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Help Poorly Piggy!

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Samantha123

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Hi, we have been to the vets today with our guinea pig following a previous trip Friday. She is being treated for a water infection and is on Baytril. We took her back today as although she initially showed signs of improvement she was not as active as normal. Today she was given an anti-inflammatory and glucose. Since then she has eaten some grass but not very much apart from that. She is alert though and showing interest in food. Does anyone know if the glucose, can fill a piggy up or cause loss of appetite? Really worried as I know she needs to eat much more than just grass - any recommendations would be great. Thank-you :)
 
Untill someone else comes along, give her as much grass as she can eat. Obviously she needs to be eating other food and others will come and advise about that, but just incase you thought she shouldnt have to much, :) Eating lots of grass (as it isnt fresh rich spring grass now) Wont do her any harm and is better than eating nothing. :)

Sorry your having such trouble. Hope she feels better soon!
 
Samantha123 said:
Hi, we have been to the vets today with our guinea pig following a previous trip Friday. She is being treated for a water infection and is on Baytril. We took her back today as although she initially showed signs of improvement she was not as active as normal. Today she was given an anti-inflammatory and glucose. Since then she has eaten some grass but not very much apart from that. She is alert though and showing interest in food. Does anyone know if the glucose, can fill a piggy up or cause loss of appetite? Really worried as I know she needs to eat much more than just grass - any recommendations would be great. Thank-you :)
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Hi :)

Sorry to hear that your piggy is poorly!

You're right that she needs more than just grass. Is she eating hay at all?

If she's not eating normally (antibiotics can cause this to happen!), you'll have to top her up. Best thing is to call your vet and ask for something to syringe feed her with. The usual products that they have in stock are either Oxbow Critical Care http://www.bingalingstore.com/product_images/y/254/Critical-Care-701004-AH_large__57279_zoom.jpg or Supreme Recovery http://hillcrestanimalhospital.co.u...8eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/0/0/004844_9.JPG

These products are very high fibre powders, that you mix with water into a paste, that you can feed to piggy with a syringe. They are a generic fibrevore product, so you will need to add some vitamin C to it to make it suitable for piggy's needs. You can ask your vet for this, or you can buy it from a pet shop or even from your local chemist (most chemists will be shut now, but large supermarkets often have it in with their vitamins in the medicine aisle.)

Antibiotics can do funny things to their digestive system (they don't just kill off the bacteria making them unwell, they also get rid of the "good" bacteria in the gut that is required for digestion). Because of this, you should also ask your vet for a suitable probiotic. Most vets will stock a product called Fibreplex, or Avipro plus, or failing that, you can get a product called Pro-C from your local Pets at Home store.

Please don't delay in getting some syringe food for her if she's not eating her usual quantity of food, especially hay. Waiting until tomorrow morning may result in further digestive problems that can become very dangerous very quickly.

Your normal vets are probably closed now. Give them a call (it may be a recorded message with an alternative number to call in an emergency, call this), explain the situation and see if you can go in and pick some food up. They might not want to see piggy considering she was only seen recently and is on treatment.

If she's not pooing however, she will need to see a vet tonight for some gut stimulating medication.

Please call your vet and see what they suggest.

Keep us posted!
 
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Hi all, thank-you for such a quick response. I will definitely go an buy the food suggested and will also try and to mix her normal dry food up with warm water (if this would help?) Her poo is normal, which the vet said was good, showing normal digestion. Still going with the grass and trying all other favourite veggies. It's just so worrying as I know they can go down hill very quickly :( Thanks-again, Samantha
 
The vets is closed now, however I know at Pets at home there is an open vets there so if it means a trip there, then I will be going! She has also just eaten a little hay :) x
 
You can always use pets at home nuggets - I hydrate them in boiled water and then hand blend them to a smooth paste once I;ve added ground up Vit C and probioitic.

This will be just as good as Critical Care or Recovery over the weekend - the trick is in blending it to a smooth consistency.
You also need to carefully take of the nozzle only off a 1ml syringe (which the vets at P@H should be able to give you)

HTH
x
 
Thanks HTH, that's a really good idea :) and I already have a 1ml syringe too. She has just had a spinach leaf and a little piece of lettuce. I'm really hoping we will be able to build her back up to good health. x
 
(HTH stands for hope that helps) Just to clear up any confusion :)
 
Good news about my piggy :)) she has eaten dry food by herself, hay and lettuce. Have been up throughout the night checking on her and making sure she was drinking and she is now receiving cuddles. Fingers and toes crossed she is making a recovery. Thanks, Samantha x
 
Just caught up with your post - it may be the antibiotics that were making her feel off. Glad she's doing well this morning x
 
Just wanted to say that when my piglet, Jeff was poorly and off his food, I was mixing bran and cranberry juice together into a paste and he loved it :) the cranberry juice has vitamin c in it, and is very good for UTIs as well. I started syringe feeding it to him, and when he was a bit better, I'd spoon it to him, and he would lick the spoon :))
 
Hi, thank-you everyone, piggy lots better now and back to her usually self being very vocal for food. We thought it may be the antibiotics too and now that she is lots better have stopped them and this seems to have improved her appetite. Of course if there was a relapse then it would be another trip to the vets! I tried the cranberry juice but she just buried her head in my arms as if to say no thank-you, i'm not having that!! but she did have a spoon of tea? Not sure if that's because of the sugur, but she really enjoyed it? Thanks again, Samantha x
 
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