Specialist Guinea pig bloat

[Stockyanna]

Hi. I was wondering if there was anything I could administer at home for bloat in a guineapig. I don't know if it is that for sure but I have been back and forth to the vet 7 times now over the last two months to the point I am almost embarrassed! I think he already thinks I'm the lad guineapig lady. For some reason they don't seem to be coming up with this reason for my piggie not eating and the more and more I analyse her i am sure it is. She's been on Zantac for the last week and I thought I started to see improvements in her eating. We take a step forward and then a step back. She seems to have gone off all her greens again and I think it is because she gets bloat and pain and it puts her off again. Like anorexic that I keep reading about. If there was something I could do like a small portion of a human remedy then I thought I could try that. I still have some of the Zantac left but I don't think that's the solution in this case. Any help would be gratefully received.

 

[Swissgreys]

Sorry to hear your guinea pig is suffering with suspected bloat.
There is a really comprehensive guide here:
Bloat, GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

 

[Wiebke]

Hi. I was wondering if there was anything I could administer at home for bloat in a guineapig. I don't know if it is that for sure but I have been back and forth to the vet 7 times now over the last two months to the point I am almost embarrassed! I think he already thinks I'm the lad guineapig lady. For some reason they don't seem to be coming up with this reason for my piggie not eating and the more and more I analyse her i am sure it is. She's been on Zantac for the last week and I thought I started to see improvements in her eating. We take a step forward and then a step back. She seems to have gone off all her greens again and I think it is because she gets bloat and pain and it puts her off again. Like anorexic that I keep reading about. If there was something I could do like a small portion of a human remedy then I thought I could try that. I still have some of the Zantac left but I don't think that's the solution in this case. Any help would be gratefully received.

Hi and welcome

@Swissgreys has already given you the link for treating guinea pigs with digestive issues.

Have your vets checked the teeth (especially the ones at the back) for overgrowth and bridging?
Can you have a look at the incisors and see whether the edges are nice and even or whether they are jagged, slanted or pointing inwards?
Have they checked for oral thrush or internal growths etc.?

Mild bloating is not uncommon for guinea pigs off their food. It is generally not the cause but a secondary complication to what causes the loss of appetite in the first place.

Any further ideas of what could cause the problem. It doesn't sound like IBS to me.
Maybe considering a course of panacur, but my own experience is not sufficient to judge whether that would an appropriate suggestion or not.


@Jaycey @helen105281 @furryfriends (TEAS) @Abi_nurse

 

[Stockyanna]

Sorry to hear your guinea pig is suffering with suspected bloat.
There is a really comprehensive guide here:
Bloat, GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Thank you!

 

[Stockyanna]

Hi and welcome

@Swissgreys has already given you the link for treating guinea pigs with digestive issues.

Have your vets checked the teeth (especially the ones at the back) for overgrowth and bridging?
Can you have a look at the incisors and see whether the edges are nice and even or whether they are jagged, slanted or pointing inwards?
Have they checked for oral thrush or internal growths etc.?

Mild bloating is not uncommon for guinea pigs off their food. It is generally not the cause but a secondary complication to what causes the loss of appetite in the first place.

Any further ideas of what could cause the problem. It doesn't sound like IBS to me.
Maybe considering a course of panacur, but my own experience is not sufficient to judge whether that would an appropriate suggestion or not.


@Jaycey @helen105281 @furryfriends (TEAS) @Abi_nurse

Hi. She has been to the vet 7 times now and they are scratching their head. They have checked her teeth and all seems fine. She has been very strange since I got back from holiday. Hormonal with the other piggy so we treated her with hormone injections. But now she has had to be separated as attacks the other piggy rather than smothering her. But she has been on and off her food since. It's most odd. Very picky and only really wants grass most of the time. But some days are good and she's eating and then others she completely ignores it and I thought that perhaps she gets this mild bloat and is in pain so it puts her off eating things the next time round. It's very odd.

 

[Popcorn bby]

Hi. She has been to the vet 7 times now and they are scratching their head. They have checked her teeth and all seems fine. She has been very strange since I got back from holiday. Hormonal with the other piggy so we treated her with hormone injections. But now she has had to be separated as attacks the other piggy rather than smothering her. But she has been on and off her food since. It's most odd. Very picky and only really wants grass most of the time. But some days are good and she's eating and then others she completely ignores it and I thought that perhaps she gets this mild bloat and is in pain so it puts her off eating things the next time round. It's very odd.

How is she's doing now?

 

[Stockyanna]

How is she's doing now?

She died just over a month ago I had the week off and spent a lot of time with her and each day she was eating less and less. Then on the Thursday her tummy was like pulsating in and out. She grew very weak and died that night. I was so upset

 

[Popcorn bby]

She died just over a month ago I had the week off and spent a lot of time with her and each day she was eating less and less. Then on the Thursday her tummy was like pulsating in and out. She grew very weak and died that night. I was so upset

Oh my goodness that's horrible! I'm so sorry, you did good. Were you gong her critical care when she stopped eating? Was she not pooping in result of not eating? How old was the poor thing?

 

[Stockyanna]

Oh my goodness that's horrible! I'm so sorry, you did good. Were you gong her critical care when she stopped eating? Was she not pooping in result of not eating? How old was the poor thing?

Thank you. She wouldn't take the critical care. She was very strong minded. I tried things like Zantac and emperid. I'd get her weight up from perserving and then it would shoot down again. The thing is she was very lively still. She would follow me around the house and garden and even that day she tried to eat the new grain free pellets I'd gone and bought that day after researching. But she was too weak by then to even chew. She was 4.5 years old. There were no poos in her cage when I lost her from 4 days

 

[Stockyanna]

Very sad. And I blamed myself dreadfully. But I tried everything I could