View Full Version : URI/Upper Respiratory Infection Should I go ahead and treat?

01-25-13, 09:12 pm
Hi all.

I work at an animal shelter and brought my guinea pig, Gilbert, home about two months ago. I haven't had space for another pig until recently, but we've moved and I've finally been able to build him a c&c cage. We finally got another male in the shelter (Gilbert is not neutered and the few cavies we get all seem to be females) and my manager allowed me to bring him (Pepper) home to introduce to Gil before officially adopting him, on the off chance they don't get along. Well, first night home, before any introductions are made, I notice Pepper's breathing seems odd so I put of introducing them for the moment. Over the next day, I determined he has URI, so when I went back to work, our vet tech prescribed baytril (.35cc/lb). It's been a week since then.

Pepper definitely seems to be doing better. He still sounds congested but he has a good appetite, is fairly active, and doesn't seem to have any discharge. I'm meant to give him the Baytril for another week.

Now, I'm a little worried about Gilbert.

I had the two in separate rooms at first, though with no door in between (I live in an attic room and there's just a staircase to the room below me where I was keeping Pepper.) I've been very careful in between touching them, washing my hands very thoroughly in between. But as it's winter, and the house my parents bought is quite old, we're discovering all sorts of places where the cold is being let in. My room is the only one that has self contained heating units. I felt that the downstairs room was too cold for Pepper, especially since he's ill so I brought him upstairs to my room yesterday. That may have been a mistake.

Today, I've heard Gilbert sneeze quite hard about four times, which normally I would shrug off, but I feel that that's unusual for him and seeing as there's another piggie with URI in the room, well, it would be rather stupid to ignore. He has fleece bedding that I spot clean everyday so it's not dust or anything. He's acting as his usual self (stuffing his face, loving cuddles, and hopping around like a mad thing) and there doesn't seem to be any other signs that's there's anything wrong. I can't see any discharge or such around his nose or eyes.

Essentially, that's all a long story just to ask, should I start treating him with Baytril as well, just to be cautious? I have some extra anyways from when my hamster pulled a Houdini and then got into a fight with the kitten. Gil's a little older (3 years) so I feel like he might be more susceptible to this sort of thing. Would giving him an antibiotic when he's NOT sick harm him in any way?

Of course, I'll ask this as well at work when I go in tomorrow, but I'm not sure how well versed in guinea pigs our vet techs are, so just want more opinions. I don't want to risk anything with my baby over just trying to find him a cage mate.

Sorry for the long post for a simple question.

Thanks :)

01-25-13, 09:41 pm
I read on another thread that if you give a piggy antibiotics when they don't need them it can do as much harm as not giving them antibiotics when they do need them. So I would definitely find a cavy savvy vet in your area and have you other piggy checked out first.
Here's a list of good questions to ask when you call the vet office to make sure that they're cavy savvy: http://www.guinealynx.info/vet.html

01-25-13, 10:18 pm
Do not treat unless you have had a vet find the cause. When my Mocha was sick she was showing signs of a URI, she had stopped eating, made wheezing noises. It turned out she had bloat and the noises were her in pain.