Inner ear infection

Question
Hi I have spent a ton of money on my 2 1/2 year old guinea pig in the last two weeks for and inner ear infection.  When I took him to the vet he was laying on his side and spinning.  The vet gave him a steriod shot and an antibitobic (this was on a Sunday) by that Thursday I can home from work to find him up and walking around I called the vet and told them that I was had feeding him and that was up but I was concerned that he may need more antibiotics and they agreed and gave me more medicine.  He is still up but his head is leaning to the side and his head sometimes times moves like he is still spinning.  How long should I give this second round of antibiotics?  I have noticed that he really isn't eating but drinking a little on his own, but have very little to no waste in his cage.  HELP!!!!

Answer
An inner ear infection in a guinea pig can (and usually does) leave them with a permanent head tilt. I'm not sure I can adequately explain the dynamics involved, but I'll try.

If you have a glass of water and you tip it to one side the glass may move but the water will always stay at level. That's the basis for a construction level. Water is put in a little tube and a bit of air is left inside. When the tube is tilted the air bubble will move, showing you where 'level' is.  A part of the inner ear, the labrynth, helps us maintain balance by keeping the 'water' at the proper angle to be level.

Sometimes infection causes permanent damage to the labrynth, and the result is when we stand up from a lying down position the 'water' doesn't move to level, leaving us dizzy and off balance. In a cavy's ear the same thing happens, but they are more susceptible to permanent damage than humans are.

It's not the antibiotics that are relieving his symptoms, it's the steroids. They help reduce the swelling around the inner ear, thus helping relieve the symptoms. Antibiotics can cause more harm that good in guinea pigs if not used cautiously. You might ask the vet for another round of steroid treatment. I had a boar with this same thing. He lived for two more years with a head tilt, but he was otherwise happy and healthy. He was also on a maintenance of low dose Prednisolone, which is liquid Prednisone.

My boar was always just a little tilted and off balance when he was on all fours. If I picked him up and held him in an upright postition his head immediately tilted to the right.

If you are going to give your pig more antibiotics you should also be giving him probiotics, available at most pet stores. It prevents secondary infections in the gut that are often caused by antibiotics.

You can also get some Critical Care. It's a powdered formula much like baby formula and is mixed with water. It can be compared to Ensure for humans in that it has all the nutrients and calories necessary to maintain their nutritional needs. Give that with the probiotics and he will begin to pick up weight again.

As for not seeing any droppings in his cage you might check to be sure he is not impacted. If you look at the post just sent on 'constipation' you'll see how to take care of that if you need to. It's also possible that this is the result of the medications and will hopefully resolve itself. Flushing out his pouch will most likely be uncomfortable for him because of the inner ear and the balance problem.

Please let me know how the little guy does. This is a difficult condition to treat but it can be done.