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Eddie doesn't quite seem himself

Eddie & Elvis

Eddie & Elvis

Adult Guinea Pig
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Apr 8, 2020
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Hi everyone, I'm a bit worried about Eddie. He seems a bit quieter than normal today. I haven't been sat in the same room as the piggies today but when I've come in Eddie has been sat looking a bit hunched(?) in the same kind of place (picture below). There were a few poops where he was sitting and they look softer than they should (picture also below).
I put some more fresh hay out to see if he'd wake up a bit and go eat some and he ate a few mouthfuls but then went off into a box. Then he tried to eat a bit of cardboard one of them had ripped off a box but he just kind of picked it up and dropped it again so I'm worried there's something wrong with his teeth. Normally he sits and eats for a while when I put fresh hay out but he didn't.
I'm not sure if it's related but yesterday Eddie got a pellet stuck on his bottom incisors. It was a science selective pellet with the hole in the middle and he didn't bite down hard enough so it stuck on his tooth until he bit down more. He seemed fine after and kept eating the pellets.
I weighed him last Sunday as normal and his weight wasn't any lower than normal. I'm going to give him a check over a little later today and I'll weigh him tomorrow morning as I would do anyway.
Eddie seemed fine last night and this morning it's only this afternoon he's seemed off.

Am I overthinking or does he sound a little under the weather?
Should I give him his veg later as normal or should I hold off because if the odd poos?
Any thoughts/advice welcome :)
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Aw, poor little Eddie, keep a close eye on him, these things always happen before a weekend. Hope it’s nothing and he’s just having an off day x
 
Really hope Eddie is just having an off day, some wheeks from my two for little Eddie xx
 
If he has had a change in his behaviour, then you are right to be picking up on it.
Weigh him daily, ensure fresh hay is right next to him so he doesn’t have to move to get to it, and I’d get him an appointment just to be on the safe side. If he has soft poops, then it’s best to hold off on the veg.
Is the room warm enough?
Hopefully it’s nothing and he perks up quickly
 
I’d try and get him in for a check over if he’s the same in the morning personally, hopefully he’ll perk up tonight 🤞. The SS pellets are quite hard so he could be sore from that stuck in his mouth etc.
If you’re worried I’d definitely get him checked out with your vet though xx:hug:hope he’s ok xx
 
Thanks for replying so quickly everyone :) I'll keep an eye on him and start the weighing from tomorrow morning so I can weigh at the same time. And of course talk to the vet if he doesn't pick up by tomorrow. I'll hold off on the veg too but is there anything tasty I could feed him to tempt him to eat come out and eat? Forage maybe? Do piggies just have off days sometimes?
 
I agree. If he is still the same tomorrow, I’d book him in for a vet check.

My Edward had soft poos last week so I took him off fresh veg for 48 hours and slowly reintroduced once his poos had firmed up.

Hopefully Eddie is just having an off day x
 
Eddie & Elvis said:
Thanks for replying so quickly everyone :) I'll keep an eye on him and start the weighing from tomorrow morning so I can weigh at the same time. And of course talk to the vet if he doesn't pick up by tomorrow. I'll hold off on the veg too but is there anything tasty I could feed him to tempt him to eat come out and eat? Forage maybe? Do piggies just have off days sometimes?
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Yeah sure they must have their good and bad days like us!
How does his mouth look? Has he got any swelling or redness etc? xx
 
I haven't checked him just yet I'm waiting for someone in my family to be free to come and hold him so I can get a good look (shouldn't be too long). Is there an easy way to gently open his mouth to have a look inside? Eddie tends to squirm when held so I'm not sure how that'll go...
 
If it’s to look at his incisors you need to lift his lips up around them all to check, like you would with teeth, and it would be good just to make sure you can’t see anything still stuck there etc. If you can’t see anything obvious then don’t try and look any further down, leave that for the vet. They’ve only got teeny mouths!
Glad he’s moving around! Hopefully he’s just a little bit sore (not in a mean way!) from the food xx
 
Thanks @alpacasqueak I'll update you once I've had a look.

Elvis is fed and Eddie made sure to make me feel guilty for not feeding him too! There was lots of wheeking, following me and trying to eat Elvis's food so I had to separate them while Elvis ate. He's definitely not lost his appetite for veg!

He's tried to eat a bit of hay again too but he seems to be having a bit of trouble with it. He's moving his mouth around more than normal as if the hay's not going into his mouth right. For long pieces he was putting his paw on it to pull it out his mouth and have another go. That doesn't seem right to me.

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Here he is sitting where he waits while I'm doing their veg just to make a point 😂
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Nibbling hay
 
Eddie is still looking like he's expecting his veg. He's running after me! Would it be ok to give him some forage?
 
I've had a look in him mouth and it doesn't look red or sore to me but I've never had to look in a piggys mouth before so I'm not sure what it should look like.

I tried to give him a little bowl of critical care to top him up just in case but he didn't like it :doh: I'm now softening pellets in hot water for him to see if he'll each that.
 
Eddie doesn't like mashed pellets either! I'll only know tomorrow if he's actually lost any weight so I'm kind of doing it to make me feel better. Is it worth pursuing at this point?
 
Eddie & Elvis said:
Eddie doesn't like mashed pellets either! I'll only know tomorrow if he's actually lost any weight so I'm kind of doing it to make me feel better. Is it worth pursuing at this point?
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I’d wait and see whether he has lost weight when you weigh him tomorrow. If he has lost a considerable amount, I would book him a vet appointment
 
We worry when a piggie . . Doesn't seem to act normal.
Do we act normal all the time. .
Few weeks ago Mrs Dougal was very still and completely wrong. . Course I gave her tlc and booked her into the vet the Following day. .She was a bright as a button that morning and she got a checked over. .
She was fine . .
Could be many things why she was ill . . Prob tummy upset. . . .
Try keep calm @Eddie & Elvis . . Sending you tlc. Xx . . I'm sure Eddie be singing for veg soon :hb:
 
I hope little Eddie is going to be back to his old self very soon! We ditched the Science Selective pellets with hole in the middle exactly for this reason. They got them stuck on their bottom incisors way too often for my liking. Benito got one stuck so badly once that I had to get him out and pull it off his incisors because he couldn’t get it off. Glad I was around!

I hope your little man just a had a bit of a moment and all is well x
 
Thanks so much @David Piggie Lover your little message really helped 😊

Poor Benito! It really is a good job you were there @stef.trg ! I made Eddie bite all his pellets in half today. I was not having him get another one stuck!

I've seen Eddie nibbling a little hay again. I know I can't judge now much he's eating by eye but it's comforting to see him having a go.
 
Eddie & Elvis said:
Thanks so much @David Piggie Lover your little message really helped 😊

Poor Benito! It really is a good job you were there @stef.trg ! I made Eddie bite all his pellets in half today. I was not having him get another one stuck!

I've seen Eddie nibbling a little hay again. I know I can't judge now much he's eating by eye but it's comforting to see him having a go.
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My 1st piggie Pedro. Got one of them pellets stuck on his front teeth. . . Lucky I was near him as he went crazy trying to get it off. .I removed it and we changed his pellets.
Great that Eddie showing some intrest. .
 
Update:
This morning Eddie didn't seem himself still so I booked him into the vets. He's just gone in with Elvis for company.

His poos are no longer squishy but they're smaller and some of them are oddly shaped. He's still trying to eat hay but gives up after a few strands. I offered him a few snapped in half pellets and he ate those and didn't seem to have a problem. I know pellets in no way replace hay but at least he's still interested it food.
 
Sorry I forgot to add that I weighed him this morning. On the 3rd of January he was 1151g and this morning he was 1072g
 
I would offer him porridge oats, they are easy to eat and will fill him up a bit. Are you near the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton. They have all the necessary tools to have a good look inside his mouth without any anaesthetic needed and the most experience to solve the problem x
 
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