• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Poorly diahorrea piggie

Status
Not open for further replies.

PiggiePal

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 29, 2006
Messages
1,876
Reaction score
8
Points
455
Location
Cheltenham
My pig Jack is v poorly, I noticed last night that he had bad diahorrea
:-(
I've been feeding him with critical care & water every 3 hours since then and i've also given him half a tablet of diocalm and some dialyte this morning. I took him to the vets who gave him an injection of antibiotics, morphine and sometihng to help his guts feel better. He just seems worse now though. He's sitting all fluffed up and not really moving. He doesn't want me to feed him either, moving his head into the blanket so I can't even get the syringe near.

Has anyone got ANY ideas of what to do to help him? I feel so helpless. :-(
 
no he didn't why do you think they could be a problem? He's been eating fine up until yesterday..
 
Sadly last night I lost a foster piggy to diarrohea.

I would try giving him fluids more often than every three hour - every hour at least. Is he showing any interest in the critical care at all? How is his hydration? That is the most important thing to get him until he perks up. If you can get back to your vets ask for a hydrating solution, such as biolapis, (and a probiotic if you can get it) too keep his gut stable and vitemins going into him.

Good luck.

~x~
 
I hope he feels better soon.

I lost a piggy last week with the same symptoms, I tried Diocalm, critical care etc but it wasn't meant to be.
Is he listless?
 
You've been given good advice from others. I keep my fingers crossed that he pulls through. In case he does feel hungry later no fruit or veg for about 48 hours, and then introduce one piece at a time.
 
Yes he's extremely listless. I'm going to get some more rehydration fluid/probiotic and critical care into him now. Can anyone give me a quick lesson in how to towel wrap a guinea. He struggles loads but it's got to the point where i'm going ot have to force it :-(
 
Sometimes diarrhoea is a symptom of malocclusion. The pig has difficulty eating because of the overcrowded teeth, and diarrhoea often follows. I had this with my own Dr Atkins three years ago. I would ask your vet to check his teeth have not become overgrown.

Diarrhoea is horrible in pigs. Sometimes it seems to take forever to get better. Keep us posted, and love to Jack x
 
Put the towel on your lap and put piggie on top and wrap towel around so all paws are in the towel. It's good that he's showing some fight. Then on the side of your piggies mouth you can part his lips and pop the syringe in there, just behind the teeth. Syringe the fluids quite slowly so he has time to swallow completely. He might then chew on the syringe like he would his water bottle.
 
If he is completely listless I would say that it is not looking good, sadly sometimes by the time the piggie has diahorrea it is too late (As they hide their illnesses very well).
The piggie I lost, had diahorrea on Sunday morning and by Monday lunch time he was gone 8...


You are doing all you can, also try to keep him warm with either towels or loads of hay.

Good luck
 
i've put a hot water bottle in, I will try feed him again at 6pm. Thanks for everyone's help I'll keep you posted x
 
Sorry to hear about your piggy. We lost our Pearl to this 3 weeks ago. She became ill at 10pm by 3am she had passed over.

Arrowroot is effective according to Piggy Potions mix to make a soup like consistency then syringe 1.5ml morning and night.

Diocalm can also be given half a tablet every 8 hours.

Rehydration fluids can be given too.

Banana replaces the loss of potassium if pig won't eat then 600-800g of potassium is ideal according to Peter Guerney.

Also wrap in a towel and syringe this way.

Good luck!
 
Diarrhoea which is liquid, like dirty water, and foul smelling is usually fatal within hours. It would seem to be of infective origin and I have found that no amount or type of antibiotics and sub-cutaneous fluids will alter the outcome, however soon they are administered after the first signs appear. You have done everything that could be done, whatever the outcome.
 
Any idea what would cause that liquid diarrhoea Al? This is what happened to Pearl. The best way for me to describe it as a mum of 2 is like the first nappy of a newborn. Very foul smelling indeed.
 
As I said it seems to be infective in origin. Yes, the smell is unique!
The main characteristic is the rapid onset, followed by death within 12 hours. I have never had any success, no matter what drug regime I have followed.
The pig that has this condition looks ill, hunched appearance, feeling sorry for itself. A totally different look from a pig that has normal, if that is the best description, diarrhoea.
Let me try sub clinical this time with a hyphen! Sub-clinical
 
I've only ever had one piggy with diarrhoea & thankfully must've caught it almost straight away. It was pure luck that it was veggie time & i'd gone into the shed to feed them, had they been shut up for the night i'd not have known.

I gave her 0.5ml of kaolin straight away & again the next morning (advised by someone who's had piggies 40+ years) & she was fine :)
 
N
Sounds like food based diarrhoea tha your pig had.
I find that ASAP powder, from Galen's Garden, is very good for pigs that have diarrhoea that lasts longer than a few hours. The main advantage is that it can be given long term ie months if necessary, with no side effects
 
N
Sounds like food based diarrhoea tha your pig had.
I find that ASAP powder, from Galen's Garden, is very good for pigs that have diarrhoea that lasts longer than a few hours. The main advantage is that it can be given long term ie months if necessary, with no side effects


I did wonder this myself, she'd been fine earlier in the day & her absence at veggie time was noticeable, i found her all hunched up in a pigloo with a wonderfully smelly "gravy bottom."
 
I've only ever had one piggy with diarrhoea & thankfully must've caught it almost straight away. It was pure luck that it was veggie time & i'd gone into the shed to feed them, had they been shut up for the night i'd not have known.

I gave her 0.5ml of kaolin straight away & again the next morning (advised by someone who's had piggies 40+ years) & she was fine :)


As in Kaolin and Morphine?
 
update

Hi everyone,

After feeding Jack every 4 hrs with critical care and dialyte/probiotics and getting baytril form the vets and giving him half a diacalm every 8 hrs he seemed to be getting loads better and he even did some well formed poos yesterday!
However I woke up this morning and he was back to the diahorrea wet bum scenario! Poor little thing. He seems fairly perky in himself but i'm oging to contnue the regime of every 4 hours and diacalm etc (thought he was better so didn't get up in the night last night). And we'll see how he goes. He is curently sat on his food bowl eating some dry food now whihcc is very encouraging. Cross fingers everyone and thanks loads for all your help and advice!
Alyson x
 
Maybe it's the baytril giving him an upset tummy but then saying that the probiotics should help with that? Sorry I can't offer any advice and hope Jack'll feel better soon :)
 
Sounds like he needs the Critical Care round the clock to keep his gut moving normally. He will be in high need of the fibre in it, I would guess that the Critical Care is pulling everything together but he's not ready to go without it until he is eating perfectly normally. It is very encouraging that he has done so well to fight and improve, but obviously you are aware he is not out of the woods yet.

What dose of Baytril is he on? (Apologies if you have mentioned this already!)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top