ill Guinea Pig Help

[hollyw0912]

Hello,

I've had two guinea pigs for the last 5 years, both boys and they've lived together since they were around 8 weeks old. This morning, one of them was very lethargic and not very willing to eat so he went to the vets. The vet examined him and said he has either sprained his spine (he was very fussy when they examined his back) or he has a blockage in his stomach as his stomach sounded a bit funny. They've given me some medication to give him, and he had a pain relief injection, but he's still not eating. Is there any way I can persuade him to eat as the vet said it's important that I get him eating? I'm so worried about him as I love him dearly.

Also, if the worst were to happen and I had to have him put to sleep, would my other guinea pig be okay living on his own? I don't particularly have the time at the moment to get another one, but I'm worried that the one left will be lonely.

Thanks in advance.

 

[PigglePuggle]

If he's not eating you need to syringe feed either mushed up pellets or ideally a high fibre liquid food like critical care, or recovery plus- piggies need to keep eating and their guts moving constantly with regular fibre or they can get gut stasis and die... did the vet not offer recovery food? You can buy it online from Amazon, plus small syringes for feeding... there's a syringe feeding guide on the forum somewhere, hopefully someone can post you the link or you can find it by searching in the health and illness posts! Hope he's ok...

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,

I've had two guinea pigs for the last 5 years, both boys and they've lived together since they were around 8 weeks old. This morning, one of them was very lethargic and not very willing to eat so he went to the vets. The vet examined him and said he has either sprained his spine (he was very fussy when they examined his back) or he has a blockage in his stomach as his stomach sounded a bit funny. They've given me some medication to give him, and he had a pain relief injection, but he's still not eating. Is there any way I can persuade him to eat as the vet said it's important that I get him eating? I'm so worried about him as I love him dearly.

Also, if the worst were to happen and I had to have him put to sleep, would my other guinea pig be okay living on his own? I don't particularly have the time at the moment to get another one, but I'm worried that the one left will be lonely.

Thanks in advance.

Hi!

I am very sorry! You have done exactly the right thing to have had your piggy seen by a vet as an emergency.

Please follow the syringe feeding tips in this illustrated guide here. You can use mushed up pellets in an emergency as long as your cut off the syringe tip as shown in the guide, as well as offer hand warm water for hydration. With a lethargic piggy, please feed only about 0.1 ml (1/10 of a small syringe) at once and wait until it has gone down before giving more.
Please do not continue to feed if your piggy is struggling far in excess of its weak state or is too apathetic to eat. In this case it is sadly dying.

Has your vet checked for GI stasis, bloat or taken an x-ray to check for a twisted or blocked gut or (much less likely) a spinal injury? What medications have you been given?

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Administering Medications And Syringe Feed

Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

 

[hollyw0912]

Hi!

I am very sorry! You have done exactly the right thing to have had your piggy seen by a vet as an emergency.

Please follow the syringe feeding tips in this illustrated guide here. You can use mushed up pellets in an emergency as long as your cut off the syringe tip as shown in the guide, as well as offer hand warm water for hydration. With a lethargic piggy, please feed only about 0.1 ml (1/10 of a small syringe) at once and wait until it has gone down before giving more.
Please do not continue to feed if your piggy is struggling far in excess of its weak state or is too apathetic to eat. In this case it is sadly dying.

Has your vet checked for GI stasis, bloat or taken an x-ray to check for a twisted or blocked gut or (much less likely) a spinal injury? What medications have you been given?

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Administering Medications And Syringe Feed

Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

Hello!
Thanks for your reply. He's been given Loxicom that I have to give him - vet have said that if he's no better by Monday then they will scan him then. He was fine yesterday morning, don't understand how he went from being his normal self to not even wanting to eat his favourite vegetable today

 

[Wiebke]

Hello!
Thanks for your reply. He's been given Loxicom that I have to give him - vet have said that if he's no better by Monday then they will scan him then. He was fine yesterday morning, don't understand how he went from being his normal self to not even wanting to eat his favourite vegetable today

Some issues like bloat, GI stasis or a twisted gut can happen (and can even kill) in a matter of hours; this also includes sudden actue heart failure, stroke, heart attacks etc.

If your boy is not stabilising, you'll have to take him sooner. I am very sorry about the bad timing. Emergencies seem to always happen just before you go to bed, at the start of a weekend or a bank holiday for some reason!

 

[Merab's Slave]

We’re you given something to help with gut motility?
My Priscilla was in a similar situation this week and she was given Loxicom and Emeprid which I had to give her every 6 hours.
I was also given critical care for syringe feeding.

Hope your piggy pulls through.
Keep us posted.

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