I think she is dying

Question
We recently realized one of our gp's was not drinking or eating. I found that her water bottle had green "scum" in it (she had been pushing litter around the nozzle). I bought a new bottle and she began to drink again immediately. Meanwhile, she had become dehydrated and has lost a considerable amount of weight/size from not eating. Her behavior is odd, she kind of balls herself up and sits with her nose facing the corner, or wall, of her cage. She won't play with toys, or eat veggies or greens. Her squeak is practically nothing now. My daughter cleaned her cage and gave her a bath while I was at work. That night, my gp was kinda wheezing, breathing fast at times and then seemed to struggle to breath at other times. It seemed like she was having a hard time standing. I called the vet, he said she will be fine as long as she eats her pellets. But something is still wrong. She does eat better, but not normal. I am soooo worried about her. We have lost gp's before following the vets advice, I don't think he knows about them. We would be heartbroken if anything happened to her. Please tell me what I can do. Thanks. Lisa

Answer
Hello Lisa,

She sounds like she may have an advanced URI and if that's the case she NEEDS an antibiotic and the only way to get it is from the vet. Even if it isn't a URI, she is very sick and just eating won't save her. She needs to see a doctor. If you can find a different one, that would be advised. If not, go to the vet you have and insist on antibiotics for her to treat her for a URI. From the information you've given me, I think that's most likely and even if it isn't a URI, the antibiotics may treat the real problem and give her a good chance. I'm going to include a link to a list of dangerous antibiotics since you said you don't think your vet knows piggies very well. If he tries to give you one of them, refuse them and insist on a different one. I suggest Baytril (generic name: enrofloxacin) or sulfatrim. They have both worked well on URIs in my piggies in the past and are both piggy safe. I'm also going to include a link to a list of a few piggy safe antibiotics that may also prove helpful. Remember anytime piggies are antibiotics they need a probiotic (acidophilus is perfect, it's a supplement found near the vitamins in most drug stores, just crush the tablets and mix with water, or the food mush if you are force feeding, and syringe feed) to replace the very important good tummy bacteria the antibiotics kill off. Good luck! I pray your piggy makes a swift recovery.

Unsafe medications:
http://guinealynx.com/dangerous_medications.html

Safe antibiotics:
http://guinealynx.com/antibiotics.html

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs