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Not eating/drinking been to vet

Sally Newbie

Sally Newbie

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all
I hope you can hep me please. We have 2 pigs Cheese and Puff, age at least 6 years who have not needed any vet visits in the 5 years that we have had them.
Last week Cheese became very lethargic and off off her food and we took her to the vet that day and she received saline solution injection and an anti inflammatory injection. Her behaviour did not change much initially in that she wasn't moving much/hiding in tunnel but was eating lettuce/veg passed to her although she didn't want pellets. She has now finally recovered.
One week later Puff is experiencing the same symptoms and we took her to the vet yesterday who gave her the same treatment as Cheese plus a daily dose of anti biotics. However, the difference is that Puff is not eating or drinking and is just lying in her tunnel. She can move when the tunnel is lifted off her but clearly doesn't want to.
I have no idea if the vet's medication helped Cheese or she fought off whatever it was.
How can I help Puff in the interim please.
Thank you.
 
I'm sorry you and your piggies are experiencing this.

As far as I know from reading on here, you need to start syringe-feeding Puff ASAP with critical care or similar to replace the hay she is not eating. Hay is far important than veg.

Hoping somebody more versed in sick guinea care answers soon. In the meantime, I'll look for some forum links.
 
Mrs Tiggy Winkle said:
I'm sorry you and your piggies are experiencing this.

As far as I know from reading on here, you need to start syringe-feeding Puff ASAP with critical care or similar to replace the hay she is not eating. Hay is far important than veg.

Hoping somebody more versed in sick guinea care answers soon. In the meantime, I'll look for some forum links.
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Thank you so much. I wonder if anyone can tell me where I get Critical Care from and how much to give her?
 
Sally Newbie said:
Oxbow Critical Care for Herbivores (internationally available online or in shops)
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Internationally widest available recovery brand. Some piggies do however not like the aniseed flavour.

- Oxbow Critical Care Fine Grind (easier to feed; internationally available)
Easier to syringe.

- Emeraid herbivore (UK online from vet suppliers; international brand)
Generally very well tolerated by ill piggies off any food. Enhanced range of formulas and flavours. Please read advice on label first.
Practical tip: Syringes will need flushing with water after each mouthful as it can clog them up rather quickly. Any metacam syringes are sturdier and last longer with emeraid.

- Supreme Science Recovery for Herbivores (UK brand, online)
Generally well liked.

Emergency alternatives
· Any pelleted brand of dry food, soak in warm water, leave to cool and then mash into a paste.
You will need to cut off the tip of a 1 ml syringe with scissors just before the syringe widens in order to allow the rougher fibre to pass but to hold the syringe plunger still in. Adjust the consistency of the paste so it passes through but it not too watery. Mushed up pellets mixes may need to be a little bit more watery in order to pass through the syringe because the fibre in them is rougher than in the proper recovery care products listed above.


(I copied these directly from the forum)
 
Sally Newbie said:
Hi all
I hope you can hep me please. We have 2 pigs Cheese and Puff, age at least 6 years who have not needed any vet visits in the 5 years that we have had them.
Last week Cheese became very lethargic and off off her food and we took her to the vet that day and she received saline solution injection and an anti inflammatory injection. Her behaviour did not change much initially in that she wasn't moving much/hiding in tunnel but was eating lettuce/veg passed to her although she didn't want pellets. She has now finally recovered.
One week later Puff is experiencing the same symptoms and we took her to the vet yesterday who gave her the same treatment as Cheese plus a daily dose of anti biotics. However, the difference is that Puff is not eating or drinking and is just lying in her tunnel. She can move when the tunnel is lifted off her but clearly doesn't want to.
I have no idea if the vet's medication helped Cheese or she fought off whatever it was.
How can I help Puff in the interim please.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

Please step in with feeding/watering support and weight monitoring asap.


Take the time to please click on these links because they contain all the practical advice, how-tips and in-depth information that you need and that we cannot type out in every single post. Nearly 20 years of forum experience with literally tens of thousands of questions, little and large ones, have gone into our guides so I think that we have a good idea what is really wanted and needed. ;)

Your home feeding care is as important as any medication.

How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed. What an anxious time for you.

PS: Did your piggies experience these symptoms during or just after some hot and/or humid weather?
Heat stroke symptoms and what to do

Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Please step in with feeding/watering support and weight monitoring asap.


Take the time to please click on these links because they contain all the practical advice, how-tips and in-depth information that you need and that we cannot type out in every single post. Nearly 20 years of forum experience with literally tens of thousands of questions, little and large ones, have gone into our guides so I think that we have a good idea what is really wanted and needed. ;)

Your home feeding care is as important as any medication.

How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Click to expand...
Thank you so much. I have spoken to the vet and am picking up a food supplement.
 
Sally Newbie said:
Thank you so much. I have spoken to the vet and am picking up a food supplement.
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All the best. The guides will show you with videos and pictures how to prepare it and how to go about feeding but you are welcome to ask any questions in this your ongoing support thread if you have issues.
 
Well we have the supplement and gotten about 3ml in her about 2 hours ago.Will try some more now plus the antibiotics. The instructions say allow 1 sachet per day. It is selective recovery plus that we have been given.

Cheese was ill after the hot weather last weekend and we initially thought that it could be dehydration. But the fact that the weather has cooled down since then and Puff is now ill makes me think it is an infection?
 
Sally Newbie said:
Well we have the supplement and gotten about 3ml in her about 2 hours ago.Will try some more now plus the antibiotics. The instructions say allow 1 sachet per day. It is selective recovery plus that we have been given.

Cheese was ill after the hot weather last weekend and we initially thought that it could be dehydration. But the fact that the weather has cooled down since then and Puff is now ill makes me think it is an infection?
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Please be aware that a piggy totally off their food needs to ideally get about 60 ml into them over the course of 24 hours; 40 ml is the bottom line in order to just about survive. You also need to offer water additionally. 3 ml is by far not enough.

What you are replaceing is not the veg and pellets but the over three quarters of the daily food intake that is grass fibre - i.e. hay, hay and more hay.
Veg, fresh or dry forage, pellets and any treats all together only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have.

The daily weigh-in on your kitchen scales first thing in the morning tells you whether you are getting enough into your piggy or not. It also helps you plan how many feeding sessions you need to plan for for the next day.

I am very sorry but this is the tough end of piggy care when you battle for survival. That is why what you are doing at home with your feeding and watering support is as important as any medication.

Please take the time to read the guides. They tell you how to go about it best and still get some sleep.

HUGS
 
Well, we got 16 ml into her altogether this evening interrupted by an emergency trip to the vet when the syringe broke to get more syringes. We got 10ml-ish into her on the last session.
We will start again tomorrow and aim to get 10ml per session in so hopefully will get a minimum of 40ml in her in 24 hours, aiming for 60ml if we can.
 
Sally Newbie said:
We will start again tomorrow and aim to get 10ml per session in so hopefully will get a minimum of 40ml in her in 24 hours, aiming for 60ml if we can.
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Keep at it! Really you do need to try to get 60ml into her. I always had trouble with it too though, I just wasn't very good at it.
Good luck! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it gets easier for you and your guinea. Hugs.
 
Got some more in Puff today although she doesn't really want it. Will try again every couple of hours. I suppose we just keep doing this and hope the antibiotics kick in at some point. But if she doesn't want the supplement, we just have to get in what little we can.
 
I think we will carry on the next few hours and then try and get emergency vet appointment after the next 2 gos if she is not swallowing it.
 
Thank you all. Puff was put to sleep at the vet. She was getting weaker and we took her there to see if we were helping her by the syringe feeding or just postponing the end. At the vet, the shock caused her temperature to plummet and she was lying down. The vet stopped examining her further and said there was nothing more that could be done and with the sudden change it would be best to put her to sleep. We didn't want her to suffer anymore.
She had a great life, never had to go the vet in the 5 years that we had her and was outside in the summer sunshine enjoying herself until a few days ago and that is some comfort.
We now have to keep an eye on her companion Cheese.
 
BIG HUGS

I am very sorry. It was obviously her time and Puff's body was already on the cusp of closing down if her heart was giving way that quickly.

Please take comfort in that you have done everything you could and that you have given her the most loving and at the same time most heartbreaking gift in easing the journey she obviously had already started for her. You have not failed Puff in any way. We tend to forget that - behind their big personalities - on the bottom line piggies are only small animals with a very fast metabolism that can turn against them at the end. We can sadly never choose when and in which form the end comes.

Be kind with yourself as you grieve but don't feel like you may have missed anything. Puff has clearly been much loved and well looked after, and you have clearly given her what she wanted out of her life: many happy todays in good care.

Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
Thank you. I feel guilty that she was distressed at the vet which caused her to go downhill so fast within minutes. But it was no life for her just lying in her hutch being syringe fed which she didn't want.
I am very sad and have cried a few times. The other awful thing is that our daughter, who has looked after them daily from 11 years old to 15 years (they are her pets), is away. So i am upset also in anticipation of what she will have to go through on return from a wonderful trip away.
 
Sally Newbie said:
Thank you. I feel guilty that she was distressed at the vet which caused her to go downhill so fast within minutes. But it was no life for her just lying in her hutch being syringe fed which she didn't want.
I am very sad and have cried a few times. The other awful thing is that our daughter, who has looked after them daily from 11 years old to 15 years (they are her pets), is away. So i am upset also in anticipation of what she will have to go through on return from a wonderful trip away.
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Please don't feel guilty. The fact that she did collapse on the examination table means that she would have gone into organ failure in a matter of a day or two at the utmost if she wasn't already in it. Her heart was on a trigger. Piggies don't keel over at the vet just like that unless their heart is extremely weak - and how could you have known?

Strong feelings of guilt are characteristic for the onset of the grieving process. They are not a sign that you have failed in any way but they are in fact an expression of how much and how deeply you care. You simply wouldn't experience them, and as strongly, if you didn't care in the first place.
As humans we are wired to reflect everything back onto ourselves; even things we could have never controlled or anticipated. You did absolutely right in taking Puff to the vets as she was clearly not recovering. The rest you could not foresee. It's always so much clearer in hindsight but getting to that point where we can look back, we have to treat a maze blindfolded and without a map. There is never any sneak peek in terms of foresight. :(

I only ever lost one of mine on the examination table but I had her seen as an emergency since she'd gone into sudden acute heart failure (since it was my first experience I wondered whether she'd eaten accidentally some buttercups that were in a big bunch of dandelion a neighbour had brought me and which I may have overlooker but that wasn't the case). The experience left me sitting shaking like a leaf in the vet's car park as a reaction.

Be sad but please don't feel bad and try to console yourself that you have spared Puff a more lingering death. She was no longer very clear in her head when she collapsed and then she just fell into her forever sleep - perhaps that is the best way to explain it to your daughter... But she didn't suffer. ;)

But nothing is as hard as having to break the horrible news to your kids! :(
As a parent, you may find this link here (it is also part of our general human grieving guide) helpful. It covers several age groups and has helpful links with different approaches so you can shoose what suits your daughter's personality best as well as where they can find support (UK helpline) if they want confirmation outside the family: Pet Death: How To Tell The Children? (Tips and Resources)

The general grieving guide in my previous post also has ideas about how you can creatively work through any passing or decorate a grave with a suitable self-made marker so your daughter won't feel left out and can express her feelings in the way that suits her best.

PS: This animated Rainbow Bridge song never fails to make you feel better, and it works for all ages: Rainbow bridge video I made, I hope it can bring some comfort to others
 
Wiebke said:
Please don't feel guilty. The fact that she did collapse on the examination table means that she would have gone into organ failure in a matter of a day or two at the utmost if she wasn't already in it. Her heart was on a trigger. Piggies don't keel over at the vet just like that.
Strong feelings of guilt are characteristic for the onset of the grieving process but they are actually not a sign that you have failed but they are in fact an expression of how much and how deeply you care. As humans we are wired to reflect everything back onto ourselves; even things we could have never anticipated. You did right in taking Puff to the vets; as she was clearly not recovering. The rest you could not foresee. It's always so much clearer in hindsight but getting to that point where we can look back we have to treat a maze blindfolded and without a map. :(

I only ever lost one of mine on the examination table but I had her seen as an emergency since she'd gone into sudden acute heart failure (since it was my first experience I wondered whether she'd eaten accidentally some buttercups that were in a big bunch of dandelion a neighbour had brought me - it wasn't). The experience left me sitting shaking like a leaf in the vet's car park as a reaction.

Be sad but don't be bad and console yourself that you have spared Puff any unnecessary suffering and a more lingering death. She was no longer very clear in her head when she collapsed and then she just fell into her forever sleep - perhaps that is the best way to explain it to your daughter. . ;)

But nothing is as hard as having to break the news to your kids! :(
As a parent, you may find this link here (it is also part of our general human grieving guide) helpful. It covers several age groups and helpful links with different approaches so you can shoose what suits your daughter's personality best: Pet Death: How To Tell The Children? (Tips and Resources)

The general grieving guide in my previous post also has ideas about how you can creatively work through any passing or decorate a grave with a suitable self-made marker so your daughter won't feel left out and can express her feelings in the way that suits her best.

PS: This animated Rainbow Bridge song never fails to make you feel better, and it works for all ages: Rainbow bridge video I made, I hope it can bring some comfort to others
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Thank you so much for your lovely words.
 
I am very sorry to hear this, my Guniea pig who I had PTS a few weeks ago was very much the same, although slightly different the operation for her they suggested was too much I think. Looking back it was the correct decision. I hope you are ok and send my wishes
 
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