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Poorly piggy - very lethargic

Elvisistheman

Elvisistheman

Junior Guinea Pig
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One of our piggies, Ted, has suddenly become lethargic and looks so sad! He was fine yesterday and nothing in his diet or environment has changed. Put him out in his run today with Elvis and when we went to put them in for the night he was just lying in his hidey-hole next to Elvis. Didn’t even try to move around and squeaked pathetically when moved. Took him straight to the emergency vet and he’s been checked over and had an ultrasound. Nothing found. Been given pain meds and something to help his guts. Syringe fed him as directed an hour after meds. Going to try again at midnight. He still isn’t moving, just lying on my lap with an occasional teeth grind, looking pathetic. Been told to take him back to the vet in the morning if no improvement. Any advice please? This is our first ill piggy and the kids are quite upset!
 
Have you tried giving him his favorite veggies or fruit?

I wondered what he would do when he sees his favorite food. Mine all start popcorning all over the place when they get their favorite food.
 
Seven7 said:
Have you tried giving him his favorite veggies or fruit?

I wondered what he would do when he sees his favorite food. Mine all start popcorning all over the place when they get their favorite food.
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Yes, he’s completely uninterested by cucumber and pepper. ☹️
 
Ted hasn’t improved at all over night. ☹️ He’s been admitted to the vets. Poor baby!
 
Elvisistheman said:
One of our piggies, Ted, has suddenly become lethargic and looks so sad! He was fine yesterday and nothing in his diet or environment has changed. Put him out in his run today with Elvis and when we went to put them in for the night he was just lying in his hidey-hole next to Elvis. Didn’t even try to move around and squeaked pathetically when moved. Took him straight to the emergency vet and he’s been checked over and had an ultrasound. Nothing found. Been given pain meds and something to help his guts. Syringe fed him as directed an hour after meds. Going to try again at midnight. He still isn’t moving, just lying on my lap with an occasional teeth grind, looking pathetic. Been told to take him back to the vet in the morning if no improvement. Any advice please? This is our first ill piggy and the kids are quite upset!
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Fingers firmly crossed for very poorly Ted!

Teeth grinding is a sign of major pain and lethargy is always a major alarm symptom. If they come on very suddenly, they constitute an out-of-hours life or death anytime emergency. :(
What have your vets said about the potential problem?
List Of Life And Death Out-of-hours Emergencies
 
Wiebke said:
Fingers firmly crossed for very poorly Ted!

Teeth grinding is a sign of major pain and lethargy is always a major alarm symptom. If they come on very suddenly, they constitute an out-of-hours life or death anytime emergency. :(
What have your vets said about the potential problem?
List Of Life And Death Out-of-hours Emergencies
Click to expand...
He’s currently at Nine Lives vets who are very good with exotics. Just had an update from them. He’s very gassy but, fingers crossed, is improving. On a heat pad, being monitored and finally started to take some syringe fed food. Not out of the woods yet but we’re trying to keep positive. Elvis is missing him and looking confused and lonely. Poor Ted! He was in fine form Saturday, chatting away to the girls across the garden with the occasional rumblestrut. Yesterday, he was happy in the morning out on the grass with Elvis. Went downhill so quickly! He’s quite a big, strong pig so hopefully that’s in his favour.
 
Sorry to hear about this.
I am wondering how old he is. Maybe his age contributed to this dramatic change in health, from morning to afternoon.
 
Elvisistheman said:
He’s currently at Nine Lives vets who are very good with exotics. Just had an update from them. He’s very gassy but, fingers crossed, is improving. On a heat pad, being monitored and finally started to take some syringe fed food. Not out of the woods yet but we’re trying to keep positive. Elvis is missing him and looking confused and lonely. Poor Ted! He was in fine form Saturday, chatting away to the girls across the garden with the occasional rumblestrut. Yesterday, he was happy in the morning out on the grass with Elvis. Went downhill so quickly! He’s quite a big, strong pig so hopefully that’s in his favour.
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Serious bloat, blockage or a twisted gut can come on very quickly right out of the blue and can kill. :(
I've suspected you would be dealing with one of these things from my own experiences and was vey glad to see that you have seen a vet this morning.

You may find this guide here helpful as serious bloat happens in waves and takes weeks to fully stabilise again afterwards, so you know how to best support him when he comes back home.
Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

I hope that he recovers well!
 
Bloaty and gut issues can strike very suddenly.Sounds like he is in the best place. Hope that he continues to make small steps towards good health again.
 
Seven7 said:
Sorry to hear about this.
I am wondering how old he is. Maybe his age contributed to this dramatic change in health, from morning to afternoon.
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He’s only about 9 months old we think. He’s a rescue pig so not exactly sure.
 
Wiebke said:
Serious bloat, blockage or a twisted gut can come on very quickly right out of the blue and can kill. :(
I've suspected you would be dealing with one of these things from my own experiences and was vey glad to see that you have seen a vet this morning.

You may find this guide here helpful as serious bloat happens in waves and takes weeks to fully stabilise again afterwards, so you know how to best support him when he comes back home.
Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

I hope that he recovers well!
Click to expand...

Thank you. I’ve just read over everything in that link. Sounds like it could be a worrying few weeks trying to get him through. The vet is hopeful he can come home tonight to continue treatment and possibly go back in tomorrow for more treatment. He’s an outdoor piggy but looks like we’ll be keeping him in for a while. Not sure what to do about Elvis though as he’s now alone with no one to snuggle with at night.
 
Elvisistheman said:
Thank you. I’ve just read over everything in that link. Sounds like it could be a worrying few weeks trying to get him through. The vet is hopeful he can come home tonight to continue treatment and possibly go back in tomorrow for more treatment. He’s an outdoor piggy but looks like we’ll be keeping him in for a while. Not sure what to do about Elvis though as he’s now alone with no one to snuggle with at night.
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Please keep your boys together as much as possible. The company is great de-stressing agent; the longer they are separated, the dodgier the link, especially as your boys are currently at one of the more difficult phases of their teenage months. Only separate if they do not get on when one is seriously ill and there is a lot of bullying or the ill piggy is removing itself from company.

This is the time of year when we strongly recommend bringing outdoors piggies inside or at least under cover and into insulated conditions. Guinea pigs should be treated like tender plants. They are not hardy.
 
Wiebke said:
Please keep your boys together as much as possible. The company is great de-stressing agent; the longer they are separated, the dodgier the link, especially as your boys are currently at one of the more difficult phases of their teenage months. Only separate if they do not get on when one is seriously ill and there is a lot of bullying or the ill piggy is removing itself from company.

This is the time of year when we strongly recommend bringing outdoors piggies inside or at least under cover and into insulated conditions. Guinea pigs should be treated like tender plants. They are not hardy.
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Once Ted comes home, I’m going to put them back together ASAP. Elvis really doesn’t like being alone and Ted is the dominant of the 2 even though he is younger. All our piggies are outside in a 4 tier hutch that is sheltered, right beside the house and has a cover we pull down over night during the winter. They also have heat pads for when it’s really cold. The others are a group of 6 girls and a group of 4 boys so they tend to keep each other warm too. Ted and Elvis are the only pair so we’re keen on getting them back together quickly. He’s our first properly sick piggy 🙁
 
Does he have an illness that is contagious? Maybe ask the vet before putting them back together.
 
Update
Ted is home for the night. Will be giving him his meds at 10pm and trying some syringe feeding too. We’ve put him in an indoor cage and brought Elvis in with him for the night to keep him company. He managed to crawl into his favourite tube which is the first time he’s moved properly by himself in 24hrs.
 
Elvisistheman said:
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Try to keep massaging/vibrating him gently to help get gas moving and keep syringe feeding as much as he will take in one go; you won't be able to feed much; make sure that you do not give more than he can swallow - in that case, that is about 0.1-0.3 ml and then wait until it has gone down. Dioralyte (US brand: pedialyte) in the water you offer syringing can additionally help. You may have to get up at least twice during the night; it is unfortunately very time consuming and straining when you fight for a piggy' life.
(PS: If your boy is going back to the vets, ask whether you can bring his mate, too as they are clearly getting on well.)

All the best!
 
Ted just took a nibble of pepper by himself. It was in there for Elvis but nice to see him have a go. Going to give him some syringe feed in a minute and some cuddles. The vet said they gave him infacol so maybe that is helping. Will keep him cosy tonight then back to the vets as soon as they open. They’ve said Elvis can come too if they are getting along. (He’s such a laid back piggy, I’m sure he’ll be happy to go on an adventure). Fingers crossed...
 
Elvisistheman said:
Ted just took a nibble of pepper by himself. It was in there for Elvis but nice to see him have a go. Going to give him some syringe feed in a minute and some cuddles. The vet said they gave him infacol so maybe that is helping. Will keep him cosy tonight then back to the vets as soon as they open. They’ve said Elvis can come too if they are getting along. (He’s such a laid back piggy, I’m sure he’ll be happy to go on an adventure). Fingers crossed...
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Have you tried gripe water for babies?
 
Skypipdot said:
I find gripe water works faster and apparently is natural and infacol isnt. Also i use buscopan in the gold and green box only. 1 tablet crushes with water. Ask your vet first but i done this with guinea pig bloat and it worked very fast twice. Best bet though is to use what the vet gives you
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Thank you. I’ll ask the vet tomorrow
 
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