Guinea pigs as a group are unusually sensitive to certain antibiotics, whether they are given orally or by injection. Potentially harmful antibiotics include ampicillin, penicillin, bacitracin, erythromycin, lincomycin, gentamicin, clindamycin, streptomycin, vancomycin and sometimes tetracycline. Interestingly, even certain antibiotics used topically may produce lethal effects.

Why are guinea pigs so sensitive to antibiotics?

The major way in which certain antibiotics cause reactions is by altering the normal microbial balance within the gastrointestinal tract. Once the normal intestinal microfloral balance has been upset, certain bacteria multiply to abnormally large numbers. The multiplying bacteria produce harmful chemicals and gases that can have lethal effects.

Certain antibiotics are directly toxic and do not alter the microbial balance within the gastrointestinal tract. These antibiotics should never be used in guinea pigs. Though injectable antibiotics can cause the problems described above, oral antibiotics are more often associated with them.

What happens if my guinea pig needs antibiotics?

Antibiotics should never be given to guinea pigs unless they are prescribed by your vet.

The antibiotics your vet prescribes will be based on what is best for the type of infection they are treating. Many antibitotics are not licensed for use in guinea pigs (this is common in most species which are not cats or dogs) so you may be asked to sign an off-licence consent form.

Some owners and vets like to provide the guinea pig with probiotics during a course of antibiotics to help replace any damaged gut flora.

Cerebrospinal nematodiasis is an invasion of the central nervous system by nematode (roundworm) larvae and a cause of neurological disease in rabbits that have access to the outdoors. Infected rabbits may show a variety of clinical signs. These can also be attributed to many other disease processes.

How is cerebrospinal nematodiasis contracted?

Cerebrospinal nematodiasis occurs when rabbit ingest material, e.g. grass, that is contaminated with faeces containing the eggs from Toxacara canis (canine roundworm) or Baylisascaris spp eggs.

When the eggs are ingested they migrate through the central nervous system and damage surrounding tissues, causing encephalomalacia, a degenerative disease of the brain which causes softening of brain tissues. The eggs can remain dormant in the environment for months or years at a time before being ingested.

What are the signs of cerebrospinal nematodiasis?

Signs can vary and may have a slow onset (chronic) or be acute (have a sudden onset). The signs will vary depending on the level of infection, the damage done and the route which the larval migration takes.

Clinical signs may include:

behavioural changes
torticollis (head tilt)
circling
seizures
vertical nystagmus (eye flicking/twitching)
swaying
falling over
paralysis
ataxia (loss of co-ordination).

There seems to be no evidence that sex, breed or age of the rabbit makes it more predisposed to the effects of the parasite.

How is it diagnosed?

Diagnosis is made on blood sampling. Toxoplasma serology and examination of the rabbit’s faeces are the normal way that a diagnosis is made. Samples for these tests will normally have to be sent to an external laboratory.

Can it be treated?

Anti-parasitic medications, such as albendazole or fenbendazole, together with anti-inflammatory medications, to help inflammation is the usual treatment of choice.

Rabbits that are not eating well will also require supportive feeding, intravenous fluids and prokinetic (improves gastrointestinal motility) medication to ensure they do not go into gastrointestinal stasis.

The prognosis for successful recovery is poor, although some rabbits may have a resolution of clinical signs. Treatment can be expensive and on-going so cost considerations should be discussed with your vet.

What else should I know?

Rabbits act as the end host for the parasite and do not shed the parasite in their faeces. However, if the rabbit contracted the parasite from an infected host in an environment shared by humans, then there is a risk that humans could contract the infection from a similar means, although not directly from the rabbit. Therefore, cerebrospinal nematodiasis is classed as a zoonotic risk to humans.

If an infected rabbit is eaten after death, the risk to predators consuming the rabbit (potentially humans), and other vertebrate predators who may therefore contract and spread the infection, is a serious risk.

Category: gastrointestinal conditions

Sensitivity to antibiotics