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Lethargic Piggies

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elle100

I've got up this morning and am a bit worried about Maisie and Poppy. Usually greeted with lots of wheeking and excitement for the morning veggies but they were just lying down. When the veg went in they had a nibble then went back to bed. Have given them a wee check and can't find anything obvious so I've got an appt with the vet tonight. Anybody got any ideas? I'm so worried.
 
I don't have any advice... but will keep my fingers crossed for good news at the vet! You look after your little girlies so well!

Maybe they were just tired after a rough weekend? I know Mondays aren't my favourite... ;)
 
I think the best course of action is the vet just to be on the safe side! I am hoping it is nothing serious! xx
 
Hopefully they won't do what furby did with me at the vets and did the "I am not ill why am i here?" yet at home she was wheezy and lethargic and not herself at all! She had a chest infection which she is completely over. Fingers crossed she all goes well with the vet!
 
Sending supportive vibes your way and possitive perk up vibes to the wee ones.
 
Best wishes - it is always so disconcerting with these vague signs!
 
Let's hope it is nothing serious, with them both being that way it may just be they can't be bothered playing rather than them both being unwell. Fingers crossed.
 
sending good vibes your way x>> hope all goes ok at the vets xx
 
Many thanks for all your posts xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>

Just a wee update now I'm home again, they did finish their veg eventually, but just picked at it over time as opposed to the usual doesn't even touch the sides gobbling :(|)! They both still seem really tired and kind of nervy, but have been eating, peeing and pooping, all of which seem normal. My flatmate and fellow piggie mummy watched them all morning to make sure there was no distress when peeing but it all seemed fine, their breathing is ok, no sore or tender spots. Everything seems normal apart from their behaviour and the lethargy. Maybe I am just being neurotic but I am still very concerned :(.
 
I am pretty sure the vet i see thinks i am a neurotic piggy mummy! Just means you care deeply about their health and welfare!
 
Some piggies do seem to have days where they aren't as active as usual...the unusually sedentary rate of eating may have a specific cause, or it may not.

Are they pooping ok? Tummies feel soft, as normal? What did they have to eat yesterday?
 
They seem to be pooping fine and their tummies also seem completely normal. Yesterday they had their usual hay and pellets, for veggies got a brussel sprout, some red pepper, romaine leaf, 2 cherry tomatoes and some green beans. Could any of this caused it? They have had all these before and been fine but am still a bit of an idiot when it comes to veg mallethead!
 
It all sounds fine, you're not an idiot. :)) The diet is nice and varied. I thought there may be an outside chance of mild bloat, but if their tummies feel normal and they're not tender then it's very unlikely to be the case.

Any environmental changes - maybe the heating has been on more than normal? More floor (exercise/run) time than normal over the last few days?

As I said, there may not be a specific cause. But it's worth trying to rule out or pin down anything that might be relevent. :)
 
They got a bath and a new C&C cage last Tue which they seem to love tearing up and down in, but other than that I can't think of anything else out of the ordinary. I did make sure they were completely dry after the bath before they went into the cage and their breathing seems completely normal but I'm just a bit freaked out as they are my first piggies in case I've done something wrong. Vet appt is a 5.15, can't come soon enough!
 
Maybe all the tearing up and down their lovely new big cage has finally caught up with them. :))

Good luck at the appointment, better to be safe than sorry. xx
 
Well that's us home again. Vet said they have eaten something that didn't agree with them as their bowel sounds are fast and quiet. Got a probiotic for them but now feel even more guilty. She told me to feed them high fibre low sugar veggies for the next few days - anybody know of any apart from carrot? Could this be because of the Readigrass, they had some yesterday, sorry Laura I forgot mallethead and they've never had grass before? So many questions, feel like such an idiot!
 
elle100 said:
Well that's us home again. Vet said they have eaten something that didn't agree with them as their bowel sounds are fast and quiet. Got a probiotic for them but now feel even more guilty. She told me to feed them high fibre low sugar veggies for the next few days - anybody know of any apart from carrot? Could this be because of the Readigrass, they had some yesterday, sorry Laura I forgot mallethead and they've never had grass before? So many questions, feel like such an idiot!
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Glad they're okay. :)

Carrot is high sugar, as are all other root vegetables and peppers. It was possibly the Readigrass if they've not had it before - did you give them a large handful? You may need to introduce it more slowly.

I'm struggling to think of high-fibre, low-sugar veg. I can think of low-sugar veg - dark green leafy veg, but I don't know whether it's high fibre.

This is just my personal opinion (but it did work when my two new baby piggies got diarrhoea from gorging themselves on grass when we first got them - my fault), but I fed them just hay and water for 3-days and that cleared it up. So, I'd be inclined to just feed them hay for a few days and then introduce their pellets and veg again (and then maybe gradually introduce the Readigrass once everything is back to normal - if it affects the again a second time, then I probably wouldn't feed it again).
 
It coukl be that they "reacted" to the Readigrass.
There is always the possibility when pigs go out onto the lawn for the first time each year that they can get problems if they eat too much grass, too quickly.
I give my pigs Readigrass but only in small amounts, it does seem to be quite "rich" compared to fresh grass.
Anyway, it is good to know that they will soon be back to normal, I would give them plenty of hay, celery and other fibrous foofs for the next few days.

People who think they know everything, whatever the subject, are the real idiots, there will always be someone else who knows one more fact than they do.
 
As I said in the PM Elle - corn husks are good...if you can find them! Carrot is high sugar. Celery, cucumber and lettuces are all low sugar, the latter two not so high in fibre but since the hay and pellets will cater for that side of things, you can either feed a few low sugar veg or feed none at all for a couple of days.

I would be inclined to suspect the Readigrass may have been a touch rich for them too, my experience was similar when I fed them Readigrass for the very first time a few years back. At the start of last year I used to feed Readigrass alongside regular meadow hay, once they were used to it they had handfuls between them, but initially I only gave them a sprinkling and increased it a bit each day.

More often than not the pigs don't have a great deal of sense when it comes to food, they don't realise that too much of a good thing can also be a bad thing. :))
 
Well I am pleased to report Maisie and Poppy are doing much better today, I was greeted by 2 wheeking piggies when I got up this morning which was just lovely :). Gave them some celery, romaine and carrot last night, same again this morning but Laura tells me carrot is in fact high in sugar so that's out for now I think. Poor piggies must feel like they're on a diet, they looked at me as if to say 'Is this it?' when I put the bowl in this morning :(|).

Definately no more Readigrass for them, they have only just moved on to fleece and I used to mix some Burgess Excel Fresh Forage through their hay when they were on hay and newspaper but obviously it would take them ages to find it all. This time I put some Forage along with some Readigrass in a bowl for them, silly piggie mummy mallethead!

Thank you all so much for your kind words and advice, this really is a wonderful forum, I am lucky to have found it x>>x>>x>>
 
You could introduce readigrass slowly once there tummies settle down?

I'm so glad they are all better! xx
 
I agree, you don't need to cut out the Readigrass. Even though it is a bit rich, just spread it through their regular hay, same as you did with the Excel Forage. They'll enjoy it just as much, just in a more controlled way. No chance of them pigging out on it all at once. :))
 
Hmmm... the same thing seems to be happening today. They've not been given any Readigrass so it can't be that. Yesterday they had dill, celery, 3 cherry tomatoes with the insides taken out, lettuce, cucumber, parsley, broccoli, carrot and sugar snap peas, spread out over 2 servings, and a Beaphar carrot crunch treat each. Flatmate says there was no wheeking again this morning and now I'm home they seem very sleepy again, just as they were last week.

They did eat all their veg, a bit quicker than last week but again not as quickly as usual. They are eating hay, not sure about the pellets. Both peeing and pooping as normal.

They bounced back really quickly last week so I think I should hold off on the vet til tomorrow unless they get any worse obviously, but what am I doing wrong? I now have the feeling this has happened before but I couldn't see it as well because they were in the 2 tier cage buried in hay.

The vet gave me probiotics last week to help their tummies recover, is it worth me giving them another course or maybe giving them as a matter of routine, would that help prevent the problem?

So many questions again, but I feel so bad, like I've let them down again mallethead. Is there something in the veg I gave them that could cause a problem with a piggie tummy? Should I go straight to the vet or should I wait?

Aaaaaarghhhh!
 
it won't hurt them to give them probiotics! better to be safe than sorry, broccoli is a brassica which has been linked to bloat... have you checked how their tummies feel?
 
Elle, if you're letting them down then I'm letting mine down too! I'm having to overhaul my pigs' diet after Dexter's episode the other night, I've learnt so much I feel I've had my head in the sand all along!

It does still stand that broccoli is not great for guineas with sensitive digestion - anything along the lines of cabbage, kale and sprouts can also upset those with very sensitive tummies. Whether the broccoli is a cause of the lethargy, I couldn't speculate at the moment.

From my understanding probiotics will not have a negative effect even if they are unnecessary, so it could be worth a try.

Is there definitely nothing else you could link their inactivity to? Central heating on longer than normal, fresh bedding being put in the cage? My guess is that if this episode occurs repeatedly, taking notes of the date/time/how long since latest cage cleanings and since topping up hay/what they were fed in past 24 hours etc. would eventually throw something out.
 
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