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Serious Help Needed

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guineapigs<3

guineapigs<3

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I'll fill you in from this time last week on my piggie Sienna who is 4.5 years old. She was caked in diarrhoea last Monday night so I washed her and took her to the vet first thing Tuesday morning, she was given septrin (which she loves and wolfs down like an addict) and was told she had an infection she had also lost 200g since last at the vets for a regular drainage on her blocked sebaceous gland. She was eating and drinking only a quarter of her normal amount. Then Thursday she had blood coming from her back end... Back to the vets he said she probably has uterine cancer as the blood was from the vulva, he gave her a steroid injection, 10ml iv fluids and baytril injection. She perked up after fluids but after these few days of septrin (which she now just turns her head to and I have to force it down her) and me forcing her water and only a few nibbles of the odd bit of veg, her bleeding has stopped the ulcerations around her vulva have cleared and her diarrhoea stopped, but she still won't eat or drink she just sleeps and is skin and bone her eyes are sunken she doesn't even want a cuddle anymore... No wonder seems as I force her water and antibiotics twice a day. I feel if she ate or drank she'd start to perk up but she won't and I don't know what to do the vet said to take her back yesterday if she was still bleeding and he would put her to sleep but seems as her symptoms cleared I couldn't do it to her. What will we do? She's my world and the other two will be so lost without her! TIA
 
Hi!

I am very sorry for your bad situation.

Please be aware that just with giving your girl water, but no syringe feed, while she is only nibbling on a tiny bit of veg, she is not getting enough food - 80% of the food intake should be hay, and that you can't control just by watching her nibble! Are you weighing her daily to check her actual food intake (ideally before or after dinner)? The weight loss is quite massive. :(
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

I would strongly recommend to see another vet for a second opinion. We have got a recommended vets locator on the top bar; have you got one within your reach? Did your girl have a scan to see what is actually going on with her womb? The bleeding can be caused by a number of issues. It would be good if you could base any decisions on as solid a basis as possible.

PS: Personally, I would be wary of any vet who is giving a guinea pig a steroid injection.
 
She has the tiniest few mouth fulls of hay in the morning and that's all I've seen her eat unless she is doing it at night as I know she needs to be taking something to still be alive now. I haven't tried weighing her which I shall start. I have had her seen by two different vets. She's had to have steroid injections in the past because of the scarring on her lungs she struggles to breath sometimes (she had been this way since birth thanks to her breeding background) I can literally feel all her bones on her body now if she wasn't so fluffy as she's long haired she'd look very emaciated. I study animal health at uni and have been doing the kidneys in depth lately I just have a gut feeling especially because of the age she is at it is something to do with her kidneys but the bleeding has stopped I would say she was back to full health if I had only seen her eat and drink! So you don't think I should syringe her water anymore? Thanks for your advice
 
guineapigs<3 said:
She has the tiniest few mouth fulls of hay in the morning and that's all I've seen her eat unless she is doing it at night as I know she needs to be taking something to still be alive now. I haven't tried weighing her which I shall start. I have had her seen by two different vets. She's had to have steroid injections in the past because of the scarring on her lungs she struggles to breath sometimes (she had been this way since birth thanks to her breeding background) I can literally feel all her bones on her body now if she wasn't so fluffy as she's long haired she'd look very emaciated. I study animal health at uni and have been doing the kidneys in depth lately I just have a gut feeling especially because of the age she is at it is something to do with her kidneys but the bleeding has stopped I would say she was back to full health if I had only seen her eat and drink! So you don't think I should syringe her water anymore? Thanks for your advice
Click to expand...

Whatever is the matter with her, she is definitely not getting enough food! Guinea pigs need to process A LOT of fibre daily, or their guts are starting to close down; they are not cats or dogs that can get by with eating less for a while. There is only so much weight that guinea pigs can afford to lose before their body is starting to close down. If a guinea pig is not eating fully, you need to step in with syringe feeding asap; you cannot afford to dawdle! You should continue to syringe as much water as she is willing to take, but she simply cannot survive on water and two mouthfuls of solid food! Please carefully read our guide for the details, as to how much feed she needs asap.
 
Thank you I shall read and see what I can do tonight and then take her to the vets tomorrow
 
I have syringe fed her 1ml of beet up pellets and 4ml of water After 10 minutes of that she jumped up to her favourite spot which is my chest and fell asleep...
I'm so happy that it has instantly perked her up. There is still a long long way to go but it has given me hope so thank you!
 
Oh my goodness, poor thing she must have been starving. As everyone says, she must be fed (syringe or otherwise) every few hours and if you can face it overnight a few times as well, her guts must keep moving or you will lose her. Even mushed up veg or fruit, try banana even which is rich in potassium and help her.

There is a tonic which I have used in the past (Effico? Something like that) which u can get from the chemist. It has a lot of vitamins, and is a great pick me up and appetite stimulator. Syring a small amount 0.5 ml I think... Twice a day as well. You must try and give her the strength she needs to then help herself. I will look it up on here.

Good luck, you sound very caring!
 
guineapigs<3 said:
I have syringe fed her 1ml of beet up pellets and 4ml of water After 10 minutes of that she jumped up to her favourite spot which is my chest and fell asleep...
I'm so happy that it has instantly perked her up. There is still a long long way to go but it has given me hope so thank you!
Click to expand...

Please repeat this every few hours once before you go to bed, ideally twice during the night and then again first thing in the morning, just to get her going again.

1 ml of solids is still far too little - you need to aim for 40-60 ml of pellet feed in 24 hours just to keep her alive, and more to build her up again; 4 ml of water is not giving her any energy whatsoever! The ratio needs to be 4 ml of syringe feed to 1 ml of water.

You may need to work up to it, but ideally you give between 5 ml to 15 ml in one go to an ill guinea pig. If you are at the lower end, you need to feed every two hours during the day and about twice in the night. Once she is eating over over 10 ml in one go, you can reduce it to one feed at night and 4-6 feeds during the day - but that covers just the absolute survival minimum to keep her alive, nothing more!

Later when she can eat more in one go, you can feed less often.
 
Thanks for your advice I shall look into this metatone at the chemist tomorrow morning. I have uni so can't keep her daily feeds up for 7 hours whilst I'm away which I'm now worried about she has lasted a week like this so hopefully with a few night feeds and one in the morning she will last until I get home. She's had more fluids and pellets she seems a wee bit better in herself so hopefully this is the start of her long road to recovery.
 
Please have her seen by another vet. She sounds like she's quite poorly and I think just syringe feeding her until she's just eating on her own may not solve the problem. There is a reason why she has stopped eating which should be investigated. You may also want to consider pain relief for her even if you choose not to do anything about this illness and choose just to have her at home and do nothing as it's likely she may be uncomfortable and this is the reason she is not eating.

x
 
I can only echo what the others have said- it is impossible to diagnose uterine cancer without so much as an ultrasound or xray. You need to take her to a guinea pig knowledgable vet, try searching on the vet locator on the forum. She needs urgent medical attention and a proper diagnosis. I understand you have a life but to put it bluntly, your guinea pig wont survive on such little food intake and left for long periods without anything in her guts. In her condition, it will take less time for her body to start shutting down than you will be leaving her for.

Please, have her see a better vet, push for investigations to see whats going on inside and utmost importance follow the syringe feeding guide on the forum. She is totally dependant on you and needs these things to stand a chance of pulling through this. I really hope she gets a diagnosis soon. There is usually always someone here that can help advise you if you have any questions so please dont hesitate to ask.
 
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