On critical care again...

[missbrittany]

Just when I though my little Penny was out of the woods I noticed she was losing a little bit of weight. This was on Saturday and she only had to get through Monday and then her antibiotic course would be finished. Antibiotics have never settled very well with her tummy. The vet had given me a probiotic powder to put on her veg but I don't think it has been helping the last couple of days since I don't think she's been eating very well. I have some oral probiotic so I gave her some of that tonight to help with her tummy. I weighed her tonight (1 day after her meds have finished) and she's down to 877 g when she was 976 g just 10 days ago. Of course I'm worried sick so I made up some critical care for her and let her eat as much as she wanted (which was about 12-15 ml). Will call the vet as soon as they open tomorrow and then update you all from there. I'm hoping this is all just a bad reaction to the antibiotics and that in a couple of days she'll be better. I just can't handle all the stress and anxiety, I feel like a terrible piggy mom.

 

[jenniferanneharris]

Your not a terrible piggy mummy at all hun. ((hugs)) Good luck at the vets. Sounds like she is in great hands. X

 

[piggyfan]

Antibiotics do put them off eating and this is not your fault at all. I hope she gains weight soon.

 

[sport_billy]

You are an amazing piggy Mum, don't beat yourself up. Lots of love to Penny, have a big hug x x

 

[klee]

I would definitely continue syringe feeding her if she is not eating very much herself. If your probiotic is one you mix with water, you can offer it in a syringe as I find my girls seem to love it. You just have to be very careful when giving liquids to make sure it doesn't go into the lungs. I am having a few probs with weight loss in one of my girls so I can understand how you are feeling. You just have to persist with her and make sure she is definitely getting something to eat if you aren't sure. Hope the vets went ok x

 

[missbrittany]

Thanks everyone. I called into the vet this morning to leave a message for the doctor I normally see because today is his day off. His nurses are going to contact him and if he thinks it's an emergency then they'll call me to bring her into today, otherwise she'll probably go to the vet tomorrow. Besides being a little quieter than normal she still seems like herself. She's had more critical care this morning and practically inhaled the parsley I gave her. The probiotic I've been giving her is a gel but yes I've been very careful about syringe feeding her so the liquids don't get into her lungs. Thankfully she takes the syringe feeding pretty well. I just have a lot going on right now and feel overwhelmed by all of it...

 

[missbrittany]

Update: Just got off the phone with the vet, he thinks the powder probiotic may be changing the flavor of the food too much for her taste so he wants me to stop using the powder and give her a couple more days just let all the antibiotic leave her system and see if her weight starts going back up. If she isn't improving by Saturday then we're going going to recheck her to make sure nothing else is going on. She seems a little better today, a little bit more active and keeps running up to the bars whenever I go into the room (even though they've already been fed )