herself. Is on a Probiotic? Antibiotics kill good and bad bugs. We all need Probiotics. My girls get Protexin. Keep us posted!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue May 12, 2020 10:34 am


As for doing every 24 vs every 12 hrs (spreading out the dose), there are benefits and drawbacks to each. I believe the larger dose given every 24 hrs. could conceivably result in less inappetence (I may have this wrong). It is kicking at a higher dose to kill the bacteria better but not overwhelming the system.

My memory is somewhat shady. I think for now, you might want to just go with your vet's prescription of every 24 hours. For something like meloxicam (pain medication), spreading it out to every 12 hours has much more benefit as you are attempting to catch the pain before it reemerges.

Brist1cm

Post   » Tue May 12, 2020 11:02 am


Thanks guys, we do have her on acidophilus and a tiny bit of bene-bac. She's now eating some grass on her own!!!

Im going to try some hay next! We'll stick to the 24 hour baytril dose. I think the 2 hour feeding intervals are really working for her. Thankfully my partner is able to help this time (he was working mornings previously).

Brist1cm

Post   » Tue May 12, 2020 10:11 pm


She has been having mucusy poops (sometimes on a string) that are dark and rubbery in texture. We've increased her water intake. What causes the bad poops?

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