Hi, my first post on here 
I have a poorly guinea pig and I'm looking for some advice and support.
I'm sorry this might be a long post!
Just want to give you all the info I can!
Some background info on my pig, Betty:
She is a rescue piggy, we adopted her at approx 2 years old as a companion for my other old piggy Ernie. He then passed away not long after we got her and so she has been on her own ever since.
That was over 3 years ago so she is at least 5.
She lives indoors and has done ever since we got her.
About 6 months ago we noticed her eyes had gone slightly cloudy. We took her to the vet who diagnosed her with diabetes and cataracts related to the diabetes. Over one weekend the cataracts grew very white and they almost cover her entire eye so she is nearly completely blind. Although there is no available treatment the vet agreed with us that we should see how Betty carried on, so long as she was happy and eating and seeming to enjoy life.
She has been a little less active but still wheeking for food and she finds her way around her cage very well considering she can't really see! She still managed to run to her veg bowl every eve too! She has generally seemed very happy.
So that's all the b.ground info. Last Sunday I noticed that she didn't want to come out of her house, she was looking very puffed up and was just hunched in the doorway. She refused any veggies that we offered her and I didn't see her eat. I also noticed that her eyes are very crusty.
We took her to the vet on Monday and explained that she wasn't eating and was not herself, the vet had a look in her mouth and said she couldn't see anything wrong with her teeth but that it was difficult to see and so Betty was admitted overnight and had a dental examination under general anesthetic on the Tuesday.
We collected her Tues eve from the vet and they said that they had found some sharp edges that might have been causing Betty some discomfort so they had filed her teeth. She had received some pain meds and drugs to encourage appetite and she had nibbled on some pellets and a bit of carrot at the vets. I was told to keep an eye on her and make sure she was passing her food and eating, and to give them a call if she wasn't.
Anway that evening Betty barely ate a thing, I managed to get her to eat the end of a tomato and a tiny bit of cucumber but that was it. She also barely pooed! Just a handful of the tiniest little poos I have ever seen a g.pig do. Sorry for the graphic detail! She was also just sat hunched in the corner of the cage.
We took her back to the vet the next morning, Wednesday, because we were really concerned. Different vet this time. She said it wasn't surprising Betty wasn't eating after the dental and that she was probably in a bit of pain. Betty was kept in that day and overnight and she was given more pain killers, stuff to get her guts moving, appetite encouragers etc as well as being fed critical care regularly.
We picked her up Thursday eve and she was looking much brighter. She had passed some more proper poos and was interested in food again although she still wasn't eating much on her own although they told me she had nibbled at her hay. I was given a couple of sachets of Oxbow Critical Care and a MASSIVE syringe to use to feed her. Plus some drugs to act as a motilium to keep her guts moving.
So since then I have been hand feeding her the Critical Care. It's taken me a few attempts to master it and I'm still not sure I'm doing it right but Betty is loving it! She is wolfing down the stuff! I can get around 50mls into her in one sitting. However it might not be the right consistency it might be more watery than it's supposed to be! I've found that she loves it more when it's nice and warm. She has shown interest in her hay and veggies but it's almost like she can't get it into her mouth properly. She gets quite excited when I put fresh veg in the cage (am trying to refresh the veg after every critical care session so they smell appetizing!) and she wobbles up to her bowl to have a go but it's like she can't manage to eat it properly herself. Especially with the hay, it looks like she can't get it in her mouth properly and then she gives up trying and just settles down for a nap.
So after all that info, (if anyone is still reading this!) my main concern now is what to expect. Will she start to eat on her own eventually? She looks like she is struggling at the moment and I'm worried her teeth still aren't right. Or could it be something else causing her to not eat? It's horrible to say but how long should I keep on trying? I am not giving up on her yet, I feel quite strongly about the fact that as her owner I owe it to her to try my hardest. I would want my owner to if I was a g.pig! But there must come a point when we have to evaluate her quality of life, especially considering her other problems.
Thanks for any help in advance and sorry for writing soooo much! I've made my essay different colours to try and break it up!
I have a poorly guinea pig and I'm looking for some advice and support.
I'm sorry this might be a long post!
Just want to give you all the info I can!
Some background info on my pig, Betty:
She is a rescue piggy, we adopted her at approx 2 years old as a companion for my other old piggy Ernie. He then passed away not long after we got her and so she has been on her own ever since.
That was over 3 years ago so she is at least 5.
She lives indoors and has done ever since we got her.
About 6 months ago we noticed her eyes had gone slightly cloudy. We took her to the vet who diagnosed her with diabetes and cataracts related to the diabetes. Over one weekend the cataracts grew very white and they almost cover her entire eye so she is nearly completely blind. Although there is no available treatment the vet agreed with us that we should see how Betty carried on, so long as she was happy and eating and seeming to enjoy life.
She has been a little less active but still wheeking for food and she finds her way around her cage very well considering she can't really see! She still managed to run to her veg bowl every eve too! She has generally seemed very happy.
So that's all the b.ground info. Last Sunday I noticed that she didn't want to come out of her house, she was looking very puffed up and was just hunched in the doorway. She refused any veggies that we offered her and I didn't see her eat. I also noticed that her eyes are very crusty.
We took her to the vet on Monday and explained that she wasn't eating and was not herself, the vet had a look in her mouth and said she couldn't see anything wrong with her teeth but that it was difficult to see and so Betty was admitted overnight and had a dental examination under general anesthetic on the Tuesday.
We collected her Tues eve from the vet and they said that they had found some sharp edges that might have been causing Betty some discomfort so they had filed her teeth. She had received some pain meds and drugs to encourage appetite and she had nibbled on some pellets and a bit of carrot at the vets. I was told to keep an eye on her and make sure she was passing her food and eating, and to give them a call if she wasn't.
Anway that evening Betty barely ate a thing, I managed to get her to eat the end of a tomato and a tiny bit of cucumber but that was it. She also barely pooed! Just a handful of the tiniest little poos I have ever seen a g.pig do. Sorry for the graphic detail! She was also just sat hunched in the corner of the cage.
We took her back to the vet the next morning, Wednesday, because we were really concerned. Different vet this time. She said it wasn't surprising Betty wasn't eating after the dental and that she was probably in a bit of pain. Betty was kept in that day and overnight and she was given more pain killers, stuff to get her guts moving, appetite encouragers etc as well as being fed critical care regularly.
We picked her up Thursday eve and she was looking much brighter. She had passed some more proper poos and was interested in food again although she still wasn't eating much on her own although they told me she had nibbled at her hay. I was given a couple of sachets of Oxbow Critical Care and a MASSIVE syringe to use to feed her. Plus some drugs to act as a motilium to keep her guts moving.
So since then I have been hand feeding her the Critical Care. It's taken me a few attempts to master it and I'm still not sure I'm doing it right but Betty is loving it! She is wolfing down the stuff! I can get around 50mls into her in one sitting. However it might not be the right consistency it might be more watery than it's supposed to be! I've found that she loves it more when it's nice and warm. She has shown interest in her hay and veggies but it's almost like she can't get it into her mouth properly. She gets quite excited when I put fresh veg in the cage (am trying to refresh the veg after every critical care session so they smell appetizing!) and she wobbles up to her bowl to have a go but it's like she can't manage to eat it properly herself. Especially with the hay, it looks like she can't get it in her mouth properly and then she gives up trying and just settles down for a nap.
So after all that info, (if anyone is still reading this!) my main concern now is what to expect. Will she start to eat on her own eventually? She looks like she is struggling at the moment and I'm worried her teeth still aren't right. Or could it be something else causing her to not eat? It's horrible to say but how long should I keep on trying? I am not giving up on her yet, I feel quite strongly about the fact that as her owner I owe it to her to try my hardest. I would want my owner to if I was a g.pig! But there must come a point when we have to evaluate her quality of life, especially considering her other problems.
Thanks for any help in advance and sorry for writing soooo much! I've made my essay different colours to try and break it up!
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I'll find out what they say and update in here later, fingers crossed!
