Galileo's Medical Thread

Wheeker

Post   » Wed May 13, 2020 8:39 pm


Since I've posted Gary's visit to the vet today, I figured I'd post about Galileo.

Galileo just recently turned 3. Back in October, he presented with an abscess in his jaw due to a tooth that has grown in double the size of a normal tooth. The abscess was drained and a medicated sponge was inserted into his jaw and sutured there for a couple days in a very MacGuyver type surgery. A hole was left in his cheek which I had to flush twice a day for several weeks. He survived! Now there's only maintenance every two months of one tooth which has to be filed under anesthesia because it's being pushed by the big one.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I noticed Galileo and his partner sneezing a lot. I got them Bactrim and they were on it for 10 days, during which time I harvested poops from another pig of mine to give them in poop soup. At some point in this time frame, Galileo became more and more withdrawn, sitting under his hut staring at the wall. I chalked it up to the antibiotics at the time. But he began eating less and less, lost 100 grams, and yesterday I began to hand feed him critical care after also noticing his cheek appeared swollen. I took him to the vet today, and he was diagnosed with a possible infection around his salivary gland, on the same side of his mouth as the original abscess but in a different place! I start him on Baytril tonight, which means of course I'm gearing up for a lot of hand feeding. (The vet wanted him on Chloramphenicol but because I lost a pig to dysbiosis because of that drug I politely said no way.)

During this time period of the last couple weeks, another pig of mine, Gary, had begun to oddly eat his partner's poops constantly. The partner pig is the pig that donated poop for Galileo and his partner's poop soup. This donor pig also lost a partner several years ago to Leukemia.

Why I'm bringing this up is I'm curious at the timing of all this, and am wondering if by giving poop from the donor pig, I've infected Galileo with the guinea pig leukemia virus (and Gary has infected himself). Apparently an oncovirus causes sarcomas and infections in guinea pigs frequently, and I've actually lost most of my pigs to infections and sarcoma/leukemia/lymphoma at relatively young ages. Anybody have any experiences like this? I'm wondering if I've in fact triggered a tumor formation instead of infection in Galileo's salivary gland.

The timing of all this stuff is just weird.

Wheeker

Post   » Wed May 13, 2020 9:20 pm


Just wanted to add: Galileo was prescribed 0.75 ml of Baytril, in liquid form. The bottle says "Baytril 22mg Tab" on it. Anybody familiar with this dosage? Under "quantity" on the instructions/bill, it reads "5.00 each". My vet is an exotics vet and I usually trust her, but does 0.75 ml sound legit given this info?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed May 13, 2020 10:51 pm


I can't figure out the dosage either. I have a good page for this and he is lacking enough info to make things clear.

If, for example, the whole bottle has 22 mg in it and there are 5 ml, .75 ml would not be much (also depends on weight of guinea pig).
https://www.guinealynx.info/calculate_dose.html

No idea if your guinea pig could be infected with leukemia. I certainly hope this is not the case and hope it is an infection that can be cleared up.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu May 14, 2020 12:15 am


22.7 mg is a standard Baytril tab, I think, but she has compounded it into a liquid. We would need to know for sure how many milliliters there are. Does the medicine bottle have lines that measure the liquid volume? Can you tell if there are in fact 5 milliliters in the bottle?

Wheeker

Post   » Thu May 14, 2020 11:25 pm


When I got up today Galileo was sitting hunched under his hut, rocking back and forth and moaning. I tried feeding him but he wouldn't swallow. This despite a 0.25 ml Rimadyl dose. I took him to the vet, intending to have him PTS, but got a different vet in the practice today who offered to open up and drain his jaw, during which they confirmed, lo and behold, that his salivary gland was infected.

The vet today gave him a shot of Onsior 20 mg/ml inj (20 ml), and I can't remember but maybe a shot of Buprenorphine too. In any case, they gave me two syringes of Buprenorphine 0.3 mg/ml (5x 1ml, that's what it says on the receipt for some reason), one syringe for tomorrow Friday and the next to give him Saturday. The syringes are both filled to the '10' mark on a 50 unit U-100 insulin syringe, if this helps. I also was told to flush the wound and apply Ophth Terramycin cream, and continue with the 0.75 ml Baytril once a day.

Here is my problem. I forgot to ask if I could also still give him the Rimadyl twice a day. Would I need to and would it interact with the above medicines?

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Thu May 14, 2020 11:50 pm


I would call the clinic and find out for sure if you should give the Rimadyl as well. The Buprenorphine is an opioid pain reliever and Rimadyl is an NSAID which relieves pain and inflammation. They may intend for you to give both, but I'd check for sure.

I hope Galileo is feeling better and this treatment helps him heal up.

Wheeker

Post   » Fri May 15, 2020 11:07 am


So after Galileo got his shots and his face drained yesterday he perked up, wasn't in his cage moaning and staring at the wall. He's still hunched but looks better. BUT over the course of last night I realized Galileo's stomach was round and distended, not as hard as Gary's but still gassy. I gave him Simethicone and eventually Cisapride 0.1 ml. He's only pooped like three times in I'd say 14 hours. I have a stethoscope and there's still gut sounds. I'm going to go to the vet and get more Cisapride and Metoclopramide for the two pigs but I wanted to ask you guys if I should continue with the Baytril given these symptoms? If I don't use either Baytril or Chlorampenicol the infection in his salivary gland will probably continue. I don't know what to do. (I'm calling the vet about the Rimadyl, ItsaZoo, thanks.)

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Fri May 15, 2020 12:27 pm


I’d let the vet know about the digestive issues and that it may be the Baytril causing trouble. They may have a different antibiotic or some other suggestion. I agree that an antibiotic is necessary so the infection gets cleared up.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri May 15, 2020 12:36 pm


Ditto ItsaZoo.

Wheeker

Post   » Sat May 16, 2020 12:03 am


To finish up this thread, Galileo was put to sleep tonight. He was only on the Baytril for two doses (really, he ran into problems after just one dose) before his gut slowed down. I didn't catch it in time, and he had made all of 4 hard tiny poops in 24 hours, with no effect from the dose of 0.07 ml Metoclompramide 5mg/ml inj. and 0.11 ml oral Cisapride 5mg/ml solutions we got from the vet today (he weighed about 1120-1140 grams there at the last). This was the final deciding factor to put him to sleep, because I've had pigs die on me with gut stasis before, and its horrrribbllleee.

But really what doomed him was that the infection wasn't being affected by the Baytril. By this afternoon, his face was swollen to record size, despite irrigating it and putting the cream in it too. By the time I decided to PTS, he was back to being hunched in his hut staring at the wall. Seeing as what saved him last autumn after his jaw infection was a medicated sponge implant, and seeing as this vet told me that this new infection was in the wrong place to do this, the infection would have continued. I'm not even sure the Chloramphenicol would have saved him, and having had a pig die in an agonizing way on it before, NOPE no thanks.

Of course, I have lingering doubts about the Baytril dose, since I've never had a pig die on me on Baytril before, or at least have gut problems so fast. What my last (excellent) vet told me was that the key with guinea pigs and antibiotics is to try to only give the most minimal dose that you can get away with.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and I hope Galileo is somewhere over the Rainbow Bridge. Now I have to take care of Gary, who is still having gut problems...

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sat May 16, 2020 12:19 am


I’m so sorry you lost Galileo. It sounds like that infection was just overwhelming. When mine reacted to Baytril is was a decrease of appetite after 5 doses which was 2-1/2 days. Don’t second-guess yourself. I’m sure the vet would have offered treatment if possible, and I suspect Galileo was more ill from the infection than you realized. Guinea pigs are good at hiding illness.

Take care of yourself.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat May 16, 2020 2:26 am


Oh no, I am so sorry. It sounds like you did all that you possibly could for him, but he just had so many things going on at the same time.

Sending healing thoughts to you in your loss.

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