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Poor piggy still ill after a month

biotechanna

biotechanna

New Born Pup
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Hi, I'm posting regarding my 3.5yo guinea pig, Lazarus. He started to show symptoms about a month ago (loss of appetite, puffed up fur, lethargy, pooping less, crusty eyes). As soon as he started showing symptoms, I brought him to the vet. He did a course of Baytril for a URI and Terramycin eye drops. As soon as he started this treatment he stopped eating/drinking completely, but the vet said to continue syringe feeding and finish the treatment. His URI and eye infection cleared up wonderfully, but he was still not eating pellets or drinking water. He was picking at his hay and would get excited about veggies. He didn't eat as much of the veggies as he normally would, but it was an improvement. He was not pooping enough either. Despite all of this, he really started to get his personality back. I brought him back in after a few days without regaining appetite after the antibiotic treatment was finished. They did an x-ray and found nothing abnormal. He was put on Metoclopramide (a low dose) for a week. He began to poop more, but they were clumpy and a tad mushy. Three days after finishing the metoclopramide, he had diarrhea. I got him in within hours of this and they rehydrated him and sent him home with .75mL metaclopramide 3x/day and 0.2mL Meloxicam 1x/day. That was yesterday. Today he has slept a lot, hardly leaving his pigloo. He fights the syringe feed until he gets tired and gives up. He tries to spit out the food. He didn't even complain during his feedings today, he is just quiet. The diarrhea stopped, but he's not pooping much at all and his few poops are clumped or super long and thin. His eyes were also watering today, so I started him back on his eye drops. He has gone from a silly, happy, sassy pig weighing 1200g to a lethargic, sad, quiet pig weighing 980g. I don't know where to go from here. I love him so much and he has been through so much. It kills me to see him not feeling well. This all started with an URI about a month ago. Has anyone else been though this with their pig? I am open to any suggestions of anything that could possibly be causing this. If there is still no improvement by Monday, I am going to bring him back to the vet. I'll update with any new information.
 
It's early Sunday morning here but our health experts will be along soon. It mightbe useful to know what concentration/dose of Baytril he was on and how many times a day? And whether your metacam is 0.5 or 1.5 mg/ml. And which type of syringe food he is on... I mean, they're all good for purpose it's just that some have been more popular than others. We've personally had most success tempting piggies with Critical Care fine grind which is in a silver and brown pack and is papaya flavoured - although why they should want that beats me! But my vet stocks 'Recovery' which is pretty bland so I try to flavour it by pounding grated raw carrot in water and using that to mix it up. Be careful about syringing too enthusiastically with a reluctant feeder... if he inhales some you might be back to square one with another URI. We've found that after 7 or 8 ml piggy appears to be physically 'full' and needs a little rest before having any more but as the gut gets back to normal they should get hungrier. Will he eat the syringe food on his own from a bowl in the cage? Or does he have a healthy, hungry cage mate (see para 3 below!)

It sounds like your poor boy needed that antibiotic but was unfortunately sensitive to it's effects and is struggling to get back to normal. Have you been able to give him any probiotic to help replenish his gut flora? I think there is something called 'Benebac' or 'Benebac plus' over there in the States that gets good reviews, we get something here called 'Fibreplex', there is also 'Pro C' and my vet stocks a powder 'Bio lapis' for general use. People often don't use one for a short course of AB - my vet only offers if the course will be over a week - but for a sensitive pig it can make all the difference. These things can. I think. just be bought without prescription as they are essentially a mix of dried yeast/'good' gut bacteria along with stuff that helps them thrive and some fibre and tasty things to help get it into piggy and start getting them back to normal. Fibreplex comes in a giant syringe and some pigs will take it directly but most of these can just be mixed into the syringe food. If you are still on the ABs the probiotic is given an hour after the dose but in your case mixing in with the syringe food and feeding throughout the day should be fine.

If you have that healthy cage mate to hand you have a source of nature's own probiotic... 'Poop Soup'. Here's a link on how to make it!
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
And our general digestive disorders link
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

Good luck Lazarus x
 
Thank you so much for replying! I believe he did have a bad reaction to Baytril, and although I told the vet that I thought he was sensitive to it, I probably should have pushed to have him switched to a different antibiotic for his URI. I've been mixing 1 T critical care (oxbow) with 2 tsp sherwood appetite restore and 1 tsp benebac. I add enough just enough water to be able to syringe it and he finishes that mixture each day. I also give plain water through syringe to keep him hydrated. I am a student finishing my internship in medical research while also working full time, so I have been doing what I can from home to take care of him and coming home during parts of laboratory procedures that require waiting for incubation where I can set a timer. Despite all of this, he's looking thin. I am just about to try a new flavor I got from the vet Friday evening, and I will definitely try other types of critical care as well. He is being less and less compliant with his syringe feedings. I will also try mixing some of his cage mate's poop with some critical care. He has taken a bad turn yesterday and this morning he is poofed up in the corner of his pigloo. When I picked him up, he was limp and weak. I'm going to try to bring him to an emergency vet today. I'm thinking about having bloodwork done for him, but it's so expensive. I feel so selfish saying so. I'm actually thinking about drawing his blood and analyzing it in my own lab at school. I would at least be able to do a CBC and diff and sedrate. I don't want him to suffer anymore. I'm about to go into work now and am so scared I will come home to find he's passed. Thank you so much for the advice. I will try your suggestions.
 
I’m sorry he is unwell. Free Ranger has linked in the relevant guides.

I just wanted to add about the poop soup - you do not mix poop in with the critical care.
Poop soup is soaking the very fresh poops of a healthy companion in a dish of water. You need to put companion in a box, feed favourite treats and pick up the poop immediately. After about 15 minutes of soaking the poop , you then syringe the water only (discard the poops) to your poorly piggy. The details are in the probiotics linked Free Ranger has linked in

How much syringe feed is he taking per day?
Are you weighing him daily?

Do you think he is in any pain, because the meloxicom dose you mention sounds low and particularly if only once a day. Is it the dog or cat version?

This is our syringe feeding guide
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Definitely get him to an emergency vet if he is lethargic.

I hope he is ok
 
I’m sorry your piggy is so unwell. You are doing all you can for them. I really hope they perk up soon. I’m nursing a sick piggy at the moment and it’s so stressful. I feel like I’ve failed if I can’t get enough syringe food in. Bet you do too. Keep trying. If you’ve noticed a decline I’d get them seen by the vet again.
 
I wouldn't try taking bloods yourself at this point even if you'd be really good at it. He's having a hard enough time relating to you because he doesn't understand that these things are being done to try and help him... if he gets stuck with a needle here it will make him feel like he's not safe in his own home whether anything is happening to him or not and that stress will continue. We typically don't get blood work done here in the UK unless there is a very specific blood-related thing they are looking for - just seeing the white cells are a bit off because he's had an infection won't tell you anything you don't know.

@biotechanna I'm not sure how many ml 1T of CritCare would make but even if it's only about 15ml it's something. When I kept a little sow going long term who wasn't eating anything else she averaged about 40-45ml per day. I didn't syringe water - it's better to make the slurry thinner so they don't inhale the liquid if they're not expecting it (and yes, I found this out the hard way but luckily we were already on antibiotics for something else).

This next is something I have no personal experience of but it's something unusual to read so I should flag it up. I've not heard of the Sherwood appetite restore (is it the the rabbit one?) but @Piggies&buns might know. Am I right in thinking the Sherwood has sugar in (glucose?) - which would ordinarily not be recommended for piggies. I know he's thin but has he been checked for signs of bloat (hard sides like a barrel, pain, trapped gas in the gut) because this can also stop the guts. It's fibre rich food he's needing right now. Have you tried the mix without the Sherwood just in case the sugars are messing with his gut flora?
 
I've just had a quick search round the forum. We're global but most of us live in the UK so the Sherwood is not familiar here, being an American product. I could only find one other mention of the Sherwood in this link by a poster from the States Female guinea pig not eating? but the OP hasn't been back since the final post about getting the vet appointment so either the vet was able to sort out her piggy or... well, sometimes it's good news and people forget to update us but sometimes it's not and things are too painful.

I wasn't there at that time but following the thread through it seems that her pig had tooth trouble which was identified after a change in water bottle and her eating had slowed down leading to a noticeable reduction in poops. Trying the 'appetite restore' appeared to give piggy a very upset tum and some diarrhoea. Of course this may have been pure coincidence with piggy who is poorly anyway - but I don't know... I can't help but feel very suspicious of this stuff. It's almost pure sugar so 2 tsp per day is pretty much 2 tsp of pure sugar in a boy who's gut was thrown out by antibiotics and is struggling to get his appetite back to get the fibre he needs. Most of what a healthy pig eats (and that should be 80% hay) just goes straight through... it's how they're designed. The forum is wary about even feeding fruit on a regular basis because of the sugar content. The Guinea lynx guys have a page on that Guinea Lynx :: Nutrition Charts

Seriously - I don't know whether this Sherwood stuff is actually impeding his recovery. All I can say is that if it was me personally I'd not use it. I just wouldn't. But there - I'm not a vet.
 
My baby boy passed away this morning at the Cornell veterinary ER. R.I.P Lazarus <3 I am so broken. He was so funny and silly and sweet and full of life before falling ill. I will always love him and have a special place in my heart for him. Thank you all for your advice and support. I will keep it in mind as I continue to love and care for his brother, TuVok.
 
I’m so sorry you have lost Lazarus. You sound like a wonderful slave and you have done all you could for him.
 
I'm so sorry you lost your boy. You did everything you could for him and he tried as hard as he could for you.
Sleep well Lazarus, you are at peace now x
 
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