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Don't know what to do .. :(

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CharlieH

CharlieH

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Sorry for such a glum post so early in the morning.

I just don't know what to do. I'm literally sat writing this through tears.

As some of you know, Tiffy has been poorly over the last few weeks (almost a month) and we've tried numerous things to get her back healthy, but this morning she's just deteriorated again 8...

She;s been fluctuating between 750g and 700g for the last week, but now is down to 670g, her diarrhea is back (again) and when it came to wheeking for veg.. all so could do was do the action of bar biting and trying to wheek.. she was just making a rasp sound, like if you whisper but mouth a word.

I'm just heartbroken because I don't know what to do with her. Little Crumby has been keeping her clean inbetween baths and hasn't been snatching food out of her mouth like they both used to do to eachother, it's like she's helping her out. But she just keeps getting worse.

She eats a recovery sachet a day, plus veg, plus pellets and still weight falls off.

She's booked in to the vets for 9.40 (luckily it's the vet that has been so good with her and I'd trust to be honest about it) but I just don't know what's best to suggest. She's my little sunshine in the morning, always bounces over to the bars, even while she's been poorly and still today, but there's just nothing I can do for her to make her better or even manage her condition.

I'm wondering if I'm prolonging the inevitable just for my own selfish needs.

To make it worse, my mum is on holiday and I just want a hug and her to tell me what to do :(
 
oh no I'm so sorry, i dont know what to suggest, but hopefully someone will come along and help.

Have a hug in the meantime ((( ))) xx
 
Hi CharlieH
Sorry to hear about your piggy. Your story sounds identical to mine. I have just lost my lovely girl Caramel. She had been losing weight for the past year or so. As she was a rescue guinea pig I believed she was around 6 or 7 yrs old when she died. Lovely little thing, in a cage on her own in the living room. She had been rejected by the rest of the gang, and she was rather grumpy too, so I had to separate her. Towards the end, she gave up eating and I had been syringe feeding her for a long time. She was becoming so distressed with being made to eat. Last week she was a lot more subdued, and after consulting the vet, it was decided just to keep her comfortable and pain-free. She died very peacefully in my arms last Thursday night. We miss her terribly but I feel that I did my very best for her. We almost lost her last year, and she recovered and lived another 9 months. When the Rainbow Bridge calls, there is nothing you can do except hope the end comes peacefully.
 
I'm so sorry you are in this position. Maybe if you list the symptoms and what you have already tried people will be able to suggest other things?

I'm so sorry I cannot do more but if you ever need to chat we are always here.

Amy
x
 
Oh no, really sorry to read Tiffy is poorly again.

Has she had any poo samples sent away to lab for testing? Or any xray's done? Is her poo diarrhea or just very wet, is there any form to it?

Lots of vibes to Tiffy pig, I really hope something can be done for her and Massive hugs to you x x
 
Hi all,

Vets was running an hour behind so am now very late for work D: but a quick update, she's still hanging on and we have some new gut stimulant to try her on. Vet is testing a sample just as soon as she'll do one for me to take in!

Sorry not to have more to say at the Mo, am 3 hours late and will do full update later!
Thank you for all your thoughts and wishes, that's very special to me and tiffs xxxxxx
 
Only just caught up, and not managed to read all through it, sorry to hear about her probs, sending some healing vibes x
 
I'm sorry to hear Tiffy's not well. If she has diarrhea she needs to come off the veggies. Have a word with your vet about worming her. It might not be the problem but I know when I was in a position with Bob having continued weight loss (albeit not diarrhea or any other symptons) I wormed him with Four Seasons Anti Parasitic and he started to put weight back on in 24 hours.
I know some vets don't believe in worming pigs but it's a herbal remedy and might be worth a try. Please make sure that it's ok for her to have with any other medications she's on first.
 
Thank you all so much for your kind words and vibes. I'm finally home and able to give a bit more of an update.

Tiffy came rushing over to the bars when I turned the lights on and had a snuggle in her cage, little darling. x>>

I have the gut stimulant for 5 days at the moment, with a view to longer if its showing any signs of improvement. Little Tiffs took it perfectly with no struggle when I gave it to her after her appointment! We'll be back at the vets to review on Saturday morning, as its bank holiday and I'd rather go earlier than after the stimulant has ended!



katiepops said:
I'm sorry to hear Tiffy's not well. If she has diarrhea she needs to come off the veggies. Have a word with your vet about worming her. It might not be the problem but I know when I was in a position with Bob having continued weight loss (albeit not diarrhea or any other symptons) I wormed him with Four Seasons Anti Parasitic and he started to put weight back on in 24 hours.
I know some vets don't believe in worming pigs but it's a herbal remedy and might be worth a try. Please make sure that it's ok for her to have with any other medications she's on first.
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Hi Katiepops, thanks so for your post! Tiffy was wormed a couple of weeks ago as a precaution, she did stop rapidly losing weight after being wormed and now just fluctuates about, the weight loss was pretty severe before the worming, she had it in a little injection (needless to say she didn't approve!)

Veggies are greatly reduced, the only things she's been having are a couple of pieces of pepper and parsley really, though she's forever coming to the bars begging for more! Poor baby.


sport_billy said:
Oh no, really sorry to read Tiffy is poorly again.

Has she had any poo samples sent away to lab for testing? Or any xray's done? Is her poo diarrhea or just very wet, is there any form to it?

Lots of vibes to Tiffy pig, I really hope something can be done for her and Massive hugs to you x x
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Hi sport_billy, thanks for the post, sample is going off tomorrow providing she'll perform for us (haha!) really annoyingly she just did and I rang the vets to say was it worth bringing it down now, they said it wouldn't be tested until the morning so to get another then mallethead haha dear me!

She hasn't had any x-rays done, do you think there could be something shown up on an x-ray which could help? If so I'll definitely discuss it with my vet, she's very good and receptive to ideas so its worth a mention at least.

The poo is just really wet, sometimes with water with it (she's not just peeing at the same time!) but there is form to an extent, but just with massive wetness.



Hopefully poor baby will be a bit more comfortable if nothing else and these new meds will work soon.

I'll keep you all posted, thanks again for all of your kind words (and hugs!) :) x>>
 
Hiya,

Sorry to hear that you and Tiffy are having a tough time.


Could you give a bit of a timeline of events; symptoms, medications and tests? (Sorry if Ive missed another thread on Tiffy).


You say that she's eating the critical care/recovery food - is she eating this well? Will she eat it from a bowl or spoon, or do you have to syringe it? Is she eating anything by herself?

When my pig was unwell and not eating for herself, instead of just mixing with water, I mixed the critical care powder with these http://images.naturalcollection.com...chen Broccoli Pear and Peas From 4 Months.jpg (fruit/veg flavours only! No meat, rice, potato etc.!) which increased her calorie (and thus energy) intake. Maggie and Big Dave are/have been on medication so I've been using this to get Maggie's tablets, and their probiotics/vit C into them too, just mixing the probiotic/vit C powder in, then sucking it up in the syringe!
 
Hello,

I'm so sorry to hear Tiffys took a turn for the worse, i too went through this a month or so ago, with Roo Bear. :( Everytime we'd hit a turning point we'd end up back at square one only a couple of days/weeks later!

Has she been to the vets? Is she on any meds? CC (Critical care?).

When your piggie does start to go downhill fast and your giving her the most you can do medicine, food, support, and strength wise....the best thing you can do is make sure shes warm and comfortable.

Healing vibes to tiffany and you xxxxx
 
Oh no wonder you are feeling so sad. I am really sorry your little one is poorly. I really hope she gets better soon.
 
Really sorry to hear about little Tiffs again :0:...

Great idea of Amanda's try to list everything out, there maybe something that will 'hit' someone in the eye!
Because i've been thru a lot lately with my girls i have a daily diary i put time and what i give them to eat, i also weigh them a couple of times a day to make sure they're getting enough food. You'll see patterns emerge on when they loose the weight. I'd be using critical care or at least mushing up pellets and adding water (no juices) i'd also not offer any veg for at least a day or so. If you find her poops settle down then you slowly add veg, maybe even just a tiny bit at a time.... this is just what i've been doing and it's worked for me.

WISHING LITTLE TIFFS HEALING LOVES AND WHEEEEEEEEEEEKS FROM US ALL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Amanda1801 said:
Hiya,

Sorry to hear that you and Tiffy are having a tough time.


Could you give a bit of a timeline of events; symptoms, medications and tests? (Sorry if Ive missed another thread on Tiffy).


You say that she's eating the critical care/recovery food - is she eating this well? Will she eat it from a bowl or spoon, or do you have to syringe it? Is she eating anything by herself?

When my pig was unwell and not eating for herself, instead of just mixing with water, I mixed the critical care powder with these http://images.naturalcollection.com...chen Broccoli Pear and Peas From 4 Months.jpg (fruit/veg flavours only! No meat, rice, potato etc.!) which increased her calorie (and thus energy) intake. Maggie and Big Dave are/have been on medication so I've been using this to get Maggie's tablets, and their probiotics/vit C into them too, just mixing the probiotic/vit C powder in, then sucking it up in the syringe!
Click to expand...

Hi Amanda, thanks for your post, I'll put together a timeline as best I can, though some dates might be a few days out, but it'll give a rough idea, I'll put it in a separate post. And oooh that's such a good idea about the baby food. I'll get a packet of it in town in a minute, I'm quite concerned that she needs to put on some weight so hopefully this'll be helpful!

She eats the critical care out of a bowl which I put in her cage 3-4 times a day, depending on when it's empty and she's able to eat hay and the occasional pellet too, so she is trying for herself!


Thanks Glynis! How are your girls at the moment? :( I'm definitely going to keep a record of what they're eating :)


AudioHeart said:
Hello,

I'm so sorry to hear Tiffys took a turn for the worse, i too went through this a month or so ago, with Roo Bear. :( Everytime we'd hit a turning point we'd end up back at square one only a couple of days/weeks later!

Has she been to the vets? Is she on any meds? CC (Critical care?).

When your piggie does start to go downhill fast and your giving her the most you can do medicine, food, support, and strength wise....the best thing you can do is make sure shes warm and comfortable.

Healing vibes to tiffany and you xxxxx
Click to expand...

Thanks AudioHeart, it's heartbreaking isn't it, you just feel though even though you're doing everything you can, you're getting nowhere :( but I'm keeping positive that this new med may help, she's had no diarrhea since yesterday so hopefully we're heading in the right direction!


Thank you guys <3

graphics-guinea-pig-215598.gif
 
Timeline!

Rightooo.. Timeline of what's happened so far..

(I've put all medicines / procedures carried out in bold for quick reference)

27/7 - Noticed wetter poos thank usual, but not diarrhea, removed veg and all was fine for a few days.

30/7 - Wet poos were worse than before so took to vet. Given Fibreplex 3 times a day for 5 days and told to keep off the veg. Tiffy also given a worming jab.

2/8 - Another trip to the vets, piggy seeming very quiet, subdued, diarrhea still present, losing weight had begun (she'd lost about 100 by this point).
We saw a different (very interested seeming) vet this time. She thought Tiff might have been having a problem with her teeth, used a little instrument to see into the back of her mouth but it was all covered in food and debris so we agreed to book her in for proper exam next day.

3/8 - Tiffy goes under GA for a full teeth exam and file, back teeth are filed down but vet says they weren't especially long. Tried to take a blood sample twice, but weren't able to as her veins weren't strong enough.
Vet thought after this exam, that she probably has a problem with swallowing as she seemed to collect a huge amount of food at the back of her mouth, not just the usual you'd expect.
Started on 0.3mls septrin 3 times a day for 1 week and Critical Care as and when she came out for medicine.
Seems quite happy and bouncy for a few days, weight stable, eating lots, enjoying recovery food, drinking lots, still with diarrhea though.

7/8 - Back to the vets for a metacam injection as she spent the day grinding her teeth and seeming a little lethargic. Seemed better afterwards in the evening.

About 14/8 - Back to the vets, still losing weight, advised to keep an eye but give her as much Critical Care as she could eat, if she still wanted more, give more. Still to keep back on the veg as diarrhea was still present, but to go ahead with dry(ish) veg occasionally, keeping an eye on what she was having and if it was disagreeing.

Between these times, no vet trip, just kept an eye on weight and carried on with the Critical Care, weight fluctuated between 750g and 700g before going downhill again yesterday..

21/8 - Went to the vets in despair, Tiffy had lost her squeal, could only make an airy sound and looked hunched, still with bad wet poop. Vet was very good, had a good look over her, gave her another weigh, 650g (was around a kilo when she arrived here!) advised me to increase the Critical Care and keep going, things often get worse before better. Told to make sure she's warm. Given Ratadine 0.2ml twice a day and currently no diarrhea since yesterday morning.

22/8 Currently Tiffy looking bright and happy, hopping around the cage. 650g still.


If there's anything you want to know about in between stages etc, or weights, or anything else I can look them up for you!
 
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I'm not a vet or anything, but it seems to me that The medication and treatment is all pretty standard and non specific, and no real diagnostic tests have been done.

How experienced is your vet with GPs? Do they have a certificate in exotic medicine? You may love your vet and want to stay loyal to them, but it may be that they just don't have the level of experience and knowledge to help ...most vets wouldn't.

If you give your location I will try and find a recommended cavy savvy vet for you. If they think it's dental, I would strongly recommend having a chat with Debbie (furry friends) about the possibility of seeing her vet who comes extremely highly recommended ( taking one of mine for a dental check with him, which is a 300 mile round trip for me!)

In terms of how she is at the moment, you could also try the different types of critical care and similar. When cameo was being fed CC for 5+ weeks she got very bored, and I found that alternating between the ordinary CC (the green pack), the fine grind (bronzey coloured pack) and supreme recovery sachets kept her interested. The only veg gave cameo was really fibrous stuff like corn leaves and kale.

Is she on any probiotics?

I don't know how you're making the CC but if she's happy eating it from a bowl, try and make it quite thick so she's getting more fibre and less water per mouthful. Also try searching for posts about feeding oats, it's not something I've ever had to do but it can be used for weightloss pigs and may just keep her going until we find you a highly recommended vet.
 
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Hi Amanda, thanks for your post.

The vets I use are our local 'small animal accredited' (or something similar, the logo with the snake wrapped around ones, though I'm not 100% sure how savvy they are with the smalls, in the past they've always been good with our fluffies, but if you think there's somewhere better we could be going then I'll certainly have a look into that :) I'm located in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.

Ah OK, I sort of assumed all of the Critical Care type things were pretty much the same :red I'll pop and get some of the different types too then, thank you :) she tends to eat it as quite a wet mix, so I'll definately dry it up a bit for her and I'll have a look into feeding oats. :)

Probiotics wise, we haven't got anything specific for her no :( we have more Fibreplex if that's considered a probiotic. Sorry, I'm not terribly good with knowing the purposes behind some meds :(
 
CharlieH said:
Hi Amanda, thanks for your post.

The vets I use are our local 'small animal accredited' (or something similar, the logo with the snake wrapped around ones, though I'm not 100% sure how savvy they are with the smalls, in the past they've always been good with our fluffies, but if you think there's somewhere better we could be going then I'll certainly have a look into that :) I'm located in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.

Ah OK, I sort of assumed all of the Critical Care type things were pretty much the same :red I'll pop and get some of the different types too then, thank you :) she tends to eat it as quite a wet mix, so I'll definately dry it up a bit for her and I'll have a look into feeding oats. :)

Probiotics wise, we haven't got anything specific for her no :( we have more Fibreplex if that's considered a probiotic. Sorry, I'm not terribly good with knowing the purposes behind some meds :(
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Fibreplex is a probiotic and is a good one for wet poos. In My experience, they aren't too keen on it though, do intend to use Avipro plus whicj is a piwder that mixes well into critical care. Your vet may have this in stock or could order it for you if you find she really resents the fibreplex.

If she's mainly eating CC, you will need to add some vitamin C to this. You can get some tablets from the pharmacy (just go for straightforward ascorbic acid if poss, avoid colourings, flavourings, artificial sweeteners) and again, you can crush this and add to the critical care.

"small animals" in vet terms is generally cats, dogs and rabbits. Other small furries are considered exotic species.

In terms of oats I'd say if you can make them
Into a paste like the CC, to prevent her choking ifit is a dental problem.

I have linked to this thread in the Piggy Bank UK group, and have flagged a couple of the health and illness gurus to draw their attention to it. I've also asked for vet recommendations, so keep checking back!
 
Amanda1801 said:
Fibreplex is a probiotic and is a good one for wet poos. In My experience, they aren't too keen on it though, do intend to use Avipro plus whicj is a piwder that mixes well into critical care. Your vet may have this in stock or could order it for you if you find she really resents the fibreplex.

If she's mainly eating CC, you will need to add some vitamin C to this. You can get some tablets from the pharmacy (just go for straightforward ascorbic acid if poss, avoid colourings, flavourings, artificial sweeteners) and again, you can crush this and add to the critical care.

"small animals" in vet terms is generally cats, dogs and rabbits. Other small furries are considered exotic species.

In terms of oats I'd say if you can make them
Into a paste like the CC, to prevent her choking ifit is a dental problem.

I have linked to this thread in the Piggy Bank UK group, and have flagged a couple of the health and illness gurus to draw their attention to it. I've also asked for vet recommendations, so keep checking back!
Click to expand...

Amanda, firstly, thank you SO MUCH for your Ella's kitchen advice. I picked up one of the 'broccoli pear and pea' ones and an 'apple apple apple' one (I tried this one... I'd rather eat the apple itself haha). I mixed in the fibreplex to a little bit and she didn't even notice it was there! I'm not sure it even touched the sides. :)) She really did love it, so I'll definately be diluting it in a little of that next time too! I'm so relieved, fibreplex has been one of the bains of my life to get into her haha.

Our vets is also running as a farm animal type vet (with one specialist in Llamas haha) as we live in the countryside and they deal with the surrounding farms so most of the vets are trained in that larger scale. I'm not quite sure of the exotics side :( though over the years we have narrowed the vets and nurses down to the ones with an interest in the smaller animals, though how much exotics training they've had I don't know!

Thank you ever so much for all of your advice and for linking it to the Piggy Bank page, I really do appreciate it and so would Tiffy if she understood lol!

I took a sample of her poo into the vet this morning, the vet had wanted a sample as soon as I could get hold of one(!). I got one at about 6 last night but realised there was no point taking it then as they would have sent off samples for that day (dammit) so we have a 10 day wait (ish - due to the bank holiday possibly a bit longer) for the results back.. Feels like an age!
 
I really think it would be worth getting your piggie seen by Simon Maddock at The Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton. He really is one of the very best guinea pig vets in the country. www.catandrabbit.co.uk I would be more than happy to offer a temporary place at the Sanctuary if it would help your piggie to access treatment from Simon. I make no charge for boarding.

If you would like to have a chat over the phone, check out the Sanctuary website www.teasnorthampton.co.uk - my numbers are on the website.
 
furryfriends (Excellent Adventure Sanctuary) said:
I really think it would be worth getting your piggie seen by Simon Maddock at The Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton. He really is one of the very best guinea pig vets in the country. www.catandrabbit.co.uk I would be more than happy to offer a temporary place at the Sanctuary if it would help your piggie to access treatment from Simon. I make no charge for boarding.

If you would like to have a chat over the phone, check out the Sanctuary website www.teasnorthampton.co.uk - my numbers are on the website.
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This is where my pig is going for a health check - I registered with them the other day and she asked for my address. I gave it to her (I live in Bristol, 150 miles away) and she said "ooh, does that mean it's a guinea pig? teeth or tummy problem?" :))
 
furryfriends (Excellent Adventure Sanctuary) said:
I really think it would be worth getting your piggie seen by Simon Maddock at The Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton. He really is one of the very best guinea pig vets in the country. www.catandrabbit.co.uk I would be more than happy to offer a temporary place at the Sanctuary if it would help your piggie to access treatment from Simon. I make no charge for boarding.

If you would like to have a chat over the phone, check out the Sanctuary website www.teasnorthampton.co.uk - my numbers are on the website.
Click to expand...

Thanks ever so much for this, I've heard really great things about Simon Maddock and his work. You're very kind about boarding while visiting the clinic. I'm definitely going to have a look into it.

Google maps tells me its about 2 hours from us here, which isn't too far to be honest but frequent round trips if there was need to visit regularly in a short period might be too much for a little pig so somewhere for her to stay would be very helpful!

Do you know if he gets very booked up in advance?

Thanks again, I'm going to have a good look into it and discuss with the family! :)

Amanda1801 said:
This is where my pig is going for a health check - I registered with them the other day and she asked for my address. I gave it to her (I live in Bristol, 150 miles away) and she said "ooh, does that mean it's a guinea pig? teeth or tummy problem?" :))
Click to expand...

Haha love it! They must get people coming from all over to see them, I've heard some really good things about Simon!

:)
 
I did half the journey from Exeter to Northampton for a little piggley called Cornfłake! I wonder if that's the furthest? ?/

Having seen the amazing things Debbie and Simon do, I'd say that this really is Tiffy's best chance.
 
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