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A persistent case of bloat

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TangentKid

TangentKid

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Hi all,

We have an old (8 yrs) piggie with a rather worrying bout of bloat.

She has other problems but this is the latest in a string of ailments. She had a huge bladder stone removed a couple of months ago. Seemed to be doing well but her weight was slowly continuing to drop. She wouldn't eat any dried food and very little hay. She was however keen to eat fresh veg & grass. Three weeks ago we therefore started to syringe feed her ground up Guinea Pig food, which she seems to love taking, and her weight was slowly increasing.

Then without warning one of her back legs gave way and she can no longer walk. At the vet's advice we started dosing with Metacam to see if it helped to ease her arthritis but not joy. We then added in Septrin, in case it was an infection of her joints. Again no improvement. Then a dislocated hip joint was suggested so we took her for an X-Ray last Friday but her hips are all in place.

Now on to the bloat...
We first noticed that she was getting a bit big on Thursday last week. While she was at the vet on Friday morning for her X-Ray they spotted it and prescribed Metoclopramide 0.5ml, 3 times daily. The bloat shows up on the X-Ray as a huge pocket of gas on her left side.

We've been dosing her with Metoclopramide since Friday plus Infacol (Simethicone) 1-2ml before each feed. Unfortunately the distension of her abdomen doesn't appear to be going down. It sounds like gas when you tap her side and her weight hasn't increased which would suggest that it's not fluid. Her poos are firm and plentiful which seems odd since she has such a huge gas pocket in her intestines. We've reduced the amount of fresh food that we're giving and cut out all things that are known to cause gas in humans e.g. cabbage, broccoli etc.

She does sit in an odd curled-round-to-the-right position and doesn't move around a lot (as she can't walk) which may well be contributing to this.

We wondered if anyone has any extra ideas that we could try. She still seems keen to eat and drink so we really don't want to give up on her just yet.

Thanks very much.
 
As you've already have a firm diagnosis and have the correct treatment the only extra I can suggest is a massage pillow - the vibrations of the pillow (or a car ride) seem to have a beneficial effect on bloat.

Has the vet suggested apsirarting it with a needle? I've not had this done on a pig but it was very successful on a goat of mine that had bloat many years ago.

Suzy x
 
Bloat can be a very persistent problem and it can prove impossible to shift it.

Please take her off any fresh food and just feed hay and/or Critical Care. Syringe 1/8 of a normal vitaminC tablet that has been dissolved in a bit of water. Make sure that she has plenty of water.

You can try to gently massage her belly to help shifting the gas or get a massage pillow.
 
Poor thing. Not being able to walk is not going to help her bloat as she needs to keep moving to release the gas. I have one pig who gets mild cases of bloat and he has 0.7ml of Emeprid then 0.7ml of Zantac 15 minutes later, twice a day, this always does the trick and he's back to himself after 24-48 hours. Funily enough the car journey to the vet often helps and he's not so bloated when we get there. I think I remember reading about using a vibrating massage pillow (one that doesn't heat up obviously!) and sitting the pig on that can help.
You can gently massage her tummy to help. Also cut out fruits as this can contribute to bloat which I've learnt recently from my vet.
I hope she gets better. x

EDIT: was typing at the same time as Suzy and Wiebke, that must be who I've read recommend the massage pillow, thanks both of you.
 
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Hi all,

Thanks for all your suggestions.

I've asked the vet if there's any 'surgical' procedures possible to help if we don't get anywhere with the medication but the answer was no, not really. We had wondered about removing the gas by needle but I guess that's pretty severe treatment as it will leave a small hole in the gut wall.

Thanks for the massage pad idea. We'll either give that a go, or take her for another car journey! She's had four car trips in the last two days to and from the Vet and then again to the CCT and back. As she lies in the same position all the time, just paddling herself around with her front paws, it's just asking for gas to pool in a single spot.

Zantac is a new one to try. Maybe we could give that a go too. Don't want to overdo things but maybe add it if we don't get any progress soon.

Thanks again :)
 
My vet said the idea with Zantac and Emeprid is that one helps to release the gas and the other stop it building up which is why you give them 15 minutes apart.
Worth a try, as I say it works for Gerry. Keep us posted.
 
Hi All,

Just wanted to post some more info to see if it may help our little girl...

Trudy is still bloated, 4 days on, things don't seem to be improving but also they're no worse. This is despite being on the Emeprid & Infacol plus having stopped all veg and grass today with only Ground up syrings fed GP mix (Supreme Gertie), hay and water. Today she didn't seem as keen on the Gertie as she has been recently but maybe that's because she's not getting any grass reward between each syringe-full !

We've also been massaging her by hand and given her a few goes on a massage pad that's designed for use on a car seat.

I thought that I'd post the X-rays that we had taken last Friday in case it helps anyone to suggest what could be going on. You can see them on this page: http://www.aknox.co.uk/trudy/xray

Two vets have seen the images and both said that it's a case of bloat but we just wanted to ask for any other opinions. The thing that puzzles us most is that the gas build-up is all in one place and she's pooing away just as normal. In fact her poos are much better formed and firmer than they have been for a long time!

I must admit that we haven't tried the Zantac yet so we need to get some of that tomorrow.

Many thanks,
- A & T
 
I just want to send some loving and healing wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeks XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx


it does seem to be something the older piggies get......they don't move so that equals no gut movement........been thru it with our boy ....... so not fair :(
 
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