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Guinea Pig Conspiracy?

flintstones

flintstones

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My little Toby is really poorly, he has had a nasal discharge for 8weeks. He has had Baytril initially, we decided to do a nasal flush,swab, bloods and X-rays last Thursday.

After the sedation he was eating happily but went downhill and I've been topping him up but he's still losing weight. He was nibbling but sitting hunched constantly in his cage. When I bring him out the cage he's quite the explorer and you wouldn't think anything was wrong.

He's on antibiotics, but his guts had certainly slowed. This morning he had an injection of ranitidine (Zantac), cerenia and Emeprid. Since we've been home, in his cage he'll attempt to eat nothing. However when I bring him out for syringe feeding suddenly he wants to eat all the hay? Anybody else had a guinea pig, who likes to pretend all is well to avoid the syringe food?
 
Oh hope Toby starts to gain weight. My boys enjoy the supreme recovery sachets much more than ox bow so maybe Toby will. I mix the two as well to make a combo version!
My boys also get more lively as they get ready for feeds - not as frustrating as when they are completely miserable at home and then they become lively in vet waiting room and vet says he is quite cheerful when half an hour before piggie was lying like Victorian child on sick bed ! - probably just adrenalin
 
You can use regular nuggets as syringe food too. Mine tend to prefer it. If you want to use a recovery food it won't harm switching between them every few ml's or so.

You can always add a bit of probiotic into the nuggets if you want to make sure he gets a boost.

Critical Care is so odd. Pigs who are well love it, but as soon as they need to eat it then it's the worst food ever!
 
Thanks Guy!

We've got probiotics the vet suggested the Vetark probiotics for his vitamin C. Funnily enough since he's been ill he's refused to eat his pellets that's the first thing he went off.

I've ordered some recovery food, to be honest he's really good well I have him out the cage as soon as I put him in he goes back to hunched Guinea pig really bizarre.

I suspect he's been eating today and consuming water as he's not lost the extra weight he consumed this morning with his feed. Currently he's eating hay in his cat basket which is a good sign!
 
lauraboara said:
Oh hope Toby starts to gain weight. My boys enjoy the supreme recovery sachets much more than ox bow so maybe Toby will. I mix the two as well to make a combo version!
My boys also get more lively as they get ready for feeds - not as frustrating as when they are completely miserable at home and then they become lively in vet waiting room and vet says he is quite cheerful when half an hour before piggie was lying like Victorian child on sick bed ! - probably just adrenalin
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Toby is good at that to. He's been such a sorry little soul in his cage. Just sitting hunched and playing with hay. Not what a guinea pig should spend it's time doing, but he likes to kid on when he's outside the cage.

Jaycey said:
You can use regular nuggets as syringe food too. Mine tend to prefer it. If you want to use a recovery food it won't harm switching between them every few ml's or so.

You can always add a bit of probiotic into the nuggets if you want to make sure he gets a boost.

Critical Care is so odd. Pigs who are well love it, but as soon as they need to eat it then it's the worst food ever!
Click to expand...

As I said yesterday since Toby has been ill he wouldn't so much as look at his pellets. Today I put his pellets in and he ate some! He seems to be feeling better perhaps the antibiotics are working, he certainly appears to be eating more hay!

This morning weight was 775grams, which technically means he's gained 5 grams. I'm going to keep up the syringe feeding today to ensure he's topped up but really hoping we've finally turned a corner.
 
I’m so pleased he’s improving. It’s so worrying isn’t it? Every gram of weight is cause for celebration!

Sometimes I mix fibreplex with syringe food as it seems to go through the syringe more easily and they do like it. Just a thought.

Huge healing vibes being sent to Toby! X
 
@flintstones Sorry, I meant that you can use softened nuggests as syringe good too. Sometimes they go down a bit better with pigs, and if they don't like them then it can be easier to force feed them if you alternate every syringe or two between nuggets and recovery food.

It's great news about the weight gain. Anything in a positive direction is a fantastic result. I have my fingers crossed that it continues!
 
Jaycey said:
@flintstones Sorry, I meant that you can use softened nuggests as syringe good too. Sometimes they go down a bit better with pigs, and if they don't like them then it can be easier to force feed them if you alternate every syringe or two between nuggets and recovery food.

It's great news about the weight gain. Anything in a positive direction is a fantastic result. I have my fingers crossed that it continues!
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Thanks Jaycee, I knew what you meant but it was just a pleasant surprise to see him physically eating his pellets on his own as he hasn't so much as sniffed them since he's been ill.

I'm hoping things are going in the right direction although he still has a discharge from his nose perhaps it will take a little longer to clear. Don't suppose anybody knows how long it'll be before it goes, if it is the correct antibiotic?
 
796 grams , and I've only topped up with around 10 - 15ml's as he's been putting up such a fight!
 
Come on Toby, you must eat your food to stay big & strong :nod:

None of mine have liked the Oxbow CC, Grace had some of the Supreme recovery when she was really ill at Christmas & she loved it, she would stick her head in the egg cup i used to mix it in & eat it straight off the mixing spoon! i've also used the powder at the bottom of my science selective nugget bag, you can mix it up in warm water to get the consistency they like & it makes life easier. but the recovery food does have all the extra bits n pieces added for a speedier recovery.

Wishes for a speedy & full recovery being sent your way. xx
 
GPTV said:
've also used the powder at the bottom of my science selective nugget bag, you can mix it up in warm water to get the consistency they like & it makes life easier
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I'll have to find a container to put all the powder in just in case. Good tip @GPTV!
 
Definitely going in the right direction 790grams this morning! He only had 5ml's of syringe feeding yesterday. Although he does still have a wet nose,the sneezing has almost disappeared.
 
Toby is off all his guts stimulants but still has a nasal discharge from one nostril. I have noticed his nose runs a lot more when I'm Nebulising him with F10. He also whistles through his nose after being nebulised likes it's bunged up is this normal when using a nebulised?

He's still on Septrin, he'll be on it 2 weeks on Wednesday and also Loxicom for the inflammation in his nasal passage.

@Jaycey @helen105281 @Wiebke @Abi_nurse
 
Yeah, that can happen. I think that's why a lot of people give up with nebulisers straight away as it makes things look worse.

They're just like us using a bowl of steaming water and menthol when we're all bunged up. It's loosening things up and making it come out so in a way it's a good sign because it's not inside him anymore.

It might be worth talking with your vet about increasing the time for the nebuliser or maybe hiving him some Bisolvon, or even swapping the F10 for nebuliser antibiotics if he doesn't seem to be improving.
 
The purpose of the nebuliser is to loosen up any mucous and to help 'disinfect' (sort of) the airways if you're using F10. It will be normal to see some discharge and change in his respiratory noise.

Hope he continues to improve.
 
Toby is maintaining his weight, however when I bring him out he still sounds wheezy, there's a very faint whistle from his nose.

Last Sunday, I found Toby lying with his head curled round and eyes flickering to the left, he couldn't stand and was limp when I picked him up. I immediately called the emergency vets and took him in. By the time we got to the emergency vets, Toby was standing and eating as normal no evidence of the previous episode, and no head tilt. He got Metacam which he is still on now.

I was away for the week, and my other half has been watching him. He advised of Toby's new behaviour. Toby used to run around like a maniac when you wanted to catch him and the only way to get him was to lure with vegetables. This last week, you could catch him easily from anywhere in the cage no objections are made. My thought process is he's blind and I'm thinking this is linked to Sundays episode. Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and ask if it could be linked, perhaps also discuss any possible next steps as he is definitely not right but after his negative reaction to his last diagnostics we are reluctant to perform anymore.
 
I can’t offer any advice other than hope a cavy savvy vet can help.
Just wanted to offer support
 
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