My 4-year-old guinea pig stopped eating/drinking since last Wednesday. I took him to the vet on Friday and was prescribed Baytril and Metacam. Today is the 4th day on antibiotics. On June 2nd at 11:00 AM, he was hospitalized for X-rays and a bladder ultrasound, which showed no urinary stones. However, he was anesthetized yesterday and still appears lethargic—hiding in corners, refusing hay, though he'll eat small amounts of watery veggies like cucumber and lettuce. Urine output is low, and his droppings are very small. I've been syringe-feeding Oxbow Critical Care with Protexin probiotics since Wednesday. Is this drowsiness and hiding due to the anesthesia? Does anyone have experience with this? Thank you.
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Post-anaesthesia
- Thread starter Zoezz
- Start date
I’m sorry to hear this.
They are often a bit off in the day after anaesthetic but you should contact your vet if you are concerned he is too lethargic.
I’m glad stones were not found.
What is his diagnosis?
Are you weighing him every morning to ensure he is getting enough syringe feed to keep his weight stable? This is essential. Small poops indicate not enough food intake so do keep an eye on his weight.
How much critical care are you getting into him?
You are aiming for around 60ml of critical care per day but it could take more to keep him stable
I’ve added some guides below to help further
I hope he is ok
Tips For Post-operative Care
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
They are often a bit off in the day after anaesthetic but you should contact your vet if you are concerned he is too lethargic.
I’m glad stones were not found.
What is his diagnosis?
Are you weighing him every morning to ensure he is getting enough syringe feed to keep his weight stable? This is essential. Small poops indicate not enough food intake so do keep an eye on his weight.
How much critical care are you getting into him?
You are aiming for around 60ml of critical care per day but it could take more to keep him stable
I’ve added some guides below to help further
I hope he is ok
Tips For Post-operative Care
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
I just emailed the vet to ask. Yes, I weigh him every morning. On Friday evening, I took him to the animal hospital, where he was prescribed enrofloxacin and pain medication. The dosage is 0.2ml of enrofloxacin twice daily and 0.2ml of pain medication once daily.
His weight was 970g on both Saturday and Sunday. On Monday morning, it was 968g, and this morning it was 941g. Clearly, he didn’t eat well at the animal hospital yesterday. The vet didn’t give me any diagnosis—she just said the ultrasound and X-ray showed no stones in the guinea pig’s bladder. She mentioned that fecal and urine tests are needed. Samples have already been taken, and she’ll let me know if anything is found.
I give him 10g of Critical Care daily (4g of the brown bag, 3g of the green bag, and 3g of grass I ground myself—the same grass he usually eats). Right now, he’s only interested in soft grass and cucumber, but he only eats a little bit.
I forgot to mention—he didn’t have surgery. He was just anesthetized for the X-ray and bladder ultrasound. I don’t know if he‘ll be ok or not. I hope so
His weight was 970g on both Saturday and Sunday. On Monday morning, it was 968g, and this morning it was 941g. Clearly, he didn’t eat well at the animal hospital yesterday. The vet didn’t give me any diagnosis—she just said the ultrasound and X-ray showed no stones in the guinea pig’s bladder. She mentioned that fecal and urine tests are needed. Samples have already been taken, and she’ll let me know if anything is found.
I give him 10g of Critical Care daily (4g of the brown bag, 3g of the green bag, and 3g of grass I ground myself—the same grass he usually eats). Right now, he’s only interested in soft grass and cucumber, but he only eats a little bit.
I forgot to mention—he didn’t have surgery. He was just anesthetized for the X-ray and bladder ultrasound. I don’t know if he‘ll be ok or not. I hope so
Is the pain killer metaxam/loxicom?
Is it cat version or dog version of the pain killer?
0.2ml once a day is a very small amount but perhaps your vet doesn’t think he is in much pain?
Piggies really need their pain meds twice a day as they metabolise them within around 12 hours.
Have his teeth been checked?
We talk of syringe feed in ml when it is made up rather than the gram measurements of the powder.
So aiming for 60ml of made up feed per 24 hour period.
As it stands, being 30g down in weight isn’t hugely significant - it’s on the realms of normal fluctuation. Weight loss is only considered weight loss once it is 50g or more.
Is it cat version or dog version of the pain killer?
0.2ml once a day is a very small amount but perhaps your vet doesn’t think he is in much pain?
Piggies really need their pain meds twice a day as they metabolise them within around 12 hours.
Have his teeth been checked?
We talk of syringe feed in ml when it is made up rather than the gram measurements of the powder.
So aiming for 60ml of made up feed per 24 hour period.
As it stands, being 30g down in weight isn’t hugely significant - it’s on the realms of normal fluctuation. Weight loss is only considered weight loss once it is 50g or more.
Hello, thank you for your reply. The painkiller is Metacam Oral Suspension for Cats and Guinea Pigs 0.5mg/ml. His teeth show no problems – took X-ray yesterday that showed nothing wrong. Sorry this is my first time owning a guinea pig, he was adopted by my friend from an animal rescue. I asked DeepSeek and learned that losing 30g of weight per day requires alertness. I'm extremely worried and hope the little boy can get well soon
A piggy in any pain won’t eat and his painkiller dose is definitely on the low dose. See how he goes and stay in touch with your vet.
30g weight loss is just the difference between a full or empty bladder and within normal daily fluctuation. 50g is when you go on alert.
As he isn’t eating hay though you do need to be syringe feeding him every 2-3 hours with as many ml as you can get into him at each sitting.
I hope the vet can find out what is wrong with him.
How long have you had him?
Does he have a friend?
The guides I linked in explain everything further.
30g weight loss is just the difference between a full or empty bladder and within normal daily fluctuation. 50g is when you go on alert.
As he isn’t eating hay though you do need to be syringe feeding him every 2-3 hours with as many ml as you can get into him at each sitting.
I hope the vet can find out what is wrong with him.
How long have you had him?
Does he have a friend?
The guides I linked in explain everything further.
He's feeling a bit better now. I just gently massaged his belly for a while, and he ran a couple of laps on the floor.
That's exactly what I did – I feed him with Oxbow Critical Care.
I'll check out your link later; I hope to learn something useful.
I've been with him for 8 months now. He doesn't have friend and he had two previous owners. His last owner adopted him from an animal rescue association, but couldn't keep him due to needing to move abroad, so they left him with me.
Honestly, I think I should get him insurance. The recent vet visits have already cost nearly £500, which is really hurting my wallet.
That's exactly what I did – I feed him with Oxbow Critical Care.
I'll check out your link later; I hope to learn something useful.
I've been with him for 8 months now. He doesn't have friend and he had two previous owners. His last owner adopted him from an animal rescue association, but couldn't keep him due to needing to move abroad, so they left him with me.
Honestly, I think I should get him insurance. The recent vet visits have already cost nearly £500, which is really hurting my wallet.
Once he is feeling better, do look to get him a friend. Piggies should never be kept alone.
Speaking with a rescue centre will help you as they can help find a character compatible friend for him
I’m not sure if things have changed but there used to be only one company (Exotic Direct) who would insure guinea pigs and by the time exclusions (not every medical issue will be covered) and excesses were dealt with, it didn’t always work out worthwhile having insurance so most of us just save into a separate bank account for a vet fund.
If you do find a company who will insure, then do let us know as it’s always useful to help us keep our information up to date.
Speaking with a rescue centre will help you as they can help find a character compatible friend for him
I’m not sure if things have changed but there used to be only one company (Exotic Direct) who would insure guinea pigs and by the time exclusions (not every medical issue will be covered) and excesses were dealt with, it didn’t always work out worthwhile having insurance so most of us just save into a separate bank account for a vet fund.
If you do find a company who will insure, then do let us know as it’s always useful to help us keep our information up to date.
Gadzy
Junior Guinea Pig
I can only offer you support. I am in the exact same situation with a mystery case, although with me I think I have accepted it’s old age and whatever would be found at her age of 5.5-6 years old I wouldn’t be putting her through an operation. I am
Booked in the vets again tomorrow and sadly I don’t think she will be coming back with me, now that’s my own case scenario and yours is probably different, but after having a few guinea pigs now some cases are just a mystery. This one is the first mystery case after having 4 pigs overall. My first one had a heart attack randomly, the second had a growth on the outside of her nose bridge which got so big it was annoying her and trying to bang it off on stuff so we had to PTS and she was old too. Third one had cancer of some sort and passed away at home and now this one is a mystery case which sadly I think I have to bite the bullet and PTS tomorrow.
With your case fingers crossed they will pick something up on the urine and poop tests. Let me know what they find? I’d be interested to know because I’ve thrown everything at my current sow.
Good luck!
Gadzy
Junior Guinea Pig
I'm sorry for just replying to your message. Thank you for saying that kind words. I've just finished work for today. Over the past week, I haven't been able to work properly because my guinea pig was sick. I was in no mood to work at all. However, the good news is he's feeling better today and ate some timothy hay on his own. Last night, I had seen from the camera that he was looking for hay in his rack. When I weighed him this morning, he had also gained 14 grams compared to yesterday. It's not much, but it made me incredibly happy.
To be honest, this little guy has had a rough life. He came from an animal rescue center and is four years and three months old. This morning, I received a reply about him: his teeth, bones, and digestive system are all very healthy, with nothing to worry about. There are no stones in his bladder. The reason he stopped eating and drinking was that he ate too many vegetables and fruit on Tuesday night. The vet warned me to strictly control the amount of veggies and fruit.
I also asked the vet if I could stop those damn antibiotics. Looking forward to the vet's reply tomorrow.