4 year old piggy refusing treats? Possible early GI stasis or tooth issue?

[Chunky_Pig]

My 4 year old skinny pig Turbo has started refusing her treats. I plan on bringing her to the vet, but all exotic vets near me tend to be booked out for weeks. She has never been sick before. She's still eatting hay, she seems to want to eat pellets but as soom as she grabs it she will drop it. To me that seems like a tooth/mouth issue of some sort, but then she wont eat even the soft treats. She also has weird stringy poop that feels sorta doughy, which to me seems like a gut issue but I'm unsure. She is currently laying in the hay pile, and whenevr i shake the bag she no longer gets up and comes to the cage bars, she just looks towards it. I'm very worried

I did recently start giving a little bit of kale this week. This seems to be a weird pattern, Piggles, my past piggy had eatten some veggies and then ended up having GI stasis and bloat. It seems just like my luck to finally stop grieving for Piggles (It made me scared of everything b/c I thought one of my other piggies would just randomly drop dead) and then have some other health issue pop up with Turbo, who in the 4 years I've had her, has never had a single health issue.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this

Stringy poop does indeed mean she has a digestive upset and that she isn’t eating hay well, and may not have been for a couple of days given poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake.
(Hay is usually the first food item they reduce intake of but as intake can’t be gauged by eye it isn’t something you can notice (without weight checks), which means by the time they stop wanting veg etc, then it can mean they have been feeling unwell for a little while).

As you are noticing her dropping food then a mouth/dental issue may be the primary cause and then the digestive issues start due to lack of hay intake.
A vet will need to see her to diagnose what is going on and treat accordingly.

Please step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed (or mushed pellets as the emergency alternative) straight away.
She needs to be fed at least 60ml per day but your daily (each morning) weight checks are the essential guide to whether you have the syringe feeding amount correct to keep her weight stable each day.

Please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead ensure you weigh her every morning. This enables you to gauge hay intake accurately - it cannot be gauged by eye, a piggy may appear to be eating it but it does not mean they actually are or that they are eating enough.


Do call a vet and get her soon as soon as possible - an issue like this cannot wait weeks, she needs to be seen quickly potentially as an emergency

I’ve added guides below. I hope she is ok

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels
Wiebke's Guide to Tummy Trouble
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency

 

[Chunky_Pig]

I’m sorry to hear this

Stringy poop does indeed mean she has a digestive upset and that she isn’t eating hay well, and may not have been for a couple of days given poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake.
(Hay is usually the first food item they reduce intake of but as intake can’t be gauged by eye it isn’t something you can notice (without weight checks), which means by the time they stop wanting veg etc, then it can mean they have been feeling unwell for a little while).

As you are noticing her dropping food then a mouth/dental issue may be the primary cause and then the digestive issues start due to lack of hay intake.
A vet will need to see her to diagnose what is going on and treat accordingly.

Please step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed (or mushed pellets as the emergency alternative) straight away.
She needs to be fed at least 60ml per day but your daily (each morning) weight checks are the essential guide to whether you have the syringe feeding amount correct to keep her weight stable each day.

Please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead ensure you weigh her every morning. This enables you to gauge hay intake accurately - it cannot be gauged by eye, a piggy may appear to be eating it but it does not mean they actually are or that they are eating enough.


Do call a vet and get her soon as soon as possible - an issue like this cannot wait weeks, she needs to be seen quickly potentially as an emergency

I’ve added guides below. I hope she is ok

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels
Wiebke's Guide to Tummy Trouble
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency

Pretty sure it's early Gi stasis and bloat. I heard bubbling in her stomach, like loud bubbling. That's something Piggles did as she started getting bloated last summer. Oh and even our young piggy was cuddling next to her

 

[Piggies&buns]

Pretty sure it's early Gi stasis and bloat. I heard bubbling in her stomach, like loud bubbling. That's something Piggles did as she started getting bloated last summer.

Some stomach noises are normal (a silent stomach means the gut has already stopped working) but bloat and stasis does mean she needs to see a vet as an emergency today.
Step in with syringe feeding straight away

 

[Merab]

Just offering support.
Hope everything is ok

 

[weepweeps]

Sending healing vibes

 

[Chunky_Pig]

Just offering support.
Hope everything is ok

I forgot to give an update, whoops: Turbo ended up being okay, seemed to just be a minor stomach upset that ended up clearing before we could even get to the vet. She was definately hungry and begging for treats after that. Seemed to be caused by the kale I had given earlier that day/day before, so I stopped feeding them that. I can't really remember anymore, but now that I think about it, it might've been what had also caused Piggles bloat last July.

 

[weepweeps]

Glad everything was ok.

 

[Truffolo]

Great that Turbo is normal again and comfotable and happy. Kale, cabbage and broccoli can cause gas and be difficult to digest, especially if piggy has any dental issues. It would be good to get an exotic vet to inspect her molars to make sure they aren't over grown or have spurrs.

 

[Merab]

Glad Turbo was ok