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Poorly Piggie - advice needed thanks

Honey22

Honey22

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Hi, my piggie Chip hasn't been well for a week now. He's under the vet. We noticed last Thursday that he wasn't pooping, so took him the vet and I also started hand feeding him Excel Dual Care to try and keep his stomach moving. I was getting a min of 40ml a day down him. So he was given pain meds and antibiotics. He then started having a bit of diarrhea, so back to the vets and fibre plex was added into the mix. It worked and stopped the diarrhoea but he was gone back the other way now,, not pooping.

He is very spritly, running about, interested in fresh food, he is having a little bit of this, this was only re-introduced since he has been bunged up and only herbs and a very very thin slice of cucumber. I have piles of hay in his cage as normal, 3 lots of different hay to get him interested but he just won't eat it, but us pooping little hamster poops. Phoned the vet on Thursday and was told to reduce hand feeding him as he was probably full and not wanting to eat the hay, did this and yep, stopped pooping again. We have also stopped the fibre plex and he has had emerprid and emeraid introduced to him to get things moving. Teeth have been checked and are okay. Any ideas on how to get him eating hay please before he looses interest in food altogether. Thanks
 
I’m just head to offer support too, it’s such a worry when they won’t eat hay.

I would start and weigh him daily to see if he is losing weight. Keep a record so you can see any trend (i.e. downward) This will tell you if he is eating enough (if it’s stable) or you need to step in with support feeding. Hay is the main component in their diet so there is something going on if he is not eating hay. It can point to dental/pain issues along with other illnesses. Has he been given any metacam for pain relief

Hopefully one of the health team will be along shortly
 
Hi. If your piggy is not eating hay then please do not stop syringe feeding. You need to weigh daily usually first thing in the morning. If they have lost weight overnight then you need to feed more that day. A well piggy will not prefer syringe feed to hay. What did the vet think was wrong to prescribe antibiotics?
 
:agr:

Have you been carrying out the daily weight checks?
What have they been telling you?

Syringe feeding does not stop them from wanting to eat hay independently if they can. It’s the other way round - they normally reject the syringe feed when they’re eating enough independently.

How long was he on antibiotics and pain meds?
Has he had any other checks done?
 
Update: I took him to the vets this morning and he had been referred to an animal hospital that has a guinea pig specialist. The vet did look at his teeth because I think they are now slightly overgrown at the front, she looked at his molours and can see a tooth spur so we think that's what is causing his issues.

We do weigh him once a day at the same time, he had actually stablised with his weight at 1134g, he is usually 1300g. He's on pain relief twice a day and I've upped the feeds so got a good 45ml in him today and will be up at 1.30am to get another 10 ml in there. He is pooping a little so with the extra feed he should be passing more tomorrow or Monday. We are also trying to entice him into eating abit of hay from us when he is sat on my lap, it worked this evening so you never know may start up eating properly again.

So long and short is, I'm still hand feeding him until he gets an appointment at the hospital, early next week.

Thank you for everyone taking the time to comment.
 
I think you are doing the right thing by support feeding him. It is very hard when the vet can't pinpoint the reason for piggy's problems but from what we've seen on here the suggestion that we are somehow 'filling them up' with syringe food so they don't want hay doesn't really fly. Watching one of mine lose weight over a few months as he struggled with an uncomfortable bladder stone and a stubborn UTI it was very obvious that the difference between him and his fat ladies was the 24/7 munching of hay - just ordinary hay. Although I've kept piggies for years I've not had cause to hover over them so much and I really did notice how the healthy ones just chewed round the clock while my boy nibbled enough to keep his teeth down and that was it. Despite being almighty porkers the girls never turned down the dregs of syringe food offered when George had finished his special tea - they always made a space for pudding. (George is through his issues and doing just fine btw).

If you're going in for a dental operation you'll probably be syringing for a little while afterwards anyway as it does make the mouth very tender. Typically we've been given painkiller for a week afterwards - and we were also given antibiotics although in our case that might have been because the cause for tooth overgrowth was a mystery. Teeth can be a cause or a symptom... I hope you have identified the cause for Chip's problems. A molar spur can certainly cause them to stop eating and then revving the guts up again can be a challenge so well done both of you! Output runs a day or more behind input so you are sometimes waiting on

If you are in Oxon maybe you are near a source of good fresh grass? We have nothing in the garden at the minute but if you can find a little grass out and about it is also good for working the teeth down. It's also very tempting for them to eat even if they are in discomfort. Not from a roadside, and not from anywhere a dog might have peed as it is toxic for them. If they haven't had grass for a while just introduce a very little at a time as you don't want to upset those delicate guts.

I hope everything goes well for you. It's always a nerve racking time waiting for an appointment. We'll be thinking about you and Chip. Let us know how you get on... just add it to this thread even if other issues occur as it helps to see a piggy's history x
 
So sorry to hear that your boy has a molar spur. I see you are in Oxford, is there any way you can get to see Simon or Kim Maddock at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton? They are the go to vets for anything dental in the UK. People travel from all over the country as they treat about 30 plus guinea pigs a week with dental problem mostly dental spurs and use the conscious dental method so no nasty GA to deal with afterwards. The procedure takes around 10 minutes. It’s cheaper as no anaesthetics are needed. You will get a proper assessment and the work done there and then. You won’t be disappointed. There are very few vets that get good results from guinea pig dentistry, in fact some make matters far worse, it is so specialised but these two vets really get results and the Guinea pig eating again

Good luck 🤞
 
UPDATE: Chip is much much better. So he went to see a exotic vet last Wednesday evening and ended up having a CT Scan. It showed there was nothing wrong with his teeth but he does have bladder stones.

We have opted to see how he goes, he has a relaxant to help him because he was a little inflamed and pain killer. We have gone down from feeding him over 45ml a day over the space of every 4 hours to 12ml twice a day. He's maintaining his weight so I know he is eating. We took it down by 2ml every other day and it's worked. He's on very limited fresh food, but I constantly see him in the hay eating away, back to how he normally is.

Thank you all for your advice. We are watching him and if he has any discomfort then he will go back to the vets and see what we can do but at the moment, he's in no pain for discomfort and we are being careful what we give him (nothing with calcium in) xx
 
Glad to hear he’s feeling better and maintaining his weight.

With boars, bladder stones are usually removed surgically. I believe they have an odd bend in their urethra which makes it very unlikely for them to pass it naturally.

Hopefully the painkiller will help for now.
 
I'm glad he is maintaining his weight, thats good to hear.

A bladder stone in boars pretty much always need to be surgically removed, they don’t go away on their own, and only an incredibly tiny stone stands any chance of being passed without causing problems.
If it does try to move and causes a block of urine, or gets stuck in the angle in the urethra that boars have then it becomes a life threatening emergency.

It’s impossible to not give anything with calcium in, nor should you try to - all fresh food, pellets and hay contain calcium. But do be aware that a diet too low in calcium can cause as many issues as a diet too high in calcium.
 
Oh I'm sorry to hear about his stones. Is he an older boy? And has urinary infection been ruled out too? I ask because George had both at the same time you see - but sometimes once a stone is found people can think, "Oh, that's why it hurts when he pees". But George had more pain and bleeding from his UTI.

George is 6 and since my last post has had an x-ray and he has formed another enormous stone (about 7mm across). This is heartbreaking, although I kind of expected something like this. I didn't expect the size... only a month after surgery and it's already huge. George is older, and his pee is much more alkaline than my girls and I really do think this is why he keeps throwing them. It's a depressing thought but for a boy surgery is your only realistic option for stone removal. But try and get him in as good a condition as you can before you go ahead... and that means making sure he's clear of infection. Controlling his discomfort will enable him to keep his strength up. I wish you luck x
 
Free Ranger said:
Oh I'm sorry to hear about his stones. Is he an older boy? And has urinary infection been ruled out too? I ask because George had both at the same time you see - but sometimes once a stone is found people can think, "Oh, that's why it hurts when he pees". But George had more pain and bleeding from his UTI.

George is 6 and since my last post has had an x-ray and he has formed another enormous stone (about 7mm across). This is heartbreaking, although I kind of expected something like this. I didn't expect the size... only a month after surgery and it's already huge. George is older, and his pee is much more alkaline than my girls and I really do think this is why he keeps throwing them. It's a depressing thought but for a boy surgery is your only realistic option for stone removal. But try and get him in as good a condition as you can before you go ahead... and that means making sure he's clear of infection. Controlling his discomfort will enable him to keep his strength up. I wish you luck x
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Oh I’m so sorry to hear that George has another stone! Ever since you responded on my threads about my Bobby I think so often about how George is doing.
 
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