2 Antibiotics

My chinchillas has been on 2 different antibiotics since Friday. As you can all guess he has stopped eating/drinking and I've been force feeding CC. I was just curious if anyone had any clue as to why my vet thought it necessary to administer two antibiotics. My chin is on 0.05mL of Baytril and 0.25mL of SMZ (both twice daily) for 14 days.

I took him in because for a few days he was making a horrible gagging noise (not like a cough). The vets diagnosis was a possible infection in his throat, most likely due to a scrape. He also said his lungs sounded clear but the x-ray showed the beginnings of a URI.

I let my vet know that sometime Sunday my chin had stopped eating/drinking. He told me to only give the Baytril once a day and if he didn't start eating/drinking again by Friday to stop the Baytril and continue with the SMZ. I have not heard him gagging at all over the last 24 hours, so it's working for that...

What do you guys think?

I don't know if it is the best idea to feed two antibiotics at once. I was always told that that was a bad idea by my vets.

The baytril has worked with the URI. Generally it is a good idea to keep a chinchilla on the antibiotic, which has helped, for maybe a week or so because that way the bacteria causing the infection will be killed completely and there will not be a re-occurrence. Baytril will make chins stop eating in many cases.

How old is your chinchilla? The dose of Baytril is rather low for an adult size chin maybe over 300 or 400 grams.

He is a little over a year... Last weight was around 630g.

Susan, the dosages could be lower because they are being used in conjunction with each other.

I can't offer much else. I can't say I've seen two antibiotics recommended for an animal unless they were just really badly off and there's nothing to lose. The baytril is what causes the loss of appetite but it is the drug of choice to fight a URI. If he has the beginning signs of a URI and the baytril is helping I wouldn't discontinue it...that can lead to an antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria.

Maybe the vet prescribed both because of the severity of the symptoms, just in case one antibiotic was not effective against whatever type of bacteria was present (whether it was due to resistance, mode of action, etc.). I've used both but never in conjunction with one another. I do think Baytril would have taken care of it on its own, although it does cause appetite problems. At least he's doing better. Just make sure to finish the course of antibiotics out the full length of treatment.

Baytril is synergistic with SMZ (better than by itself) in difficult to cure infections, good choice when fighting a tough URI. My vet Rxed it for Tiki, but in her case it was too late.

Thanks! Sounds like my little guy is in good hands then... I'll keep up what I've been doing.

Also, for the CC: I'm now giving 20cc's, 3 times per day (before work, after work, and before I go to bed). Do you think this is a sufficient amount to keep him going or should I try and squeeze one more feeding in?

The best way to tell if you are feeding enough is weigh him daily, if the weight is steady within a few grams then 60ml is good, if he drops weight consistantly then add another feeding.

Thanks. T.J. and I greatly appreciate all the help.

You might try reading the first page on chocolatechinchilla.com about LifeLine, as it's purpose is to offset the ill effects of antibiotics!
Many here have used it with great success!

I have been mixing 1/4 tsp of Lifeline in with his mid-day feeding (once daily). It hasn't helped yet, so I think I'll bump it up to twice a day and see if that will do the trick.

Most chinchillas love lifeline but not all find it as appetizing. If he is taking the CC really well I wouldn't worry too much about how much lifeline he takes in. They're both great products for keeping weight on chinchillas.

This is good to know. I've always been told to give one or the other.