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Palliative care for senior pigs

Danielle Smith

Danielle Smith

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Whitehaven, Cumbria
As far as we know, our Rolo is around age 6. He came from a bad hoarding situation, and throughout his time with us he has had recurrent bloat episodes. He was also diagnosed a few months ago with bladder stones. He is on ranitidine and Cystease to try and alleviate these problems as much as we can. His last bloat episode was really quite severe, and he lost a fair bit of weight from it and hasn't put it back on.

Over the last few days, he has been acting "off". A bit puffed up, not wanting to move -- he's usually very sociable with his humans so it's easy to tell if something is wrong. Vet can't see anything out of the ordinary. He's on Metacam in case he's in pain, but it doesn't seem to help.

We're giving him top up syringe feed, supplementing his Vitamin C, and for the first time in months are allowing him to eat pellets (which he loves, but wasn't allowed any due to his bladder). Both my partner and I think he might be coming to the end of his life, but we don't want to go the PTS route yet because he is still somewhat bright.

Has anyone got tips for palliative care for the older pig? I was thinking of changing his fleece to vetbed, but otherwise I'm stuck for ideas!
 
@Danielle Smith Were his bladder stones not removed? If not, it could be pain from those. I found that you need a stronger pain relief to help towards any pain caused by them.

I've had success with Tramadol but I've known Vetergesic to help too.
 
They were not, apparently they were so small he should pass them. No squeaky or bloody wees, but of course the jaggy stones could be scraping his bladder. I'll bring it up at our follow-up vet appointment on Wednesday, and I'll ask about stronger pain relief.
 
@Danielle Smith It might be worth it, especially if you think he doesn't have long left. When that's the case I don’t worry about possible side effects.

Vet bed is a great idea. Nice soft bedding under their feet is good.

Having a snugglesafe is handy too. If it's in the cage they can snuggle up to it if they want.

Also, maybe offer him some porridge oats in a bowl. Weight loss is common in older pigs and it might slow it down.
 
Rolo was eating pellets this morning but now he's not moving or taking any food voluntarily at all. He was drinking a lot this morning, but now he's just not doing anything. I'm wondering if maybe his kidneys are failing.

I tried to syringe feed him, he took about 8ml but then just held food in his mouth and started coughing. I think I've flushed any residual food out of his mouth now.

It's so distressing seeing him like this. He's out for floortime with his cagemate now and he's moving about a little bit, but nothing like usual :no:.

I'll need to see how he is tonight... This is my first time seeing a pig fade away and it's just awful knowing I can't do anything.
 
So sorry for the situation you are in.
It’s an awful time.
I can’t add to the advice already given but wanted to assure you of my support.
 
:hug: Better pain relief is a good idea - I hope he perks up a bit soon. In my experience this last phase of life is rollercoaster with good days and bad.

Sorry you're going through this x
 
Last night things were dire, we didn't know if Rolo would make it through the night.

Rolos has surprised us all and rallied round this morning. He's brighter, eating strands of hay held in front of him, keen for pellets again, swallowing okay.

I was all for an emergency vet appointment this morning; should I still call first thing and request one seeing as he was so very poorly? If nothing else I'd like to request some tramadol. What on earth do I say to my vets? "My guinea pig was on death's door but now he's a bit better"...

I've warned the OH that this sudden return to normality can often happen before an animal passes, but we're taking it as it comes.

I appreciate everyone who's checked in, it's made me feel not so alone during this difficult time.
 
I am so sorry to hear this! I don't know how others feel or if it's allowed, but I keep seeing cbd oil being used with a lot of success at guinea pig rescues recently. I follow several rescues on Facebook and it seems to help piggies with arthritis. Not sure if it would be useful here. Best of luck to you! Hope your piggy feels better!
 
So sorry you are in this difficult situation. I understand how you feel having recently nursed 2 of my own piggies (6 and 61/2). I would certainly try stronger pain relief and have fingers crossed Rolo feels better soon.x
 
Update after vet:

First thing she noted is that he feels really skinny, he lost a lot of weight with the last bloat episode and never put it back on.

He's also very bloated, but is pooping and weeing loads, so the vet wonders if he's got a partial obstruction. On palpation the vet (not my usual cavy-savvy) could feel a mass in his abdomen. He's booked in for an ultrasound on Wednesday with my regular vet. I'm wondering if his bladder/kidney stone has gotten much larger. I've been doing everything I can -- filtering water, no pellets, low-calcium veg, glucosamine.

He's already on Metacam, but we don't want to try an opiate because he's responded badly in the past and I'm terrified of slowing his gut down. The vet gave an injection of Cerenia (maropitant). It's usually an anti-emetic but it has been found to have pain relieving properties and it was the thing that seemed to turn things around during his last acute bloat episode.

The vet counselled me very carefully on considering his quality of life, with the obviously chronic nature of his condition. For now, he's still got life left in him and really enjoyed his pellets and timothy hay seed heads this morning so we'll take it day by day at the moment. As soon as he lets us know he's ready to go, we'll be helping him along.

I know it's selfish to want a little more time with him, but I think the OH and I need to say goodbye properly before we make any big choices.
 
I'm sorry to say Rolo passed away this morning in our arms.

He was really bright during the day (him and cagemate enjoyed laptime where they acted as toasty scarves, see below) but had one of his worst episodes of bloat yet last night; his belly was so tight and he was moaning in pain. We took him to the out of hours vets, where he got some metaclopramide and buprenorphine -- the last medication we could give him. The buprenorphine made sure his pain was taken away -- he got progressively flatter throughout the night, though at 2.30am he munched a couple pellets.

My OH and I cuddled him in bed this morning, he was struggling to breathe and was starting to be in pain again. We made the the decision to take him to the vet to end his suffering but he passed away in my other half's arms before we got there.

We are in absolute bits. I'll write a post in the Rainbow Bridge section of the forum once I've had time to process things. He leaves behind Blackjack, the most fraidy pig ever.

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I’m so sorry for your loss, I’m sure he knew how much you loved him
 
So sorry for your loss. He was a very lucky pig to have such loving slaves and I'm sure he knew that. Look after each other. Sleep tight Rolo
 
I'm so sorry to hear this. Last year, we had to pts our Meemee because of bloat (she had it for a week) that we can't fix. She was a dental piggy and it's bloat that killed her.

Run free Rolo. My piggies in the rainbow bridge will welcome you.
 
So sorry for your loss.
Understand how you are feeling,lost my piggy a week ago
Sending hugs to you and Blackjack.
Have fun at the rainbow bridge Rolo, you can play with my Fred and George. Xx
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. ((HUGS)) to you. Something similar happened with Linney, weight loss and slow decline in old age, followed by lethargy and loss of appetite and a vet visit revealed a mass in her abdomen, but she passed before the investigations could be completed. It sounds as though you gave him a wonderful life and he lived to be an old man and that's the greatest gift you could give him. RIP Rolo.
 
I am so sorry to hear your sad news. I hope you can take comfort from the fact you are both fantastic piggy slaves and did all you could for Rolo, he was a very lucky piggy to be so well loved. Xx
 
I am so sorry, massive hugs.

Sleep well little one

RIP Rolo
x x
 
Oh dear :(
How sad. At least you were with him when he passed. He’s free from pain now.
RIP Rolo, over the Rainbow Bridge now x
 
So sorry to hear this.
You did so much for Rolo and gave him such a loving life.
Look after yourselves now and take time to grieve.
 
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