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Bad Tummy

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Gripe water would help ease any gassy discomfort. I know people have mixed opinions on it's use but it did help Millie with her gassy episodes.
 
Argh, just got back from a family dinner. Was so worried about poor titch. I was a little rude in ensuring we all left but we were longer than I wanted to be. She is still not great but when i just left after syringing and giving meds/diarolyte, she was nibbling on hay by herself. I am really hoping this is a good sign as she looks dreadful. Will be up in a few hours for more feeding. At least I am home now until next Tuesday so hoping she will improve. Thank you for all your support everyone. It means a lot xx
 
I so hope so. Very worried about her. She is such a perky, cheeky girl. I know she won't give up without a fight..... Just explaining to my other half why I have to be up in 3 hours to feed her :yikes:
 
Sending you healing vibes. I have no opinion on gripe water. But we use Questran to good effect.

Eating hay is a good sign. Getting fibre into her is great, it will help with firming things up.

Thinking of you.

x
 
Claire W said:
I'm sorry that you have another poorly piggy :( How is Titch today? x
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Claire W said:
I'm sorry that you have another poorly piggy :( How is Titch today? x
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Thank you Claire. Yes it seems to be continuous at the moment :-(

She is ok, she wants to eat veg more than anything and cries for her food when the others get fed. the vet says it's fine as the veg she likes is fibrous or very wet (I guess natural instincts take over) as long as she avoids anything which will cause gas. She has eaten cucumber, celery and dill but gone off hay again. One minute her tummy seems to improve but then it's very runny again. Carrying on with syringing, vet just says to be patient which is very hard when she is so poorly! She does seem overall very marginally improving. Poor baby, I feel so sorry for her as she is usually so active and happy.
 
Abi_nurse said:
Sending you healing vibes. I have no opinion on gripe water. But we use Questran to good effect.

Eating hay is a good sign. Getting fibre into her is great, it will help with firming things up.

Thinking of you.

x
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Thank you Abi, really appreciate your support. I just hope she will turn a corner soon. X
 
You could also try fresh mint and basil - the former helps settle the stomach and the latter has antiseptic properties. Most of the time my pigs don't like them but when ill, they somehow seem to know what they should eat that will help. (One of my poorly pigs even started eating the houseplant chlorophytum - spider plant)

I have found the "Piggy buffet" to be a good approach to dealing with poorly pigs. Put then on a fleece (nice and comfy) and surround them with small amounts of various veggies/herbs/dried stuff and let them choose.

One other plant I have used previously for diarrhoea in pigs which worked quite well is shepherds purse (unfortunately you will not find any fresh stuff around at this time of year but you can source dried shepherds purse on-line - not the tincture/extract - just go for dried herbs).

I'm curious as to why your vet is adamant it is not an infection unless you have had a faecal culture done to rule this out? Can you elaborate please?

x

P.S. For general info:
There have been several persistent or intermittent diarrhoea problems recorded on the forum over the years that, once a culture has finally been done, have indeed proved to be an infection.....causative organisms can include (if I remember correctly):
Giardia - treated with metronidazole (flagyl)
Saccharomyces gutulatus (treated with itrafungol)l - diagnosed by Chester Zoo Path dept
Campylobacter - baytril or septrin
Salmonella - septrin

And just these last two weeks I myself have experienced a situation where a guinea pig presented with diarrhoea but it turns out the diarrhoea has been caused because the pig has only been able to eat leafy greens and not hay or pellets owing to a serious dental issue!
 
Thanks pebble. I really don't know why. I should have asked but didn't think, if she is not better by Friday (she said she should be ok by then) I will insist. She is a good vet but sometimes she doesn't like to explore other options. I don't know why as I never mind how much I spend and tell her this.

How long can she suffer diarrhoea for before it's life threatening? She is currently eating with the others. Picking at dill mainly. You know I am so annoyed at myself as I nearly bought some mint today and then thought better of it!

Arghh so worried :-(
 
I do have some 'spare' baytril.. If she is not better tomorrow is it worth risking giving her some as it's broad spectrum? I know it's not good to self medicate but at the same time the treatment so far is not really working. I know what dose to give her as she was on it for her abscess (btw teeth have been checked).
 
Hi Guinea Slave. I recently had experience of piggy diarrhea when my 4 year old piggy Petal developed it post op, 6 weeks after a hysterectomy. After her op she had soft stools for 6 weeks, which then developed into full blown diarrhea, to the extent I'd pick her up & she would actually be dripping clear fluid it was that bad. This happened in the space of one day, she actually had a bad reaction to the previous day's pain relief jab at the vets, for some reason. The vet kept her in, gave her SQ fluids (Very important, you need to keep syringing her fluids) & also gave her Flagyl antibiotic. She was also given a very high energy food by syringe which was only 3 times a day, it was quite expensive but it kept her energy up. I would ask for Flagyl again as even though there was no infection showing in my piggy (We had a fecal culture down just days before to find out why she was doing soft poos still after 6 weeks) & the high energy food. It is not Critical Care, I'll dig out the name for you in a bit x
 
Abi_nurse said:
Was this emeraid? It's a herbivore high energy, high fibre food. White and creamy like substance. Fab stuff.

x
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Guys you are brilliant thank you! All these things I can take to my vet in Friday. Please let me know if it's emeraid. Quite frankly I don't care how much it costs, I just want her well again.
 
Thinking back I think it was Emeraid as I remember looking it up at the time.
 
Thank you. Gawd, thank goodness for the first time in 6 years we are not out on NYE. I Asked other half to put some chill out music on and it's the saddest classical music ever and sobbing my eyes out hoping she will be ok. Why do we have them?!
 
Awww :( Yes it was Emeraid (Thank you Abi for a wonderful memory!) It is brilliant, if they are not eating much, you only need to get a small amount in, Petal couldn't get enough & I gave it 3 times a day, not needing to give every 3-4 hour feeds, which were exhausting me! It was about £25 for around 3 days worth. The Flagyl definitely helped though & she was on Zantac & Cisapride as well I believe. They can come through it, hang in there x
 
And I always say "Never again" when we lose ours, my heart breaks every time. I have even tried not to get too attached, especially with Petal, as it has been so touch & go. It doesn't help that Daisy, her daughter, is the most friendly, affectionate little piggy we have ever had, I don't know what I'll do when we lose her :(
 
Thank you so much. Can you get emeraid on line or prescription only?

I know, it just breaks my heart seeing them so unwell. Her and Cagney are my two most affectionate guineas. After getting Cagney through pneumonia and heart problems this year we are very very attached, we adore each other and when she goes it will be hell, titch is getting to be the same, very affectionate and so grateful for your help, some of them just know don't they? I have decided after these guys no more. It just kills me too much each time.
 
Oh and the 3-4 hourly feeds, omg like you say, just kills you as you don't sleep well knowing you have to get up and then you worry the whole time in between ! Sleep deprivation at it's worse!
 
I don't think I could find it online, the vets may have to order it in, unless they can call around another vets for you? I also got some stuff from Galen's garden, Shepherd's purse (Dried) which is a natural herb & some of their powdered ASAP which I used, I just added a little water & mixed to a paste & syringed it to Petal. Sometimes they just need to be in the care of the vet for a couple of days, the sub cut fluids are essential if she has severe diarrhea x
 
I will get some of the dried shepherds purse, sounds like an asset in the vet box. I don't know how bad is bad. Basically ( and sorry to be graphic) what I put in as syringe food is effectively what's coming out. It's not watery just nothing solid. Poor girl is very mucky behind so constantly has to be bathed or wiped. No blood, no water and today some 'poops' were forming but then later it was back to square one again. The vet said to be patient..easily said than done.
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Awww :( Yes it was Emeraid (Thank you Abi for a wonderful memory!) It is brilliant, if they are not eating much, you only need to get a small amount in, Petal couldn't get enough & I gave it 3 times a day, not needing to give every 3-4 hour feeds, which were exhausting me! It was about £25 for around 3 days worth. The Flagyl definitely helped though & she was on Zantac & Cisapride as well I believe. They can come through it, hang in there x
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It's not memory, we use it routinely in our exotics at work. Fab stuff.

http://www.lafebervet.com/lafeber-products/emeraid-herbivore/

Not sure where you can get it, but it's not prescription. Have a browse online. We struggled to get it in initially but it's a lifesaver for some of our sick patients. I most def wouldn't be without it in our birds and reptiles.

x
 
No problem about being too graphic, I had 6 weeks of piggy loose poops followed by full blown diarrhea so it doesn't faze me :) The lady was very good at Galen's Garden, she emailed me a few times with some very good advice too so may be worth asking her advice (Obviously alongside vet care/treatment) Is she on any antibiotics at the moment? If she isn't then I would get a fecal sample & get your vet to send it off to Mary at Chester Zoo, she does a very comprehensive fecal analysis, it includes a fecal float, tests for microbes, bacteria & parasites. Local places do not do the same in depth test. However as Pebble may have mentioned Giardia (Which could be a possibility) comes down the intestines in showers, so some samples may not show it in them & several may be needed. Chester Zoo will check for Giardia, Bordetella etc as routine, but you need to ask you vet to actually send the sample there rather than use their own facility. Once the sample is taken, then you could start the Flagyl xx
 
Well I gave her some gripe water an hour ago and some more now. Found her sitting in the shed nibbling hay! She is now on my lap tucking into pepper... She seems much brighter... Fingers v v tightly crossed. Will update on poops later... (Did I really just write that!) x
 
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