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Desperate Help Poorly Guinea Pig

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LeeHoochie01

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Hello,

New member and first post on the forum.

We have a poorly Guinea pig that is refusing to eat but gets excited when we bring food to her.

We took Jess (3 year old female) to the vets as we noticed she had lost some weight, was off her food and had passed some blood when weeing. she was prescribed Recovery plus, antibiotics (baytril) and pain killers (metacam), she also has a appetite stimulator . We took her back the next day and she had put on a little weight, looked brighter and things looked positive.

We carried on hand feeding, antibiotics and painkillers but she wasn't back on her food like normal. We also noticed she was picking food up, taking a few bites, dropping the food and looked like it was stuck in her mouth. Took hr back to the vets to double check her mouth and it he said teeth are fine and couldn't see anything wrong orally. Worryingly he said she should be eating on her own by now and if she doesn't improve he'd recommend putting her to sleep.

Symptoms:
  1. Passing blood in wee (cleared now)
  2. Off food and water
  3. Calling for food, showing interest in food but not eating
  4. passing very little wee and small poos
  5. following healthy guinea pig round to eat her poo but not eating it
We're still hand feeding her with recovery plus and kept her on the medicines but she's just not eating or drinking enough. We don't want to give up on her as she's still running around and seems ok in herself but she's still losing weight and we're essentially keeping her alive.

Sorry if this has been discussed else where but running out of ideas.

Many thanks

Lee
 
Check the vet locator at the top of the page to see if there are any recommended vets near you.

Her actions with food certainly indicate there could be something dental going on. Although the vet who checked her teeth said there was nothing wrong with them, it could be that they didn't check the ones right at the back of the mouth or know what they are looking for. If she has been in pain with having blood in her urine, it could have put her off eating and therefore causing her teeth to over grow in the meantime.

The most knowledgeable vets with regard to teeth (and all things guinea pig) are Simon or Kim Maddock at Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic, here in Northampton. People travel from across the UK to have their pigs seen by them. I appreciate this is a fair distance from you, but I can't recommend them highly enough.

Should you wish to pursue this route, their telephone number is 01604 478888.


If you prefer, you can mush some of Jess's normal nuggets with some boiling water, let it cool and syringe feed it to her. It might make her more accepting of it. You need to be looking at getting 100-120ml into her in a 24 hour period. Little and often can work best, throughout the day.
 
Hi! Please have her back teeth checked by a preferably knowledgeable vet. It sounds like there could be dental issues as well some other stuff mixed in. I can recommend the vet clinic that @MintyAndGarry (TEAS) has given you the contact number to; they are one of the best places in the country when it comes to dental problems.
They are a general vet clinic that only treats cats, rabbits and small furries, so they see a number of guinea pigs on a daily basis. They have also been treating all the guinea pigs of the local sanctuary for dental guinea pigs since its inception a few years ago, so they have lots of practice in this area with all things that could touch upon it.
I would not like to just guess as to what could be the matter with your poorly girl, but encourage you to seek another opinion and have a thorough check of the mouth and the whole body done. so you can get to the bottom of it all. But you can also look for a good exotics vet with a specialisation in small animals closer to you.
Guinea Pig Vet Locator

You need to up her syringe feed (whether that is recovery food, pellets or a mix thereof), and you also need to up the amount of water you give in order to stabilise her. You may find the tips in our syringe feeding guide helpful in keeping her weight and food/water intake stable and to get an idea of how much and how often to feed.
I would recommend that you help with poo snatching by giving her both a pinch of probiotics and also by syringing poo soup, made by soaking healthy fresh poos in water and then syringing the water - that helps with recolonising the guts with "the good stuff". Her digestion is quite obviously out of kilter, but whether that is a cause or a follow on from her other issues is for the vet to decide. Loss of appetite can be caused by pain or by antibiotics, but her desire to eat combined with the inability of doing it points to a problem with the mouth. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

PS: Could you please add your location to your details, so we can always tailor any advice appropriately to your specific needs and availabilities. We have got members from all over the world. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location.
 
hi there &welcome to the forum :nod:

I agree with all the above advice. If u could also try hand feeding her single strands of coarse/stalky hay. This will help keep her fibre up &also if she can chew it, it'll help grind down her teeth until she's eating properly.

See if u can top up her syringe feeding &see if she can eat very thin strips of vegetables these are often easier than chunks to eat.

It might be an idea to ask the vet to check for oral thrush too as this will make it uncomfortable to eat too. (if she has damp dishcloth breath-its a possibility its thrush).

Pain is often cause of reluctance to eat- so she may have had this originally with the urinary problems then as posted above her teeth started to overgrow slightly causing this issue.

I've never been to the cat&rabbit clinic, but from other members experiences of it, they are the gold plated veterinary practice for all things guinea pig.

Try the recommended vet locator above though if you want somewhere more local who's guinea savvy.

If she still has quality of life &you can get her eating&drinking to keep the digestive system going I wouldn't give up on her yet

Healing vibes for Jess being sent. Speedy recovery little one. Xx
 
We've just been to the Cat & Rabbit Care Clinic today (around 6 hours drive in total back and forth from North Wales) and I can highly recommend them! One of our guinea pigs has a dental problem (I posted a thread here and you can read it) and the forum members recommended to go there. All the travel we did, It's WORTH it! :tu::tu: My husband said he wished we've known about them sooner and we could've prevented a lot of stress for us and Meemee.
 
How familiar with guinea pigs is the vet you are seeing? I am wondering if the vet does not have a ton of experience with guinea pig teeth and is thus not able to identify a problem in its early stages (and it can be hard to see a piggy mouth in full detail- I've had an experienced vet miss a molar spur on Sundae because she was struggling and fighting during the exam and their mouths are so tiny- he was able to identify and fix the problem when she was under anesthesia, but not while she was awake.) Obviously it's impossible to diagnose over the internet, but in a case that you describe where there is interest in food but weight loss, looking like food is stuck in the mouth, and a lot of picking up/dropping of food, I would really query an issue with teeth causing pain or difficulty chewing.
 
Thanks all for your input. Took Jess to another vet last night. She instantly diagnosed tooth issue as her incisors are not straight. Looked in her mouth and believe she could see a spur right at the very back of her mouth.

The really annoying thing is we went to vet Monday and said can he check her teeth as the symptoms point to there being an issue with them.

She's going in this morning and she will be put under. But she's lost so much weight we're worried she might not recover.

Thanks

Lee
 
Keeping fingers crossed that Jess makes a speedy recovery - let us know how she gets on.

Well done for persuing this and not just taking the word of the original vet! X
 
Hi lee, l a glad you found a vet that was able to identifi the problem, re the opp G A drugs dehydrate ! althow the vet will give her pre opp intravenas fluids to hydrate her

though it may help if you try and syringe feed her water before you take her , that will also help to keep her fluids levals up

the best of luck to you and your piggy :hug:we will be sending healing hugs :hug:

please let us know how she gets on,
 
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if you havent already got some might be an idear to get some crittical care fomular , this will re plenish her electrolits and make foe a fast recovery, it is a powder that you mix with water and feed with a syringe (vet will give you a syring or two !

NB ask you vet if he stocks the crit care

pets at home and other pet stores stock it as well
 
Last edited:
LeeHoochie01 said:
Thanks all for your input. Took Jess to another vet last night. She instantly diagnosed tooth issue as her incisors are not straight. Looked in her mouth and believe she could see a spur right at the very back of her mouth.

The really annoying thing is we went to vet Monday and said can he check her teeth as the symptoms point to there being an issue with them.

She's going in this morning and she will be put under. But she's lost so much weight we're worried she might not recover.

Thanks

Lee
Click to expand...

Please syringe feed and continue to syringe feed her to get the weight back up; feed as much as you can, about 120ml in 24 hours in mush or solids (some grated veg, but you also need to proved 80% fibre). You can use anything from her usual mushed up pellets (that have a familiar taste and often go down best) to various recovery formula products, the links to which you can find at the end of our syringe feeding guide.

YOUR feeding care is as important as the vet care, as a guinea pig that is not eating is a dead guinea pig. A guinea pig is not going to eat normally straight away after dental treatment.

Make sure that you come home with painkiller. Be aware that you may need more dental treatment before the whole system has fully rebalanced.

We have got a chapter on care for dental guinea pigs in our guide, but @MintyAndGarry (TEAS) or @furryfriends (TEAS) may also give you further tips. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
If a pig is treated via a conscious dental route, it is entirely possible that they can start eating for themselves as soon as they have received the treatment. Each and every case is different, with differing degrees of dental disease and discomfort being present in the pig's mouth. The OP has gone to a vet who uses GA when doing dental work, so their piggy will have the added hurdle of overcoming the affects of sedation and the flat feeling it leaves them with. During this time, they will be reluctant to eat, so it is important to start syringe feeding as soon as the piggy is conscious enough not to aspirate it. Around 100ml of syringe food over a 24 hour period will be required - little and often mimics the natural grazing style of piggies. Do not worry too much about syringe feeding throughout the night if you can get a substantial amount in before going to bed - 25ml plus - this should see them through the night. Mushed up nuggets are preferable to recovery food. Not only will the flavour be familiar, but recovery food does not contain added vitamin C - something crucial for a piggy's survival.

No matter what the state of play is with the teeth, there will definitely be a need for further treatment. Teeth grow at about 3mm a week, so will ideally need to be tidied up again in seven days or so, otherwise pigs end up back far worse off than they were before. Unfortunately, the use of GA doesn't allow for such frequent checks and modfication.
 
LeeHoochie01 said:
Thanks all for your input. Took Jess to another vet last night. She instantly diagnosed tooth issue as her incisors are not straight. Looked in her mouth and believe she could see a spur right at the very back of her mouth.

The really annoying thing is we went to vet Monday and said can he check her teeth as the symptoms point to there being an issue with them.

She's going in this morning and she will be put under. But she's lost so much weight we're worried she might not recover.

Thanks

Lee
Click to expand...

poor little piggy. i hope she can get through ok. they are alot tougher than we think sometimes, and whilst there is always a risk with any GA, generally they are very well tolerated, and good vets are able to tailor it to suit the individual animal, and it is flushed out the system afterwards. our vet see's alot of dental cases and says a light sedation/GA is standard and most do very well and are up and about again and nibbling about 15mins later (they are still syringe fed at the vets and this is continued at home), they have alot of animals who requite regular dental work (weeks sometimes) and still do well even with all this. so aslong as you have a very good savvy vet (a must i think) then i'd be assured she was still in very good hands. it's very much one of those subjects the whole conscious versus non-conscious dentals, even between the best vets, so a competent vet who can perform conscious like simon recommended, or a very savvy vet who performs non-conscious will be the best two options :)

i will keep everything crossed for you that your little girl will be ok now you know the problem and have another vet x
 
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