[Gpdd] HEALTH: Re It's starting over again with Eve

[Penny Charlesworth]

I am so sorry that your Eve is in trouble again.

Since the vet gave you enough Baytril for Callie, it is highly unlikely
that you would have had enough of the medicine for a full course for Eve
after deciding that you were treating the wrong pig. It can take a long
course to clear this up completely.

One of our members, who may well post, has had a lot of trouble with UTIs
and has had to give repeat courses of antibiotics to achieve any success.
Some piggies are just prone to this, just as some ladies are. You know who
you are, P, so post in with reassurance!

I know that you have problems posting to the Digest, Lynn, but have you had
trouble receiving them too? If so, you may not have the chance to read
Ann's Piggyville page, where she has lots of info pertaining to UTIs,
particularly from a US point of view. Part way down the page there is a
section on  UTIs. Here is the link again if you missed my earlier post.

http://piggyville.com/index.php?id=4#Urinary_Tract_Infections_3

Vets seldom prescribe a high enough dose of antibiotics for piggies here.
They take the amount needed for a cat or dog, with which they are familiar,
and scale it down for a piggy. A good cavy vet will know that piggies need
more pro rata for their weight. Only this week a sick piggy was brought to
my Rodentologists. He had been prescribed a tiny amount of Baytril by a vet
who knew nothing about piggies, so little that he might as well have been
given water. They have put him on the correct dose of meds and he is slowly
improving. They always use children's Septrin antibiotic for piggies - 1ml.
twice a day and if you can find who will prescribe this, you have a better
chance of clearing up this UTI. Years of work by Peter and the CCT (
Cambridge Cavy Trust ) in England have come up with much improved
diagnostics and treatment for piggies often using human remedies.

Ann says that you can buy Cymalon ( the human remedy that I use for piggies
) or similar from Amazon.

Have a read of Peter's page on cystitis, where he describes how to make
barley water. I have used this remedy with success in the past and it is
worth a try. Get Earl to help you as it is easy to burn the whole lot and
ruin both it and the pan. You can safely feed this at the same time as
using any drugs.

It never hurts to give some pain relief. I always use children's liquid
ibuprofen, which is sold in England as Nurofen. Make sure to buy the
paediatric one. The dose is 0.4ml twice a day. Use up whatever the vet
prescribed for pain first but it is good idea to keep a pain med in the
piggy first aid kit. A piggy in pain can rapidly go off their food.

Now, as to stones, my Rodentologist can work a stone out of a sow's
urethra. By just feeling the position of the stone and manipulating it down
and out of the piggy there is no risky surgery needed and no anaesthetic. I
have seen him remove quite big ones this way so find yourself a really good
piggy vet before you need him/her. I don't know where you live but one of
our US members might know of someone good near you. Boars are another
matter and usually need surgery.

ME posted recently that the name for Septrin in the US is TMS and probably
has lots of other names too. Anything to make life confusing.

All the best for Eve.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.

The usual disclaimer applies. I have no veterinary training but a lifetime
of experience with cavies and learned from the best - my wonderful vet,
Etienne, Peter Gurney and my equally wonderful Rodentologists.