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Gerald - Off his veggies.

RingoGerald

RingoGerald

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 1, 2019
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Location
Wigan, UK
Good afternoon all,

Has anyone had any experience with a Guinea going off his veggies?

a number of weeks back, Gerald had a spell of tummy issues. His gut sounds were quiet. This coincided with his cage mate Ringo becoming poorly. Sadly, we lost Ringo 3 weeks back.
Since then, Gerald has been in and out of the vets. This was due to him not eating and from that, going into gut stasis.
The vets are struggling to find what the issue is. He’s had blood tests that came back normal, ultrasound scans that are normal and xrays. Whilst under anaesthetic, the vet gave his mouth a through check and all his teeth look in good shape. All his organs and heart look normal on the X-ray and ultrasound. He’s got no lumps, bumps or any discomfort when examined. He was being treated for an eye infection but that has cleared up now.

The only thing that the vet could see was a couple of specs on his X-ray in his lungs. He was prescribed Marbocyl for this and his just had that changed today to Doxycycline to see if that would help him in anyway after his follow up appointment . Due to his gut issues, he was on Cisapride, Metoclopromide & Cerina. He’s been switched today to Domperidone.
He’s showing no interest in his vegetables at all. He’ll take the odd leaf or 1/4 of a cucumber slice. We’re syringe feeding him as advised several times a day and overnight.
The vets who treat him are fully pig savvy And they’re stumped.

The next course or action would be further blood tests to see if anything’s changed.



Has anyone had a similar experience to this?

Thanks in advance for any advice
 
Hello

Sorry to hear you've lost one guinea and are now having a tough time with the other.

Have you read the guide on caring for bereaved guinea pigs?

Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

It mentions that some guineas become depressed and stop eating after the death of a closely bonded other half. Given you seem to have eliminated physical health explanations, could that be the issue?
 
LMPigs said:
Hello

Sorry to hear you've lost one guinea and are now having a tough time with the other.

Have you read the guide on caring for bereaved guinea pigs?

Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

It mentions that some guineas become depressed and stop eating after the death of a closely bonded other half. Given you seem to have eliminated physical health explanations, could that be the issue?
Click to expand...

Thank you for your response and Message. It does seem that he could be taking the loss of his brother quite hard. He’s bright in himself and he’s still nibbling in his hay.
 
Siikibam said:
Sorry to hear your boy is having issues. How is his weight, is he maintaining or losing? I can’t help you but keeping my fingers crossed for you. I’ll tag @VickiA @Wiebke @furryfriends (TEAS)
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Thank you. He was maintaining his weight okay until yesterday. He took a dip of around 40g from yesterday He had another good once over by the vet again today . He seems bright in himself and he’s still eating his hay. Thank you for the tags
 
RingoGerald said:
Thank you. He was maintaining his weight okay until yesterday. He took a dip of around 40g from yesterday He had another good once over by the vet again today . He seems bright in himself and he’s still eating his hay. Thank you for the tags
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Just to add to that, we’ve increased his syringe feeds today due to the drop.
 
Sounds like your vets have tried different ABs to see if they are part of the problem. And the gut meds sound to be the right ones. So I am afraid I really can’t offer much by way of suggestion. I know it’s hard keeping up with the syringe feeding but it sounds like you are doing a great job for him.
 
VickiA said:
Sounds like your vets have tried different ABs to see if they are part of the problem. And the gut meds sound to be the right ones. So I am afraid I really can’t offer much by way of suggestion. I know it’s hard keeping up with the syringe feeding but it sounds like you are doing a great job for him.
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Thank you.
we’re doing our best for him. The syringe feeding isn’t too bad as he does take it well. He only fights it on the odd occasion.
 
They can be stubborn little loves.
Hope he starts to pick up. You Seem to cover most things. Wish you all the best.
Gerald come on little love.
 
David Piggie Lover said:
They can be stubborn little loves.
Hope he starts to pick up. You Seem to cover most things. Wish you all the best.
Gerald come on little love.
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Thank you. We’re going to give him the weekend on his new meds to see if anything improves with his appetite. If not, we’ll take him back to the vets. He’s bright and active though so that’s good. As I type this, he’s just destroying one of his chew baskets from pets at home.
 
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