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Recovering From Bloat

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Phil W.

Phil W.

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Cookie my 3 year old boar was diagnosed with bloat last weekend. Thankfully he is recovering well. Helped by the great advice that can be found on this forum.
I am currently giving him Zantac and metacam. I syringe fed him the first couple of days and he is now feeding himself although his appetite is smaller.
I have had piggies for years and never had to care for one with bloat - I avoid gassy veg, and follow all the guidelines re % of hay and nuggets.
My question is are some piggies just prone or should I be looking for an underlying cause? Also, any recommendations on how long I should keep him on the meds?
Thanks!
 
well done Cookie, and well done you ! its nont that easy to nurse a pig through bloat !

how long should you keep him on the meds, l think a few more days to be on the safe side,
though it would be better asking your vet, just to be on the safe side!

are some pigs prone to bloat? l would think if they were, it would be the exeption rather than the rule!
 
Phil W. said:
Cookie my 3 year old boar was diagnosed with bloat last weekend. Thankfully he is recovering well. Helped by the great advice that can be found on this forum.
I am currently giving him Zantac and metacam. I syringe fed him the first couple of days and he is now feeding himself although his appetite is smaller.
I have had piggies for years and never had to care for one with bloat - I avoid gassy veg, and follow all the guidelines re % of hay and nuggets.
My question is are some piggies just prone or should I be looking for an underlying cause? Also, any recommendations on how long I should keep him on the meds?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Bloat can happen even on the best of diets and with the best of care. I have made it through nearly three decades of having piggies without it and then losing one to acute bloat (despite having her seen promptly), seemingly out of the blue, and another oldie with off and on mild to medium bloating issues for the last couple of years of her life (she lived to 7 years old) in the wake of a partial gut stasis caused by a very painful episode involving twisting with spinal pain and temporarily losing control of her back legs (not your typical calcium/mineral deficiency variety). Most long term owners come up against it at some point or other. It is one of the nastier conditions that piggies can get because it is so difficult to control.

Please be aware that once you have had an issue with severe bloat, it can suddenly flare up again worse than ever. You want to ask your vet for bridging-over doses of zantac/ranitidine, emeprid (gut stimulant; metoclopramide will also do in a pinch) and metacam, but also have some gripe water handy (from the baby section in supermarkets) to be able to treat asap whatever the time of day or week.
The digestion is usually quite iffy for several weeks after severe bloat.
Emeprid and plenty of probiotics can help as well as fibreplex (which also contains probiotics and digestive aids), as well as poo soup (water in which you have soaked some fresh healthy poos from a companion). If necessary, top up with syringe feed made either from a recovery formula and/or mushed up pellets.

Please make sure that your piggy is stable before you slowly introduce veg one by one in small quantities. Don't rush that phase! Stay off any cabbage, broccoli and loads of fresh grass. Fresh herbs like coriander are the best ones to start up again. Then it is a bit trial and error as to what goes down well and what not.

You might want to consider switching to grain-free pellets, as that is now considered by some people to possibly have an influence with guinea pigs that develop digestive problems. There are however no long term experiences on this, so it is still very much at the trial and error phase until there are wider and long term results from owners. Many of our tips and experiences have started out like that and have made it into our guides if they have stood the test of time, as guinea pig research is sadly not exactly a popular area.
Vitakraft Emotion Professional Prebiotic Guinea Pig

If the issues continue, you may also want to consider buying a massaging pad of some sort (like a car seat one); this can often make quite a difference with a case of acute bloat.
 
Well done on nursing Cookie thought bloat. It can strike very quickly and can be fatal so you have done really well to get Cookie through this attack. My experience of bloat is that once a piggy has had it it can suddenly come back and can be worse then the first time. One of my pigs is prone to bloat and we have to be really careful with her. We have found that broccoli and celery are the veg that seem to set her off (even in minuscule amounts) but she did have an attack earlier this year after time on grass, so we now have to severely restrict her grass time.
My vet allows me to keep a supply of meds at home in case of a repeat and it may be worth asking your for a small supply in case of emergencies, too.
Pain relief and gripe water are always top of my list in case I spot the early signs of bloat. I would keep Cookie on the meds for a few days more, but make sure that you only reintroduce veg sparingly and one at a time to see if you can identify a trigger food.
 
Thanks for your help, I will definitely get some meds from the vet in case of further flare up. Interested that I can give him baby's gripe water...what would the dose be?
 
I use Woodwards Gripe Water and dose at 1ml every 3-4 hours in emergency. Piggies quite like the taste. I know that other keepers use higher doses up to a max of 3ml every few hours but I've never given higher than that amount and it does seem to help disperse the gas.
 
Thanks , I will try the gripe water, anything to help the little chap recover well. :nod:
 
Cookie seems to be back to his normal lively self now. I have kept him on the fibreplex and recovery pellets. He is off all other medication.
I have introduced tiny portions of veg, romaine and cucumber so far, but a little nervous about doing anything to quickly.
It will be a worry in the summer as all my piggies get a lot of grass time when the weather improves.. (They are inside now) Slowly, slowly I guess and thankful that he is doing so well.
 
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