my guinea pig is dying

Question
my boys who are older both had abyssinian guinea pigs. we buried one last weekend. now the other one is showing signs. I took him to the vet and they are unsure of what is wrong. he gave me antibiotics and told me to feed him thru a syringe. today he is worse. he will not eat on his own, like yesterday when i mixed up some pellets and apple juice like the vet told me to do. his  breathing is labored. now he is having trouble getting his back feet underneath him to walk.it started with a skin irritation and I put some vet balm on and his skin seemed to be better. is it the breed?????? what am I doing wrong????

Answer
a skin irritation is most likely mange, I have lost a guinea pig to this recently, antibiotics are the best thing for him. from my experience abbysinians do seem to be slightly more prone to it, it has only ever been abby's of mine that have suffered from it but that is not a definitive fact just my experience.

give him plenty of water, dry hay on top of what the vet ordered. tea tree oil will help relieve discomfort. but above you you have to keep him dry and his accomodation clean, he needs to be on a dry floor at all times which is regularly changed to remove any mites which have fallen off. I would recommend having the antibiotivcs injected rather than fed. mentions baytril or imec to your vet these are the best antibiotics and he should be given a shot once every ten days until two shots after he looks better to ensure there is not a relapse.