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Guinea pig not eating and becoming thin

Aditya

Aditya

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jan 20, 2019
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India
My guinea pig Scooby is not eating much from 5-6 days. His poop is not diarrheal but it has been coming out in lumps for nearly a month now. He is becoming thinner by each passing day. He puffs his fur all day. His front teeth are not that big but we are making sure he chews on his wood toy. Can anyone please help me out. Here is his photograph. 😢
 

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My guinea pig Scooby is not eating from 3 days. His poop is not diarrheal but it has been coming out in lumps for nearly a month now. He is becoming thinner by each passing day. His puffs his fur all day. His front teeth are not that big but we are making sure he chews on his wood toy. Can anyone please help me out. Here is his photograph. 😢
 
I agree with @Betsy you need to get Scooby to a vet today! He sounds poorly, the sooner he is seen by a vet, the sooner he has a good chance to get better. Hope all goes well, let’s us all know how you get on with your little chap x
 
Aditya said:
My guinea pig Scooby is not eating much from 5-6 days. His poop is not diarrheal but it has been coming out in lumps for nearly a month now. He is becoming thinner by each passing day. He puffs his fur all day. His front teeth are not that big but we are making sure he chews on his wood toy. Can anyone please help me out. Here is his photograph. 😢
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Hi!

Please see a vet asap and step in with syringe feeding support now. You can use mushed up pellets and a 1 ml syringe from the pharmacy as long as you cut off the tip of the syringe as shown in the guide. Please follow the tips in the guide.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
List Of Life And Death Out-of-hours Emergencies

Make sure that the vet also checks the crucial back teeth for overgrowth. The front teeth are self-sharpening in a healthy dental system where the back teeth are evenly ground down by a diet with unlimited hay.
Always weigh a guinea pig once weekly. See a vet promptly if the weight loss is more than 50g/2 oz. Diarrhea and irregular poos are clear indications that something serious is wrong, as is noticeable weight loss. Guinea pigs are small animals that rely on regular food intake. If that doesn't happen, then their guts slow down and eventually close down, and the piggy will die. You can't wait for a month with an ill piggy.

Please save up for vet care with ANY pet as part of their normal living cost on a weekly or monthly basis. If you are a minor, only get a pet if your parents/legal guardians are willing to save up for a vet fund and to pay for vet care (which in the UK they are legally obliges to do).

Fingers VERY firmly crossed!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Please see a vet asap and step in with syringe feeding support now. You can use mushed up pellets and a 1 ml syringe from the pharmacy as long as you cut off the tip of the syringe as shown in the guide. Please follow the tips in the guide.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
List Of Life And Death Out-of-hours Emergencies

Make sure that the vet also checks the crucial back teeth for overgrowth. The front teeth are self-sharpening in a healthy dental system where the back teeth are evenly ground down by a diet with unlimited hay.
Always weigh a guinea pig once weekly. See a vet promptly if the weight loss is more than 50g/2 oz. Diarrhea and irregular poos are clear indications that something serious is wrong, as is noticeable weight loss. Guinea pigs are small animals that rely on regular food intake. If that doesn't happen, then their guts slow down and eventually close down, and the piggy will die. You can't wait for a month with an ill piggy.

Please save up for vet care with ANY pet as part of their normal living cost on a weekly or monthly basis. If you are a minor, only get a pet if your parents/legal guardians are willing to save up for a vet fund and to pay for vet care (which in the UK they are legally obliges to do).

Fingers VERY firmly crossed!
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I know the urgency of the situation. But my neighbourhood lacks good Vets who have specialised in small animals. Anyways, when we took him to a general vet, he said that Scooby needs deworming. He suggested a deworming medicine. If his back teeth have grown, what should I do?
 
Aditya said:
I know the urgency of the situation. But my neighbourhood lacks good Vets who have specialised in small animals. Anyways, when we took him to a general vet, he said that Scooby needs deworming. He suggested a deworming medicine. If his back teeth have grown, what should I do?
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The Vet couldn't figure out properly about the growth of his back teeth.
 
Where abouts are you? Are you in the UK? If so there is a fantastic vet in Northampton who does conscious piggie dentals. Let us know where you are and we could try and help you find a piggie savvy vet. If you are in the USA try looking on Guinea Pig Lynx website for one x In the meantime you need to start syringe feeding Scooby, as per the link above. 1m syringes can be obtained from a Pharmacy or vets.
 
Aditya said:
I know the urgency of the situation. But my neighbourhood lacks good Vets who have specialised in small animals. Anyways, when we took him to a general vet, he said that Scooby needs deworming. He suggested a deworming medicine. If his back teeth have grown, what should I do?
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The back teeth need burring down; they will continue to overgrow very quickly if they are not ground down by chewing. Your guinea pig will sadly starve to death. The digestive problems are not caused by worming, they are caused by lack of hay fibre and lack of food because of the overgrown teeth.
You can have a quick check on whether there is a problem with the back teeth by looking at the front teeth. In a healthy dental system they are self-sharpening and are nice and even. If the ends are jagged, slanted or are growing inwards and are no longer meeting, then you are dealing with a dental problem. Eating more slowly, dropping food morsels, leaving harder veg and pellets and salivating are also progressive symptoms of dental overgrowth.
Guinea pig body quirks

Guinea pigs have some of the fastest growing teeth of all rodents because they have evolved against the very abrasive silica in hay and grass, which should make over 80% of the daily food intake and which is needed to keep the digestive system balanced and working properly. Sadly far too many owners and vets are not aware of this and many vets are afraid to touch the teeth because they don't have the first idea wo handle dentals. That is why many owners grossly underestimate the food intake and think that their guinea pig is still OK when it is nibbling on a little bit of veg but is in fact perhaps eating 5% of what it should eat... :(~
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

I assume that you are in India? If you cannot find a vet who is willing to try to burr the overgrown back teeth, then your only option is to please have your guinea pig euthanised as the kindest and most loving gift you can make it to prevent any further suffering. It is sadly not going to recover on its own. :(
It doesn't mean that you are a bad owner, just that you have come up against a health problem that cannot be addressed and cured where you are. If there is no cure available, then any loving owner's next issue should be to not let any living being in their care suffer. No longer being able to eat it has sadly only one ending; it is in your power to please make it as kind as possible.

If you are in the UK, then there are a few vets that can do dentals; the best of them is in Northampton.
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic

BIG HUGS

PS: We would be grateful if you please added your country to your account details (via clicking on your username on the top bar) so we can always tailor any advice to what is available and relevant where you are straight away. We have members and enquiries from all over the world but from very different climates, backgrounds, vet and rescue access and medical brands. All these factors will influence our advice. Our default is UK based. Thank you!
 
Yes, I am from India.
Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it.
 
Aditya said:
Yes, I am from India.
Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it.
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I am really sorry!
As I know myself from growing up with guinea pigs way back when veterinary knowledge on rodents was minimal to nonexistent and guinea pigs generally considered not worth treating 'as they'd die anyway' (although our first family piggy lived to nearly 10 years old), it is very gutting and so frustrating when you are feeling so helpless. :(
 
Just one last query. Should I try deworming him or not?
 
Aditya said:
The front teeth are fine.
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OK - that means that the back teeth are most likely not overgrown.
In this case, I would try the worming medication. Can you please give us the name and - if you have it - the active ingredient?

Can you please try to step in with syringe feeding to make sure that your guinea pig is getting enough food, especially the fibre it needs to rebalance the guts. You can use softenened pellets, which you soak in warm water, as shown in the syringe feeding guide in my first post. The fibre will pass through the syringe you have been given for the wormer if cut you off the tip as shown. Your care in this respect can make the difference between life and death.

Please weigh daily at the same time in the feeding cycle so you get a comparable weight; the daily weight band is about 30-40g in which the weight swings between a full and empty bladder and guts. Your first aim is to stabilise the weight and the digestive system. Normal kitchen scales are just fine!
Please read our step-by-step syringe feeding guide (link in my first post), which we have specifically written for member with no previous experience. There is also a link to an illustrated guide on how to medicate and syringe feed your guinea pig (for both cooperative and not cooperative piggies) attached to the guide.

If possible, take off any fresh food; this can cause fermentation if your piggy is not getting enough fibre. The more fibre the better; especially right now. If you can get hold of probiotic powder, that would be great; add a pinch to the syringe feed. Very ill piggies with an unbalanced gut also love very rough, low grade fibre, so a bit of brown cardboard to nibble on is just what they crave.

Is your guinea a single or does it have a companion? If you have a healthy companion, you can take it out for feeding veg and pick up any healthy poos it has made while eating. Soak them in a little water and then syringe the water straight away to your ill piggy. We call this 'poo soup'; if made extremely fresh, it is more effective in reintrocing healthy live gut microbes into your ill piggy's guts than any probiotic powder. This also mimics natural behaviour - and it can really make a difference in rebalancing the digestion, especially after the radical worming.
Make sure that you also offer as much water as your piggy will drink off the syringe to make sure that it is hydrated. You can help rehydration by adding electrolytic powder for human drinks from a pharmacy to the water (how to is on the packaging).
 
The medicine suggested by the Vet is for dogs weighing 22 lbs. He has asked us to give 1/10th of this medicine for 3 days. Following are the active ingredients-

Praziquantel 50mg
pyrantel pamoate 144mg
fenbendazole 500mg

P.S. I will start with the syringe feeding immediately.
 
Aditya said:
The medicine suggested by the Vet is for dogs weighing 22 lbs. He has asked us to give 1/10th of this medicine for 3 days. Following are the active ingredients-

Praziquantel 50mg
pyrantel pamoate 144mg
fenbendazole 500mg

P.S. I will start with the syringe feeding immediately.
Click to expand...

@Jaycey @furryfriends (TEAS) @Abi_nurse - can you please check the medication?

PS:
As you are in a country with limited piggy savvy vet access, you may find these links here helpful whenever you need to see a vet. I would recommend to save them but also print them out if possible and have them with you during a vet visit so you and your vet can check whether they are safe to use before prescribing. Safe medications come with dosage recommendations.
List of safe medications: Guinea Lynx :: Medications
List of dangerous medications: Guinea Lynx :: Dangerous Medications
The Problems With Steroids And Why They Shouldn't Be Used.
 
Wiebke said:
@Jaycey @furryfriends (TEAS) @Abi_nurse - can you please check the medication?

PS:
As you are in a country with limited piggy savvy vet access, you may find these links here helpful whenever you need to see a vet. I would recommend to save them but also print them out if possible and have them with you during a vet visit so you and your vet can check whether they are safe to use before prescribing. Safe medications come with dosage recommendations.
List of safe medications: Guinea Lynx :: Medications
List of dangerous medications: Guinea Lynx :: Dangerous Medications
The Problems With Steroids And Why They Shouldn't Be Used.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the help. I will keep this in mind
 
I've tried Googling the medication @Wiebke and I can't find anything that includes those 3 ingredients. But individually they are all various types of wormer.

Using it might help but I would imagine that there's something else going on too.
 
Jaycey said:
I've tried Googling the medication @Wiebke and I can't find anything that includes those 3 ingredients. But individually they are all various types of wormer.

Using it might help but I would imagine that there's something else going on too.
Click to expand...

That is my suspicion, too, but you are much more experienced when to comes to medications. :(
 
PiggyPoo said:
How is your guinea pig doing? Xx
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Not quite well. He is still not eating. We are syringe feeding him but worried as to whether he would swallow it or not. I am quite skeptical about giving worming medicine that is why I am trying to contact some Small pets doctors in other cities. I really don't want my little one to die. 😔
 
Keep up with syringe feeding to keep him stable. Hope you can find a piggie competent vet 🤞
 
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