Things have been quite eventful and mostly stressful in the guinea pigs' lives. It all started the weekend before last...
Short version:
Poe had pneumonia, she almost died! Then, the baytril antibiotic caused bloating/constipation/diarrhea and she almost died again! But she's better now and you can scroll to the end to see some more pictures!
Long version:
The piggies and I have moved back to my parents' house (this is as a result of me mildly failing at a functioning adult life - plus it's quite difficult for me to find a nice pet friendly rental so I opted out for the easy option due to sheer laziness...).
Anywho, I notice Poe not being her spritely self on Sunday and by Monday something was obviously wrong and we went to the vet. They kept her for x rays - Vet phones later and says that it was one of the worst cases of pneumonia they've seen and they gave her oxygen to help her breathe. They gave her a Baytril injection and by the afternoon she was reportedly doing much better and also eating some food. I went in after work to look at her x-ray and it was so bad. Her little lungs were all white because they were filled with phlegm/mucus (healthy lungs show up black on an x-ray because it should be mainly filled with air). My poor little Poe. She's probably been sick for awhile, but just hid it really well because she's a tough, obstinate little creature. I felt so bad for not spotting it sooner...
Timeline:
Mon: Pneumonia diagnosis, baytril injection (0.1 ml). Overnight at vet's
Tues: Same baytril injection, I brought her home
Wed - Fri: Go into vet's every morning for the baytril injection.
Fri: Vet says good news! Poe's doing great, they've also got the oral baytril so I can give her myself at home and not have to come in every morning. Poe is to have 0.05ml of baytril daily for the next 10 days.
Sat: I give Poe baytril through a needle less syringe. But by the afternoon she seems less energetic than the previous day.
Sun: Poe is very lethargic and not eating. I decide to stop giving her baytril. She is breathing fine (so it's not the pneumonia acting up). When I pick her up her stomach felt quite stretched and I could feel gas bubbling around. As it was Sunday my vet was not open and after phoning around and being referred 3 times I still failed to find a vet that is experienced with treating guinea pigs that can see her on the day.
So I research online and figure out that she's suffering from bloat most likely caused by the oral baytril. I try all the home remedies I found on guinea pig forums etc - giving her "poop soup" made from the droppings of my 2 healthy guinea pigs to restore good bacteria in her gut, massaging her belly to help her poop/fart, giving her olive oil (said to help constipation) and even putting her in a foot spa so that the vibrations can loosen any blockages. She didn't like the foot spa much, she kept on climbing out and trying to re-unite with her family in the cage :) Occasionally she would strain and arch her back trying to poop, and only very small mushy poops came out. One time she made such a large soft poop she was squeaking and straining for a while (it was scary). Poe kept on having diarrhea for the rest of the day, and I gave her poop soup another 2 times. So generally it was a shit filled day (couldn't resist hee). In the afternoon, I was starting to contemplate having to hand feed her but first decided to pick various plants and veggies from the garden (Dad's vegetable patch save the day!) to see if she'd eat any on her own - yes! she nibbled some spinach and lettuce! She continued to eat small bits of apple, carrot and cucumber through out the day, but expresses no interest in grass that she loved before. Encouragingly she also started munching some hay. Towards the evening Poe seems to be in the clear, she seemed eager for food (even standing up against the cage like she used to!) even though she'd only eat small amounts each time.
This Monday Poe looked much better (her poops are still very soft, but at least more normal sized and holding together). Appetite is still not back to normal, but her behaviour is more her usual self. She ate grass with the others and also had some pellets. I took her to the vet again and we agreed to stop with the baytril but I will observe her closely to make sure the pneumonia doesn't make a come back.
Phew! So it's been a rough week for Poe. She's a real lil trooper, who managed to trundle on no matter what :) an awesome good natured beastie who tolerated being prodded and man handled and having feeding tubes shoved in her mouth without complaint.
Sorry for the essay style post! I thought I'd be thorough because reading other guinea pig owner's experiences online really helped me pin point what was wrong with Poe and what I can do when a vet is not available. Maybe some one will be able to find some answers here through my experiences! Here are some links I found useful:
http://undercoverguineapigs.blogspot.com/2010/08/dealing-with-bloat.html - Read the comments too, this is where I found out about the olive oil treatment.
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=58041 - home emergency care that helped a guinea pig make it through the night.
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html - useful info on hand feeding.
I would also like to add that (this is probably re-iterated many times on the web already):
1. Don't be complacent! You know your guinea pig, and if anything is amiss, never delay taking them to the vet!
2. Always google your vet's prescription to check that it is in keeping with standard guinea pig treatment and the medicine is safe for guinea pigs. My vet is really nice, but they are not specialized in treating small animals (seems like very few are in Johannesburg) - they are close to me so it's easy to take my guinea pigs there first. I find that they know the basics (and hey, they did get Poe better) but are oblivious when it comes to the nuances of guinea pig care (no probiotics even though I asked about it, never heard of poop soup) and don't seem to have any other means of treating guinea pigs except for baytril.
3. If you are in Johannesburg with a sick guinea pig, you can try terrace vet in edenvale (http://trvh.co.za/index.php) - I took Tiramisu there when she was had a URI as a baby. They seemed more familiar with exotic small animals. After phoning around I was also referred Craighall vet (http://www.craighallvet.com) - reportedly familiar with treating guinea pigs, but I had to make an appointment to see a vet, and only by Monday afternoon. Apparently they work to an appointment system, so always phone first. You can also try my vet (Paulshof vet), they've have some practice on my guinea pigs! And they are gentle with them which I like. Don't ever go to Parktown North Veterinary Hospital, they are an exotic vet, but when I took Poe and Tiramisu in for a simple eye infection the vet man picked them up by the scruff of their necks (aaaaah they are not puppies you loon!) and also advised me to keep them on wood shavings because that's what he did when he was a guinea pig breeder (what century are you from? There are better products now!) On top of that they are really expensive (over R400 for consultation).
Hooray! you made it to the end! I took these photos of Poe on this Monday, she was still a bit fragile...
I found Sylbie with her feet out chilling today, cute :)
