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Bloody Diarrhea In Pig On Antibiotics - Home Care Suggestions?

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Rikki

Rikki

Junior Guinea Pig
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I have a vet appointment in 21 hours, which is a LONG time for a very sick guinea pig to wait so any suggestions of what I can do at home to get her through the night would be VERY appreciated.

She's been on antibiotics for a suspected UTI since last Thursday after I found blood in her cage. She's been pretty much fine up until this morning, the antibiotics seemed to be working and she stopped squeaking in pain when toileting. This morning though I noticed more blood, and a lot more of it than before. For the last 6 hours she's had blood / diarrhea / bloody diarrhea and is just curled up in her house asleep, occasionally waking up to try to toilet (straining etc but not much squeaking), more blood etc, then sleep again. I've separated her from my other pig (cage got sooo messy) and given her lots of hay but she isn't interested. She would probably eat cucumber but most of the internet seems to think that veggies are off limits for a diarrhea'y pig.
I've read that a bit of a poop from a healthy guinea is good but does anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to stop giving her the antibiotics.

ANY advice at all asap would be very good; the internet is absolutely useless re:guineas.
 
:agr: with @Adelle.
Really try to see if you can get her seen asap by a vet.

But you should also start to syringe feed.
There is an excellent guide here;

Caring for an ill Guinea Pig

Plus some other good information on caring for an ill piggy in general.
I hope she feels better soon :hug:
 
There's only 1 vet qualified to treat guinea pigs in my whole region (I'm in Finland; pigs aren't really popular pets here!) so taking her in as an emergency is a bit pointless as that vet won't be there (Hence having to wait until tomorrow :/ )

Thanks for the guide, much more useful than anything I've managed to find! I did read that pellets weren't good though, to stick to hay and water?
 
Rikki said:
I have a vet appointment in 21 hours, which is a LONG time for a very sick guinea pig to wait so any suggestions of what I can do at home to get her through the night would be VERY appreciated.

She's been on antibiotics for a suspected UTI since last Thursday after I found blood in her cage. She's been pretty much fine up until this morning, the antibiotics seemed to be working and she stopped squeaking in pain when toileting. This morning though I noticed more blood, and a lot more of it than before. For the last 6 hours she's had blood / diarrhea / bloody diarrhea and is just curled up in her house asleep, occasionally waking up to try to toilet (straining etc but not much squeaking), more blood etc, then sleep again. I've separated her from my other pig (cage got sooo messy) and given her lots of hay but she isn't interested. She would probably eat cucumber but most of the internet seems to think that veggies are off limits for a diarrhea'y pig.
I've read that a bit of a poop from a healthy guinea is good but does anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to stop giving her the antibiotics.

ANY advice at all asap would be very good; the internet is absolutely useless re:guineas.
Click to expand...

Please have her seen as an emergency asap! Ask for a scan to see whether she has got a stone in the bladder or urethra, a womb or ovarian cyst issue. Always contact your vet promptly and ask for a change of antibiotic if your guinea pig develops diarrhea/loss of appetite as a bad reaction to it.

You also need to syringe feed and water as soon as a guinea pig is off its food. Do not feed fresh food with a guinea pig with diarrhea.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
Wiebke said:
Please have her seen as an emergency asap! Ask for a scan to see whether she has got a stone in the bladder or urethra, a womb or ovarian cyst issue. Always contact your vet promptly and ask for a change of antibiotic if your guinea pig develops diarrhea/loss of appetite as a bad reaction to it.

You also need to syringe feed and water as soon as a guinea pig is off its food. Do not feed fresh food with a guinea pig with diarrhea.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Click to expand...



No emergency vet here.
She had a scan last Thursday; everything was completely fine, no calcium build up AT ALL.
I already know WHAT the problem is, I just need to know how to deal with it for the next 19 hours until the vet can see her.
 
I'm very sorry your piggy is so poorly, I hope she makes it. In my personal experience, any vet is better than no vet.

If you have some kind of NSAID for pain relief, e.g. meloxicam (trade names in Europe include meloxydil, metacam, etc.), I'd give her a dose, as she is likely in pain. I'd also start oral rehydration therapy with some kind of rehydration powder from a human pharmacy. To avoid the risk of her aspirating the liquid, you can try giving it with a small spoon or just wet your fingers - in my experience, really sick pigs can't swallow very well. I'd also syringe-feed her with a bit of Oxbow Critical care or pellet mash as well, just to keep the gut going - yet I'm not sure if a pig which is so poorly would care for eating.

I don't have had any experience with bloody diarrhea, but I don't think there's much you can do other than bring her to an emergency vet.
 
NSAID... Would ibuprofen work? Is it possible to make the rehydration stuff at home; it's basically sugar and salt isn't it? (Pharmacies have shut already)
I'm waiting for a vet to ring me with some advice but that's all I can do at the moment.
 
I know some members have used ibuprofen for pain relief, but ibuprofen at least in humans is not very gentle on the stomach and is counter indicated in non-specific stomach bleeding. In your case, as we don't know where the blood is coming from, I'd hesitate to use ibuprofen. Maybe as the workday is coming to an end, more experienced forum members can also comment on the appropriateness of ibuprofen in this case? Like I said, in 20 years of keeping guinea pigs, I never ever had a case of bloody diarrhea, so I really don't know much. If your vet rings back, you could ask them about baby ibuprofen.

You can make rehydration liquid at home. The commercial ones are better and have more ingredients, but in the absence of that, here's the recommended at-home version: Oral Rehydration Salts ORS - How Do I Prepare an Oral Rehydration Salts - ORS Solution at Home? I had read in Guinea Lynx that most mammals have very similar rehydration needs, which is why human rehydration liquids are suitable. I personally use one that is for small animals though, since it also contains fibre and probiotic and vitamins, since these are all needed by a sickly piggy. It's called ProC, can be delivered outside the UK through Amazon.
 
Tried syringe feeding her pellet mash but she's apparently still feeling well enough to put up a fight which is good I guess; will keep trying as she only got a lick or 2 of it. Will also make rehydration liquid for if she gets worse during the night.

There's definitely no way I should give her fresh veggies? She got quite unhappy listening to me feed Other Pig yummy fresh food but still refused pellets and hay herself.

Couldn't be more grateful to everyone for helping... It's gonna be a long night but I feel a bit more prepared for it now.
 
Rikki said:
No emergency vet here.
She had a scan last Thursday; everything was completely fine, no calcium build up AT ALL.
I already know WHAT the problem is, I just need to know how to deal with it for the next 19 hours until the vet can see her.
Click to expand...

Please syringe feed and give plenty of water, as much as she will take. The syringe feeding link I have given you tells you step by step what to do and what you can do with you have got at home. It is VITAL that you keep the guts going (otherwise they will start closing down) and that you keep your piggy hydrated. If necessary you can syringe dioralyte (UK)/pedialyte (US) to help with the hydration.

Can you please add your country to your details, so we can adapt our advice to what is available and doable where you are. Our default advice is UK. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you. It makes helping you efficiently much easier for us and avoids unnecessary misunderstandings.

PS: I assume that your girl is on baytril?
 
She's on a Bactrim equivalent (Sulfamethoxazole / Trimethoprim).

Still refusing a syringe but managed to steal a bit of lettuce and happily ate that. Refusing all other food. Still refusing hay and water.
I'm going out to buy baby food and things for rehydration - will keep you updated!
 
Rikki said:
She's on a Bactrim equivalent (Sulfamethoxazole / Trimethoprim).

Still refusing a syringe but managed to steal a bit of lettuce and happily ate that. Refusing all other food. Still refusing hay and water.
I'm going out to buy baby food and things for rehydration - will keep you updated!
Click to expand...

Try mushed up pellets and be tough with the syringe. A guinea pig off its food won't be cooperative. You have to push through that. What she mainly needs is fibre. Lettuce and veg based baby food is going to make the diarrhea worse.
 
In slightly unrelated news, any tips on dealing with my other pigs separation anxiety (Bar gnawing, restlessness etc)? It would be wayyy too messy to have both of them together.
 
Please dont give your pig any ibuprofen or loxicom/metacalm.. Bleeding from the guts will be made dramatically worse with NSAID drugs and it would be a massive risk to take. If there is any semi formed poos, break it in half and see if there is any blood through the stools? This would indicate bleeding further up in the digestive tract.

Do you have any zantac? Even human tablets? This will help any digestive bleeding and certainly wont cause any harm if it isnt the case.

Please also make sure she is still urinating- bleeding of this extreme could indicate stones of some sort.. And still being able to pass urine is extremely important.

Continue syringe feeding and watering, make sure she is warm and still passing both urine and faeces. Ensure her abdomen is soft and non bloated.
 
If you have zantac let me know and i can work out the dose for you.
 
Nothing even remotely resembling a poop I'm afraid! Blood seems to have stopped for the moment...No zantac either :/ . Would've seen stones or at least calcium buildup in her scan last thursday surely. Vet rang back finally and seems to think her existing UTI just didn't respond to the antibiotics hence the bleeding, and the diarrhea is from her intolerance to the antibiotics. She also said to give her anything and everything to eat fresh veggie/fruit-wise but...
She's peeing a lot :tu: Still being incredibly grumpy about the syringe feeding though! Mixing pellet mash with some apple baby food seems to help...

Other Pig is pretty pissed off she can't get to her sister :/
 
Update: Have managed to get 2 syringes of water and 1 of pellet mash into Truffle. She's back to having bloody diarrhea though. Seems weaker and can't seem to get comfortable. I'll be napping on the floor next to her cage and will try and give her more water and pellet mash in an hour and a half (or should I wait longer? Shorter?) and continue through the night. Vet said to ring her at 8 in the morning if she's still really bad and I can take her in then, so mild improvement... Still many long hours to go. Wish us luck, lovely strangers...
I'll be on and off this site all night so any more advice still appreciated.
 
Could you try making some poo soup up using poo of healthy sister piggy. Mash a pellet of poo with a little water this will act as a probiotic on you poorly ones tummy. Would advise getting a scan done again tomorrow. Sending lots of vibes and hoping the night passes quickly so your little one can get to the vet. X
 
Your emergency apt is at 8am?
 
Okay will do that next feed. Going to TRY to leave her alone to rest for a bit first. Effectively yes; I can take her during the night but according to vet I can do more for her at home because the emergency people aren't really qualified to treat guineas. I can ring her at 8, to let her know I'm bringing her in then it's an hour journey to the vets so...
Thanks for the kind words. x
 
Stones can form quickly, but frequent, non painful urination is a good sign. I'm getting the feeling this is probably gut related but obviously cant diagnose over the internet and the sooner she sees a vet the better. Is there any way you could get zantac? If its gut related, it would definately help tide her over.

Is there actual stool material being passed (wether solid or liquid) or just mainly blood? Is her abdomen soft and comfortable or hard and painful? Has she eaten any foreign material lately i.e wires or furniture? An obstruction could be another possibility, but if stools are passing regularly (in any form) then that will make this less likely.

Ideally she would need an abdominal xray or scan, and a urine sample tested to rule out a gut bleed, blockage, UTI or stones.

Feeding and watering is important so continue with that, the less you can get into her, the more often you need to feed.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Keeping my fingers crossed for her xx
 
No to zantac, this country doesn't do 24hr :/ There is mostly actual diarrhea, sometimes more just brown water. Not that I'm aware of; my whole house is guinea proof and Other Guinea is always the first to try to eat anything etc so I've already put a stop to it before Truffle tries. Her abdomen seems soft and when handling her to feed her she hasn't squeaked in pain; whether that's because it doesn't hurt or because she doesn't have the energy I don't know.
I've put 2 hand warmers wrapped in fleece under her but she still can't lie comfortably; just standing looking all tiny and not moving.
Thank you.. x
 
Just wanted to say I was thinking of you and your little piggie, and I hope your night was ok.
Oh and I totally get living in a country that doesn't 'do' 24 hours. My kids are still amazed every time we go somewhere with shops open on a Sunday!
It sounds like you are doing everything possible to keep her comfortable, and I hope the vet can help.
 
Hey, we've been thinking about your guinea pig all morning. Please let us know how the vet visit went. Sending lots of healing vibes all the way from Bulgaria!
 
WE DID IT, she's okay :-D
I can't thank you all enough. Telling the vet about what you all advised me to do she said there's no doubt it saved her life, I honestly am SO grateful.
:yahoo:
Still at the vets now where they're keeping her for a few more hours for observation and rehydration etc, and I've been given a cocktail of yummy sounding supplements and drugs for her but I'll go into the details a bit later; She's finally on pain meds so after a night of not sleeping a wink, it's nap time for both of us!

Thank you thank you thank you and a grateful little wheek from Truffle.
 
Well done for getting her through the night.
You are clearly a wonderful piggie Mama, and Truffle sounds like a real fighter.
So happy you can all get some much deserved rest now.
 
Well done for keeping her so comfortable and doing everything you could for her! Let us know how she gets on x
 
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