VET

The intestinal flora of the guinea pig, unlike that of most other animals, is predominantly gram-positive, and coliform organisms are not usually present in significant numbers. Narrow-spectrum antibiotics with antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria should be avoided, the cause of death is a decreased gram-positive bacterial flora and increased gram-negative flora, with related bacteremia/septicaemia. Antibiotics reported to cause enterotoxemia are penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, bacitracin, erythromycin, spiramycin, streptomycin, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, lincomycin, clindamycin, vancomycin, cephalexin, cephalosporins. Some medications should never be prescribed; some can be injection but never orally. Topical antibiotics have also cause fatal enterotoxemia. If there are better alternatives, do not risk use of an injected antibiotic but use a safer one DeSomer et al. (1955) first clearly postulated that the lethality of penicillin