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Guinea Pig Lost Appetite

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Ben Buckley

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Hi, I was hoping for some advice with regard to a two year old male guinea pig. He recently lost appetite and has now got to the stage that he won't take any food at all himself. We noticed his loss of appetite around a week ago and so tool him to the vets, they gave him medicine to regulate his bowels and to keep his digestion process going I believe as this can be fatal. They also sedated him and checked there was nothing wrong with his teeth/ jaw, of which there were no issues. In the meantime this past week we have been force feeding him recovery food for guinea pigs as it's the only way he'll be getting food. We the. Returned to he vets given that there were no signs of improvement and so they prescribed anti inflammatory medicine in case something was causing him pain. However still nothing seems to have worked. We're therefore pretty desperate as we don't know what to do and neither do the vets, he is still lively and appears health (bar losing around 10% of body mass imbetween visits to the vets four days apart) but is not interested in eating at all. Any advice welcomed thanks
 
I am very sorry that the problem with your boy has not been found yet. Has he had a scan to see whether there is something internal going that may be causing the pain/loss of appetite?

Please continue to hand feed around the clock. @helen105281 has given you our guide with lots of tips and help with the amounts and frequency needed to get him through this crisis.
 
Definitely look at the feeding guides, which will tell you what to do to keep him going. Has he been given any antibiotics? One of my pigs, Linney, will go off her food and be very lethargic with low-grade infections (they have all been UTIs, but other than occult blood in her urine and lethargy/lack of appetite, she doesn't show any other symptoms.) In some cases lack of appetite can be a symptom of a low-level infectious process. It might be worth looking into if there is no improvement on the other meds. Maybe take the vet a urine sample to test for blood and pus to rule out UTI.
 
Oh no! Poor little fella! Sending BIG HUGS and healing vibes your way. Fingers crossed that he gets better soon.
 
Hi thanks for the replies, he hasn't had any scans nor antibiotics given to him. Antibiotics primarily because he already has an upset gut without eating properly so we didn't want to worsen this really. They also suggested scans with regard to X-rays if he didn't pick up. He did however eat the thinnest piece of cucumber by himself yesterday so we're hopeful that he has reached a turning point! Thanks again for the replies
 
Thanks for the reply! I'm only a quarter of an hour away so it'd be great to get a second opinion on the guinea, thanks again
 
Hi,my guinea has had similar symptoms to yours, and we have been feeding him through a syringe so maybe try that too? Has he lost any weight?

Sending warm hugs, and hoping that the little boy gets better soon! :luv:
 
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