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Massage Pads! Any Advice Would Be Gratefully Received.

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Stewybus

Stewybus

Adult Guinea Pig
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Minky has been having a bad time with bloat/wind/colic after starting her new med, Zithromax. The drug seems to be working as she can now eat but a bad side effect is wind. Her stomach appears to be full of gas & it's not going with gripe water, rennie's tablets or adding /bio-Lapis probiotic to her food.

I've seen some colic relief pads for babies & also arthritis massage pads but some of the reviews aren't too good. Has anyone used these on piggies with wind or bloat problems with positive results & can you point me to a good one. This is getting urgent so I'd appreciate any help of info as soon as possible.
 
I know Jo (Flintstones) has one worth dropping her a pm as I forget the brand. Have you spoke to your vet regarding Infacol (Simeticone) It helps with wind in Babies and is used with piggies, we use it occasionally at dose of 0.15ml for Meggy.
Love and vibes to Minky, your doing an amazing job Buddy.
 
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If you're needing an urgent solution, you can sit Minky on your lap and use the handle of an electric tooth brush (switched on of course) and use that to massage her abdomen. A ride in the car can also help. Potholes, cats eyes and rumble strips are your friend!
 
sport_billy said:
I know Jo (Flintstones) has one worth dropping her a pm as I forget the brand. Have you spoke to your vet regarding Infacol (Simeticone) It helps with wind in Babies and is used with piggies, we use it occasionally at dose of 0.15ml for Meggy.
Love and vibes to Minky, your doing an amazing job Buddy.
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Thanks for that Lee, I'll ring my vet after lunch. I've put her back with her 2 companions for a while, she's been running about & been up & down the ramp. The movement may help her. Another reason I did that was so she may be able to eat some of their caecal poos which may help her gut.
 
Amanda1801 said:
If you're needing an urgent solution, you can sit Minky on your lap and use the handle of an electric tooth brush (switched on of course) and use that to massage her abdomen. A ride in the car can also help. Potholes, cats eyes and rumble strips are your friend!
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Thanks Amanda, I'll give the toothbrush a try. Debbie at the Excellent Adventure Rescue also mentioned the car ride when I spoke to her on Sunday. She id have trip to the vets yesterday. I'll take her for a ride in the car when I go to do my post office run later today.
 
Brilliant. It has saved my friends' pigs a few times. Hope you get it. Is good for human back ache too.
 
I have one like this, it's reasonable & is heated too :http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4432045.htm

I would say you need to take her back to the vet though, she will need Emeprid & Zantac to get her guts moving properly again. My piggy has had a similar problem after using Zithro-max & needed gut stims to get her back to normal, together with regular syringe feeds too. It is a very good antibiotic, & I have had it with all my three piggies but this particular piggy it doesn't seem to have suited her for some reason. Fingers crossed for your little girl x
 
I agree with poppy Mum's emeprid and Zantac was a life saver when Fred was on Zithromax. I frequently chased Fred about to get him moving, he has a massage paI'll have to have a look tonight, mine sounds similar to Poppy's mum as it to has the heat setting.

You also need to continue with the syringe feeding.
 
Poppy'sMum said:
I have one like this, it's reasonable & is heated too :http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4432045.htm

I would say you need to take her back to the vet though, she will need Emeprid & Zantac to get her guts moving properly again. My piggy has had a similar problem after using Zithro-max & needed gut stims to get her back to normal, together with regular syringe feeds too. It is a very good antibiotic, & I have had it with all my three piggies but this particular piggy it doesn't seem to have suited her for some reason. Fingers crossed for your little girl x
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She's already on Zantac but not had Emeprid before. My vet rang at 6pm & we spoke for about 10 minutes. I'm doing just about everything I can & there has been a little improvement since I started massage her tummy with an electric toothbrush. Minky was laid on her back with her head resting on my hand & I gently moved the side of the brush around the area between her belly & nipples. This seemed to soothe her. I'd tried massaging the same area with my fingers earlier & she was not happy. After a while I got a couple of horrible whiffs as if some gas had escaped so it seems to be doing the job. I've also ordered a massage pad as recommended by helen105281 which won't be here till Thursday but will be a godsend if the wind/colic/bloat continues. I don't know where I'd be without this forum because I was also recommended some Infacol by sport-billy & I've used this too.

I'm treating her now every 4 or 5 hours giving 0.15 ml of Infacol followed by 10 x 1.00 ml of Critical Care which has had Bio-Lapis pro-biotic mixed in with it then about an hours massage with the electric toothbrush. I did this at just after 6pm & I'm just about to start the sequence again. Sue will start again about 3am then I'll start again about 7am. Hopefully there'll be a big improvent by tomorrow. In between sessions instead of going in a cage by herself she seems to prefer being with Minnie & Rex & busy chasing them to get some of their poo which will also be good for her gut. She's back at the vets on Thursday & they will see me at short notice from 9am to 6.30pm if she needs addition help.

Thanks to all the well wishers on this thread & the other one on Minky.
 
So pleased the pad is on the way, it really is a godsend and good to have on standby. Is great that things seem to be moving a bit with the help of the toothbrush too. It does sound like she may need Emeprid in addition to the Zantac as they apparently work on different parts of the gut. Letting her run after the others is good, I have been told that running about is one of the best things they can do when they have bloat. Also, I know you have cut the Zithromax dose, but if she does go back on the full dose, when my pigs have been on it the dose has been split into AM and PM which may help?
 
Helen when Petal was on Zithromax & this happened, Simon told me to stop the Zithromax immediately until she stabilised. Zantac does indeed work on a different part of the gut than Emeprid does, that's why i think Stewybus needs the Emeprid too. What a shame they can't get the pad until Thursday though. Does anyone from the forum live near Stewybus that can lend them a pad until Thursday? Also I would try handfeeding small pieces of hay to her, I did that as well just to get some fibre into Petal in between the syringe feeding & it helped a lot. I've been in the same position as you Stewybus, it's horrible & very stressful & tiring but hang on in there, we're all thinking of you & keeping all our fingers/paws crossed for Minky x
 
helen105281 said:
So pleased the pad is on the way, it really is a godsend and good to have on standby. Is great that things seem to be moving a bit with the help of the toothbrush too. It does sound like she may need Emeprid in addition to the Zantac as they apparently work on different parts of the gut. Letting her run after the others is good, I have been told that running about is one of the best things they can do when they have bloat. Also, I know you have cut the Zithromax dose, but if she does go back on the full dose, when my pigs have been on it the dose has been split into AM and PM which may help?
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I forgot to that Dominika talked on the phone with Simon and as a result the Zithromax has been raised back to 1.0 ml per day. I've already given her 1ml but may start tonight (Wednesday) with 0.5ml at 12 hour intervals. It seems to be working as Minky is eating more naturally each day. A lot more lettuce today, actually yesterday as it's after midnight. I've just put her back in with Minnie & Rex & she was having a go at eating some hay. I'll mention the Emeprid to Dominika on Thursday.
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Helen when Petal was on Zithromax & this happened, Simon told me to stop the Zithromax immediately until she stabilised. Zantac does indeed work on a different part of the gut than Emeprid does, that's why i think Stewybus needs the Emeprid too. What a shame they can't get the pad until Thursday though. Does anyone from the forum live near Stewybus that can lend them a pad until Thursday? Also I would try hand-feeding small pieces of hay to her, I did that as well just to get some fibre into Petal in between the syringe feeding & it helped a lot. I've been in the same position as you Stewybus, it's horrible & very stressful & tiring but hang on in there, we're all thinking of you & keeping all our fingers/paws crossed for Minky x
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I was typing my last reply when your post came in. I think I'll ring Dominika in the morning & see if they can let me have some Emeprid. Minky's pretty good with hand feeding but finding it more difficult to feed off the floor or from a bowl. I've stuffed hay through the cage bars to give her a change of getting some that's been held a little tighter than just loose piles. When I left her, I'd just put 2 handfulls of hay in their cage. These piles are big enough to hide under and Minky will often get under one & just sit and chew.

Anyway, I'll have to get to bed now otherwise I won't be fit to get up at 7am. Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to both my threads on Minky's current problems.
 
That sounds promising! If she is starting to eat on her own that's great news. Are her poos actually proper formed ones, just smaller? Both of mine that have been on Zithromax chased the others around stealing their poos so think that is a side effect of this antibiotic, Simon had never heard of them doing this before but I know now it can happen. As I said, try feeding her little bits of softer hay by hand after each syringe feed, it will get her interest back in it & the fibre will bulk up her poos. Come on Minky, get better soon :hug:
 
Sorry, I don't know anything about that but I hope Minky gets better soon :)
 
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