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Not eating; not managing to syringe feed

Helen82

Helen82

Teenage Guinea Pig
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The back story is here but I thought I'd better start a new thread cos I'm starting to panic now. I gave Jess her first baytril dose at 12pm but since then (and apart from a few spots of pellet soup) I've failed to syringe feed her any fibreplex or mushed up pellets. I've tried following all the tips but I just can't get her mouth open to syringe feed her, even wrapped in a towel she's been thrashing about too much and I don't want to do any damage to her. I've kept her in her carrier since taking her to the vets but I thought maybe she might feel better back in the cage. So I sectioned off their cage with a grid so Stanley and Primrose are in a 2x4 (C and C) section and Jess is in the 1x3 section. When I first put her in she wanted to get through to be with them and they were talking to her, but she's gone up the other end now to sit under a log tunnel hidey. I've put some pellet soup in a food bowl and there's a water bottle and hay but she won't eat or drink. Through the day she's had occasional diarrhoea and been bleeding but mainly this has happened when I've had her in the towel and trying to feed her. When she's just sitting it's not so bad. She looks very poorly and her energy level is dropping. Except when I've tried to syringe her and then she's mustered all her energy to fight it off. I don't know what to do - I don't know if this is the beginning of the end or a coincidental illness that I should be able to treat but I'm failing her.
 
Helen82 said:
The back story is here but I thought I'd better start a new thread cos I'm starting to panic now. I gave Jess her first baytril dose at 12pm but since then (and apart from a few spots of pellet soup) I've failed to syringe feed her any fibreplex or mushed up pellets. I've tried following all the tips but I just can't get her mouth open to syringe feed her, even wrapped in a towel she's been thrashing about too much and I don't want to do any damage to her. I've kept her in her carrier since taking her to the vets but I thought maybe she might feel better back in the cage. So I sectioned off their cage with a grid so Stanley and Primrose are in a 2x4 (C and C) section and Jess is in the 1x3 section. When I first put her in she wanted to get through to be with them and they were talking to her, but she's gone up the other end now to sit under a log tunnel hidey. I've put some pellet soup in a food bowl and there's a water bottle and hay but she won't eat or drink. Through the day she's had occasional diarrhoea and been bleeding but mainly this has happened when I've had her in the towel and trying to feed her. When she's just sitting it's not so bad. She looks very poorly and her energy level is dropping. Except when I've tried to syringe her and then she's mustered all her energy to fight it off. I don't know what to do - I don't know if this is the beginning of the end or a coincidental illness that I should be able to treat but I'm failing her.
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Please see an out-of-hours vet asap.
 
Oh no! I’m so sorry I can’t help you, I hope somebody does soon!
 
Wiebke said:
Please see an out-of-hours vet asap.
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I just rang my normal vets as they stay open til 7pm. They just told me to keep trying occasionally with the syringe and bring her in in the morning. I can't take her in over night as after 7pm there's not going to be anybody there to try and feed her. Just going to see now what out of hours vets there are here.
 
Helen82 said:
I just rang my normal vets as they stay open til 7pm. They just told me to keep trying occasionally with the syringe and bring her in in the morning. I can't take her in over night as after 7pm there's not going to be anybody there to try and feed her. Just going to see now what out of hours vets there are here.
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HUGS

All the best!
I know how difficult it is with a piggy that is totally uncooperative and desperate you get!
Please consider that it might be an expression of it no longer being able to process any food. In that case, there is nothing you can do, unfortunately but let it go. :(
 
Just an update. Jess is still with us - I had another go with the syringe feeding but still no joy and I was just distressing her too much trying. She ate a small amount of hay yesterday evening (not enough but at least she was showing willing) - typically she was not that interested in the hay in her partition of the cage but was taking it through the grid from Stanley and Primrose's side of the cage. She had a good drink of water from her bottle at about midnight. When I came to give the other two their veggies for breakfast she showed interest - I know it's not the best of ideas in the circumstances but I'm desperate so I offered her a tiny bit of veg and she ate a bit of romaine lettuce and a bit of spring green. The lettuce is about the only thing she's showing interest in so I gave her a little bit with some fibreplex on it, and she's just had a couple of little bits with some mushed up pellets on them. She won't touch the mushed up pellets on their own but if I can try and smuggle some in her on little bits of lettuce that might be some form of progress...
 
How is she doing now, I'm so sorry you find yourself in this situation, wish you all the best with the recovery process and I hope she pulls through 🤞💖
 
Is there someone who can help you?

I found syringe feeding Jemimah much easier when my husband was around as that girl was a gold medal winning wriggler
 
Thank you everyone for your replies. Unfortunately I had to take the decision to put Jess to sleep this morning.

She ate a very small amount of greenery up to yesterday morning but wouldn't touch any after that and barely drank. I live on my own and don't know anybody who is confident enough with small animals to try and help me with the syringe feeding. I tried again this morning to no avail. I booked her in at the vets this morning with the intention of her staying in with them to feed and medicate her to give her a fighting chance of combating the diarrhoea and bleeding. But the vet I saw today thought that really what was causing it was the large lump/tumour she has was now impeding/blocking her system working properly. I had to weigh up whether it would be fair to keep her going briefly (which they would have done) on the slim chance that this was an unrelated illness. There was an option of operating but it was in such a difficult place they may have done more harm than good to her even if she had survived the operation. Rightly or wrongly (I'm not sure I've worked it out for myself yet) I decided that it would be kinder to Jess to put her to sleep rather than let her deteriorate or keep her alive longer only to find that it was the beginning of the end anyway and cause any unnecessary suffering. I haven't cried so much in so long and I already miss her dreadfully.
 
Poor you :( You did what was right for you and your little Jess.
She’s not suffering any more, over the Rainbow Bridge.
RIP little Jess :( x
 
Oh I’m so sorry for your loss x I think you did the kindest thing to let her go, you did your very best for her. Sleep tight little Jess x
 
I am so sorry.
It’s a hard decision to make but one made out of love.
Look after yourself and take time to grieve now
 
It is the last act of love we can give our precious pets. She is now pain free and popcorning at the rainbow bridge. Sleep well little piggy.
 
I am so sorry that the time came to say goodbye, this is the hardest act of love that any pet owner has to face but something we have to do in order to prevent the lengthened suffering of our animals. Jess is popcorning and eating lots and lots of veggies over the rainbow bridge now 🌈⭐️
 
Thank you all - I think it would help to write about Jess in the Rainbow Bridge section, but I'll have to wait until I'm ready.
 
I am so sorry to hear this. I can only echo what everybody else has said. Take care.
RIP Jess x
 
Oh goodness. I’m sorry that you had to make the toughest decision any of us is called to make. You loved her enough to let her go. That is the kindest act of love we can perform for our piggies. Popcorn free lovely piggy. Hugs to you.
 
this just shows what a great and caring person you are. You took your wants and feelings out of the picture and did what was right for your loved pet. She is no longer in pain. and i'm very sorry for your loss.
 
I am so sorry you had to make this difficult decision. It sounds like it was the right one for Jess, you tried really hard for her and that's all any of us can do. Please be kind to yourself as you grieve for your lovely piggy.
 
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