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Advice Needed Please, Nibbles has stopped eating

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mabsey

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We have two girls Nibbles and Scruffy and they were both in the same cage.

Nibble one day couldn't squeek very well as if she had a sore throat, and later that day I noticed she stopped going to her water bottle and was not eating when we put the daily vegetables in. Also all her hair was sticking up on her back.

I took her to the vets, and they gave her a course of antibiotics, and said we should syringe feed her for a a couple of days and her appetite should return.

2 days went by and we were syringe feeding etc, but she is still off her food. She occasionally would eat only the centre of a cucumber and nothing else. She carried on loosing weight as I started weighing her daily so I took her back to the vets. They gave her a appetiser injection, and gave us some powder to feed her which we carried on syringing every couple of hours.

Today I took her back to the vets again and they cant see anything that could be wrong with her. So they gave her a injection which would numb any pain in case she has a throat problem and said it would last 48 hours. The thing is she is still not interested in food, but takes the syringe food no problem.

In the space of a week, nibbles has lost 150g in weight and is now looking skinny. The vet said if this dont work they want to sedate her to have a better look at her throat etc.

Does anyone have any ideas, and more so, I am a little frustrasted that it is taking the vets 4 visits and we dont seem any better off.

Nibbles is only 18 months old, so still young really.

Mabs
 
Welcome to the forum, Mabs. :)

I am sorry to hear Nibbles is so poorly. Even just a few days of not eating could lead to some overgrowth of the molars. Have all the teeth been thoroughly examined? An oral thrush/fungal infection could also lead to a sore mouth and throat, which could perhaps be the initial cause of the loss of appetite - this would be easily treated by giving Daktarin Oral Gel (over the counter human medicine - don't tell the pharmacist it is for an animal!). The teeth do need checking, and treating if necessary - no anesthetic needed for either procedure. From the sound of things, with her enjoyment of syringe-feedings but not of eating, her mouth may well be too sore for hard foods.

How much food are you syringing her? If she's losing weight, you'll probably need to up the amount you are feeding her. A guinea pig who is eating nothing for themselves should have a minimum of 50-70ml per day, spread between 4-6 feedings. Also ensure she's well hydrated by syringing water in between mouthfuls of food.
 
Thanks for the welcome.

Her teeth have been checked 3 times now as it was my concern and they said they are fine. They said they want to sedate her next to look closely at her throat.

It's not like she dont want to eat or drink, she just dont want to do it without the syringe.

She will eat the core of a cucumber and leave the green part, she always used to love the green part and now prefers the softer centre. She wont touch her water bottle at all, but she just took down 21ml of water from syringe and was knawing at it to drink from it. I took her water bottle down and held that in front and she wasnt interested, put the syringe back and she chewed at it to have a drink.

You say 50ml of food but the vet told us 2.5ml every 3 to 4 hours :S

Mabs
 
"I took her to the vets, and they gave her a course of antibiotics, and said we should syringe feed her for a a couple of days and her appetite should return"

No point in beating about the bush...that is nonsense.
Likewise; 2.5ml of food every 3 to 4 hours and you will starve the pig to death. At best that would be 20ml in 24 hours.
I have just syringe fed a sick pig who took 35ml and who takes that amount 3 times each day.
I appreciate you are new to the forum so maybe you won't have seen the following, I wish I had £1 for every time I write it!
There are NO circumstances whatsoever that justify a general anaesthetic or sedative to examine a guinea pig's teeth, mouth or throat. Likewise to trim the teeth.
Where are you located? PM me if you prefer, there maybe someone close to you that can help. Are you on Skype by any chance?
 
Well I upped her intake. After she was given the pain relief injection, she did start taking syringe food more easily and took lots of water on board. I have continued to give her food by Syringe for a couple of days and this morning she went off the syringe again refusing the food.

I decided to put her back in with her sister and we put a carrot in the cage and she ate it. Then we put some spinach leaves in and she ate them, ate another carrot and quite a lot of straw followed by a cucumber. I brought in another carrot and had her on my lap and she ate half of that, and was very strong eating it, something we haven't seen all week.

The only thing she will not do at the moment, is drink from the water bottle and prefers Syringe Drinking which is odd, so a marked improvement from her today in terms of food intake.

I am wondering if being back in with her sister, has some how sprung her back into life, all very odd.

Mabs
 
Often pigs separated from their friends pine in a similar way to those who have completely lost their friends. Certainly, when an illness is not contagious, there is very little point in isolating the poorly animal.

Great to hear that she is improving.
 
mabsey said:
Well I upped her intake. After she was given the pain relief injection, she did start taking syringe food more easily and took lots of water on board. I have continued to give her food by Syringe for a couple of days and this morning she went off the syringe again refusing the food.

I decided to put her back in with her sister and we put a carrot in the cage and she ate it. Then we put some spinach leaves in and she ate them, ate another carrot and quite a lot of straw followed by a cucumber. I brought in another carrot and had her on my lap and she ate half of that, and was very strong eating it, something we haven't seen all week.

The only thing she will not do at the moment, is drink from the water bottle and prefers Syringe Drinking which is odd, so a marked improvement from her today in terms of food intake.

I am wondering if being back in with her sister, has some how sprung her back into life, all very odd.

Mabs
Click to expand...

sorry but did you say your piggies have straw?
 
This is wonderful news about her feeling brighter xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
WE wish her all the best, make sure you feed her some wet veggies so she gets enough water, but make sure lots of fresh pellets and hay too xx>>>xx>>>
 
She has already gained the 135g she lost and just hasn't stopped eating for 2 days now, guess she is catching up, so things are looking good.

She is eating hay, fruit stick, a parseley bell, spinach leaves, carrots, brocalli. The one thing she doesnt seem interested in is the Pellets she used to have.

She is slowly returning to her old self.

Mabs
 
Fantastic news, I am so pleased. Here's hoping for a complete recovery over the coming days.
 
CCC4 said:
Fantastic news, I am so pleased. Here's hoping for a complete recovery over the coming days.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the support.

She is back to normal and drinking from her water bottle again and gained another 30g today.

The one good thing that came out of this, is she dont mind being handled now lol. I can put my hand in and stroke her and she just stands still, something she never done before as she always ran back into her hidy hole.

Mabs
 
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