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Patch - Weightloss

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Cat&ThePiggies

Cat&ThePiggies

Adult Guinea Pig
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It seems like my piggies object to me going away as I've discovered that Patch is poorly in some way.

I had noticed that he'd lost weight before I went away but couldn't find anything obviously wrong with him, thought perhaps it was due to the fact that we'd altered their diet slightly but no, it doesn't seem to be this as his brother Sneezy is putting on weight.

Patch has now lost round about 100g, possibly more over the course of three weeks... so it seems to be steady weightloss rather than sudden weightloss.

Other than the weightloss, there doesn't seem to be anything noticably wrong with him. He's eating, drinking, pooping, etc.

Really a bit of a mystery. As I don't get back to Aberdeen until tomorrow, he's booked in to see the vet on Monday afternoon.

Oh the joys! Anyone got any suggestions?
 
My girl Sookie recently suffered weight loss quite similar to this. Although she appeared to be eating normally after 3 weeks of weight loss she went off her food altogether. It turned out her back teeth were quite sharp and after they were filed she was back to normal within a week. I'd keep a very good eye on how he's eating, what he's eating and whether or not he's pooing/weeing normally. These are all things the vet asked me about when I bought Sookie in and the more information you can give the better chance the vets have of finding out what's wrong.
Hoping whatever the cause is that it is found and treated quickly.
 
As he seems to be losing weight I would syringe feed him critical care just to help until the vet can find out what is wrong.
 
I'm definitely going to get the vet to check his teeth.

As I'm currently away from home at the moment and its my OH that's looking after the piggies, I'm feeling a bit useless. My OH is going to take Patch out this evening and hand feed him his portion of veggies and some nuggets. This will mean that he can keep a close eye on how he's eating and make sure Patch gets his fair share. As my OH isn't as confident at syringe feeding, we're going to leave it until I'm home tomorrow before we start that. Patch was a big-ish pig beforehand, so with the weightloss he's still over 900g, otherwise my OH would have to just suck it up and do the syringe feeding.
 
Sorry to hear about Patch - for Patrick he lost weight about 80 grams over 4 weeks and he to had overgrown back teeth.

Tell your OH to watch him eat a 2 cm slice of pepper both P and Fred had issues with Peppers when they had teeth problems.
 
He's lost just under 30g from yesterday to today. He manages the veg we've got in at the moment but wont eat nuggets. I gave him some critical care earlier but he wasn't really wanting it so it was a bit of a struggle. I've put some Ella's Kitchen baby food in the cage for him to eat as a few extra calories.

I'm thinking it's probably his teeth but I can't be certain.
 
My piggies used to hate it when I went away, as something always went wrong with one of them.. .touch wood, the last few times, they've been happier about it
 
Oh I hope everything is OK with Patch, please keep us updated when you know what is up with him :)) I hope he starts gaining some weight back!
Patch, your mummy wants you to put some weight on so please chow down! :)
 
Well we're back from the vets and right enough, one of his back teeth has overgrown and his front teeth have slightly overgrown as a result.

He's going in on Wednesday to get his teeth sorted. Made the decision with the vet that he's going to anaesthatise Patch to do his teeth as Patch is so stressy. It was a nightmare just checking his teeth, even with towel wrapping him. Not an easy decision but I trust the vets judgement.

Any advice for after care?
 
Yes make sure the vet prescribes you metaclopromide (gut stimulant) and infacol( for wind- you'll hear it, its a gurgling sound) for after the GA in the event his guts slow down and he declines- all bar one of my piggies has been immediatly ok post GA a few have been okish and others not done great. But all have pulled through and some needed more support than others. Harry needed lots of help but he had a big wound afterward.
Other than that, small softish veggies for the initial 12-24hour period (mouths can be tender depending on the severity of the teeth) But other than that plenty of hay/ grass and nuggets.
If he starts to decline you will have to syringe feed little and often. Ive found 5mls per hour is best if you can do it initially and then spread it out some more. Any decline will I'm almost confident be the GA and he should come round quickly again with nursing. Remember its his teeth and hes not ill so you do want him to eat for himself ASAP. So theres a lot of weight monitoring to be had afterwards. I would weigh twice maybe even thrice a day.
Also bear in mind that between the op and getting home he may loose quite a lot of weight because he wont have eaten so watch for a good few hours to make sure hes eating and then take another weight.

Debbie will be able to offer more advise hopefully
 
My girl with teeth problems had them filed under GA. Apart from being a bit groggy afterwards she was fine and eating again that evening, it took her just over a week to get back to eating properly. I usually feed excel but my girl lost all interest in pellets so I changed to a higher fat tastier musli mix to help her put some weight back on and get her intersested in pellets again. I also made sure the veg was cut very fine so it's easier to eat and gave lots of leafy veg as this seemed easiest to eat.
It might be worth seperating him once he's home so you can keep an eye on how much he's eating and whether or not he's pooing. Also keep weighing him regularly to make sure his weight is stabalising.
Fingers crossed for him at the vets and sending lots healing vibes.
 
Sorry to hear about Patch :(

I cut up all foods or grate them, then see how he goes eating. If he's at all struggling, hand feed immediately the CC and some veg and cut up hay too.
In OZ they only ever trim toofies under a bit of gas, when my boy used to come out from his toofie trim i'd always have some little pieces of canteloupe or something wet for him to nibble on straight away, so that his gut would keep moving properly. It could take him a day or two to get used to his 'new' toofies and get over the gas.

LOVING VIBES FOR YOU PATCH XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Unfortunately Patch isn't doing terribly well. It seems like his front teeth have been cut a bit too short so he can't pick up food. Last night he was happy to eat veggies if I put them in his mouth for him but this morning he didn't seem to want to eat them, I'd put them in for him and then he'd either use his paw to pull them out or just spit them out again.

Spoke to Debbie on the phone last night and she's given me some advice but things don't look great at the moment. He held his weight over night by some miracle but I'm expecting that he may have lost weight over the course of the day.

I've spoken to my vet and he's said that if I'm still concerned when I get home tonight to give him a phone and he'll see him this evening. My vet is willing to speak to Simon Maddock on the phone and has done previously, so at least that's a positive.

Depending on how things go, I may have to consider piggy training him down to Debbie, if possible, so he can be seen by Simon.

Ho hum, we'll see how things go :(
 
Oh no- poor patch :(. Could it just be that they are very very tender? Did the vet take an xray at all? Maybe his roots are inflammed as well. Carry on syringing in the meantime. Lots of healing vibes!!x
 
hazeyg said:
Oh no- poor patch :(. Could it just be that they are very very tender? Did the vet take an xray at all? Maybe his roots are inflammed as well. Carry on syringing in the meantime. Lots of healing vibes!!x
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I'm really not sure what's causing him to not want to eat. I've been giving him metacam for the pain. No, the vet didn't take an xray.

I'll just have to see how he is when I get home. Poor wee toot!

xx
 
How old is he? Maybe its a combination of the pain and the GA. Some piggies just dont cope great with GA's. Let us knw how he is later on. been worrying about him x
 
Oh nooooooo i'm really sorry to hear about Patch not doing so well :(

Whee are sending more

HEALING WHEEEEEEEEEEKS OF LOVES AND EATING ONES TOO XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
hazeyg said:
How old is he? Maybe its a combination of the pain and the GA. Some piggies just dont cope great with GA's. Let us knw how he is later on. been worrying about him x
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He's just coming up to 2 and a half. Yeah, it could be that. When he was in his carrier coming home he was really drowsy and when I got him home and started taking the blanket out as he'd burrowed under it, he didn't move at all and I honestly thought he was dead. It's the first time he's had a GA, so didn't know how he'd react to it at all.
 
Have you got metaclopromide? It would be worth getting him on some to increase his appetite. Can take a number of days before they are right again. I'm assuming his teeth are tender as well. I think with some nursing and the right meds he will come back around again munchkin- try not to stress x
 
Give me a call later if you're still worried when you get home. I am at the vets for the bunnies vaccinations at 7 but will be home definitely after 8. There is lots I could put on here but it would be easier to talk to you.

Thinking of you and Patch xx
 
furryfriends (Excellent Adventure Sanctuary) said:
Give me a call later if you're still worried when you get home. I am at the vets for the bunnies vaccinations at 7 but will be home definitely after 8. There is lots I could put on here but it would be easier to talk to you.

Thinking of you and Patch xx
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Thanks Debbie and thanks for our chat xx

Went back to the vets and Patch had his teeth checked. The vet agreed that his front teeth were just a bit too short but that there was nothing on his back teeth that would be effecting him. We've come to the conclusion that its just Patch getting used to his teeth being different combined with his front teeth being a bit too short. He's now on metacam, gut stimulant and septrin twice a day.

He's not long ago had 30ml of critical care but he was having none of me putting veggies in his mouth, so I've put them in his cage along with softened nuggets, some critical care and some baby food. So hopefully he'll have a go at those things.

I did watch him trying to suss out how to eat hay not long ago and he's nearly got the nack of it.

As I had expected, he's lost about 30g today but I'm still trying to remain hopeful. He seemed a lot more with it this evening after seeing the vet and getting an injection of gut stimulant and metacam. When I had him out for veggies and critical care he was being a right menace and running all over the place. He seemed hyperactive actually. I think he just likes playing with my emotions!
 
They are very good at playing with our emotions! :))

Just give lots of syringe food, lots of softened food in the cage, and lots of finely chopped veg. Something else to try is porridge oats. These can either be sprinkled over other food, or made into a porridge with hot water. Archie loved his porridge, and it helps put weight on.

Hopefully he will get the hang of managing with his front teeth being a little short and they will soon grow anyway.

Fingers crossed that by the end of the weekend he will be munching away happily.
 
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