[Gpdd] (Health) A member of the Squee Squad is ill

[Cazza177]

Dear Stacy

One of my pigs had a lung infection and he actually had fluid on the lungs.
I took him to my vets who gave him Baytril and told me to keep a close eye
on him.  

I did not feel I had been given full advice by the vets, so I called Vedra
at the Cambridge Cavy Trust and she asked me to bring him over.  She said
that the Baytril alone was not enough for fluid on the lungs and also gave
me Bisolvon podwer (I had to give a diddy scoop of that 3 times a day and
Rimadyl -- a duretic -- (I had to give him half a tablet twice a day) as
well as the Baytil twice a day.  It did the trick.

Later, purely out of curiosity, I telephoned the vets and asked about
duretics, and they said no, they wouldn't be giving them to my pig, he would
have to go on steriods.  So, in my experience, care can vary enormously
depending on if you see a vet or a rodentologist (as Vedra is).

It may be that if your Serendipity has fluid on the lungs, you need more
than just Baytil.

These link may help:-

http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/respiration.htm

Also, Peter Gurney says this:-

BREATHING
The normal respiration rate for a guinea pig is about 80 per minute. Be
aware that some guinea pigs hyperventilate at times to almost double this
rate.  Despite asking many people with far more expertise than me, I have
yet to discover why some guinea pigs do this. The good news is that even
though I have had guinea pigs that have had various ailments who breathe in
this manner, in the main most go through periods of this kind of breathing,
which can last for days, with no apparent harmful effect on their overall
health. 
The dangerous type of breathing is when it comes from deep down in the
diaphragm in long heaving gasps. This is usually accompanied by a slow
heartbeat and is indicative of kidney or heart problems. In most of these
cases the administration of the prescription only medicine, FRUSEMIDE at the
dose of 0.2 sub cut injection. This powerful diuretic is extremely effective
in stabilising the animal and restoring it to health. This drug acts upon
the kidneys, flushing them out and thus easing the strain on the heart.
Sometimes a second dose is necessary but, in the main, one is sufficient.
Needless to say, the guinea pig needs to be thoroughly examined and
monitored by a guinea-competent vet. 


Hope the above may help.  The main thing is if you don't feel things are
still not right in a relatively short space of time, go back to the vets
asap.  A duretic and Baytril may be what's needed -- I don't know for sure
-- but it's better to be safe and be sure.

Carole
----------
From: Stacy Harvey <ckrtsqrl2000 at yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 06:11:25 -0700 (PDT)
To: GPDD <gpdd at gpdd.org>
Subject: [Gpdd] (Health) A member of the Squee Squad is ill

Digesters,
  I got home from class yesterday and my little Serendipity was breathing
hard with a lot of crackling and wheezing. I took her to the vet, and we got
some Baytril and some Critical Care. She didn't seem to have any syptoms and
she was eating normally right up until yesterday. She is eating a little bit
today; sometimes she takes the Critical Care and sometimes she doesn't. I
have been trying to feed her in her cage so that I am not disturbing her or
putting pressure on her lungs--is this the right thing to do, or should I be
taking her out to feed her regularly? I just don't want to stress her out
and make her breathing worse.
   
  Also--does anyone know anything about nebulizer treatments? My neighbor,
who is a nurse, asked about it (her daughters have asthma and she is a firm
believer in that nebulizer), but I can't find anything about using them on
GPs. I saw some info about using antibiotics in them on rats and that's
about it.
   
  Oh--what about a warm mist humidifier? I have one that I use in the winter
to keep the air moist. Would this help at all? It is mentioned in the
Diseases of Domestic Guinea Pigs book, but I was wondering if anyone has
actually used a humidifier and found it helpful.
   
  I ask that you all keep Sera in your thoughts and prayers. She is 5 years
old, and she is the last of the 3 pigs my husband and I got when we were
first married. I know it is inevitable, but I am just not ready to let her
go yet. She isn't suffering right now, but I hope I'll know when it is time.
   
  Stacy and the worried Squee Squad

         
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