Guinea Pig Off His Food/drink, No Dental Or Bladder Problems

[LilPiggyLulu]

Hi, I haven't posted since i lost my dear Big Pig earlier this year to an ongoing mystery illness (possible internal tumour near the spine)

One of my other piggies, Little Pig has been off his food and drink almost completely for 3 days apart from cucumber and a few bits of other greens and a very small amount of hay. I have been trying to syringe feed him with Critical Care and Science Recovery along with water and Avipro Plus of which he hates even when mixed with some sweet juice.

He has had an x-ray today and a dental check which i thought might show something as i have heard him squeek a few times when urinating (no obvious blood in urine). The vet could see no problems with stones or teeth and are now at a loss other than giving painkillers which seem to perk him up very slightly.

My local vet has referred us to an exotics vet who we are seeing in the morning and they will hopefully double-check the x-ray to be sure.

Little Pig had a lump removed from his hip over 2 weeks ago and it was all removed with no after affects. His wound is almost gone and he was back at his food and drink as soon as he got home so i don't think his current problem is related.

The loss of Big Pig was so hard as it was a long period of illness and watching him deteriorate was heartbreaking. I am so scared this will be the same fate for Little. x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, I haven't posted since i lost my dear Big Pig earlier this year to an ongoing mystery illness (possible internal tumour near the spine)

One of my other piggies, Little Pig has been off his food and drink almost completely for 3 days apart from cucumber and a few bits of other greens and a very small amount of hay. I have been trying to syringe feed him with Critical Care and Science Recovery along with water and Avipro Plus of which he hates even when mixed with some sweet juice.

He has had an x-ray today and a dental check which i thought might show something as i have heard him squeek a few times when urinating (no obvious blood in urine). The vet could see no problems with stones or teeth and are now at a loss other than giving painkillers which seem to perk him up very slightly.

My local vet has referred us to an exotics vet who we are seeing in the morning and they will hopefully double-check the x-ray to be sure.

Little Pig had a lump removed from his hip over 2 weeks ago and it was all removed with no after affects. His wound is almost gone and he was back at his food and drink as soon as he got home so i don't think his current problem is related.

The loss of Big Pig was so hard as it was a long period of illness and watching him deteriorate was heartbreaking. I am so scared this will be the same fate for Little. x

I am very sorry that you have not been able to get to the bottom of the loss of appetite yet. Hopefully, the exotics vet can help. I assume that you vet did test the urine for the usual signs of an infection?

A guinea pig in severe discomfort has no appetite, so getting food in is always going to be a struggle until your are past the acute crisis. Try his usual pellets or a mix of pellets and recovery food and mush them with still warm, but boiled water; the familiar taste and the warmish mush may go down that little bit better.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Wishing you all the best! It is always worse when you are facing a "here we go again" situation, as you do have to face all your old pain and memories in addition to your current ones.

 

[LilPiggyLulu]

Thankyou Wiebke for your super fast reply

My local vet seemed to rule out uti and bladder problems as after feeling the bladder and examining his 'boy bits' and seeing no crystals (?)

I have Little Pig on an upside-down puppy pad with a sample bottle to hand in the hope i can catch some urine for the exotic vet to test tomorrow (the things we do for our pigglies!)

Thankyou for the syringe feeding guide and the advice, i shall try a new combination before bedtime. His poops are very mushy, probably due to the syringe feed being quite 'wet'. I hope this is normal and better than the option of no syringe food :/ x

 

[Wiebke]

Thankyou Wiebke for your super fast reply

My local vet seemed to rule out uti and bladder problems as after feeling the bladder and examining his 'boy bits' and seeing no crystals (?)

I have Little Pig on an upside-down puppy pad with a sample bottle to hand in the hope i can catch some urine for the exotic vet to test tomorrow (the things we do for our pigglies!)

Thankyou for the syringe feeding guide and the advice, i shall try a new combination before bedtime. His poops are very mushy, probably due to the syringe feed being quite 'wet'. I hope this is normal and better than the option of no syringe food :/ x

Your exotics vet would rather test fresh urine taken during the consultation, which he can express from the bladder, so he can test for the presence of blood, crystals and increaded protein levels (the latter is a sign of infection). As a guinea pig vet once explained to me, urine that is older than half an hour can give misleading results.
As your boy has not been tested for a urine infection, there is a good chance that this could be one. it can in some cases cause loss of appetite.

Cut off the tip of a 1 ml syringe as shown in the guide. You can adjust the texture of the mush by adding more pellets or water as needed.

 

[Freela]

Hopefully the exotics vet can give you more guidance. I would wonder about a potential urinary tract infection if they didn't do a dipstick for blood/leukocytes. It's possible to have an infectious without sludge, and feeling the bladder can't always reveal a difference. One of my pigs used to get very lethargic and off her food with UTIs (though my chronic bladder pig seems to fight right through.) Did the listen to his lungs and heart? Is there any sneezing/nasal discharge or anything to indicate an upper respiratory infection? Lots of luck and hoping you get some answers. Keep on syringe-feeding to keep his digestive system going in the meantime.

 

[LilPiggyLulu]

Maybe i will scrap the upside-down puppy pad idea then Wiebke! I didn't know the vets could express from the bladder. Pigglies are stubborn though aren't they

Little Pig has had his heart/lungs and tummy listened to the past 2 days and nothing abnormal found. He hasn't sneezed or got any crusting on the nose or eyes etc.

I'm watching to see if he squeeks again on passing urine. He may have diarrhoea too as i haven't syringe fed since about 8am as he has been at the vets all day although he only really is eating cucumber and a bit of hay. He is passing very messy puddles of poop. Will keep him with lots of fresh hay and pellets and try to cut down on wet food i think.

Thanks again Wiebke and Freela x

 

[Wiebke]

Maybe i will scrap the upside-down puppy pad idea then Wiebke! I didn't know the vets could express from the bladder. Pigglies are stubborn though aren't they

Little Pig has had his heart/lungs and tummy listened to the past 2 days and nothing abnormal found. He hasn't sneezed or got any crusting on the nose or eyes etc.

I'm watching to see if he squeeks again on passing urine. He may have diarrhoea too as i haven't syringe fed since about 8am as he has been at the vets all day although he only really is eating cucumber and a bit of hay. He is passing very messy puddles of poop. Will keep him with lots of fresh hay and pellets and try to cut down on wet food i think.

Thanks again Wiebke and Freela x

Please syringe feed, if necessary little but often; the more fibrous food you can get into hom tonight, the better! that will help to steady the digestion and firm up the poos. Stay off all fresh veg.

 

[LilPiggyLulu]

Just a quick update. I have left Little Pig at the exotic vets.

The vet seemed so much more clued up and immediately found a very painful spot in the gut.

He is now getting x-rayed again, scanned and given fluids. She says she uses meds not licensed for piggies which i take to be a good sign after reading other posts and visiting the Cat & Rabbit vets in Northampton with Big Pig. I will hear back within the next hour if it is treatable so fingers and paws crossed x

 

[Wiebke]

Just a quick update. I have left Little Pig at the exotic vets.

The vet seemed so much more clued up and immediately found a very painful spot in the gut.

He is now getting x-rayed again, scanned and given fluids. She says she uses meds not licensed for piggies which i take to be a good sign after reading other posts and visiting the Cat & Rabbit vets in Northampton with Big Pig. I will hear back within the next hour if it is treatable so fingers and paws crossed x

Fingers VERY firmly crossed; good that he is in knowledgable hands now! I sincerely hope that it is someting treatable; at least you will have a firm basis on which to make any decisions and know that if it is curable, he'll get any possible treatment.

HUGS

 

[LilPiggyLulu]

Just had a call from the vets. The x-ray shows some crystals in the bladder. I don't know why these weren't picked up in the x-ray yesterday at my local vets (will stay with the exotic vets now and travel further if it means getting my piggies sorted quicker!)

The gut has started to go into stasis also so they will do everything they can today to get him going again. She mentioned his teeth will need doing at some point but not an emergency as we have enough to deal with already If all goes well, we can collect him tomorrow so everything crossed for the next 24 hours x

 

[Freela]

Definitely sending good vibes for recovery and I'm glad you got a vet who could give you some input!

 

[LilPiggyLulu]

I have had Little Pig home for 24 hours after staying in the animal hospital over the weekend for fluid injections and other meds.

They got his gut back up and running to almost normal and since then, i have been giving his meds as instructed and trying to get him eating a bit more.

The hospital said he had been eating/drinking well but since he has been home, i have had to syringe feed a mixture of critical care and oats as all he will eat is veggies and ignores his dry food and hay

We went to our new exotic vets for a planned check-up and the vet has asked to monitor for a further 24 hours and go back tomorrow.

They have mentioned his teeth are starting to overgrow but won't be able to sort them out until he is stronger and the crystals are gone from his bladder . If this is part of the problem as to why he won't eat, i can't see him getting stronger.

The other consideration is that they have put him on Baytril 0.36ml daily which i have heard can cause them to lose their appetite (?)

He is also on Loxicon 0.3ml daily and Infacol 1ml three times a day.

I just really hope this isn't going to be a long fight for nothing as it was for poor Big Pig x