[Gpdd] HEALTH: Callie

[pat schuett]

Hi Lynn,
I'm glad you got a refill from the vet --- ordinarily, that would have been a very short course for baytril though the dose you were giving is much higher than I have had prescribed for piggies.  (It's possible the drug you have is a different strength of baytril, though; the one I usually get is for cats and dogs and may be stronger than a version used for smaller animals.)  
I'm so glad to hear that Callie is gaining weight.  It sounds as if your persistence and good care has finally gotten to the root of her problem and she is feeling better at last.  Good for you!  I was also glad to hear that you were going with Ann's advice instead of the vet's on pain relief --- particularly with UTIs, I think pain relief is absolutely crucial to treatment.  In time, the antibiotics will relieve the misery of the infection, but why should the piggy suffer in the meantime?  Pain relief will help get them back to eating and drinking normally as soon as possible which can only help their recovery.
I currently take my piggies to two different vets at the same vet clinic; one is older and more experienced, the younger one a more recent graduate.  They have both been wonderful with my piggies and rabbits, but the older one is very very cautious with pain medication, while the younger one prescribes it a matter of course for many complaints.  I think it may be just a change in what is being taught in vet schools now as opposed to fifteen or twenty years ago.  
The older vet knows that if I am bringing in a piggy for something like a UTI, suspected bladder stone or tooth problems, it's likely I will have started pain medication for them already and I am always honest with her about what I have given and how much (if they are going under anesthetic for surgery or stone removal, I know it's important for the vet to know what is in their system).  She no longer bothers to criticize me for giving it ahead of time, while the younger one is more likely to criticize if I have NOT given pain medication ahead of the appointment.  (The clinic is open long hours and seven days a week and I am fortunate in that one or the other of them is normally working every day of the week.)
Pat & the Prairie Pigs