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Help! Can Anyone Help With How To Help A Dental Piggy To Get Back To Feeding.

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Sorry, I haven't done an update since last night. I was up with Minky till 3.30am then my wife, Sue took over & I got back up at just after 7am. I'm shattered!

I took Minky to the vet's this morning & she has told me to drop Minky's Zithromax down to 0.5 ml until she can get in touch with Simon at Northampton for advice. I've also started Minky on a probiotic, Bio-Lapis. We didn't get as much food into Minky yesterday & today but from Sunday am to Monday am she only dropped a little - 1126 grams to 1120 grams so that wasn't too bad. I was very busy with wrapping packets up today for posting. Typically when I want the business it's quiet, as soon as there's an emergency it suddenly gets busy. The batch of CC I made up last night went funny. It was rubbery & even when adding water it just wasn't working with the small syringe.I made a smaller batch up & added Bio-Lapis to eat so that she would be getting her food & probiotic together. It says on the instructions that it can be mixed with water or added to food so I hope I've done right. I continued with the gripe water & my Sue or I have also been gently massaging her tummy.

Yesterday I didn't notice any signs of her weeing but she did a big one overnight & 2 more today. She has done some poos but they're much smaller than normal. At present she's no where near being OK but I'm hoping that with everything we're doing she will start to get better over next few days. I've kept her on the gripe water till tonight when I gave her a crush Rennies tablet with water which made a 2 ml solution.

Thanks to everyone who has sent advice or well wishes. I'll try to do an update in the morning.
 
suem said:
you are such fantastic piggy people, you couldnt do any more for Minky. I sure hope the little piggie is a bit better, this thread has brought tears to my eyes, my Bertie (avatar) died a few weeks ago. He just stopped eating and pooing, I fed him CC and water but he trotted off over the Bridge before I could get him to a vet. Minky sounds like a fighter xx
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Hi Sue, I'm very sorry your Bertie died, it horrible when you lose one of you loved ones, I lost Madam in February & I'm determined that Minky won't go the same way. The next 48 hours are going to be critical but she is a fighter.
 
flintstones said:
Hi Stewy,

I hope Minky is feeling better, when my Fred was prescribed Zithromax he became very bloated and went off his food altogether. I don't believe this is a normal reaction to Zithromax it's self a few weeks before Fred was on Flagyl and Baytril. He became so bloated I stopped the Flagyl immediately a few weeks later I had to stop the Baytril because he had the same reaction. The day after starting Zithromax Fred's appetite disappeared and the bloat returned, I kept on with the Zithromax but I also gave gut mobility med's (Emeprid and Zantac) for the full course. I gave him daily massages and continued to syringe feed him, near the end of the course his output was in a ghastly way no formed poo's just black stuff coming out his rear end.

I wouldn't ever recommend continuing with a course of med's when a guinea pig is intolerant like my Fred, but in Fred's case it was essential as he had a very nasty abscess in his jaw bone that we had been battling for about two months previously. I knew the Zithromax was the best chance we had, with the help of my vet, syringe feeding and gut mobility med's we got to the end of the course. We're 9 months on now and Fred is a very happy piggy. Although I suspect he'll have an intolerance now to most medicines.

If Minky's bloat continues, I would consider discussing gut mobility med's with your vet.
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It's reassuring to hear that Fred got through what sounds like a very similar case to Minky's. The dose of Zithromax has been halved but if Minky's tummy gets better then it might be raised back to 1 ml to help clear the infection that is causing the head tilt & other problems.
 
Sorry I've not updated but have been very busy today looking after Minky in-between my work. I've done an update on my other thread :-
Massage Pads! Any Advice Would Be Gratefully Received.
 
Continuing from my last post in my "Massage Pads" thread, Minky is still fighting. At 2am Sue gave her some water followed by more Infacol then the remaining Critical Care from the one tablespoon mix that I made last night. She had about 8 1 ml syringes of water & more massage with the electric toothbrush. She put Minky back in her cage because she appears to be in a lot of pain even with gentle massage. She went back to check on her before 6am fearing the worst but she was moving about chasing Minnie. Her tummy seemed a lot softer to touch. I think that she's nearly ready to start passing more poo but could be constipated. We had another read of our piggy reference books & read about giving some vegetable oil though the amount seemed a bit large, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) so I gave her 2 ml which she took without a struggle. I'm hoping this will work before I give her more Infacol followed by food. I'm going to cut her food down a bit because if she can't pass it then she will have greater pressure inside her tummy. I never got chance to weigh her yesterday but just weighed her & she's gone up from 1120g to 1162g which is more due to not pooing than her getting better. I'm phoning Dominika at the vets after breakfast to get a repeat prescription of Zantac & also ask about Emeprid. Can anything be done by needle to relief the pressure. I've seen on TV this being done to large animals but maybe piggies are too small. I'll update again as soon as I have any new info and have a little spare time.
 
Yes they can remove gas that way, but having been through that with Poppy myself, with a sad outcome I wouldn't like to say if it is a safe way to remove gas. As Debbie says, keep her moving as much as possible, it is a bit like treating a horse with colic & it can be very serious so definitely get the Emeprid, continue with the Zantac too, keep her moving & also continue syringe feeding, if she won't take much you need to try her every 2 hours or even more frequently, giving her small amounts at a time. If you can, I would try to get a bag of the tiny Harrington's pellets, these are very small & soak up some warm, cooled boiled water with about a tablespoon of them & try them with her, I found mine would take that more easily than the Critical care.
 
Just catching up on this thread. All the vibes in the world to Minky. Emeprid or cissapride plus zantac will work on two different parts of the guts so complement each other. Lots of love to Minky all fingers and paws crossed here for her.
 
I've ordered a repeat prescription for Zantac & also a new prescription for Emiprid which I'll pick up this afternoon. I gave her just 5 ml of CC this morning at about 8.30 & she's also had water by syringe. I put her down on the floor with a leaf of lettuce & she ate the most she's eaten in one go since last week eating by herself. I laid her on her back between my legs for support & also supports her head with my left hand while I massaged her tummy & rib areas with the electric toothbrush for about an hour. She seemed to be very happy with this and after about 30 seconds of moaning she settled down. She lifted her right rear foot to let me know if I was making her uncomfortable but this was only 3 or 4 times in the hour. I then turned her round gently, gave her more water & she's now back with the others where she's a lot more mobile & running up & down the ramp even sat cleaning herself for 5 minutes.

I gave her the vegetable oil as it was mentioned in the Guinea Piglopaedia which I've found to be full of good sound info. Another book mentioned liquid paraffin but I haven't got any of than in. Maybe someone can comment on that if they've used it before. Regarding the Harrington's pellets, I have used these before & I'm pretty certain they're almost the same as Vet Uk's own brand guinea pig food which I gave her mashed up on Sunday. When this current batch of CC is finished, I'll do a small mix using the pellets at teatime although she's taking CC much more easier than before. I'm filling the 1ml syringe then feeding her in 2 0.5ml shots. About 2 minutes each full syringe. Her Bio-Lapis is now split into 1/3 of a sachet amount so that I can add this to 3 food mixes a day. Forgot to mention, I'm also giving her Fibreplex 3 times a day now.

I'm fairly happy with the ways that things a progressing now & will be really happy if she can do a few big poos. Trouble is when she's in with the others I can't monitor this but her tummy is getting softer & not feeling as bloated as it was at a peak between 11pm last night & 3am this morning.

As a matter of interest, what doesage of Emeprid have others been using.

Again, I can't thank everybody enough for all the really good advice & well wishes. xx
 
Emeprid is 0.3ml up to 3 times a day buddy
 
sport_billy said:
Emeprid is 0.3ml up to 3 times a day buddy
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Thanks Lee, It's just that my regular vet is off today & I just asked for the Emeprid when I re-ordered the Zantac. Sometimes when you don't get a guinea pig savvy vet the dose given may be on the low side. The Zantac is also 0.3 ml a day.
 
Well you are doing all you can for Minky by the sounds of it, Come on Minky we are all wishing you well and sending lots of healing vibes.
 
At the moment I don't know what to do, Mink's tummy is full & I feel that I shouldn't give her any food maybe until morning to relief the pressure. I'm so worried about her. I'm still using the electric toothbrush to massage her tummy but it doesn't appear to be helping her. I'm also massaging with my hands & fingers where she isn't in pain when I touch her. She's still alert & when in her run she's chasing Minnie & Rex to get to their poos. She's back at the vets tomorrow but we're already doing everything that can be done unless anyone can please help. It's getting desperate! I'm going to have a quick bath now & will look again in about 30 minutes to see if there's any replies.
 
Sorry you are going through this Stewy, when did you last feed and how much did you get in. Are you staggering the Emeprid and the Zantac? Have you tried a car ride, Moo is bloaty still and the car ride to the vets today yielded more poos than we'd had all 7 hours previous. Is she eating Hay?
 
I am so sorry Minky is so poorly and you are so worried. I wish I could help you. My thoughts are with you.
 
sport_billy said:
Sorry you are going through this Stewy, when did you last feed and how much did you get in. Are you staggering the Emeprid and the Zantac? Have you tried a car ride, Moo is bloaty still and the car ride to the vets today yielded more poos than we'd had all 7 hours previous. Is she eating Hay?
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Since breakfast she's had 2 feeds of 6ml & 2ml Critical Care but between 6 last night & 6 this morning she had about 30 to 35ml.

She had 0.3ml of Zantac this morning & I picked up her meds at teatime & she's had 0.3ml of Emeprid. I'll keep alternating them morning & night.

She had a car ride to the vets on Monday but didn't seem to have any noticeable difference. I think I'll take her for a ride now for 30 minutes to see if that helps then go back to the electric toothbrush. She's trying to eat hay & is managing some. Her eating and head tilt have improved tremendously since she started the Zithromax but this bloat/colic is the more worrying side effect.

I'll report back before I go to be tonight.
 
Oh bless her, I really hope the gut meds start to take effect and that the car journey helps. Roll on tomorrow when the massage pad arrives, shame they couldn't get it to you today by courier or something.
 
helen105281 said:
Oh bless her, I really hope the gut meds start to take effect and that the car journey helps. Roll on tomorrow when the massage pad arrives, shame they couldn't get it to you today by courier or something.
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Just got back from a 40 mile trip to nowhere. It was a fairly bumpy road & I'd put lots of hay + a piece of Romaine heart in the carrying case with. Once we got moving I could hear her eating the lettuce. Not certain if she ate any hay. No sign of poos yet but I'm hoping they'll come soon. The only ones she's done since Sunday were about half the size of Harrington's or Vet UK's Guinea Pig pellets.
I didn't get the massage pad ordered till after 3pm & with couriers you've got to book them either day before or first thing in the morning. I've received confirmation that it's been collected & shipped on a 24 hour service so just hope it arrives in the morning rather than teatime.
 
Fingers crossed it arrives first thing. Hope you see some results from the car journey. Do you know if she is eating her poos at all? I quite often find that when Millie moo gets bloat she eats the poos she does pass, even the non special ones.
 
Have you thought of some poo soup from one of your other piggies?
 
Not sure if I read it right but did you say you are giving Zantac & Emeprid at different times? Petal was prescribed these drugs to be given together, I think Pebble recommends one to be given before the other with a short gap in between, but they are designed to be given more or less at the same time. It may be worth dropping Pebble a pm, I'll send her one & alert her to your thread Stewy x
 
Not sure if I read it right but did you say you are giving Zantac & Emeprid at different times? Petal was prescribed these drugs to be given together, I think Pebble recommends one to be given before the other with a short gap in between, but they are designed to be given more or less at the same time. It may be worth dropping Pebble a pm, I'll send her one & alert her to your thread Stewy x
 
She's hardly doing any poos at all & what you do see are minute. When she went on the car journey I put her in a carrying case with vetbed to lay on. No poos at all. When I got back I gave her some more CC, 5 ml in total but had some Romaine heart which she nibbled in between each syringe of CC.

When making a poo soup, which poos do you look for. I know she's chasing her 2 companions around trying to grab poos from between their legs. I noticed when Rex was suffering with anal impaction which has now cleared, he had poos coming from 2 places. Some from his bum, the bit that looks like a doughnut & some from a small hole to the rear rim of this. Which are the edible ones?

After her feed tonight I laid her on her back & she knows the routine now. She just lays there with her 4 feet in the air and her head resting on my left hand. I use the electric toothbrush in my right hand & she laid like that for over an hour. I had to move her to get her back on her feet. As I was massaging her I could feel what felt like bubbles or air coming up her throat possibly a guinea pig burp! Her right eye which was also very poorly has just about healed up, She's had eye drops 3 or 4 times a day for the last week. A small patch of furless skin has appeared on her neck. It's somewhere near where she had her abscesses earlier in the year and looks like little blisters. Will have to show the vet that tomorrow.

Regarding the Zantac & Emeprid. She was already getting her Zantac dose on a morning & I got her Emeprid tonight so thought it would be better if I started it straightaway rather than waiting till the morning. I could maybe delay her next dose till Friday morning. I'll ask the vet tomorrow. In the meantime I'll pm Pebble or she may look at this thread & answer in the thread.

Can't wait for the massage pad to arrive. I was wondering what is the best way to use it. It looks big enough to support a small carrying case. If it does this would be similar to Minky going on the car journey but more regular pulse/vibration.
 
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