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Bloat and Bunny Hopping

L

Lg2

Junior Guinea Pig
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Looking for some advice please. My guinea pig has a bad case of bloat. We’ve been massaging, giving critical care, we’ve done one dose of gripe water and a small amount of pro C probiotic last night. We’ve just been to the vets and he said that her gut is still making sounds and he was confident with the prescription of metacam and emeprid she would be ok. However, since this morning and now after the vets she is bunny hopping around. She isn’t really moving much but when we get her out for a feed and put her back she almost hops and can’t really walk properly at all. I think it may be due to the pain of the bloat but I’m hoping some of you can advise.

Note: she had an injection of the two medications about an hour ago.

She also hasn’t pooped in like 8/10 hours really
 
I am no expert at all but firstly if you're concerned I would get back to the vet asap bloat can affect them very badly with terrible consequences. Are you weighing her each morning?
💐
 
When you say she hasn't really pooped for that long are there any poops at all?
 
There’s been some poops since I posted this but maybe like 5, they’re quite soft but she’s eating most of them before I can get to them
 
CTWC said:
I am no expert at all but firstly if you're concerned I would get back to the vet asap bloat can affect them very badly with terrible consequences. Are you weighing her each morning?
💐
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She weighs almost the exact same as Sunday and that was before the bloat started. I’m not sure how long the emeprid takes to work so don’t know how long I should leave it for
 
CTWC said:
When you say she hasn't really pooped for that long are there any poops at all?
Click to expand...
There’s been some poops since I posted this but maybe like 5, they’re quite soft but she’s eating most of them before I can get to them
 
I’m sorry to hear this

I’m glad she has emeprid - gripe water and massage not cut through an acute case of bloat.

Emeprid takes a couple of hours to kick in but will take several days to really be working - so this is why it’s important she continues to be given it at home.
Have you been given the Metacam and emeprid to give her at home? Bloat is very painful.
Make sure you weigh her every morning and syringe feed ideally at least 60ml of critical care in each 24 hour period - the weight checks are the guide as to whether she is getting enough syringe feed. If she is very ill you may only manage 40ml which is fine but no less than that.
Remove all veg (if you havent already).
If you feel she is deteriorating then definitely go back/speak to your vet
I hope she is ok
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m sorry to hear this

I’m glad she has emeprid - gripe water and massage not cut through an acute case of bloat.

Emeprid takes a couple of hours to kick in but will take several days to really be working - so this is why it’s important she continues to be given it at home.
Have you been given the Metacam and emeprid to give her at home? Bloat is very painful.
Make sure you weigh her every morning and syringe feed ideally at least 60ml of critical care in each 24 hour period - the weight checks are the guide as to whether she is getting enough syringe feed. If she is very ill you may only manage 40ml which is fine but no less than that.
Remove all veg (if you havent already).
If you feel she is deteriorating then definitely go back/speak to your vet
I hope she is ok
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
Click to expand...
Yes we have both to give at home. Is it worth me continuing with the gripe water? I’d like to see her moving more as she’s staying pretty still but not sure how best to achieve this
 
You can continue to give the gripe water alongside the prescribed meds. (The gripe water can help as a support but alone it won’t help a severe bloat case)

You can put her out for some floor time as it can help get the gas moving, but you may find she is reluctant if she is still in pain.

The guide I linked in explains everything more fully
 
Piggies&buns said:
You can continue to give the gripe water alongside the prescribed meds. (The gripe water can help as a support but alone it won’t help a severe bloat case)

You can put her out for some floor time as it can help get the gas moving, but you may find she is reluctant if she is still in pain.

The guide I linked in explains everything more fully
Click to expand...
Thank you so much. The guides are great but I still doubt if I’m doing stuff right so you’ve been very helpful. Currently giving her a massage after some critical care but I will try to get her to move about on the floor
 
Lg2 said:
Thank you so much. The guides are great but I still doubt if I’m doing stuff right so you’ve been very helpful. Currently giving her a massage after some critical care but I will try to get her to move about on the floor
Click to expand...
Piggies&buns said:
You can continue to give the gripe water alongside the prescribed meds. (The gripe water can help as a support but alone it won’t help a severe bloat case)

You can put her out for some floor time as it can help get the gas moving, but you may find she is reluctant if she is still in pain.

The guide I linked in explains everything more fully
Click to expand...
She is still bunny hopping instead of walking so I’m not sure she will move much for floor time but I’ll try
 
She may be feeling too unwell to move at the moment - don’t let being out of the cage stress her, give her a few minutes on the floor and if she doesn’t want to move then I’d put her back in where she is comfortable
Do check with your vet if you are concerned she is getting worse
 
Piggies&buns said:
How is she this morning?
Click to expand...
Thank you for checking! Much brighter. She’s eating on her own and can walk now (not totally normally but it’s getting better by the hour). It’s not perfect and there’s still some gas in there but she is passing poops (they aren’t the most uniform and a bit sticky) and grunting happily as she moves around to get hay. We will keep going with the medicine and the massaging but we’re holding back on the critical care as she’s been happily munching all day. We haven’t seen her drinking anything but she has had some water via critical care earlier today and her medicine/gripe water
 
I’m glad she is brighter.
Make sure you continue to weigh her every morning as that is the only way to know she is definitely eating enough hay. Stopping critical care too soon can cause issues. Bloat can come in waves so it can return, particularly if she doesn’t eat enough hay.
Don’t give her veggies again until she is fully recovered and poops are normal. When you do reintroduce veg, start slowly - start with one sprig of herb a day (it’s best to start with herbs as they are milder on the digestion) and then if she is ok with that for a day, add in another, then the next day add in one small piece of lettuce, then the next day add in something else etc.
Fingers crossed she is now on the road to recovery
 
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