Poppet's ongoing respiratory issues

Blooberry

Post   » Sat May 29, 2021 9:12 am


Hello , new here. We have 4 boars, 3 x 2 year olds (Beanie, Pippin & Poppet) and a 4 year old. Poppet has been on antibiotics for nearly 4 weeks now for respiratory issues. Laboured breathing, slightly crusty eye and wet nose, which has resolved now. He been on baytril for 2 weeks and nearly 2 weeks on sulphatrim and metacam once a day. He's lost weight so we are syringe feeding (which he hates) and I'm adding in extra veggies keeping him just under 900g. He will run out for veggies but will not east his pellets or much hay. I've been adding in some fresh grass and dandelion leaf from our enclosed garden. (he's not that interested - the others love it). I refuse to give up.
We have an appointment on Tuesday morning with the vet - what do we do next? X-ray, think about another antibiotic, doxycycline? Nebulise? I've noticed the note on the front page from Pinta saying that 2 x 2.5 doxycycline was not enough to shift the URI. Could we be under medicating on 2 x 0.2mg a day? Any help and advice gratefully received. Especially in advance of our next vet appointment.

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Lynx
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Post   » Sat May 29, 2021 10:10 am


I think all the options you brought up are good possibilities (antibiotic change, nebulizing).

If you find respiratory issues are a recurrent problem, you might want to look into heart issues.
https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html

Let us know what the vet thinks and how he responds.

Blooberry

Post   » Sat May 29, 2021 11:38 am


Thank you. I’ll keep going until we see the vet. So definitely do an X-ray and consider another antibiotic? What about steroids?

Blooberry

Post   » Sat May 29, 2021 11:40 am


Old 4 yr old Cinnamon has an enlarged heart so we treat with frusemide daily. He’s seems quite happy. I think with Poppet the crusty eye would suggest respiratory but an X-ray would tell us more?

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Lynx
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Post   » Sat May 29, 2021 4:25 pm


I think the issue with recurrent respiratory infections and heart is that they are more frequent when a guinea pig has heart problems. It seems when the heart problems are treated, respiratory issues go away. At least that is what I remember.

Your vet should be able to discuss all the options with you. If this is an isolated respiratory infection, then it is less likely the heart is involved but it is worth bringing up.

With all the weight loss, be sure to check the teeth too, since not eating enough can contribute to conditions like malocclusion. Your hand feeding is so important right now.

Blooberry

Post   » Sun May 30, 2021 7:51 am


Lynx, many thanks. I am concerned about all these things and the not eating and malocclusion - his poos are very small but I'm trying to get as much food down as possible. He's eating veggies really well but off pellets and hay not completely but he's clearly not eating enough. Can I ask, is it OK to use pureed butternut squash? Similar to pumpkin? I can' wait to get him back to the vet. Can steroids be helpful with URIs?

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Lynx
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Post   » Sun May 30, 2021 8:45 am


Sure, it is fine to use pureed butternut squash (unsweetened). You might also try some handfuls of fresh clean grass, introduced slowly. Wheat grass is a real favorite. Hay soaked thoroughly in water for a while is a real treat for guinea pigs (remove in an hour or two to prevent mold from forming).

Blooberry

Post   » Sun May 30, 2021 7:02 pm


Thank you Lynx. I mix the purée with Emeraid. Or could he have the purée on its own? He’s not interested in grass from the garden safely. I’ve never heard of soaking hay .. that sounds great. Will try tomorrow!

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Lynx
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Post   » Sun May 30, 2021 11:50 pm


If he will eat the puree from a plate, that would be fine.

Blooberry

Post   » Mon May 31, 2021 5:55 am


thank you ... but he still needs the emeraid? His weight was 914g this morning, up from 870g, so Im please and he ran out for pellets this morning and ate a few... breathing still not right though.

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Lynx
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Post   » Mon May 31, 2021 7:26 am


I am not familiar with emeraid. If he is doing much better maintaining his weight, you can adjust feeding as needed.

I hope his breathing improves.

Blooberry

Post   » Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:42 pm


Lynx sorry to say, but our Poppet just passed very suddenly. We took him to the vet this morning she said stop the antibiotic treat as allergy piggie. He had gained weight and seemed to be doing better. I feel guilty. He'd just had veggies and I notice poo stuck to his bottom so we removed gently and then his heart started racing. We had just given metacam as per the vet's instructions. I knew he wasn't OK but we were optimistic and he seemed to be improving. I wish we had bothered him with his poos, I think it sent his heart off. Poor Poppet, I will miss him. Only 2.5 years old. Must have been his heart afterall.

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