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Expert Help To Encourage Eating More

Jojessgaz

Jojessgaz

Junior Guinea Pig
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I think I need some advise to get my guinea pig interested in veg again. Tilly has always been a massive eater. Not really fussy. Last wed ( ON SAT now) I went into the garage where they are for winter n didn't get my usual squeaks from her for food. Took it that she was asleep n cosy. Have the 2 girls. 2 years nearly now. Left the strawberry . Later went back n she wasn't her normal running round. Turned her nose up at veg. Still eating odd pellets . Floor time she sat in cosy not bothered at all with hay or running round. Next morn she turned her nose up at veg. Ate a bit of pellet n retreated to cosy. Called vets on way to work to book in for Fri but they said go that day if she was off her food. Vet checked her over n found nothing. Gave me metacam 0.2ml per day and zantac syrup 0.3ml twice day. 24hrs later she s squeaking n darting bout lot more BUT still sniffs round the veg ... eats a bit n gives up. Eats pellets n hay still.he dud check her teeth m said they looked ok. I did wonder if it was me panicking and should I still be giving her meds . Is she just in need of change in her veg? Do they suddenly get bored and was she just having a bad day? She used to eat for them both if I let her
 
If she is eating hay and pellets then she'll be fine until after the weekend. It'll be worth taking her back on Monday though as she could still be bloated and so not wanting to eat.

Continue with the medication if the vet has told you to, as it can take a good few days for them to work fully and get any gas out of their system.
 
Could it be that she is bloated ? If that's the case should I stop certain veg? I am booked back at the vets next wed. But that seems quite a while to give meds for. Would you feel in her tum if she was bloated?
 
@Jaycey I have read up on bloating and it seems to be a possible. The vet gave me as above metacam 0.2ml per day and zantac syrup0.3ml twice day. Take it the metacam is a pain relief .. is zantac for bloating? He just mentioned that it would help passing things through and encourage her to eat more. She is very reluctant to eat her bag still.. she squeaks for food but sniffs it n leaves it. Not like her. She has been having romaine lettuce quite a bit. She s a big fluff ball so I'm not sure regards to her tum. Do i stop the veg all together? Should I be trying to syringe water in her too? I'm not sure if she's taking any as I cannot sit with her all day. Any help would be great. I'm back at the vets wed. But he's only basics on guineas
 
Have you got a more specialised guinea pig vet you can take her too? There’s a vet locator on the home page that lists vets people in this forum have recommended. x
 
@Jojessgaz You're right, the Metacam is for pain and Zantac is to get the guts working and so hopefully get the gas out.

How does her stomach feel? I've got a boar who hasn't had any veg for 3 weeks now due to making him bloat. He was fine in all other ways except his stomach felt big and tight.

Is she still eating her hay and pellets? If so, then it confirms that she doesn't have a tooth issue and it's going to be stomach and/or pain related, which bloat is usually the common one.

If she's eating other stuff I personally would take her off veg. That's what I did with my boar and he's now back to being okay. So it must have been one of the veg that caused it. Odd as he didn't have anything different, but that can happen with a milder case of bloat.

Giving her a few syringes of water definitely won't harm her.

Could you get her out for more floor time, get her running around? The jiggling about can help dislodge any gas.

Also, it's worth getting a tube of Fibreplex. It can be quite expensive at £10+ a tube, but it's really handy for balancing a disturbed digestive system. I've just finished a tube with my boy.

I don't want to scare you as mild cases of bloat are manageable but if they have had an issue once then it's quite common for it to happen again. Just for your peace of mind it would be handy if you could find a vet that was a bit more piggy knowledgeable for future.

On Wednesday it would be worth asking the vet about Emeprid. It's another gut medication which you can use with Zantac. I've been using it with my boar.
 
Jaycey said:
@Jojessgaz You're right, the Metacam is for pain and Zantac is to get the guts working and so hopefully get the gas out.

How does her stomach feel? I've got a boar who hasn't had any veg for 3 weeks now due to making him bloat. He was fine in all other ways except his stomach felt big and tight.

Is she still eating her hay and pellets? If so, then it confirms that she doesn't have a tooth issue and it's going to be stomach and/or pain related, which bloat is usually the common one.

If she's eating other stuff I personally would take her off veg. That's what I did with my boar and he's now back to being okay. So it must have been one of the veg that caused it. Odd as he didn't have anything different, but that can happen with a milder case of bloat.

Giving her a few syringes of water definitely won't harm her.

Could you get her out for more floor time, get her running around? The jiggling about can help dislodge any gas.

Also, it's worth getting a tube of Fibreplex. It can be quite expensive at £10+ a tube, but it's really handy for balancing a disturbed digestive system. I've just finished a tube with my boy.

I don't want to scare you as mild cases of bloat are manageable but if they have had an issue once then it's quite common for it to happen again. Just for your peace of mind it would be handy if you could find a vet that was a bit more piggy knowledgeable for future.

On Wednesday it would be worth asking the vet about Emeprid. It's another gut medication which you can use with Zantac. I've been using it with my boar.
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I have had them out all day to try and keep a close eye.. it's my day off. Tilly has tried to eat pellets but I havnt seen her on the hay at all which worries me a lot. I give them fresh hay in 2 parts if their cage every day.. so I know there is plenty there. I have given her syring s of water and rubbed her tum! It doesn't sound hollow ... I'm no expert it could be slightly harder one side but it's hard to say as compared to my other guinea who is skinny she always looks fat.she has had a very few poos.. but all very small and round. Not normal. I will see the vet again tomorrow but normally how long before they get any better hopefully if it's not too bad? I'm going on holiday in 2 weeks and it's really stressing me out that she won't be well.
 
Update... been to the vets. She picks up a nugget and then leaves it.. She does this with her veg too.. still pinches off the other guinea but then leaves it. I felt her tum and can't feel anything hard. The vet said he could hear some small gut movement. So he's taking her in for x-ray and look at her back teeth under a little anaesthetic as says there could be something at the back he just can't see very well. Update later. Hope it's just a nugget stuck! On critical care now to make sure She s getting enough. Hope uve covered it all n we get to the bottom of it all
 
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