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Not eating after spay operation

Charlottibiscot

Charlottibiscot

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
61
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Location
United Kingdom
Hi all,

My Ermintrude, who is 3, has come out of surgery feeling very sorry for herself. It's been 4 hours since she came out and she's refusing food, apart from a single peaflake so far, so I have started her on CC (managed to get about 15ml of oxbow into her) and will continue every couple of hours whilst encouraging her to eat.

She's not on antibiotics, just metacam and gabapentin. She's just had her nightly dose of gabapentin so I'm hoping it will kick in soon and help a little. She was a little cold but has warmed up a bit now.

I'm well prepared to care for her but wasn't expecting this level of lethargy at this stage as other piggies I've had have been starting to come round by now and showing some interest in nibbling things.

Any insights are appreciated.
 
Charlottibiscot said:
Hi all,

My Ermintrude, who is 3, has come out of surgery feeling very sorry for herself. It's been 4 hours since she came out and she's refusing food, apart from a single peaflake so far, so I have started her on CC (managed to get about 15ml of oxbow into her) and will continue every couple of hours whilst encouraging her to eat.

She's not on antibiotics, just metacam and gabapentin. She's just had her nightly dose of gabapentin so I'm hoping it will kick in soon and help a little. She was a little cold but has warmed up a bit now.

I'm well prepared to care for her but wasn't expecting this level of lethargy at this stage as other piggies I've had have been starting to come round by now and showing some interest in nibbling things.

Any insights are appreciated.
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Hi

HUGS

This is sadly not uncommon and it always makes for a very worrying time. :(

Monitor and if necessary continue with feeding and watering support little but more often, every few hours. Make sure that you get some sleep for yourself as well, though, in case she struggles with her recovery and this drags on.

If she is not better by tomorrow morning, please contact the vet.

You may find the practical advice in our post-op care guide helpful: Tips For Post-operative Care
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

HUGS

This is sadly not uncommon and it always makes for a very worrying time. :(

Monitor and if necessary continue with feeding and watering support little but more often, every few hours. Make sure that you get some sleep for yourself as well, though, in case she struggles with her recovery and this drags on.

If she is not better by tomorrow morning, please contact the vet.

You may find the practical advice in our post-op care guide helpful: Tips For Post-operative Care
Click to expand...
Thank you <3 it's going to be a long few days and nights.
 
Hi all, thank you so much for the support! Ermin is doing a little better today, but is definitely not out of the woods yet.

I really need to start weighing her as she's already skinny at 810g from the cysts, but haven't worked out a method that works without touching her sore belly or obscuring the number on the scales if I try to transport her in her basket. Any tips would be hugely appreciated.

Ermin is now ravenous for romaine lettuce and cucumber and accepting a few peaflakes. I fed her oxbow CC through the night but at that point I think having a full belly caused her significant pain as she started shaking after feeds, so I'm giving her less CC today - only little top ups of 5-10ml twice a day. Her poops look to be the right colour and moisture, but about half the size of what they would usually be. She's managing to reingest some poops today as well which is good!

She's moving around and munching on hay every now and again but preferring to be sleeping. Staying away from her cagemate who keeps trying to give unwanted check-ins. Not drinking water but her poops look fine.

She hasn't touched her dry nuggets which is concerning me a little bit combined with the lack of drive to move around, but I'm trying to not worry too much and focus on making sure she's eating and not losing too much weight - just need to work out how to weigh her without causing her pain!

Edit: she's getting 0.1ml dog metacam twice daily, 0.08ml gabapentin twice daily
 
Charlottibiscot said:
Hi all, thank you so much for the support! Ermin is doing a little better today, but is definitely not out of the woods yet.

I really need to start weighing her as she's already skinny at 810g from the cysts, but haven't worked out a method that works without touching her sore belly or obscuring the number on the scales if I try to transport her in her basket. Any tips would be hugely appreciated.

Ermin is now ravenous for romaine lettuce and cucumber and accepting a few peaflakes. I fed her oxbow CC through the night but at that point I think having a full belly caused her significant pain as she started shaking after feeds, so I'm giving her less CC today - only little top ups of 5-10ml twice a day. Her poops look to be the right colour and moisture, but about half the size of what they would usually be. She's managing to reingest some poops today as well which is good!

She's moving around and munching on hay every now and again but preferring to be sleeping. Staying away from her cagemate who keeps trying to give unwanted check-ins. Not drinking water but her poops look fine.

She hasn't touched her dry nuggets which is concerning me a little bit combined with the lack of drive to move around, but I'm trying to not worry too much and focus on making sure she's eating and not losing too much weight - just need to work out how to weigh her without causing her pain!

Edit: she's getting 0.1ml dog metacam twice daily, 0.08ml gabapentin twice daily
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Please step in with feeding support even if she is nibbling - it can be so deceptive.

This guide here features how you can pick up and weigh your piggies hands-off. The videos do not longer work but the descriptions and the pictures still do: How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (videos)

This guide here helps you put any weight loss into the correct perspective at any age and around any ovarian cysts, and also explains the different levels of feeding support:
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels

Here is our step by step feeding and medicating guide which addresses all questions including how you can feed an uncooperative piggy without touching the belly.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

I hope that the guide links help you answer all the little practical how-to issues.
 
Amazing, thank you! I'll look through the guides carefully.

Unfortunately, I've now had to (hopefully temporarily) seperate them with a c&c divider as they got in a proper bundle-o-fur fight just now - no blood drawn. Looks like ermin is being bullied and challenged for her top spot 😥 they haven't argued like that since I started the bonding process 2 years ago!
 
CTWC said:
What a rollercoaster you're having
Will she eat the cc food directly from a spoon at all? And what flavour is she having? 💐
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She won't eat from a spoon, and she refuses water and nuggets still.

She's having "Oxbow Critical Care Apple & Banana", which she previously enjoyed in the week prior to her op when I was offering it as a solid ball to make sure she was as healthy as possible.

I managed to weigh her this morning - she's 750g. I can't remember for sure what her weight was before the op, but it was something like 810g. Anyways she's severely underweight already as her healthy baseline is 1300g.

I was thinking about trying to mix CC with pure veg/fruit baby food to get her to put some weight on? She fights all the way through feeds and throws a particular tantrum after about 10ml so we can only do 10ml every 2 hours right now. 😥

She'll eat lettuce, banana, cucumber, but they're not particularly fattening :/
 
Do you have some grass? Only offer a little bit if she’s not used to eating it though.

While she is recovering she will probably not put weight on until she’s feeling better and eating more for herself. Syringe feeding is aiming to stop any further weight loss.

You can try mixing it with fruit or veg baby food.

It’s great she is still willing to eat something.

After a syringe feed I find they are more willing to eat a little hay. So I always offer some then.

Good luck I know it’s hard. You are doing a brilliant job. ❤️

When is she going back to the vets for a check up?
 
Charlottibiscot said:
She won't eat from a spoon, and she refuses water and nuggets still.

She's having "Oxbow Critical Care Apple & Banana", which she previously enjoyed in the week prior to her op when I was offering it as a solid ball to make sure she was as healthy as possible.

I managed to weigh her this morning - she's 750g. I can't remember for sure what her weight was before the op, but it was something like 810g. Anyways she's severely underweight already as her healthy baseline is 1300g.

I was thinking about trying to mix CC with pure veg/fruit baby food to get her to put some weight on? She fights all the way through feeds and throws a particular tantrum after about 10ml so we can only do 10ml every 2 hours right now. 😥

She'll eat lettuce, banana, cucumber, but they're not particularly fattening :/
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Hi

5-10 ml is normal per session for a piggy that has lost all appetite and is fighting it. You need to feed the more often the less you can get in.

Please be aware that the syringe feed is replacing the grass fibre she is not eating. Just a little nibble is not enough to make up for over three quarters plus that hay/grass fibre makes in a day. Only the scales can give you a proper update but you can only compare weights from the same time of day with other.

All the other food together replaces the last 20-25 % of supplementary wild forage in the diet that guinea pigs have developed on - veg and herbs, fresh and dry forage, pellets and any treats. They are extra.

You can mash a little banana into the syringe feed but it is the grass fibre that is crucial to keep the gut going.

I am very sorry that you have a full on fight for her life on your hands.
 
Thank you so much everyone! My partner has been a superhero feeding her today whilst I was at work and together we have managed to give her 90ml of critical care over the course of the day 🥰🥰

We mixed it with a little mushed banana as suggested and she's a little more amenable to it.

We feed her as a team which speeds up the process considerably and means she's less stressed by the end. We're doing 10-15ml each time, and she lets us know when she's finished.

My partner came up with a new position to hold her (held gently against the side of a sturdy fleece basket with high sides, head held gently in place) which she seems to prefer, presumably because it means her abdomen stays relaxed!

She's also much perkier today and much more herself - poking her head out to see whats going on when we come over (see photo!), making little happy noises as she walks around, rummaging through the hay (although she's still not eating loads of hay, and she's still not eating pellets or drinking water at all)

She also ate the grass we gave her, so I'm going to get some more tomorrow.

Vet appointment was advised to be somewhere between 7 days and 14 days time - I guess I'll probably book her in for 7 days.

So - happy news overall. Thanks again for the help. Not only is it helping inform her care, but also boosting my morale a little in this difficult patch. :)
 

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Charlottibiscot said:
Thank you so much everyone! My partner has been a superhero feeding her today whilst I was at work and together we have managed to give her 90ml of critical care over the course of the day 🥰🥰

We mixed it with a little mushed banana as suggested and she's a little more amenable to it.

We feed her as a team which speeds up the process considerably and means she's less stressed by the end. We're doing 10-15ml each time, and she lets us know when she's finished.

My partner came up with a new position to hold her (held gently against the side of a sturdy fleece basket with high sides, head held gently in place) which she seems to prefer, presumably because it means her abdomen stays relaxed!

She's also much perkier today and much more herself - poking her head out to see whats going on when we come over (see photo!), making little happy noises as she walks around, rummaging through the hay (although she's still not eating loads of hay, and she's still not eating pellets or drinking water at all)

She also ate the grass we gave her, so I'm going to get some more tomorrow.

Vet appointment was advised to be somewhere between 7 days and 14 days time - I guess I'll probably book her in for 7 days.

So - happy news overall. Thanks again for the help. Not only is it helping inform her care, but also boosting my morale a little in this difficult patch. :)
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Well done!
 
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