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Bloat + URI (In with emergency vet)

Olivitree

Olivitree

Junior Guinea Pig
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Location
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Hello all.
I've been having some real issues with one of my older lady piggies.
She's about 4 or 5 we're not 100% sure she was a rescue along with her sister.
Earlier this week we rushed her into an emergency appointment because she was pretty flat, wasn't using her left back leg, eating or drinking and had lost 200g.
The vet picked up she had a bloaty tummy then, but also a respiratory infection, sent us home with treatments for the respiratory issue (baytril and loxicom, probably not helping the bloat?) but nothing for the bloat, I did take her off veggies and put her on critical care and hay only, she wasn't really eating any veggies anyway. I picked up that she was making a hooting sound last month and took her in but the vet didn't find anything then in regards to her respiratory issues despite the noise but did say she was a little bloaty then but didn't do much about it.

Today I wasn't happy with how she was progressing, still not eating or drinking with out my assistance and not moving around so I took her back in.
This vet was worried about the bloat and her temperature being about 36, checked her tummy with an ultra sound, she does have cystic ovaries as well but the gas isn't near them so seemingly a separate issue.
So she's in an incubator with them now and they are putting her on motility drugs (I can't remember the names my brain is fogged) to try to get the gas to shift and moving all her medication onto injections instead so as not to upset her tummy more.
The vet said if it doesn't shift we'll have to consider putting her to sleep.

I just wanted to check here and see if anyone had any other ideas. This isn't my usual guinea pig savy vet as its an emergency vet today too and that always makes me a little doubtful on their guinea pig knowledge as I know piggies can be a bit specialist but she seemed more knowledgeable and with any luck my two preferred piggy savvy vets might be in as well, I'd hope they'd give advice too as the senior vets there but I'm still a worried if this is the right course or not.
But I'm just at a loss and feeling so miserable, I feel like I've failed my baby.
 
Sending healing vibes to your girl and hugs to you. You have not failed her, please don't think that. You are a loving caring owner who got your sick piggy to a vet for treatment when she needed it.
Sorry I can't comment on her treatment as I've not experienced this condition with any of my piggies. I just want to offer you support.
 
I've no experience here but is her sister in with her for company? Some vets will keep them in with a companion for comfort and encouragement..? I hope she can improve and hopefully someone with more experience will be along soon x
 
Thank you everyone for all your support. Still not heard anything yet, they said no news is good news but that doesn't stop me panicking about the potential phone call.

I should say her gut was moving ok poop wise when she was home, I was giving her massages to try to move the gas while she was here but she seemed to be pooping ok as long as she was eating, just very bloated tum. Poor girl has had it rough, been trying to sort out multitude of little issues going back and forth to the vet then they all became huge issues all at once poor baby.

@Free Ranger she doesn't have her companion no I wasn't expecting her to need to stay in, I'm not sure they'd want to keep them in such close quarters with her potential URI as well but I'm not sure though, I have no idea how big their incubators/heated kennels are for piggies.
 
She’s already been exposed to the URI. I’d ask them about taking her in when you speak to them.
 
Might be worth asking what they usually do the next time you are in contact. If she was in with her companion beforehand tho...
We understand that piggy is only there overnight or short-term but the piggies doesn't know that and might be feeling the separation 💕
 
As we've learned this year there's a difference in transmission in terms of ventilation and distance and these two have never been very close just tolerated each others existence and only really got near each other to grab food, but I will discuss it with them next time, forgot to when they called as I was in a bit of a fluster when the phone rang expecting the worst.

No change though, she's coming home and one of my usual vets has said I can continue with supportive care at home but outlook still very guarded as her temperature kept dropping and the bloat hasn't shifted. He thinks her leg issue could absolutely be the bloat pushing on nerves.
Loxicim, baytril, cystofam(sp?) to be on at home and syringe feed.

If I can keep her weight up I'm happy to see if I can resolve this if she's not too uncomfortable.

I've got plenty of ways to keep her warm, getting her respiratory infection sorted is meds related so that's planned for but the bloat is stumping me a little.
I've not had to deal with bloat this stubborn before in the past with other piggies a warm bath and massage has released the gas but it didn't get much moving when I tried this time and the meds didn't do much over night. I'm hoping a combination of things might work.

Any suggestions very welcome feeling pretty dubious of what I can achieve now but I want to try.
 
Not cystofam (similar name to what I had to give my cat do got confused) ill get the name shortly when they've given me the bottle. I assume it's the motility drug,
 
Ok so here’s the break down of what’s going on so far and how I’m trying to treat things.

Bloat still hasn’t really shifted, she’s not eating at all now other than what I’m feeding her but I’m feeding her 3 table spoons of the oxbow fine grind critical care over the course of the day as the package says(plus water between food syringes), so I think she’s not feeling hungry but I’ll continue to offer hay. She’s still pooping just fine although they are small but I assume that’s because of the bloat and also that she’s only eating when I feed her. Not sure if I should try to up the amount I’m feeding or stick to the package recommendations?
Potential URI I’m now questioning whether it’s a severe reaction to hay dust, I had moved her on to Timothy hay exclusively earlier this year as a test to see if she had less eye reaction to it than the meadow hay I gave her a bit of meadow last night to see if I could encourage her to eat and of course she slept in it and I woke up to her hooting up a storm this morning and sounding really rough on the chest. Looking at soaking her hay to reduce dust not sure hope I’m going to dry it so it isn’t soggy when I give it to her, could this be the over arching issue for her respiratory issues? We do believe that her eyes were playing up due to hay dust and the Timothy seemed better, we’ve been trying to sort that out for a year now, she gets swelling in the tissues under her eyelids, treating her with maxitrol eye drops for that, so could this be a full on hay dust/meadow hay allergy?

Treatments/care plan:
Baytril 0.8ml/day
Frusol 0.1ml/12 hours (this one was prescribed for another piggy but I suggested it to the vet and they said yep)
Loxicom 0.3ml/12 hours (vet said per day but on reading around the forum I have seen that typically experienced pig owners do it every 12 hours)
Cisapride 0.1ml/8 hours
Woodward’s gripe water 3ml ever 4 to 6 hours ish this one I haven’t discussed with the vet but saw that it was commonly used at that dosage (not sure what a few hours was supposed to be exactly so just spread it out evenly along side other meds) and seeings as it’s get better or PTS according to the vet and given her state of being I’d agree, I figured it likely wouldn’t hurt to try.
I have just got in some probiotic with vit C as I’m worried about nutrience she’s missing out on and her poops are kind of sticky and have a bit of a sticky mucus on which is a worry.
I’m making her poop soup from her buddy as well as I’ve read that’s useful for helping gut bacteria stay at healthy levels, trying to stager this so it’s at the furthest point from taking her next antibiotic
I have her on a snuggle safe heat pad (under a few layers of fleece) and also a large electric heat mat (under the whole cage), the last one doesn’t give out much heat but does help keep the over all temperature of her enclosure warmer, she sits on the heat pad mostly and I’m checking her regularly to make sure she doesn’t toast herself too much.
She’s getting regular gentle massages by hand, I have a vibrating massage Pillow on its way to me I expect to get it today or tomorrow.
The vet said to keep her separate from her buddy for the sake of poop count, it’s also easier to keep her warm and observed, but I am giving her regular meet ups with her buddy.


Still digging around for research but I feel I’m running out of options to try.
How long do I keep trying before we call it a day? I don’t know how long it can take to resolve bloat and I don’t want to give up on her but I also don’t want her to keep suffering unnecessarily if she isn’t going to get better. Poor love doesn’t want to move if she doesn’t have to and just lays there looking all bloaty and tired. I don’t think she wants to move because of her foot, I noticed a bit of swelling at the ankle so I’ll be calling the vet about that today but I suspect the loxicom is what they’d prescribe for it as it doesn’t seem like a bone issue just a soft tissue problem.

Feeling like I’m trying to pick apart a concrete wall with my bare hands at the moment everything seems to be solidly staying the same.
Very frustrating and sad and honestly I’m exhausted, I just wish I could see it budging a bit! :(
 
Olivitree said:
Ok so here’s the break down of what’s going on so far and how I’m trying to treat things.

Bloat still hasn’t really shifted, she’s not eating at all now other than what I’m feeding her but I’m feeding her 3 table spoons of the oxbow fine grind critical care over the course of the day as the package says(plus water between food syringes), so I think she’s not feeling hungry but I’ll continue to offer hay. She’s still pooping just fine although they are small but I assume that’s because of the bloat and also that she’s only eating when I feed her. Not sure if I should try to up the amount I’m feeding or stick to the package recommendations?
Potential URI I’m now questioning whether it’s a severe reaction to hay dust, I had moved her on to Timothy hay exclusively earlier this year as a test to see if she had less eye reaction to it than the meadow hay I gave her a bit of meadow last night to see if I could encourage her to eat and of course she slept in it and I woke up to her hooting up a storm this morning and sounding really rough on the chest. Looking at soaking her hay to reduce dust not sure hope I’m going to dry it so it isn’t soggy when I give it to her, could this be the over arching issue for her respiratory issues? We do believe that her eyes were playing up due to hay dust and the Timothy seemed better, we’ve been trying to sort that out for a year now, she gets swelling in the tissues under her eyelids, treating her with maxitrol eye drops for that, so could this be a full on hay dust/meadow hay allergy?

Treatments/care plan:
Baytril 0.8ml/day
Frusol 0.1ml/12 hours (this one was prescribed for another piggy but I suggested it to the vet and they said yep)
Loxicom 0.3ml/12 hours (vet said per day but on reading around the forum I have seen that typically experienced pig owners do it every 12 hours)
Cisapride 0.1ml/8 hours
Woodward’s gripe water 3ml ever 4 to 6 hours ish this one I haven’t discussed with the vet but saw that it was commonly used at that dosage (not sure what a few hours was supposed to be exactly so just spread it out evenly along side other meds) and seeings as it’s get better or PTS according to the vet and given her state of being I’d agree, I figured it likely wouldn’t hurt to try.
I have just got in some probiotic with vit C as I’m worried about nutrience she’s missing out on and her poops are kind of sticky and have a bit of a sticky mucus on which is a worry.
I’m making her poop soup from her buddy as well as I’ve read that’s useful for helping gut bacteria stay at healthy levels, trying to stager this so it’s at the furthest point from taking her next antibiotic
I have her on a snuggle safe heat pad (under a few layers of fleece) and also a large electric heat mat (under the whole cage), the last one doesn’t give out much heat but does help keep the over all temperature of her enclosure warmer, she sits on the heat pad mostly and I’m checking her regularly to make sure she doesn’t toast herself too much.
She’s getting regular gentle massages by hand, I have a vibrating massage Pillow on its way to me I expect to get it today or tomorrow.
The vet said to keep her separate from her buddy for the sake of poop count, it’s also easier to keep her warm and observed, but I am giving her regular meet ups with her buddy.


Still digging around for research but I feel I’m running out of options to try.
How long do I keep trying before we call it a day? I don’t know how long it can take to resolve bloat and I don’t want to give up on her but I also don’t want her to keep suffering unnecessarily if she isn’t going to get better. Poor love doesn’t want to move if she doesn’t have to and just lays there looking all bloaty and tired. I don’t think she wants to move because of her foot, I noticed a bit of swelling at the ankle so I’ll be calling the vet about that today but I suspect the loxicom is what they’d prescribe for it as it doesn’t seem like a bone issue just a soft tissue problem.

Feeling like I’m trying to pick apart a concrete wall with my bare hands at the moment everything seems to be solidly staying the same.
Very frustrating and sad and honestly I’m exhausted, I just wish I could see it budging a bit! :(
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BIG HUGS

I am ever so sorry. You and your vet are already doing all you can, and that is unfortunately all you can do.

Severe bloat is one of the nastiest, exhausting, most frustrating things you can come up against if you can't shift it. And one of the most devastating battles if you are unsuccessful, as I know my from own various encounters with it over the years, both with my own piggies and on this forum. It is still one of the things where there is only a very limited range of intervention against a potential killing problem. :(

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
(PS: I have also included information on how to spot the tell tale signs when your piggy is losing their battle and you will need to think about cutting short any further suffering in this guide link. It is the scenario that we all dread and don't wish to ever see any piggy and their owner in. But it can help both you and your piggy to avoid any unnecessary distress if you know where the line of no return lies; that is why I am including it in this post, as much as I'd rather not.)
 
I have just had a chance to read your thread. I am so sorry that you are battling an invisible enemy. I agree with Wiebke that you really are doing all that you can. It's not clear if the bloat has arisen as a result of the URI but having both are being treated. There really isn't much more I can suggest over and above what you are already doing for your piggy. You are already syringe feeding, massaging and giving all the right meds, and you must be exhausted by now. Having battled severe bloat in piggies in the past, I do agree with Wiebke there does come a point where you have to decide how much longer you can continue like this. It's heartbreaking. You end up willing them to show some improvement. I hope that she turns a corner soon for you.
 
Wiebke said:
BIG HUGS

I am ever so sorry. You and your vet are already doing all you can, and that is unfortunately all you can do.

Severe bloat is one of the nastiest, exhausting, most frustrating things you can come up against if you can't shift it. And one of the most devastating battles if you are unsuccessful, as I know my from own various encounters with it over the years, both with my own piggies and on this forum. It is still one of the things where there is only a very limited range of intervention against a potential killing problem. :(

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
(PS: I have also included information on how to spot the tell tale signs when your piggy is losing their battle and you will need to think about cutting short any further suffering in this guide link. It is the scenario that we all dread and don't wish to ever see any piggy and their owner in. But it can help both you and your piggy to avoid any unnecessary distress if you know where the line of no return lies; that is why I am including it in this post, as much as I'd rather not.)
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Thank you for this.
I was starting to realise there wasn’t anything more we could do, going to see if the massage cushion helps when it turns up tomorrow the. I think I am kind of out of other options.
I have a call back due from the vet today, I wanted to discuss the emeprid/metoclopramide as I saw that you included that in your post earlier today,is that likely to make any difference or is it a bit futile to just keep applying more drugs? Should the Cisapride be able to shift this on I own if it’s possible to shift it at all?
 
I'm afraid I can't answer that question. Mine have usually had metoclopramide when they have had a severe attack of bloat, but only once the vet was satisfied that there wasn't an obstruction. You could also ask about increasing the dosage of metacam/loxicom to see if pain is playing a part in this. (Ralph - 1.1kg had an acute bloating episode and was given 1 ml of dog metacam in the first 24 - 48 hours to help deal with pain)
 
Olivitree said:
Thank you for this.
I was starting to realise there wasn’t anything more we could do, going to see if the massage cushion helps when it turns up tomorrow the. I think I am kind of out of other options.
I have a call back due from the vet today, I wanted to discuss the emeprid/metoclopramide as I saw that you included that in your post earlier today,is that likely to make any difference or is it a bit futile to just keep applying more drugs? Should the Cisapride be able to shift this on I own if it’s possible to shift it at all?
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I am very sorry; this is one of the scenarios where you basically throw the kitchen sink at it and pray to heaven.

It is worth trying metoclopramide/emeprid as it works on a different part of the gut (it basically empties the bowel). You often need a combination of all gut meds. Unfortunately, the most effective zantac/ranitidine had to be sadly taken off the market a few years ago but sometimes, BUT even that has not been enough for some piggies of mine so please do not beat yourself up over this. :(

I would recommend that you max out the loxicom/metacam and go up to 0.4 ml dog metacam or 1.2 ml cat metacam for a 1 kg piggy every 12 hours. Severe bloat is very painful.

If you have a car, you can take your piggies on little journey. The vibrations during may help and do the job a massage pad can - but again, it is not a guaranteed measure. Nothing with this horrible illness is. Severe bloat usually pounces out of the blue.

All you can ever do is try your best. I tend to liken severe bloat to a tsunami - it comes in big waves and is pretty unstoppable. All you can do is ride the waves as much as possible and hope that your piggy comes out alive at by the end. But be alert and honest in all the fear and exhaustion to spot when your beloved one has reached the limit of what they are able to fight and endure.

Also keep telling yourself that you are up against a force of nature and that even if you had every potential measure and medication at your finger tips it would not necessarily change the outcome. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT and you are not failing in her in any way by doing everything you can and trying your best. You are not the Almighty.
PS: Gripe water can be more effective than simethicone with mild bloat but it doesn't work against severe bloat.

HUGS
 
VickiA said:
I'm afraid I can't answer that question. Mine have usually had metoclopramide when they have had a severe attack of bloat, but only once the vet was satisfied that there wasn't an obstruction. You could also ask about increasing the dosage of metacam/loxicom to see if pain is playing a part in this. (Ralph - 1.1kg had an acute bloating episode and was given 1 ml of dog metacam in the first 24 - 48 hours to help deal with pain)
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Thank you I will pose the question to the vet when they call me, trouble is it’s pretty random which vet I get and I think they are fairly tentative with their use of loxicom usually but I shall give it a go, she’s not making any pained sounds but I can’t imagine she’s comfortable and let leg issue is clearly uncomfable enough for her not to want to use it, or it’s just the bloat reducing her use of it with pressure on her nerves but it’s not a happy leggy. So I’ll definitely ask!
Wiebke said:
I am very sorry; this is one of the scenarios where you basically throw the kitchen sink at and pray.

It is worth trying metoclopramide/emeprid as it works on a different part of the gut (it basically empties the bowel). You often need a combination of all gut meds. Unfortunately, the most effective zantac/ranitidine had to be sadly taken off the market a few years ago but sometimes, BUT even that has not been enough for some piggies of mine so please do not beat yourself up over this.

I would recommend that you max out the loxicom/metacam and go up to 0.4 ml dog metacam or 1.2 ml cat metacam for a 1 kg piggy every 12 hours. Severe bloat is very painful.

If you have a car, you can take your piggies on little journey. The vibrations during may help and do the job a massage pad can - but again, it is not a guaranteed measure. Nothing with this horrible illness is.

But please be aware that all you can ever do with severe bloat is try your best. I tend to liken severe bloat to a tsunami - it comes in waves and is pretty unstoppable. All you can do is ride them as much as possible and hope that your piggy comes out alive at by the end. But be alert and honest in all the fear and exhaustion to spot when your beloved one has reached the limit of what they can fight.

Also keep telling yourself that you are up against a force of nature and that even if you had every potential measure and medication at your finger tips, it would not necessarily change the outcome. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT and you are not failing in her in any way by doing everything you can.
PS: Gripe water can be more effective than simethicone with mild bloat but it doesn't work against severe bloat.

HUGS
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Ok, I’m keeping my hopes guarded and I can see it’s a really dire and stubborn illness, I’m trying hard not to blame myself but hard not to paw over all the things that happened leading up to this to try to identify the cause, but she has so much going on at once it’sto pick apart events.

I’ll ask the vet about hitting it with both meds at once. Cost and effort isn’t an issue here so I’m happy to throw everything I can at this as long as she’s not suffering too much if it’s an impossible task. The car is a bit tricky she’s quite cold and doesn’t seem to keep her temperature up, very cold in this part of the uk at the mo not sure if the snuggle safe alone would cut it in this weather. I’ve got an electric toothbrush though I’ll get that on her again.

Fingers crossed I can pull her out of this poor beb.

Thank you all, really helps that you are all here ready with advice and support.


She’s having a snuggle with her sister at the moment. Sadly her sister is a pain in the arse and keeps randomly nibbling her feet and ears but that aside they seem to be enjoying each others company when she’s not being a cow bag, why is she nipping her like that I can’t work out what purpose is. :/ I interrupt her doing it then she just snuggles up with her again.
Her sister has always been a bit of a trouble maker.
 
Sounds like a bit of power grooming to me. If your girl is poorly, then her sister is making a bit of a power play. It's normal for piggy behaviour but upsetting for us.
As for the metacam/loxicom, when you are chucking the kitchen sink at something like this, you may have to make your own decision. An exotics vet will usually give a much higher dosage of metacam as they know that piggies metabolise it so quickly that if given for a relatively short period (say several days only) it is unlikely to cause injury to the kidneys.
 
Olivitree said:
Thank you I will pose the question to the vet when they call me, trouble is it’s pretty random which vet I get and I think they are fairly tentative with their use of loxicom usually but I shall give it a go, she’s not making any pained sounds but I can’t imagine she’s comfortable and let leg issue is clearly uncomfable enough for her not to want to use it, or it’s just the bloat reducing her use of it with pressure on her nerves but it’s not a happy leggy. So I’ll definitely ask!

Ok, I’m keeping my hopes guarded and I can see it’s a really dire and stubborn illness, I’m trying hard not to blame myself but hard not to paw over all the things that happened leading up to this to try to identify the cause, but she has so much going on at once it’sto pick apart events.

I’ll ask the vet about hitting it with both meds at once. Cost and effort isn’t an issue here so I’m happy to throw everything I can at this as long as she’s not suffering too much if it’s an impossible task. The car is a bit tricky she’s quite cold and doesn’t seem to keep her temperature up, very cold in this part of the uk at the mo not sure if the snuggle safe alone would cut it in this weather. I’ve got an electric toothbrush though I’ll get that on her again.

Fingers crossed I can pull her out of this poor beb.

Thank you all, really helps that you are all here ready with advice and support.


She’s having a snuggle with her sister at the moment. Sadly her sister is a pain in the arse and keeps randomly nibbling her feet and ears but that aside they seem to be enjoying each others company when she’s not being a cow bag, why is she nipping her like that I can’t work out what purpose is. :/ I interrupt her doing it then she just snuggles up with her again.
Her sister has always been a bit of a trouble maker.
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Severe bloat usually hits right out of the blue. A certain amount of frailness can contribute to the severity of it but there is no common denominator as to what exactly causes it and why some piggies are unable to shift it.

Not your fault in any way. It's not something that any of us would ever choose but that most longer term owners come up against sooner or later. :(

The random nipping is likely the sister's taking charge and her encouragement for the ill one to get up and keep going. Ear nipping/nibbling is the mildest form of dominance behaviours, as is power grooming. It is likely an expression of her own worries and her attempt to help her ill sister but also an assertion that she is taking over the lead in view of her sister not being able to. ;)
 
I was assuming it was a dominance thing, just surprised me as she’s always been the dominant piggy anyway, but I guess they haven’t seen each other as much as usual over the past few days so I guess it makes sense she would re-affirm it.
I’ll see what the vet says but if they don’t agree with more pain killers I’ll have a look into the suggested dosages. It’s a bit spooky I was never good at working out mg/kg to ml stuff and her weight is pretty hard to work out at the moment, she’s quite skinny in body condition, clearly feel her bones and her face has gone quite gaunt but still weighing about 1kg, she did weight 1.2, so I don’t know how accurate weight is now and how much is just slow gut movement and resultant food/gas build up.
I’ve encountered a fair few very mild bloats, usually with no pooing, quick warm bath and a massage has usually resolved them in past piggies, with a sudden pile of poops and lots of bubbles. this is the first time I have faced a stubborn one like this, where her gut is still moving and poops are still moving. (Albeit very strange ones)
 
Heyo folks. An update.
She’s now on more pain killers, and now on the emeprid 0.5ml twice a day along with everything else.
Still not much change in her bloat but the massage pillow is coming soon so hopefully that will help. (And give my hands a rest!)

I have been doing further research and looking into human treatments of bloat. I found some discussion about activated charcoal(something do with. Poreousnes of it trapping and passing the gas) + simethicone being effective, has anyone heard of this combined method? Would both of these be ok to try with Pops?

really trying this "and the kitchen sink" method. Probably going to give her until the end of this week to show improvement or I think I will be pushing the limits of how fair it is to keep going.
 
Simethicone isn’t recommended in piggies as it gathers the gas into one large bubble, making it very painful for them to expel. Hope she starts feeling better soon.
 
Siikibam said:
Simethicone isn’t recommended in piggies as it gathers the gas into one large bubble, making it very painful for them to expel. Hope she starts feeling better soon.
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Oh, really?D: bummer.
My reading said it breaks up the bubbles, is anti foaming and reduces the surface tension of gas bubbles, strange, looking again the nhs it says the opposite and says that it does bring together bubbles. Finding lots of contrary information now. T-T
Why is nothing simple. Thank you for warning me!

I can’t seem to find anything bad in regards to the activated carbon so maybe that would be worth a go if it theoretically absorbs the gas. Seems to potentially cause constipation so lots of water to go with it! Although her poops are quite soft anyway, not quite liquid but they’re not really a poop shape, I assume her guts struggling with all the meds even if I am chucking probiotic and poop from another pig in.
Vibration pad not had much effect yet but she was actually eating hay so that’s something. Just a pain her gas hasn’t shifted anywhere yet.
 
Guinea pigs can’t be constipated. You have to bear in mind that they have different physiology so I wouldn’t transfer human treatments to them. I wouldn’t feed charcoal. Please don’t try anything without speaking to your vet.
 
I've seen a post in the past about how the human treatment which gathers the gas into one large bubble to pass is good for our omnivore guts which have thick walls, but it said that piggy fibre-vore guts are long and thin so they can't 'push' the bubble along to expel it so easily. Charcoal for this I've not heard of but another poster in a different country took their piggy to the vet after it had eaten some houseplant and they had given charcoal on a guess. Gagging pig Piggy lived, thanks to the care of his owners and vet, but it was a hard week for them all, and I know when mine have eaten something they shouldn't the effect tends to be over within 24 hours so I suspect the protracted difficulties were due to the charcoal. It's not something I would try... your girl is much older than that little pig.

Is grass safe for bloat piggies? Mine go nuts for it and when someone has been very poorly and off their food they've still wanted to eat fresh grass... they get it all year round (hubs currently out on a grass hunt!) I kind of trust to nature a bit - there are bacteria on things like grass that we get from outdoors and I think about how people say a diverse gut microflora is generally a good thing. But I've no bloat experience at all so don't know if it's contraindicated. Fingers crossed for your situation. it's very tough when an illness carries on and on. My lovely girl Ivy was syringe fed for over a month before she finally deteriorated - she didn't have any obvious pain or discomfort and we could only guess as to what was wrong. I hope you have a better outcome x
 
So weird things going on this morning, no idea what happened but she started using her bad leg again, still a little tentatively but her ankle is still swollen so I guess it’s still a little sore but she’s actually putting weight on it and using it to move herself around, I mean, she’s actually moving regularly which is incredibly different to yesterday, she also started eating hay more as well.
A few things that happened, I only saw about not using the charcoal with out a vet chat today and she has had some, my research on that came from a guinea pig rescue who uses it to treat diarrhoea and I had their dilution ratios to work from. That was last night though and I’ll avoid giving her more until I’ve discussed it with my vet.
However she’s also not had any medication bar cisapride at 1am and 9am, her other meds were at 11pm, I also haven’t fed her any critical care yet she had her full days worth by about 11pm as well. She’s due her full whack of meds but I’m worried about upsetting her

I’m now sat here stuck because I’m scared to change anything if something I have been giving her is the cause.
Her tummy is still a bit hollow sounding but MUCH softer than it was and not sticking out at a wild angle on one side

I have a vet call due back at some point, I’ve asked for my favourite vet who has a lot of experience with guinea pigs and rabbits but he’s always so hard to get hold of these days.

I don’t know what to do right now, normally I’d be feeding her critical care and chucking about 4 different medications into her right now but if all those things were the problem, or one of them, I don’t want to make her worse again. But I do think I still have a while to go on her antibiotics course yet so I kind of have to continue with that at the very least.

@Free Ranger just grass and no critical care was going to be my last ditch attempt to solve this cause surely piggies in the wild don’t get this kind of problem, but piggies in the wild also have access to many more sources of harsh fibre and less overly sweet sugary greens and many years of selected breeding by humans and in many cases, inbreeding, our domestic guinea pigs have been bred for looks not survivability, but I think everyone has said avoid greens and veg entirely with bloat in most advice. So that was kind of going to just be letting her enjoy herself before the end and hope something good comes out of it... but now I have no idea what to do now she;s showing improvement and I don’t know why.
 
Oh gosh, sometimes a little bit of hope can be quite difficult to handle x
I hope she's continuing to try and move today. I know what you mean about the evolutionary aspect as opposed to the selective breeding aspect but nature is pretty harsh and I can quite believe that the older pig (well, 3 to 4 plus) might pass from bloat 'in the wild' as by this time they should have produced plenty of progeny to pass their genes on to! Fingers crossed it was actually the dilution of charcoal that has benefitted her... it would be wonderful if bloat piggies had something more to try 💕
 
I am by no means an expert but just wanted to say in humans activated charcoal can stop other medicines from working - I only know as I’m on various meds and have to avoid charcoal

I know nothing about how it works in guinea pigs though so go with your vet’s advice not mine!

Really wishing your poor piggie all the best, you’re doing so well in a nightmare situation. Fingers and paws crossed here
 
Free Ranger said:
Oh gosh, sometimes a little bit of hope can be quite difficult to handle x
I hope she's continuing to try and move today. I know what you mean about the evolutionary aspect as opposed to the selective breeding aspect but nature is pretty harsh and I can quite believe that the older pig (well, 3 to 4 plus) might pass from bloat 'in the wild' as by this time they should have produced plenty of progeny to pass their genes on to! Fingers crossed it was actually the dilution of charcoal that has benefitted her... it would be wonderful if bloat piggies had something more to try 💕
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Nature is very harsh, you don't need to live long as long as you can breed fast!
Well at the very least the activated charcoal it didn't seem to do her any harm and I have heard it is good for dealing with poisons and toxicity and hardening up overly soft poops, so it may well have uses.
JaseChase said:
I am by no means an expert but just wanted to say in humans activated charcoal can stop other medicines from working - I only know as I’m on various meds and have to avoid charcoal

I know nothing about how it works in guinea pigs though so go with your vet’s advice not mine!

Really wishing your poor piggie all the best, you’re doing so well in a nightmare situation. Fingers and paws crossed here
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Yes I did read this and made sure to leave a large gap between medication and the activated charcoal although I don't really know how long most of the meds sit in the system so, mistakes there on my part for sure.
Thank you very much for your wishes!



Ok so, Pops is doing pretty well, she's still fairly bloated but better than she was and she's using her leg a bit more.
I spoke to my favourite vet yesterday(Jason Burgess, excellent vet for piggies and buns would recommend to anyone in the Gloucester area) completely forgot to talk about the activated charcoal and see if it was actually a viable thing or not because he wasn't actually as worried by the bloat as he was by her leg, which I honestly was pretty concerned about too as a leg shouldn't just be floppy! Took her in today, he examined and xrayed her.
She's does have cystic ovaries but not large enough for him to see them causing the bloat, the bloat is in her stomach so I came home with more emiprid as it focuses on the stomach and will hopefully keep that moving.
However, her leg, the bone density was pretty poor, aerobubbly was the description, and I could see it too on the xray he brought down to me and she has a micro fracture.
He thinks this could either be due to vitamin D deficiency as she's an indoor piggy, possibly some vitamin C problems and possibly Calcium as well, or worst case scenario, a kind of bone cancer I forget the name of. If its the latter then its game over basically, so we're treating it as if its a deficiency issue, I'm got in some vitamin C supplement, he didn't suggest any extra calcium but Pops has been prescribed an hour daily outside in the sun(for all our piggies in fact).
The bloat he suspects is down to her not standing up and moving around, so she's squashing her tummy all the time and preventing everything moving on.

I have a head ache and my bank account hurts (although he only charged me for a basic consult today because he's lovely) but I'm glad to finally have some kind of direction to move in and that I took the time to talk to Jason while the other vets were basically saying the end is near and not much else.
 
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