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PaigeCatherine

PaigeCatherine

New Born Pup
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Hello, my name is Paige and I have a 3 year Guinea Pig names Reeces.

He was fine yesterday, but today he has hardly eaten, drank water, or pooped; plus one of his back legs has been twitching badly which causes him not to really move. I've been giving him water with vitamin C drops in it through a syringe, but he doesn't seem to like it very much. I'm not really sure what to do.I'm getting very scared.

Please give me any advice!
 
You need to get him to a vet today. Don't delay, piggies need to eat regularly and it can be difficult to diagnose the issue. Good luck, let us know how you get on.
 
Please do not use Vitamin C drops they are bad for your guinea pigs health! They disolve in the water in 5 mins and leave the water tasting bad. This will just make your guinea pig even less motivated to drink water. Give him plain water in the syringe.

As for the leg take her to a vet ASAP it is the best thing to do. He could have broken his leg as guinea pigs have very small, thin and fragile bones. Are there any emergency vets near you?

Is he a single piggie or does he have a companion. Guinea pigs should always have a compainion, Guinea pigs without cage mates are alot more prone to having an illness or something happen to them as they are in stress. No matter how much you are with him you can't groom him or speak their language so it's best to get a piggie friend. On the plus side you get to see alot more out of him when he has a friend

Hope This Helped :)
Hanna
 
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I agree that he needs to see a vet, if he is not eating or drinking his guts will shut down very quickly.
 
Hi there
I would advise that your guinea pig needs to be seen in an emergency as soon as possible rather than tomorrow morning - but I note that you are in Wisconsin and I know that in some areas of the USA you don't have close by emergency vets like we do in the UK. Good luck, and we will be thinking of you.
 
Agreed, its best he see's a vet asap. Piggies can go downhill very quickly and if he is not pooping or eating/drinking properly his gut can shut down. Really hope this little guy is okay , good luck.
 
Can you feed him some mashed up pellets in a bit of warm water and try to see if he will eat them off the back of a spoon ,or some fruit puree baby food? it is really important to get food into him on a very regular basis,even if only small amounts,as his guts need to be kept moving - pigs can die within a few hours if gut stasis sets in, Good luck.
 
Currently Reece's seems to being doing a little better, his leg has stopped twitching, and he's been moving around a little more.

He's still not really eating, I've been giving him mostly hay, and I'm still giving him water through a syringe.

Now the gross part, we noticed his poop wasn't coming out normal so my mom squeezed his butt to make it come out, and when it did it wasn't normal, it was in pieces stuck together.

Once again thank you the advice!
 
That doesn't sound good about his poop Hun, I'm not any where near as knowledgeable as someone like Helen etc but that sounds as if he's bunged up he really should be seen ASAP by a vet. What is he fed on daily :)
 
PaigeCatherine said:
That's what I think, but how can I treat that, I've switched his food to try to help but I'm not sure what else I can do.
Click to expand...

you will have to express it for him a few times a day for now. i don't know much about it but i think this needs doing continuously once they have that problem.

hopefully he can have a thorough check over at the vets. i hope you can get an appointment soon x
 
What do the poos look like - can you put up a photo please?

Given the previous symptoms described, I would be hesitant to think that this is an impaction issue. The twitching leg (despite the fact it's stopped now) sounds like there is a neurological component. As this appears to be be the primary symptom, it may now be affecting his ability to poo.

Impaction is normally a feature of older boars who have lost muscle tone. (also it could just be he hadn;t eaten his caecotrophs recently - these are very aromatic/mushy - i.e. not the normal brown little sausages). If he's only "just" become bunged up and you have "pieces stuck together" coming out, then this does not sound like impaction. The fact your piggie isn;t eating suggests that this is more likely to be indicative of the fact that the gut is not moving properly and slowing down because of lack of food and also potential neurological effects on gut movement.

He really needs to see a vet within the next 24hours...before his gut goes into stasis - he may need gut stimulants and syringe feeding to kick start him pooping properly again (but there are many accounts on here of this being done succesfully with full recovery - I have done this many times with poorly piggies of my own) and obviously it is also important to diagnose the underlying condition that is currently stopping him eating and pooping properly.

HTH
x
 
Pebble said:
What do the poos look like - can you put up a photo please?

Given the previous symptoms described, I would be hesitant to think that this is an impaction issue. The twitching leg (despite the fact it's stopped now) sounds like there is a neurological component. As this appears to be be the primary symptom, it may now be affecting his ability to poo.

Impaction is normally a feature of older boars who have lost muscle tone. (also it could just be he hadn;t eaten his caecotrophs recently - these are very aromatic/mushy - i.e. not the normal brown little sausages). If he's only "just" become bunged up and you have "pieces stuck together" coming out, then this does not sound like impaction. The fact your piggie isn;t eating suggests that this is more likely to be indicative of the fact that the gut is not moving properly and slowing down because of lack of food and also potential neurological effects on gut movement.

He really needs to see a vet within the next 24hours...before his gut goes into stasis - he may need gut stimulants and syringe feeding to kick start him pooping properly again (but there are many accounts on here of this being done succesfully with full recovery - I have done this many times with poorly piggies of my own) and obviously it is also important to diagnose the underlying condition that is currently stopping him eating and pooping properly.

HTH
x
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This isn't my Guinea Pig but it was the closest one I could find on the internet.
 

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That's a good photo of impaction from guinea lynx. Note the poos are still quite plump and soft in the picture although are tarting to dry out compared to the normal poo shape. If Reece's poos are like this then it would appear that there is impaction occurring.(but there maybe other things going on too given how he has presented with the symptoms you describe) If this is the first time he has been impacted then it is possible the build-up is so great it has put pressure on a particular nerve causing the leg to twitch. If you follow the guidelines in guinea lynx that should help deal with the impaction both now and in the future
http://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html

However if his poos are drier/more shrivelled/smaller than in the picture - it is also indicative that the gut might be slowing down/not working properly. Has he improved/started eating since you removed the blocked poos?

I would be concerned if he is still not eating (as impacted boars normally do still eat/move around etc), which suggests he may be in pain or there is something else going on (possibly with his gut) I have one elderly boar who gets mildly impacted from time to time and when he does he sometimes also develops a gassy tummy.

Does Reeces have a hollow sounding or swollen tummy which indicates gas is building up? If so, and/or if he has not resumed normal eating/mobility, then I really think that you should take him to a vet to get him checked over in case any gut motility meds/pain relief need to be prescribed (and to identify the underlying cause as to why the gut has slowed down)- If gas is developing and bloat subsequently ensues, I'm afraid it can become a life-threatening emergency..

Please read the legal notice at the top of the Health and Illness Board....and if he is still not eating/drinking/moving around normally then please take him to a vet.
 
Guinea pigs have a very complicated digestive system... They need to be digesting something all the time, if not the stomache with shut down! This very serious and you need to start feed him pellets through a syringe... Blend the pellets in a blender with some water this will make a 'mushy' mixture... You can also do this with hid veggies. Like I said earlier don't give him the vitamin C drops as he should get all the vitamin C from his fresh vegetable and pellets... In older Boars they tend to have a thing where they get a blockage because their muscles are not working like they did when they were young... But it doesn't look like it is that, the twitching leg although it has stopped now seemed to have had an impact on his ability to 'poop'. This may seem gross and you will need some time to do this but you will have to squeeze out the poops every hour or so to help him with the lack of pooping.

Also you need to take him to the vets (if you haven't already) If you have taken him but the symptoms are getting worse take him again

Hope This Helped :)
 
What has this piggy been eating? (That's not meant to come across in a horrid way) I downloaded the safe guinea pig food guild before I got my fellas and I've stuck to it ever since after reading stories like this and death from bloat etc....poor piggy I hope you can get this sorted and he makes a full recovery
 
Thank you everyone so much!

But sadly your advice won't be necessary anymore.

Reece's pasted away this afternoon.
 
We are very sorry to hear this and send our best wishes to you.
 
Oh no I'm so sorry to here this :( RIP Reece.

Please once ready get your other piggy a friend, and follow the safe food list it lists foods that cause tummy issues etc.
sending hugs :hug:
 
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