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Neck Abscess, Oral Thrush And Hand Feeding!

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Helen 1986

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Hello everyone,

My name is Helen and i have a poorly guinea pig called Little Man (9 month boar) I'm hoping i can get some advice. Sorry for the long post, been a long week!

last Monday we took him to a not so cavvy savvy vet for a large abscess under his chin. Vet prescribed Baytril in the hopes it would clear and booked him in for a lance and drain on the Friday. Long story short,the antibiotics put him off food a little so started using probiotics to compensate but his appetite was still low so we started with Critical Care on Tuesday night. Contacted Vedra at CCT and she recommended another vet and they managed to remove the entire abscess on Thursday and gave him stitches. He is not remotely interested in eating anything solid so has been on Critical care since Thursday. We took him to CCT yesterday and he checks out fine except for a very sore mouth (oral thrush) and sore throat. We are continuing with the Oxbow Critical Care and water every 3 hours, giving him itrafungol and rimadyl twice a day but its a struggle. Each feed is taking around an hour and a half as his mouth is so sore despite watering down the cc. No interest in food, hay, pellets, water etc just sitting hunched up in his cage all day. He starts falling asleep towards the end of each feed! I am picking up some oral gel tomorrow as recommended, he wont take any fruit juice, baby porridge, blended fruit or veg (fussy eater). Is there any thing else anyone can think of that i might be missing? I'm so tired i can barely think at the moment! (-_-) also how long can i keep up with the cc before he will need something more substantial? Thank you in advance x
 
I will leave this one to Debbie as she has the most experience with these types of issues. The only thing I would recommend is maybe the addition of Metatone tonic which is a vitamin supplement and can help stimulate the appetite. The dose would be 0.5ml a day for 1 week and 0.3ml for a second week.

Welcome to the forum by the way.
 
Helen if you can give a rough idea of whereabouts in the country you are that would be a great help :) Do you have much experience of syringe feeding?
 
I'm near Huntingdon, UK. Yeah, i have lost two previous piggy's both needed a fair amount of syringe feeding (one lost to neurological issues and other major dental issues) xx
 
Forgot to mention, he stopped pooping and not much wee Thursday night and all day friday but were back to almost relatively normal output now. Everything is going in and out now but the pain when he is eating is putting him off all solid foods and the critical care, even watered down, becomes painful after second syringe xx
 
Do you give him a drink of water after you have finished syringing? Are you using the 1ml syringes with one end cut off for the critical care & one complete one for the water? Sorry for all the questions, any info will help Furryfriends to help you :)
 
Helen 1986 said:
Forgot to mention, he stopped pooping and not much wee Thursday night and all day friday but were back to almost relatively normal output now. Everything is going in and out now but the pain when he is eating is putting him off all solid foods and the critical care, even watered down, becomes painful after second syringe xx
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Ok has he got some Metacam for pain relief?
 
He is having 2ml water to start with to clean out his mouth, followed by 2ml CC, followed by water again. This is repeated 5 times so he is getting 10ml CC and 12ml water every 3 hours ending with water to flush his mouth out. Using a 2ml syringe and alternating which side it goes on so as to give each side a break. We upped the water because when he was healthy he drank a lot anyway and his poops were coming out very dry yesterday, now they are almost back to normal x
 
No painkillers, just the Rimadyl twice a day which is acting more as an anti inflammatory and doesn't seem to touch the pain in his mouth xx
 
It may be worth him seeing Simon Maddock in Northampton and Debbie also offers temporary boarding while pigs see Simon. I would also recommend only using a 1ml syringe especially if his mouth is sore.
 
Metacam is a great pain killer and a steroid so boosts the appetite. It comes in liquid form so is easy to syringe it is well worth a .try
 
Rimadyl is pain relief too and stronger than Metacam. I think he may need some pain relief directly into his mouth though if it is sore.
 
Hi all,

While waiting for Debbie to catch up with this thread, I thought I'd offer some advice with the syringe feeding: Definitely use a 1ml syringe with the end cut off - that way, you can see better how much he is taking. As he is getting syringe fed, the he won't need the water he is receiving - the liquid in the feed will be enough to keep him hydrated. Ideally, he should be getting around 120ml of syringe food per 24 hours and, while I appreciate this seems a lot, it is the amount a piggy needs to maintain weight. The syringing of water will be causing his as much discomfort as a syringe full of food, but with no nutritional value to him.

It is horrible to see them when they are in pain, but I feel that with more food going in, he will have more energy to fight off his health issues. Good luck - will get in touch with Debbie! :)
 
Thank you guys, i will get my other half to phone the vet tomorrow and see about the metacam. I'm just about to blend up a fresh mix of food for him of CC, excel pellets, vit c, probiotics, dyralite, grass, spinach and carrots to see if i can tempt him as his CC smells a little strong! Shall try the 1ml syringe xx
 
If he doesn't like cc you could try Recovery food or even some Harrington's pellets soaked with some cool boiled water. He doesn't need lots of water but it is important to clean his mouth & give a syringe of water after feeding to keep the mouth clear of food which would not help to heal his mouth. There may be teeth problems developing which Furryfriends will be able to help you with :)
 
well just tried him on mummy's home made blend and he turned his nose up instead opting to eat some fresh cucumber and grass! Phew! Don't think were out of the clear yet but its a good start :) xx
 
Try hand feeding him little bits of soft hay :) You may need to gently feeed the end into his mouth at first but then he may start nomming it pretty quick :)
 
Have put some Hay down and he has dived in to it and started munching. Really odd as he has the same hay in his hutch but isn't interested!
 
Helen 1986 said:
Have put some Hay down and he has dived in to it and started munching. Really odd as he has the same hay in his hutch but isn't interested!
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That's fab! Just keep giving him small amounts of fresh hay, if he leaves some then after a hour replace it all with fresh hay again, small amounts are fine as long as he always has some available :) Mine will leave their hay after a few hours they like it nice & fresh so I remove any left over & put new hay in ;)
 
It may be an idea to try him with lots of different varieties too. Mine love Oxbow Orchard grass and it is nice and soft.
 
Quick question, does it matter what consistency any mix or Critical care i make is? Bearing in mind that chewing hurts his mouth? Xx
 
Helen 1986 said:
Quick question, does it matter what consistency any mix or Critical care i make is? Bearing in mind that chewing hurts his mouth? Xx
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I'm not sure, maybe not make it too thick but you don't want it too runny either as it would be too watery :) I always make mine up a little at a time adding water gradually until it is a bit thicker than Royal icing :)
 
Thank you for all the help, it is truly appreciated! I have been wracking my brain trying to think of anything i may have misses and trawling the internet for solutions. I like to think I'm pretty clued up about these little guys but I'm always learning something new and after previous experiences i get really concerned at the first signs of illness, especially force feeding so thank you, feeling a lot more hopeful now xx
 
Sorry for the delay in replying, but have just spent over two hours trying to catch my rabbit, who had dug a burrow under the hutches and wouldn't come out!

Firstly, was the whole abscess capsule removed or was it just lanced and drained? Is your piggy still on baytril. Zithromax is by far the best antibiotic to use when dealing with abscesses. With regard to syringe feeding, just try and get as much in as you can. I don't give water separately, as there is plenty of water in the syringe food. I tend to use mushed up nuggets rather than Critical Care or Recovery food, as generally the piggy will prefer their normal food. Unfortunately my vet, Simon Maddock, is on holiday this week, but will be back after Easter. Simon is probably the best vet to see for anything dental, abscess or mouth related.
 
Hello, the entire abscess was removed running from between front legs up to chin, it burst just as they took it off. He has stiches in a direct line under his chin now running to between his legs, looks to be healing nicely though. Prior to surgery he was on Baytril but the vet didn't feel he needed them after surgery so has been off them since Thursday. Currently on Rimadyl twice a day quarter tablet and itrafungol twice a day 0.3ml for oral thrush. Going to get his some daktarin oral gel this morning and some of the pick me up stuff from boots. He is eating mummys home made mush at the moment containing critical care, grass, excel pellets, oxbow vit c, probiotics, spinach, carrot and cucumber. Shall post some pictures later xx
 
I agree with Helen, a visit to Simon Maddock at the Cat & Rabbit Clinic, Northampton would be the best answer. I took my Minky on a 400 mile round trip in December & his treatment for similar symptoms had her eating normally within 36 hours. Just seen Debbie's thread & see that Simon is on holiday. What was prescribed to treat the oral thrush?
 
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