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Poorly Piggy Mystery......

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rufcjoe87

rufcjoe87

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi
One of my piggies, Henry, has an issue and it has stumped us and I'm wondering if anyone has known anything similar and what it could be?

On Friday we noticed he wasnt 'himself'. People here will know what that means. He normalls squeaks when you open fridge or rustle veg and he's out waiting for his dinner etc. He did none of these things. He IS eating, though not as much. We had him on the grass yesterday morning and he did eat some, though not as much. He didn't really move from his bed yesterday. When we gave him his tea he DID come out for it and drag it back to bed, and he ate some, but not as much.
Ditto this morning, he only has some spinach and left his lettuce.

We've just had him on the grass and he has eaten some, but not as much. While he was there he did do a poo. He looked in pain though - he kept lifting his bum and squeaking. When we put him back in his cage there was a poo there. It looked normal. Slightly sticky but normal size/shape/colour etc. When we put him back he took some celery - his favourite, and ate some, but not as much.

His ubum looks a little swollen and a bit messy too. We have syringed him water to ensure he's getting enough.

So we're stuck. He's eating, but not as much. He's pooping, but not as much. His bum looks messy n swollen and he SEEMS to be in pain when pooping, and he's definitely not himself

We're taking him to the vets tomorrow but does the above sound familliar at all? Any tips on what we can do o r what it might be? He's only young, under a year, and was perfectly fine till Friday. I know how quick they go downhill so any tips would be gratefully received.
 
rufcjoe87 said:
Update

He is still pooping but now there is a fair bit of mucus in his poop. What does this mean?
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You boy is very dehydrated. Please have him seen promptly by a piggy savvy vet and start syringe feeding him (including water) asap! Weigh him daily at the same time to check his actual food intake. You can additionally get some dioralyte from the pharmacy and make it up according to instructions, but to be honest, Henry would do better with a vet trip, a diagnosis and some sub-cutane fluid injections if the vet deems this necessary.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/
It is absolutely vital that you start syringe feeding and watering any off-colour piggy straight away. Please never hesitate to se a vet. It is likely that Henry has been close to a heat stroke and could have partial gut stasis because of it. I have just lost an elderly and already very frail piggy of mine this morning because she could not cope with the added stress from the weather extremes despite me doing my best.
 
pain when toileting (urinating or pooping) can be due to bladder problems. he may also be messy underneath from not moving around as much due to discomfort/pain/the heat and toileting on himself.

mucus in the poop is a sign that his gut is not working as it should be - not eating enough and having a very unbalanced gut :(

please see your exotic/guinea savvy vet as soon as possible. it doesn't seem a long time to us, but not eating properly since friday is a long time for a guinea pig really. your vets should have an answer machine message when you ring, giving you the details of the out of hours vets. or if you want a recommendation, then there is a vet locator at the top of the page, or you could start a new thread asking members in your area who they use.

it does sound like he needs treatment, but at the very least, syringe feeding as wiebke has said. i hope he will be ok.
 
Wiebke said:
You boy is very dehydrated. Please have him seen promptly by a piggy savvy vet and start syringe feeding him (including water) asap! Weigh him daily at the same time to check his actual food intake. You can additionally get some dioralyte from the pharmacy and make it up according to instructions, but to be honest, Henry would do better with a vet trip, a diagnosis and some sub-cutane fluid injections.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/
It is absolutely vital that you start syringe feeding and watering any off-colour piggy straight away. Please never hesitate to se a vet. It is likely that Henry has been close to a heat stroke and could have partial gut stasis because of it. I have just lost an elderly and already very frail piggy of mine this morning because she could not cope with the added stress from the weather extremes despite me doing my best.
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thank you everyone for your advice.. never considered dehydration/heat stroke. It started the day oafter that ridiculously hot day we had. I had two piggies and the other, Arthur, is fine, but obviously piggies are different. It's thrown us that he is still eating and pooping at all, assumed due to this it's not serious. I now realise it is. We're taking him to vets in the morning. Would you suggest syringing him through the night too or just before bed and in the morning? He's not happy and is making weird noises when he poops. He's booked into a 'normal' vet so i really hope he will help as we can;t get to a piggy savvy one. Hopefully he'll be able to help Henry tomorrow.

Thanks so much for your help. Quite worried. Hope it wont be too late tomorrow. Anything we can do, other than syringing, to get him back to normal again?
 
rufcjoe87 said:
thank you everyone for your advice.. never considered dehydration/heat stroke. It started the day oafter that ridiculously hot day we had. I had two piggies and the other, Arthur, is fine, but obviously piggies are different. It's thrown us that he is still eating and pooping at all, assumed due to this it's not serious. I now realise it is. We're taking him to vets in the morning. Would you suggest syringing him through the night too or just before bed and in the morning? He's not happy and is making weird noises when he poops. He's booked into a 'normal' vet so i really hope he will help as we can;t get to a piggy savvy one. Hopefully he'll be able to help Henry tomorrow.

Thanks so much for your help. Quite worried. Hope it wont be too late tomorrow. Anything we can do, other than syringing, to get him back to normal again?
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I would offer him syringe feed and as much water as he will take. How often, depends on how much he is eating in one session in normal and syringe food combined; you control the actual intake by weighing at the same time in feeding cycle as the difference between a full and empty tummy and bladder can make 30g.

It can also be that he has developed or aggravated any urinary tract issues due to the heat, but that is for the vet to decide. The weather in the last few days has put a huge strain on the piggies that is

Here are our hot weather tips: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/hot-weather-management-and-heat-strokes.105317/
 
Definitely syringe feed! It's definitely dehydration (from my very humble opinion) and your guy needs to get his gut going again. I hope Henry is better soon!
 
Thanks for your help and kind wishes guys

UPDATE:
Vet has said he doesn't look dehydrated - he did the thing where he pinched/twisted his skin a little and said he looked ok.

He says he can't feel anything obviously wrong or see anything obviously wrong. He says his bum looks a little swollen. He has given him antibiotic injection and 5 days worth to give him via syringe.

We need to syringe him water/food until he starts to get it himself. He will eat if you give to him he just won't come out to get it. Obviously if not better in five says (such a long time in piggy terms) go back.

What do you guys think? They ARE good vets but not piggy specialists? Sound advice? Or is there anything else we should be doing too?

I trust you guys as much as the vet to be honest, perhaps more!
 
Do you know what the antibiotic you have been given is called? is it Baytril? if so you will need to give probiotics at least an hour after each dose. Has the vet given any pain relief? a pig that is in pain will not eat and will sit about and mope a lot of the time. Did the vet listen to his chest to rule out any problem there?
 
He didn't say but I will have a look later when I get home from work. He didn't mention anything about pro biotic though? No pain relief was given, the theory being that he IS eating SOME, though not as much. Yes he did listen to chest and said all was ok. Hoping it's some kind of infection which anti-biotics will treat and we'll start to see an improvement...
 
i would ask for some pain relief. if his bum is swollen then metacam will be useful for the inflammation and also any inflammation based pain aswell. the metacam will work straight away aswell, whereas antibiotics take a few days to begin to improve any infection, so it keeps them comfortable in the meantime and they will usually be more willing to begin to eat properly and move around. without it, they still feel poorly and tend to just rest and obviously 2-3 days doing that is going to further complicate things in terms of their slowed eating, slowed digestion etc, and everything seems to have a knock on effect.

avipro plus is a good probiotic if you want to get one. :)
 
It is baytril that he's been given. Does he NEED the probiotic - the vet never mentioned it....but if it will help I'll certainly get him some. What does it do?

Good point about the painkiller. I never even thought along those logical lines. Last thing we need is him to recover from any infection but have long term gut effects from being laid low for a few days.

My partner is of the opinion to trust the vet, not that I don't, and is reluctant to give un prescribed painkillers. The annoying thing is like you say the anti biotics take their time to work which is a nailbiting time and I dont want him getting further ill in the meantime. I will keep you posted and any further tips in the meantime appreciated

Thanks for everything so far guys. He does look ever so sorry for himself bless him
 
rufcjoe87 said:
It is baytril that he's been given. Does he NEED the probiotic - the vet never mentioned it....but if it will help I'll certainly get him some. What does it do?

Good point about the painkiller. I never even thought along those logical lines. Last thing we need is him to recover from any infection but have long term gut effects from being laid low for a few days.

My partner is of the opinion to trust the vet, not that I don't, and is reluctant to give un prescribed painkillers. The annoying thing is like you say the anti biotics take their time to work which is a nailbiting time and I dont want him getting further ill in the meantime. I will keep you posted and any further tips in the meantime appreciated

Thanks for everything so far guys. He does look ever so sorry for himself bless him
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our vets (exotics) don't give out probiotics either. he said there has been no research to show that they do anything and he thinks it would be very unlikely that they would given the acidity (not sure if that is the right word) of the stomach in guinea pigs. he said last year that there has been another recent study done on piggies that showed there are even more bacteria (?) in the gut then even first thought so it seems even more unlikely. for a company to produce one that worked specifically on certain bacteria's out of all the ones there would be very unlikely. however, he also said that alot of people do use them and swear by them, so it's personal choice. and he said the main thing is that they do no harm. so whilst no actual research has shown them to work, that's not to say they don't or won't in indvidual pigs. i chose to use one anyway for eddie last year when he was poorly, the avipro plus one, and i felt it did help him. i think for baytil, because it is quite harsh for some piggies, i would rather go with the chance it might do some good and give it, but it's upto you.

guinea pigs live in the moment so need to feel well as soon as possible. they don't know that the antibiotic will kick in in a few days so they respond to how they feel at that moment. once they do associate the meds with feeling better, they seem to make the connection and realise why you've been giving it.

i think it's such an important part but many vets still don't give adequate pain relief which is worrying because like helen said above, a piggy in pain and/or feeling poorly, will not want to eat properly or move around properly. they just feel fed up. this then has a knock on effect.

perhaps contact the vet and mention it and see what they say and then decide what you think after speaking with them. :)
 
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@ biscanmatt my piggie Peaches have been on baytril a lot due to her being diagnosed with what is the equivalent to asthma and suffers with many URI she has her own nebulizer box and everything bless her can you please tell me your personal choice of probiotic and the dosage you use ( if you know your piggies weight as well that would help me to adjust the dosage if needed to suite my peaches weight) as I personal think it could be a good idea for her. Thank you
 
Tinkoz said:
@ biscanmatt my piggie Peaches have been on baytril a lot due to her being diagnosed with what is the equivalent to asthma and suffers with many URI she has her own nebulizer box and everything bless her can you please tell me your personal choice of probiotic and the dosage you use ( if you know your piggies weight as well that would help me to adjust the dosage if needed to suite my peaches weight) as I personal think it could be a good idea for her. Thank you
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aw bless her. nebulising is one of the best things for respiratory infections in my opinion. it made such a difference with my two rabbits.

the probiotic i use is avipro plus - you can just put a pinch in water and syringe it. 0.5ml or 1ml water is fine. i usually do 1ml myself though. you can also add a pinch to a piece of veg and have them take it that way. you can also add it to the water bottle aswell if just she will be drinking it. it's one scoop in either 100ml water or 200ml water. i did it this way when mollie was alone after losing eddie, but normally i would prefer to syringe it. the weight of the piggy doesn't matter with this product. it is recommended at a pinch or scoop in the amounts above. :)
 
biscandmatt said:
aw bless her. nebulising is one of the best things for respiratory infections in my opinion. it made such a difference with my two rabbits.

the probiotic i use is avipro plus - you can just put a pinch in water and syringe it. 0.5ml or 1ml water is fine. i usually do 1ml myself though. you can also add a pinch to a piece of veg and have them take it that way. you can also add it to the water bottle aswell if just she will be drinking it. it's one scoop in either 100ml water or 200ml water. i did it this way when mollie was alone after losing eddie, but normally i would prefer to syringe it. the weight of the piggy doesn't matter with this product. it is recommended at a pinch or scoop in the amounts above. :)
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Thank you so much I'll get some ordered
 
Hi guys. An update

Noticed this morning blood in Henrys wee. He's no better but no worse and it was only by chance (he was on the tiles while being cleaned out not the grass as grass was wet). The pain he feels is when weeing not pooping.

Anyway went to vet who upped his antibiotics (0.2 ml twice a day now) and gave him painkilers (yay). Said could be UTI or Bladder stones. Said to give him till Monday. If it clears up its an infection - if not its stones but he was reluctant to put mroe stress xraying him etc as we've 'not given infection time to heal'

So have enough medication till monday. He is still eating just not as much so topping up with syringes. Looks a thoroughly peed off piggie though bless him!

Will keep you posted. Hoping it is UTI then can be treated and he'll be ok. ANyone had experience with this can offer any tips?
 
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