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Bereaved Piggy Losing Weight

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AdamFrench

AdamFrench

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi,

We lost one of your sows on Tuesday and the remaining one hasn't responded very well.

She was already in for a scan which highlighted a thickened uterus wall the day after we lost Teri. She never saw Teris body as she was PTS at the vets. She was ok for the first couple of days and now refusing to eat. She lost 45g over 3-4 days and we are now topping up with syringe feeding. We are headed to the rescue today to find her a partner but I am just after some advice.

She is eating some hay and she is pooing (sometimes a lot, sometimes very little), she has no interest in veggies or water but still munches grass but don't want to over do the grass as it is a bad season.

She's been in this slump for almost 4 days now. Could this still be bereavement? Or could this be to do with the uterus wall problem?

She is currently on baytril as the vet thinks she may have an infection which is causing the thickened wall
 
P.s. She's reluctantly only eating with us and sometimes that doesn't work. She never seems to eat when she's alone
 
I know you've have had a lot of bad luck, lately, but I would urgently get a friend for her, she is already showing signs of depression. With a sow I'm pretty certain a friend, would bond. If she stops eating totally, you must step in with syringe feeding or her gut will shut down.
 
Tagging @Wiebke and @furryfriends (TEAS) for advice on this.
In the meantime I would definitely do some research and contact rescues to explain the situation. It could be her uterus, it could be her grief and I am in no position to tell. Is it safe to assume that the thickening of the uterus cannot be caused by anything contagious?
:hug:
 
Critter said:
Tagging @Wiebke and @furryfriends (TEAS) for advice on this.
In the meantime I would definitely do some research and contact rescues to explain the situation. It could be her uterus, it could be her grief and I am in no position to tell. Is it safe to assume that the thickening of the uterus cannot be caused by anything contagious?
:hug:
Click to expand...

The vets aren't typically sure what it is but when I asked about contagious illnessss they said it wasn't.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
What were the symptoms that resulted in her needing a scan? Has the appetite only reduced since being on the baytril?
Click to expand...

She had white crust on her bottom, so we stopped sources of calcium and the symptoms continued. She was on a 10 day course of baytril 0.2ml once a day and after a few days the symptoms stopped. They then returned at the end of the course. The vet has increased the duration. We've had no problems with her eating until the loss of her companion
 
Sorry for your loss. Its great that you are getting her a friend. Hope all goes well and that they take to each other.
 
AdamFrench said:
Hi,

We lost one of your sows on Tuesday and the remaining one hasn't responded very well.

She was already in for a scan which highlighted a thickened uterus wall the day after we lost Teri. She never saw Teris body as she was PTS at the vets. She was ok for the first couple of days and now refusing to eat. She lost 45g over 3-4 days and we are now topping up with syringe feeding. We are headed to the rescue today to find her a partner but I am just after some advice.

She is eating some hay and she is pooing (sometimes a lot, sometimes very little), she has no interest in veggies or water but still munches grass but don't want to over do the grass as it is a bad season.

She's been in this slump for almost 4 days now. Could this still be bereavement? Or could this be to do with the uterus wall problem?

She is currently on baytril as the vet thinks she may have an infection which is causing the thickened wall
Click to expand...


HUGS!

All the best for today! I hope that finding a new friend will perk your poorly girl up a lot! 4 days of being in deep mourning, withdrawn and without much appetite is about par for the course. It is always a worrying time for any loving owner.

Baytril can be an appetite dampener or even killer. Please give a pinch of probioticseither 1-2 hours before or after the antibiotic.

It is always very difficult to work out what is normal grieving and what is an already existing health issue when a piggy loses their companion; the two influence each other, and the stress of the loss can make any health problems worse or bring any underlying ones to the fore.

You are doing the right thing, so take heart from that. As you are answering the one question today (fingers crossed that she will be happy again!) you should then be able to answer the second one in a few days. If the slow weight loss continues, then it is down to her health. However, as things stand, the weight loss is not yet dramatic; it is still in the range of keeping a eye on it.
 
Hi,

Once again I am after advice..

We have taken our bereaved GP to a rescue for bonding today to find her a companion as she isn't dealing very well with being alone. We therefore feel it is an urgent matter to get her partnered up. However, as we witnessed today she is not very open to new friends. She was very aggressive and unwilling to speak to anyone.

We are growing concerned that she will not bond with anyone, especially when it feels time is of the essence.

Does anyone have any advice of a solo aggressive 12 month old female unwilling to bond
 
@Wiebke

How old were the piggies you were trying?
 
AdamFrench said:
Hi,

Once again I am after advice..

We have taken our bereaved GP to a rescue for bonding today to find her a companion as she isn't dealing very well with being alone. We therefore feel it is an urgent matter to get her partnered up. However, as we witnessed today she is not very open to new friends. She was very aggressive and unwilling to speak to anyone.

We are growing concerned that she will not bond with anyone, especially when it feels time is of the essence.

Does anyone have any advice of a solo aggressive 12 month old female unwilling to bond
Click to expand...

Your girl is not aggressive, but fear-aggressive because she feels very much out of her depth. Would it be possible to look for a) a guinea pig that is younger and submissive (can be sow or neutered boar) and b) give the two some time to get to know each other through the bars before you do intros. The latter is usually enough to prevent loneliness.
Have a read through this behaviour guide here to understand what is happening.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
 
Wiebke said:
HUGS!

All the best for today! I hope that finding a new friend will perk your poorly girl up a lot! 4 days of being in deep mourning, withdrawn and without much appetite is about par for the course. It is always a worrying time for any loving owner.

Baytril can be an appetite dampener or even killer. Please give a pinch of probioticseither 1-2 hours before or after the antibiotic.

It is always very difficult to work out what is normal grieving and what is an already existing health issue when a piggy loses their companion; the two influence each other, and the stress of the loss can make any health problems worse or bring any underlying ones to the fore.

You are doing the right thing, so take heart from that. As you are answering the one question today (fingers crossed that she will be happy again!) you should then be able to answer the second one in a few days. If the slow weight loss continues, then it is down to her health. However, as things stand, the weight loss is not yet dramatic; it is still in the range of keeping a eye on it.
Click to expand...

She still is not herself but is happy munching veggies from my hand when she's with me. However, she has also not had baytril since 6am this morning so I'm now wondering if its something to do with that. I will be speaking with the vet tomorrow for another antibiotic. Is it completely out of the question to skip her antibiotic for tonight and her morning dose tomorrow to see if it helps. her course is supposed to be 28 days, 2x 0.2ml per day, were only on day 4
 
I'm sorry her bonding didn't work with our piggies this afternoon. She waseems just not wanting to trust them and teeth chattering would have led to a fight if they hadn't been separated.

I would suggest you phone your vet tomorrow and ask for some Cisapride. This will help her gut against the harshness of the Baytril which is good but does affect some piggies. Our vet now always prescribes Cisapride alongside Baytril & I would definitely recommend that everyone being prescribed Baytril should ask for Cisapride if it hasn't been prescribed.

I hope you do get her right and think that bonding with an under 3 months old female will be the best course as she won't feel threatened as she was will older piggies.
 
Stewybus said:
I'm sorry her bonding didn't work with our piggies this afternoon. She waseems just not wanting to trust them and teeth chattering would have led to a fight if they hadn't been separated.

I would suggest you phone your vet tomorrow and ask for some Cisapride. This will help her gut against the harshness of the Baytril which is good but does affect some piggies. Our vet now always prescribes Cisapride alongside Baytril & I would definitely recommend that everyone being prescribed Baytril should ask for Cisapride if it hasn't been prescribed.

I hope you do get her right and think that bonding with an under 3 months old female will be the best course as she won't feel threatened as she was will older piggies.
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to try - we will do everything we can to get her sorted.

I will definitely be on to them tomorrow because she seems to be eating ok (not completely normal) now but she hasn't had her second daily dose of Baytril yet.

Thanks again!
 
I have merged your two threads, @AdamFrench and @Stewybus, so we can keep the whole topic together and not discuss it parallel in two two thrads.

See my answer to your bonding issues above - it mirrors Stewy's observation and plans.

What your girl needs is time to get her bearings to lose her fear of strangers and ideally a piggy that cannot challenge her for dominance.
The reaction is not at all uncommon in piggies that have lost their social and territorial reference.
 
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