Guinea Pig Not Eating And No Vet Available

[Leila]

Hey, guys. So, I noticed a change in my 1 year old male pig behavior.

Since yesterday, he wasn't pooping or eating much. His poops are really tiny, and his appetite is declining. He never left food on his plate before, and yesterday he did.
He seems to be accepting carrots and cucumber slices. He ate a little bit of his pallets and has been ignoring his hay for two days at least. I tried giving him a different type of hay and he seems to want to eat it. He keeps nudging it and picking it up but he ends letting it go.

I cleaned his anal sack yesterday and it had two poops in it but he wasn't impacted. He is acting normal, playing with his toys, popcorning and running around my room. Doesn't seem to be gassy or lethargic. My sister is a vet, and she tried to look at his teeht and she said his front teeth are okay, but couldn't check his molars. But he isn't drooling or anything. She also checked his lymphonodes but they don't seem to be enlarged. Also, he doesn't make any sounds while breathing and doesn't have tear-y eyes or mucus on his nose. His head isn't tilting either.

I was already planning on getting him to a vet, however, where I live there's only one exotic animal vet, and he only works from monday to thursday. So, I have to wait until monday to get Jamie checked out. I don't drive and there's no one to take me to another city. I live in Brazil, where cities are very distant from one another. Also, my city is the most advanced and largest of the region, so I doubt I'll find another exotic pet vet anywhere where a car can reach. Also is important to mention there's no such thing as Critical Care where I live.

I read that sometimes anorexic pigs accept grass. I have grass in my garden, but I'm affraid it might be venomous or generally bad for piggies, since I don't know what sort of grass it is and if it's okay for piggies. I'm afraid of feeding him too much veggies and he ends up with a diarrhea and I end up making everything worse. But I don't want him to eat nothing at all and end up with his digestive system shutting down either..

Needless to say, I'm devastated. I read so many cases where piggies die all of a sudden due to anorexia. I don't want that to happen to my Jamie. I feel like my hands are tied and there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry this was so long, but I'm just worried and wanted to give as much detail as I possibly can.

 

[Wiebke]

Hey, guys. So, I noticed a change in my 1 year old male pig behavior.

Since yesterday, he wasn't pooping or eating much. His poops are really tiny, and his appetite is declining. He never left food on his plate before, and yesterday he did.
He seems to be accepting carrots and cucumber slices. He ate a little bit of his pallets and has been ignoring his hay for two days at least. I tried giving him a different type of hay and he seems to want to eat it. He keeps nudging it and picking it up but he ends letting it go.

I cleaned his anal sack yesterday and it had two poops in it but he wasn't impacted. He is acting normal, playing with his toys, popcorning and running around my room. Doesn't seem to be gassy or lethargic. My sister is a vet, and she tried to look at his teeht and she said his front teeth are okay, but couldn't check his molars. But he isn't drooling or anything. She also checked his lymphonodes but they don't seem to be enlarged. Also, he doesn't make any sounds while breathing and doesn't have tear-y eyes or mucus on his nose. His head isn't tilting either.

I was already planning on getting him to a vet, however, where I live there's only one exotic animal vet, and he only works from monday to thursday. So, I have to wait until monday to get Jamie checked out. I don't drive and there's no one to take me to another city. I live in Brazil, where cities are very distant from one another. Also, my city is the most advanced and largest of the region, so I doubt I'll find another exotic pet vet anywhere where a car can reach. Also is important to mention there's no such thing as Critical Care where I live.

I read that sometimes anorexic pigs accept grass. I have grass in my garden, but I'm affraid it might be venomous or generally bad for piggies, since I don't know what sort of grass it is and if it's okay for piggies. I'm afraid of feeding him too much veggies and he ends up with a diarrhea and I end up making everything worse. But I don't want him to eat nothing at all and end up with his digestive system shutting down either..

Needless to say, I'm devastated. I read so many cases where piggies die all of a sudden due to anorexia. I don't want that to happen to my Jamie. I feel like my hands are tied and there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry this was so long, but I'm just worried and wanted to give as much detail as I possibly can.

Hi and welcome!

Have you got pellets that you can either soak in hot water or grind down and then soak until they are soft? Feed when they are hand warm and follow the tips in our guide. You will need to get a needle-less 1 ml syringe from a pharmacy or general vets and cut off the tip of the syringe and the plunger bit inside as shown in our syringe feeding guide. That is hopefully keeping your piggy alive until can be seen by a vet.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Could your sister see whether she can get hold of a bit of metacam for dogs(painkiller and anti-inflammatory)? Loss of appetite is often caused by a pain issue somewhere in the body? Because of their fast metabolism, guinea pigs need double of what a cat or dog of the same weight need. 0.05/0.1 ml is the minimal dose, but you can go up to 2.5 ml twice daily in a really bad case. See whether 0.1 ml metacam is helping to perk your boy up. If, yes, then continue until you can have him vet checked.

 

[Leila]

Hi and welcome!

Have you got pellets that you can either soak in hot water or grind down and then soak until they are soft? Feed when they are hand warm and follow the tips in our guide. You will need to get a needle-less 1 ml syringe from a pharmacy or general vets and cut off the tip of the syringe and the plunger bit inside as shown in our syringe feeding guide. That is hopefully keeping your piggy alive until can be seen by a vet.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Could your sister see whether she can get hold of a bit of metacam for dogs(painkiller and anti-inflammatory)? Loss of appetite is often caused by a pain issue somewhere in the body? Because of their fast metabolism, guinea pigs need double of what a cat or dog of the same weight need. 0.05/0.1 ml is the minimal dose, but you can go up to 2.5 ml twice daily in a really bad case. See whether 0.1 ml metacam is helping to perk your boy up. If, yes, then continue until you can have him vet checked.

Hey and thank you!
I just made a puree like substance with warm water and his pallets. Since I only had a 10ml syringe, I decided to feed the puree on my hand and Jaime gladly ate it, without me having to force it on him. I think that is a good sign? Right now he is playing with this toys. And reading the thread on Syringe Feeding, I came to the conclusiont that, since Jaime has appetite, I should feed him 120ml in a day, right? But he's also eating veggies. So how much of this puree should I give him in a day?

Also, I believe Metacam is the name of the medicine, right? There's no medicine with this name here. Can you possibly inform me of the name of the drug that's in it?

Thank you so much for the help. I hope everything turns out okay.

 

[Wiebke]

Hey and thank you!
I just made a puree like substance with warm water and his pallets. Since I only had a 10ml syringe, I decided to feed the puree on my hand and Jaime gladly ate it, without me having to force it on him. I think that is a good sign? Right now he is playing with this toys. And reading the thread on Syringe Feeding, I came to the conclusiont that, since Jaime has appetite, I should feed him 120ml in a day, right? But he's also eating veggies. So how much of this puree should I give him in a day?

Also, I believe Metacam is the name of the medicine, right? There's no medicine with this name here. Can you possibly inform me of the name of the drug that's in it?

Thank you so much for the help. I hope everything turns out okay.

Hi! As Jaime is still eating on his own and is still active, you just offer him as much as he will take 3-4 times a day.
The 120 ml per day for an adult guinea pig at the peak of its life are roughly the equivalent of what it eats in 24 hours (i.e. all the hay (which should make 80%) plus veg plus pellets).

If you do not have access to critical care, mushed up pellets will do fine. As he is happily eating his mushed up pellets on his own, I would not worry about a painkiller and just supplement feed him as much as he wants to. That should get him through the weekend; whatever he has, it doesn't sound too serious that he needs to be seen by a vet as an emergency. You are a very good and caring owner!

As you are in a country where vet access and guinea pig knowledge is limited, you may find these lists here helpful and may want to print them off. Brand names can vary quite a bit across the world; I have no idea under which brand name metacam/meloxicom is available in Brazil, but it is likely to as it is a very widely used painkiller.
Guinea pig medications (includes information on meloxicam/metacam/loxicom etc. under analgesics): Guinea Lynx :: Medications
Dangerous medications: Guinea Lynx :: Dangerous Medications

 

[Leila]

Hi! As Jaime is still eating on his own and is still active, you just offer him as much as he will take 3-4 times a day.
The 120 ml per day for an adult guinea pig at the peak of its life are roughly the equivalent of all the hay (which should make 80%) plus veg plus pellets. If you do not have access to critical care, mushed up pellets will do fine. As he is happily eating his mushed up pellets on his own, I would not worry about a painkiller and just supplement feed him as much as he wants to. That should get him through the weekend; whatever he has, it doesn't sound too serious that he needs to be seen by a vet as an emergency. You are a very good and caring owner!

As you are in a country where vet access and guinea pig knowledge is limited, you may find these lists here helpful and may want to print them off. Brand names can vary quite a bit across the world; I have no idea under which brand name metacam/meloxicom is available in Brazil, but it is likely to as it is a very widely used painkiller.
Guinea pig medications (includes information on meloxicam/metacam/loxicom etc. under analgesics): Guinea Lynx :: Medications
Dangerous medications: Guinea Lynx :: Dangerous Medications

I understand. Thank you so much for your advice and kind words, it means a lot to me and Jaime! xx
Will avoid the pain killers since he seems to be okay for now and will keep offering him veggies and mushed pallets. He was fiddling with his hay a few minutes ago, but still not eating it. I'll definitely print those lists and bring them with me in the vet consult! Also, I'll keep this thread updated with Jaime's status. Thank you so much!