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Poorly Piggie - Keep Your Fingers Crossed Please

Musicmaestro

Musicmaestro

Junior Guinea Pig
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So, one of my piggies, Bucky (the one in my picture) has been ill for a couple of weeks now.

It started by him struggling to eat but otherwise he seemed fine. Vet looked him over and pulled a sharp bit of hay out of his mouth but couldn't see anything else wrong with his teeth. He didn't improve and he went back for sedation and a full examination (I had started to syringe feed him by this point). Vet still couldn't see anything wrong with his teeth but he was a bit sneezy so was given antibiotics and anti-inflammatory's. Still no appetite from him so he went back again and got some drugs (probiotic and something else) to get his digestion going.

A few times he has seemed to get really excited when we put food in, but so far he's not eaten anything bar a couple of bites of cucumber that we can tell. We stopped his antibiotic (Baytril) as we thought that was causing his appetite for a day but it didn't help and he seemed to get even worse so we put him back on it. Over the last few days he seems to be looking even more lethargic and is still not eating - his weight had stabilised but he lost some more over the weekend. The most we have seen him do is chase his cage mate around to eat his poo a couple of times. His gut does seem to be moving as he had runny poo's at first from the probiotic which have then turned into more normal looking ones but for some reason he is not retaining the nutrients from the food as he has lost muscle mass. I'm still almost convinced it is his teeth. He has gone back to the vet today who is going to x-ray him and take some bloods but if nothing shows up we may have to consider putting him to sleep. We really don't want it to come to that so please send us positive thoughts! I'm hoping the vet will find the cause so we can get on the road to recovery.
 
I am sorry your piggy is poorly. Can i ask your location town wise in case we can suggest a vet?

Please keep syringe feeding as you are doing. He is eating poo because his gut flora is off. Please give a pro-biotic or maybe Poo Soup - This is made with the poo of a healthy piggy (one pellet will do) mushed with a little water and given by syringe. It is really good for their tummy bacteria.

Is there any coughing sneezing? Are they eating hay at all?
 
Norwich is the nearest biggest town/city. The vet he is seeing is an exotic pets one.

We have been giving him a strong pro-biotic that the vet gave us and before that we were giving him one that we bought ourselves.We have not yet given him a poo soup but we will try that too once he comes home from the vet. He was sneezing with a bit of a runny nose but that seems to have stopped now. He's not eating any hay from what we have seen and we have been watching him pretty closely.
 
Musicmaestro said:
Norwich is the nearest biggest town/city. The vet he is seeing is an exotic pets one.

We have been giving him a strong pro-biotic that the vet gave us and before that we were giving him one that we bought ourselves.We have not yet given him a poo soup but we will try that too once he comes home from the vet. He was sneezing with a bit of a runny nose but that seems to have stopped now. He's not eating any hay from what we have seen and we have been watching him pretty closely.
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Lets hope for good news today

Can i suggest asking vet for some metacam (pain relief) in case pain is an issue in him not eating
 
Here is our vet locator. I think we have got one listed for the wider Norwich area: Guinea Pig Vet Locator

Did your vet do a scan to see whether there was an issue somewhere else in the body?
I once had a piggy with a badly bloated stomach (but no gas in the guts) that was showing no other symptoms but loss of weight/appetite. That was only picked up by a scan on the first visit. If it is not the teeth, then it is likely a pain issue somewhere else/internal. Mystery weight loss is always very hard to figure out. :(
 
He's had an x-ray today and he's just been brought back home. Vet has diagnosed pneumonia. All we can do is keep feeding him, give him his meds and hope for the best I think :(
 
Musicmaestro said:
He's had an x-ray today and he's just been brought back home. Vet has diagnosed pneumonia. All we can do is keep feeding him, give him his meds and hope for the best I think :(
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Make sure that you help ease his breathing with a bowl of steaming water next to the cage, which you keep refreshed. You can add 2-3 drops of olbas oil if you wish, but vicks contains ingredients that are noxious to guinea pigs.
Has your vet given you diuretics to help drain the lungs or has he just got antibiotics?

Please help boost his immune system by giving extra vitamin C, if necessary 1/8-1/4 of a human tablet syringed dissolved in a little water for emergency use. Also add probiotics to the syringe feed or water that you give to help keep the guts stable. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat.

All the best! Keep feeding and watering round the clock, little but often every 2-3 hours depending on how much you get in at every session. You are aiming at 40-60 ml or as close as you can to to this amount in 24 hours in order to get a piggy off its food through a crisis. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
Thank you all for your positive vibes and advice.

Vet has suggested stopping feeding him overnight as if he is full he won't want to eat which I guess makes sense but I'm reluctant. The vet gave us some critical care to last a couple of days and we have some on order too. I'll also try the steam to help his breathing.
 
Hope you can get him through this worrying time! Healing vibes being sent in bucket loads!:hug::hug:
 
Musicmaestro said:
Thank you all for your positive vibes and advice.

Vet has suggested stopping feeding him overnight as if he is full he won't want to eat which I guess makes sense but I'm reluctant. The vet gave us some critical care to last a couple of days and we have some on order too. I'll also try the steam to help his breathing.
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If he isn't eating and drinking for himself then you do need to syringe feed him until he is well enough to get his appetite back in order to keep the guts moving. Please don't leave him overnight without a feed.
 
Musicmaestro said:
Thank you all for your positive vibes and advice.

Vet has suggested stopping feeding him overnight as if he is full he won't want to eat which I guess makes sense but I'm reluctant. The vet gave us some critical care to last a couple of days and we have some on order too. I'll also try the steam to help his breathing.
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Please continue with feeding. Your piggy is not full; its energy just all goes to breathing at the moment. But you NEED to keep the guts going. They are the engine of a piggy. Vets often underestimate just how much piggies need to eat.
Not Eating And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding
 
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Still no improvement from Bucky yet but we are persevering. He doesn't seem to have gotten any worse thankfully. He still seems interested in the food when we put it in but has only eaten maybe a bite or 2 at most.
 
Musicmaestro said:
Still no improvement from Bucky yet but we are persevering. He doesn't seem to have gotten any worse thankfully. He still seems interested in the food when we put it in but has only eaten maybe a bite or 2 at most.
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Please weigh him daily and continue syringe feeding and watering for as long as necessary, as much as you can get into him, little but often. Be aware that 80% of the daily food intake is hay, so that amount is lacking from his diet, too.
He is still there, so you have still everything to play for.

Your round the clock feeding support can really make all the difference, as long as you can keep him going for the meds to kick in. That is the part you REALLY need to concentrate on right now. Once the guts slow down and then close down, you've had it.
 
Musicmaestro said:
Still no improvement from Bucky yet but we are persevering. He doesn't seem to have gotten any worse thankfully. He still seems interested in the food when we put it in but has only eaten maybe a bite or 2 at most.
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Poor Bucky and poor you.
It's an a worrying and tiring time when a piggy is unwell!
Sending him hugs and healing vibes.
Keep up the syringing.
 
How long should it be before we see improvement? He has been sick for over 2 weeks now with not much happening. I'm worried we are going through all this for nothing or that the vet got it wrong. His weight is stable at the moment so I know we are getting the feeding quantity right. We just want so much to look in the cage and see him munching hay.
 
Oh poor you, these things can be so frustrating.

The good news is that his weight has stabilised, this is incredibly positive. If he did have pneumonia then it will take a long time for him to recover. The piggie in my avatar had horrendous pneumonia and it took her a good month to recover. Weibke’s advice is excellent so worth following as this will help tremendously.

Have they checked his heart? Respiratory can be a sign of heart issues too, and can lead him to,feel poorly and tired. Heart issues are relatively easy to deal with once identified so worth checking.

In his picture he looks tired but bright eyed so that’s another positive.

Recovery for piggies can be so,slow but keep,persevering! But when they turn the corner it is so rewarding. X
 
Thank you for your response.
It's encouraging to know that it can take a while and that we are not just prolonging his suffering. His heart has not been checked but the vet could not see it on the x-ray because of the fluid in his lungs.
He had an injection on Monday to help clear the fluid but is there anything else we can do for him to help?Surely steam will just create more fluid? Sorry for all the questions but this is my first time owning guinae pigs and the first time with a poorly one too.
 
Well after a couple of days of showing more interest in food and even nibbling a leaf or 2, Bucky has finally started to eat veg and hay by himself and seems to be on the road to recovery now. It also turns out he loves critical care!

Thank you everyone for the advice and good wishes for him. I think our perserverance has paid off.
 
Oh gosh what a stressful time this is. Keep up the hard work both you and Bucky and I hope he makes a full recovery soon x
 
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