antibiotics for potbelly pig

Question
hi..I know your not a vet, but If I may I will ask anyway..Have a much loved potbelly pig..her name is Piggylee and we have had her nearly 20 years..I am sure she has a bad tooth..I read a story by Phylles Baltoe called "Abscess & your Pig"..she say antibiotics often will help with a tooth infection..question which antibiotic..??..can't get a vet in, so what could I try thats safe for a pig..??..thank you very much..Ginger

Answer
Some animal feeds are treated with small doses of antibiotic as preventative, but the dosages are not high enough to actually "cure" anything. Antibiotics work by killing the germs that cause infection. A small dose will kill the weakest germs, leaving the stronger ones to multiply. This is how drug-resistant forms of diseases develop.
There's hundreds of different kinds of antibiotics, and each with it's own particular germ killing ability. An antibiotic that works well on one kind of infection may not do anything for a different kind. Matching the right antibiotic to the infection and giving it in the right dose is necessary to cure the infection.
Antibiotics are available only by prescription. Some people discontinue taking their own prescription antibiotics as soon as they start to feel better and save the leftovers, but the leftovers have a short shelf life and quickly loose effectiveness. If taken, they might kill some of the weaker germs, leaving the stronger, more drug resistant ones to multiply, making the problem worse.
Finally, if the problem is caused by a bad tooth, the tooth may have to go. Antibiotics will not stop a tooth from rotting in jaw and literally eating a hole right through the jawbone. One symptom of a bad tooth left in long enough to reach this point is an abscess or swelling on the outside of the jaw. When lanced open, you can look right through the jaw into the pig's mouth.
If you can not find a vet in your area, the Duchess Fund http://www.duchessfund.org/ may be able to refer you to a vet. Or, you might try contacting Farm Sanctuaries or other organizations that work with farm animals, they may be able to refer you to a vet. Or contact the closest university with a vet school. Or, you might be able to find a vet, and people willing to help you transport your pig if necessary, through one of the pot-bellied pig groups on Yahoo, PigInfoAndChat and PotSpot. Both groups have pig lovers around the country, as well as sanctuary and rescue workers.