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First Vet Trip

Musicmaestro

Musicmaestro

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi All

So one of my piggies has not been himself over the past few days and although he is eating, it seems really difficult for him and he makes a big mess down his chin so i'm thinking maybe something wrong with his teeth/mouth.

Booked him into the vets later today but my other pig always seems very distressed when you take away his mate. Should I separate them or take them both in the carrier so that they feel more relaxed? This will be my first vets trip for them so wondering what to do for the best?
 
You can take both piggies in the carrier should you wish, we have done this often especially for our girls that never liked being separated

Make sure you take something like cucumber with you in case you have a long wait, keep it in a bag in your pocket.

Hope all goes well
 
Thanks for your reply I did take both in the end.

Vet sedated him and took a piece of plastic out of his mouth which she thinks was causing him the trouble eating. No idea where it came from, we can only guess in the hay. He's also on antibiotics as he was a bit wheezy and had a runny nose. Only problem is that now he has lost his appetite completely and is very lethargic. We've been hand feeding him and seem to have his weight stable finally but it seems like the antibiotics has made his appetite worse. Before he was wanting and trying to eat (but with difficulty) but now he just takes half a bite and nothing more.

I hope he improves soon the poor thing.
 
Musicmaestro said:
Thanks for your reply I did take both in the end.

Vet sedated him and took a piece of plastic out of his mouth which she thinks was causing him the trouble eating. No idea where it came from, we can only guess in the hay. He's also on antibiotics as he was a bit wheezy and had a runny nose. Only problem is that now he has lost his appetite completely and is very lethargic. We've been hand feeding him and seem to have his weight stable finally but it seems like the antibiotics has made his appetite worse. Before he was wanting and trying to eat (but with difficulty) but now he just takes half a bite and nothing more.

I hope he improves soon the poor thing.
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Is it baytril they've given your piggy? I would ring your vet ASAP and ask for a change of AB if I were you, Baytril intolerance in some piggies can cause them to stop eating
 
Hi Mishka

Yes it is, I read something about that antibiotic yesterday causing appetite loss so my partner was going to ring the vet today. Not heard from him yet but hopefully a change will get him eating.
 
Musicmaestro said:
Hi Mishka

Yes it is, I read something about that antibiotic yesterday causing appetite loss so my partner was going to ring the vet today. Not heard from him yet but hopefully a change will get him eating.
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It's useful stuff but also vicious, I've only ever had one piggy who didn't have problems with her tummy on it. I hope you can get a change over. Pump as much probiotic into him as you can to try and help, poop soup from a healthy pig is the best one. Or as you're support feeding, grind a healthy poo from a donor pig into the critical care mix. This is what I am currently using on a little girl who is on a very aggressive medication that rumbled her gut and it's made a world of difference.
 
I've not heard of a Probiotic before - i'll look into it immediately thanks. He does have a cage mate who is perfectly healthy.

We're first time guinae pig owners and this is the first time one of them has been ill so we're still learning.
 
Musicmaestro said:
I've not heard of a Probiotic before - i'll look into it immediately thanks. He does have a cage mate who is perfectly healthy.

We're first time guinae pig owners and this is the first time one of them has been ill so we're still learning.
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A probiotic is basically a dose of good gut bacteria. Baytril can strip out a guinea pig's gut it it's natural flora, as can all antibiotics, which is what leads to the appetite loss. It's important that you try and replace it as much as you can while he's on these meds. Get as fresh a poop as you can from your healthy piggy, grind it up into his syringe food and have at. He needs it at the minimum two hours after every dose of medication, but tbh you can't give too much probiotic support, so I would squash a poop into every lot of hand food you give him. Is he eating anything at all on his own? How often are you hand feeding?
 
Mishka said:
A probiotic is basically a dose of good gut bacteria. Baytril can strip out a guinea pig's gut it it's natural flora, as can all antibiotics, which is what leads to the appetite loss. It's important that you try and replace it as much as you can while he's on these meds. Get as fresh a poop as you can from your healthy piggy, grind it up into his syringe food and have at. He needs it at the minimum two hours after every dose of medication, but tbh you can't give too much probiotic support, so I would squash a poop into every lot of hand food you give him. Is he eating anything at all on his own? How often are you hand feeding?
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I'll pick some up on my way home and also get some fresh poop from my other pig. Over the weekend he was being fed every few hours but today it will have been 7am, 5pm then as much as he can manage this evening.

He's not really eating anything on his own, maybe a couple of bites of cucumber at best. The vet that saw him isn't available to speak to until Wednesday to change his AB.
 
Musicmaestro said:
I'll pick some up on my way home and also get some fresh poop from my other pig. Over the weekend he was being fed every few hours but today it will have been 7am, 5pm then as much as he can manage this evening.

He's not really eating anything on his own, maybe a couple of bites of cucumber at best. The vet that saw him isn't available to speak to until Wednesday to change his AB.
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Okay, really he needs to be fed every 3 hours night and day if he's not eating anything at all on his own. Is there any other vet you can speak to? A change of ABs shouldn't need an appointment, they should just fill you a pot and you can pick it up.

How is his breathing, out of interest?

Here's the thing; if he was mine, and he's not eating anything at all and I couldn't be there during the day to feed him, I'd be hospitalizing him. It's not cheap but it might be necessary. Could you at least get home at lunchtime to give him some?

I would call the vet back and ask about stopping the Baytril immediately (if he was mine I would not put another dose in his mouth tbh...), and ask if they can give you a pot of Sulfatrim. It's not as commonly prescribed as Baytril for URIs, but it can be successful in treating them (used it several times with great results) and it is much gentler on the tummy. It is an off licence medication, so depending on how cavy savvy your vet is you might have to put your foot down about getting it, but it's -good- stuff. I swear by it.
 
His breathing seems pretty much normal now it's just his appetite.

Although I have thankfully just been informed by my partner that he pulled a bit of celery out of his hand just now so i'm hoping that means he is on the up and up. We've got some probiotic too so will give that a go.
 
Fabulous! Keep offering him his favourite foods in between syringes of the paste to encourage him to eat on his own. What probiotic did you get?
 
We got the Vetark one. He's back at the vets on Friday for a check up so i'm hoping he will continue to improve. He's definitely stronger today and his weight has stayed the same.
 
Musicmaestro said:
We got the Vetark one. He's back at the vets on Friday for a check up so i'm hoping he will continue to improve. He's definitely stronger today and his weight has stayed the same.
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Oh Pro-C? That's fab stuff, it's got vitamin C in it as well as the probiotics, so it's a good boost for him too while he's being selective with his food. Is he eating any better today?
 
Yes the Pro-C stuff. Today he is certainly more interested in the food - he is at least coming up to the bowl when i put veg in whereas before he was just ignoring it completely. I have also seen him take a few bites.
 
Musicmaestro said:
Yes the Pro-C stuff. Today he is certainly more interested in the food - he is at least coming up to the bowl when i put veg in whereas before he was just ignoring it completely. I have also seen him take a few bites.
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Awesome! That's a very good sign :D I have found Readigrass and Alfalfa hay have both tempted a poorly piggy to eat if you can get access to either of those :)
 
Mishka said:
Awesome! That's a very good sign :D I have found Readigrass and Alfalfa hay have both tempted a poorly piggy to eat if you can get access to either of those :)
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Thanks for all your advice. I just hope he continues to keep getting better and also starts to put weight back on. He was always a plump little piggie but now he seems so skinny.
 
Musicmaestro said:
Thanks for all your advice. I just hope he continues to keep getting better and also starts to put weight back on. He was always a plump little piggie but now he seems so skinny.
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It can be difficult to get an adult piggy to gain weight tbh, but with a balanced and nutritious diet he will put weight back on once he's recovered. A little pinch of oats in his pellet bowl may aid this, so long as it's short term or he and his friend could get fat!
 
He went back to the vet yesterday. She didn't change his antibiotics and instead gave him some meds to get his gut and appetite going again. I really want to stop the antibiotics but worried his infection hasn't quite gone away. Yesterday he let out the biggest wheek when I put veg in but still didn't eat much of it.
 
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