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Something Is Wrong With Ivy, But I Don't Know What

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Katherine

Katherine

Soppiest Piggie Owner 2015
Teenage Guinea Pig
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So, my husband has just driven off to the emergency vet with our little Ivy. This afternoon / evening she has suddenly gone off her food, and tonight we couldn't even tempt her with grass or red pepper. Also she's not drinking, which is very unusual. And she's been quieter and withdrawn. It seems to have happened really quickly, even earlier on today she was biting the bars of her cage (her usual trick, and which has caused her to break her teeth twice). However, I'm not sure that it is her teeth this time, as before, she had difficulty eating, but she still really wanted to eat. Now she doesn't want to know. Her weight is about 50g less than it was this time last week (and she's a very small pig, today she only weighed 730g).

The only good thing was that when I was holding her, she did about 6 poops, and ate a couple of them.

We're really worried about her, and just to make things even worse, my husband has to go away this weekend. I don't know why things always work out like this. I just want Ivy to be okay.
 
Wishing you luck. Let us know what vet has said. If she's not eating it would be good to get some food from vet for syringe feeding. Failing that you could mush up pellets with water and offer it to her on a spoon or syringe feed it her!
 
Thankyou for the kind wishes, everyone. I'll update you when I know more, but it probably won't be until tomorrow - so tired now!
 
Fingers firmly crossed! I find it very hard at that stage before you have a clearer idea what is wrong; it can be wide range of things that can cause sudden loss of appetite. Often it is pain connected when it is very sudden. Thankfully, she hasn't really lost much weight yet, so you are in with a good shot!
 
Well, my husband came home last night without Ivy, as Alison the vet said they would keep her in. She also said we'd definitely done the right thing to bring her in straightaway. There was no obvious cause as to what is wrong with Ivy - her heart and breathing are fine. Her stomach was apparently rather empty and a little bit gassy, but Alison said it wasn't bloat. She said they would immediately start her on pain relief and antibiotics, and get some food and liquids into her. Then to do an x-ray, and various tests, to try to find out what's going on.

I'm waiting for the vets to ring this morning, and tell us what's happening. I do hope it will be good (or perhaps I should say, fairly hopeful) news.

If Ivy needs a course of medicine and syringe feeding, I'll have to ask them if they can keep her at the animal hospital and look after her there, as with my husband due to go away, I know I just can't cope on my own. Ivy is very stubborn and wilful, and when we had to syringe feed her one time in the past, it was a struggle, even with two of us. Hopefully though, it's that fighting spirit of hers that will keep her going.
 
Keeping my fingers firmly crossed for her! Anxious times for you...
 
Hope all is ok, poor Ivy, well done on getting her seen so quickly. The gas could be making her feel uncomfortable even if it isn't full bloat, though this could be caused by lack of eating so may not be the reason she stopped initially.
 
Thanks so much for your concern, folks. I kept waiting for the vets to ring, but as I didn't hear anything, we rang up, and basically, they have had a problem with the x-ray machine, hence the delay. Apparently Ivy is no better, but she is also no worse. Poor baby, I hope they can find out what is wrong soon. It seems so quiet here without her, especially as she is the "ring leader" - without her bad influence, I'm not sure the others quite know what to do with themselves!

Really feeling quite sick with the suspense and worry. Anyway, I've got to go out to the shops now to make sure that the other girls don't starve, so that will be a good distraction! Asked the vets to ring late afternoon, maybe we'll know something by then.
 
Huge hugs, lots of love to you and beautiful Ivy. Hope they can find out what is wrong soon x
 
Well, things are cautiously optimistic! Alison rang up this evening, and said that Ivy is somewhat better, and has been eating some grass and dandelions!

It still doesn't seem that there is any obvious problem, and the x-ray revealed nothing wrong. Alison said that sometimes their guts stop working well, and that - as in this instance - there doesn't always seem to be any particular reason why it happens. I have no idea why this should have happened to Ivy. She has been having her usual food - the only thing that was different was that this week we started giving them fresh grass, but I can assure everyone that we have been incredibly mean and stingy with it, not wanting to upset any tummies. So, I just don't know! It's all very mysterious.

Anyway, they want to keep Ivy in for observation, until they're quite sure she is getting better. Also, for the next 3 days I'm going to be stuck out here 20 miles from the vets, with no car, so I wouldn't want the worry of wondering how I would rush her back in if she went downhill. I know they'll look after her really well there, we're so lucky to have such a good practice within relatively easy reach.

Ivy's friend Flora is really missing her - she looks so sad, but at least she hasn't lost her appetite.

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts - it's so nice knowing that on this forum everyone understands how big a hold these little creatures have on you, and how much you worry when they get ill!
 
Glad to hear that things are looking up! It's so frustrating when you know something is wrong but just not what; wish they could talk! Glad to hear your vet is so wonderful about looking after while you're away. Hopefully when you pick her up she will be as good as new.
 
Glad she is in safe hands.

It does sound like the grass is a possibility, I know of some pigs who were very poorly recently and the only different thing in their diet was hand picked grass.
 
helen105281 said:
Glad she is in safe hands.

It does sound like the grass is a possibility, I know of some pigs who were very poorly recently and the only different thing in their diet was hand picked grass.
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Gosh, it does make you wonder. We've been so careful to only give them a tiny amount though, being so aware of the dangers of too much unaccustomed grass, but maybe it was that that made her ill. It's hard to think of anything else. Poor Ivy. Our other pigs are all fine.

I have often thought that Ivy is probably from very over-bred stock - we bought her (sadly) from a pet shop, not something we'd do now - and she was absolutely tiny. Her sister who we bought at the same time only lived for a few weeks, poor thing. I do wonder whether her constitution may not be that brilliant, although I must say that she is an extremely plucky and determined little thing, with an enormous pigsonality!
 
Glad that Ivy is better. I had one of my girls with sudden gut stasis out of the blue once. She recovered from it and never had gut trouble again, but I have no idea what caused it as there had been no change of diet at all... :(
 
Just had an update - she's doing pretty well by the sounds of it, eating and pooping okay. They're giving her meds to help her guts. It even sounds as though she might have been able to come home tomorrow night, but can't fetch her until the OH is home with the car on Monday evening.

The vet said Ivy's being quite quiet, but I'm not sure whether or not to be worried by that. She does often have quiet spells when she's at home, interspersed with bouts of manic bar-biting attention and food seeking behaviour. I expect she's missing her home and friends (and hopefully us too!)
 
It is natural for her to be quiet as she is not in a familiar environment. It all sounds very positive though.
 
piggyfan said:
It is natural for her to be quiet as she is not in a familiar environment. It all sounds very positive though.
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Yes, there's no place like your own cage after all! Looking forward to having her back... it's very weird not be bossed around all the time by a little furry scrap of a thing!
 
This sounds similar to my Piglet at the moment, that's how I came across the forum, trying to work out what was going on with him. He was checked over by a vet on Thursday because I thought his teeth were maybe paining him but they were OK. He's going back on Monday if he's not feeling better - he does seem much brighter today.

I hope Ivy is well soon! xx
 
Auntie Katie said:
This sounds similar to my Piglet at the moment, that's how I came across the forum, trying to work out what was going on with him. He was checked over by a vet on Thursday because I thought his teeth were maybe paining him but they were OK. He's going back on Monday if he's not feeling better - he does seem much brighter today.

I hope Ivy is well soon! xx
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Oh I do hope your Piglet is soon back to full strength! Welcome to the forum, too!
 
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