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Not eating / Throat Blocked

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happybunny

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Mable started to loose weight about 6 weeks ago and thevet found some spurrs. Mable had a dental and although ner weight did not pick up she did maintain it.

Over the past week or soo her weight started to drop again. On Thursday I took her back to the vet and they could see no mouth problems but did say she had a very sloppy tummy and felt this may be stopping her from eating. She was given Marbocyl.

That night I saw that Mable was struggling to eat and when ever she tried dhe began to choke. I tried to syringe feed her recovery but this also made her choke.

I returned her to the vet on Friday and ask for them to look in her mouth under anethetic (sp?). When I called them to see what had happened they said they found no spurs and that her stomach was still a problem. I refused to accept this and demanded they check her throat. When I called again they said they had found hair and food stuck in her throat and when they tried to put a tube down to her stomach (to prove it was clear) it was possible but not easy. They then said it was a see how she goes.

3 days on she is still not eating. I am giving her metacam daily and syringe feeding her baby food (as this seems to be the only thing that goes down easily). She is biting the syringe and seems to be very hungry but will not go near any food.

Does anyone have any ideas? I am praying that the problem was the blockage and now we are dealing with a very sore piggy.

Any advice appreciated.
 
I take it they did remove the blockage then? Otherwise this obviously would be causing a problem.

Are you happy that you vet is sufficiently cavvy savvy? If not, give us your location and we may be able to recomend a new one.

Other than that I'm sorry i have no idea, and wis her a speedy recovery.
 
Yes - they did remove the blockage.

I have been using this vet for over 10 years and they are usually really good and open to any suggestions I have. I am just hoping that someone may suggest something that could have been missed or is not a common thing.
 
Could it be that the blockage scratched her throat and so she is reluctant to eat solid food at the moment as it is sore?

Poor girl, I hope she starts eating soon.
 
I am hoping it is a sore throat, then it should just be a matter of healing.
 
Ive always find if they are in pain for such a long time it gets ingrained that eating is painful. With Theo I had to syringe feed over a series of months before finally he ate for himself and maintained his weight.
It sounds like it was the blockage that was the problem, surely thats not a coincidence? Perhaps the bad tummy noises was because of the lack of nutrition? Not sure :s Perhaps the blockage is possibly why the teeth had overgrown anyway if she was eating less because of the blockage. Did they say why the blockage occured in the first place?
With Theo I syringe feed every 3hours until his weight was up where I was happy he could afford to lose a little while I weened him back onto normal food. I used the dried nuggets, poured in boiling water and left to soak and then watered down to the right consistency. I always feel its better to do this and add some vit c and priobiotic to it rather than give recovery sachets as it means they get used to the smell of their own food.
Over the months I gradually increased the times between syringing with tasty veggies inbetween, for a while all he would touch was lettuce, his favourite, but i gradually introduced more crunchy veggies. I also slowly added less water to the pellets and had to buy big syringes and cut off the bottom so it would sook up. This helped loads as he got used to having drier and drier food in his mouth. The day he took his first nugget out his bowl I actually jumped for joy :).
Perhaps your little one has just developed a sort of fear and is getting used to syringing now?
 
I think it maybe both pain and fear.

Last night she wassniffing around some chopped up lettuce type leaves / veg and her normal pellet food but did not seem to eat anything other than a tiny peice of broccoli.

Today she is staying away from everything.

I am trying to feed her every 3 hours but as I work full time this is a little complicated. I managed to come home at lunch (by taking 90 mins!) and left early and I can probably get away with that for a few more days but am worries about next week.

I should be positive - she may just need this week to feel a bit better.

Thanks you all for posting.
 
She'll get there :). it is still early days, although you would have hoped the pain would have passed by now given the treatment was last week. But she also had the GA to get over. I found metacam didn't help Theo tbh, he ate better off it. But don't stop it until you know she's not in pain.
Do you have a rescue centre nearby? I'm sure they would take over syringing if need be?or perhaps someone on here could help? I had to leave Theo twice whilst fully relying on me, once for 6hours but he was ok. I just gave very little hourly to restart his wee insides.
Have you tried cucumber? Its got plenty of water too. How is her motions? If there not completly normal its pretty guaranteed she's not feeling normal and won't be wanting to eat given her trauma.
Its so horrible when piggies go off their food, its a constant worry. :(
 
Thank you :))

There are not many motions but the ones in her cage a very misformed. She is weeing as I have seen this when feeding her.

There is no one close that I know of that can help with feeding. I will juggle work this week and see what needs to be done next week.

I have tried cucumber but she is not interested. Tbh she was not a cucumebr lover when well.

Thank you for your support, it is much appreciated.
 
Poor Mable, I hope she starts feeling better soon. It is emotionaly draining syringe feeding and worrying non stop about them. I would keep up the metacam to help any pain.

Please weigh her daily so you can see how much syringe feed she is getting in her. It is imnportant to keep her not hungry and to keep her bowels moving. Is she eating hay?
For syringe feeding I would recomend getting some oxbow Critical Care sachets, they also have Vit C in them and piggies seem to like the taste, the important thing at the moment is keeping her weight stable and keeping her guts moving. Keep trying to tempt her with bits of her favourite veg ripped up into little pieces.

It took our piggie 4 days once before she ate after dental and varies from piggie to piggie.

I hope she starts eating soon, sending healing vibes her way. If she's is still struggling the over the weekend, I would maybe think about maybe getting a second opinion. Our old vet was lovely but only had so much piggie knowledge, it took us a while to find someone who knew piggies and their problems. If you let us know which area you live a member may be able to recomend a vet local to you.
Hope things improve for you and Mable soon
 
It sounds like the blockage, GA and length of time she's not been eating properly has took a toll on her. It can take days before their systems sort themselves out. What are you syringing? Has it got probiotic in it? You can buy some at p@h. It really does make a difference. There's also fibreplex which vets supply that's really good.
If the food is really watery this will be adding to why her motions aren't normal. What dried food do you use? And what size of syringes are you using?trying thickening up the syringe food. Is her tummy all gurgly and noisy when your feeding? And does she pass wind? If any of this ring bells, its just another way of knowing, her systems aren't running properly yet.
Fair enough on the cucumber, have you tried fresh grass, I found this really good to intice them to eat?
Keep trying with the veggies and grass if you can get some and try to give her as much comfort as possible, lots of hiding places and a very familiar stable environment. Give her time, she should come roung it varies between days and months for piggies.
 
I am weighing her daily and she is staying around the 750g mark. her usual weight is around 1150g.

I keep trying her with the critical care but she keeps choking on it. At the moment I am still using a vegatable baby food via a 5ml syringe.

I will start her on fibreplex on her next feed. She has choked during a couple of feeds today and made me think she has another blockage but then this evening she was sniffing around her food bowls again (inparticular her normal wagg mix) but I don't think she actually took anything.

I am taking her back to the vets tomorrow (or tonight looking at the time) for a onother check (and also her meds are about to run out).

Thanks again for all your support and suggestions.

I am in Leeds.
 
happybunny said:
I am weighing her daily and she is staying around the 750g mark. her usual weight is around 1150g.

I keep trying her with the critical care but she keeps choking on it. At the moment I am still using a vegatable baby food via a 5ml syringe.

I will start her on fibreplex on her next feed. She has choked during a couple of feeds today and made me think she has another blockage but then this evening she was sniffing around her food bowls again (inparticular her normal wagg mix) but I don't think she actually took anything.

I am taking her back to the vets tomorrow (or tonight looking at the time) for another check (and also her meds are about to run out).

Thanks again for all your support and suggestions.

I am in Leeds.
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Isn't a 5ml syringe a little large? Maybe too much food is going in at once? Syringe feeding is time consuming, I don't know if you have done much before this, & apologise if you have, but I use a 1ml syringe with the end cut off & filed smooth to feed critical care. Pop it inside the mouth, aim towards the inside of the cheek, not the back of the throat & squeeze gently, a ml or 2 at a time. Let the piggy swallow in between. You also need to syringe water with a 1ml as well, leave the tip intact though, & do the same, allowing the piggy to swallow & make sure that water is syringed after the last dose of feed.

http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

HTH :)
 
Unfortunately I am experienced in syringe feeding ;-(

The amount of food is not really the issue with Mable choking as it seems to bear no relation to how much she has in her mouth. I think perhaps it just goes into an awkward place.

We have been back to the vets and upon reexamining Mable he said he could smell a trush type smell and this could be the problem. We are now giving Mable 0.5ml of Daktarin 3 times a day as well as the metacam and fibreplex.

She is up and down but as we have been told Thrush needs to be treated for 7 to 10 days I guess we can hope that things start to pick up next week.
 
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About a week ago mable started to become interested in food again but started to pick up veg andfood and just drop it again. It never went into her mouth.

As we were nearing the end of her thrush treatment we decided to get the vet have abother look in her mouth and at her throat but cancelled at the last minute when she actually ate some small peices of apple. That was on Friday.

Since then she has not eaten anything by helself but continues to look at food. We have noticed that herlower front teeth are significantly different sizes - could this be causing the problems with picking food up and actually getting it into her mouth?


We are booked to see the vet tomorrow night. I would just like to hear thoughts on if the tooth issue could now be the main problem. It feels like she is generally feeling better and wants to eat, its just she is not physically able.
 
I am very sorry you are still having problems, and i wish your piggy a speedy recovery.

The forum is all about helping people, and people have gone out of there way to help you therefore I find it a little odd that you seem to be unwilling to tell us which vets you use when someone has specifically asked so that they might recomend it to somone else.
 
If your vet hasnt/doesnt do anymore tests i would ask for more. Your piggie does sound like she has a blockage. But this could be further down in her digestive system causing everything to 'back up' making her feel full and literally having no room to take anymore food at all. Does she ever have a tendancy to eat things she shouldnt? String, plastic? Anything? There could be something stuck in her system or simply something else, like a twisted gut, a mass or telescoping of the bowl (intersussption). Please get your vet to do more tests/xrays/ultrasounds etc. If there is a blockage then it needs to be sorted asap, if foods going in an not enough poo is coming out then you have a problem.

Her teeth may look a little odd if she has been living on critical care for a while, she wont be grounding her teeth down on anything like hay. Her front teeth may also look odd if you vet hasnt done a proper job with the back molars. So if your worried about anything like this then see a different vet.

Sorry your piggie is so unwell. The only piece of advise i have is to see a different vet if you are not getting answers etc.

Good luck, and get well soon little one.

x.
 
Guineas eat their droppings, right? Then see if she will eat them and see what happens. Sorry, sounds descusting, but you don't have to try.
 
Connie - I find your response very odd. The question regarding which vet I used has nothing to do with the question at hand. It was regarding someone wanting to know about experiences. I was not even aware that the comment has been left until today.

Even if the issue is regarding which vet I use you do not need to know which it is to advise I get a second opinion.

Abi - We have not been to the vet since the treatment for Thrush was advised. We have seen an inprovement since starting this and now the issue seems to be the actually getting the food in the mouth. When I syringe feed her she is readily taking it without any problems. No more choking or dribbling.
 
I was not advising you get a second opinion, or anything of the sort, you have stated you are happy with you vet, which is fine, if your happy then your happy.

Re-reading, I had though you replied more than once since the question was asked, for which i appologuise. I just found your reluctance to name your vet a little strange, as on this site we like to recomend good vets to other piggy owners, and you had said you were happy with your vet, meaning they are good and someone wanted to recomend them. Sorry if i came off as abrupt, it was not mean as such.

Just because it has nothing to do with the question at hand doesnt mean it is not of interest to the person that asked the question, it would hardly take long to include the name of the vet/vet surgery within your answer to another person. Such as this one for example.
 
Is your piggie having problems picking up and getting the food into his mouth himself? If so, this does sound dental related.

As I run a sanctuary for poorly guinea pigs, I often get calls from people in various parts of the country asking me for help and advice, and knowing which vets are good is always useful. If anyone is within reasonable travelling distance of Northampton I always suggest they visit my vet, but that isn't always possible, so peoples recommendations are very important to me.
 
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