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Squeaks Not Eating, At Vets.

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piggie smitten

piggie smitten

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, my 3 year old boar Squeak didn't eat his morning veggies on Sunday. My partner had stayed at his brothers sat night as he was doing some work over there and wanted to make an early start. Initially I thought this was the reason Squeak was off his food as he's a huge daddy's boy and cuddles up on my partner all evening! Anyway my partner came home sun night and Squeak still didn't eat his veggies. I phoned the Cat and Rabbit care clinic in Northampton(as that's where I take our other boy Bubble who has to have regular dentals). I was gutted to be told that Simon and Kim were off this week. I remember reading good reports on here about Sarah Pellet at Animates in Thurlby, Lincolnshire and managed to get them to squeeze Squeak in yesterday afternoon. I was syringe feeding mushed up pellets in the meantime. His Lymph glands were a little up and his gut movements were less than they should be and Sarah gave me three options. First was to give him a GA and take bloods, and some fluid from lymph glands, second was to put him on antibiotics(Bactrim) and two different gut stimulants and keep him in on two hourly syringe feeds, third was to send him home with meds. I chose option two as didn't want to risk a GA unless absolutely necessary. I've had a call this morning to say he's still not eating by himself but is taking the syringe feed well but he hasn't pooed. Going to give the drugs a bit longer to work then possibly go back to option 1. Does anyone have any advice please or had a pig with similar problems. Thanks, sorry it was so long!
 
I've literally just had this issue with my Toast!

She went off her food and her guts began to slow down due to a bad reaction to an antibiotic (we think).

She was fine Saturday but Sunday didn't eat any veg or nuggets and barely drank anything. She had quite severe bloat and hadn't done any poos for over 12 hours. I took her to the vets on Monday morning and he vet said she had gut stasis and she was admitted in so they could get fluids into her and syringe feed from 9am to 5pm.

They put her on;
Cisapride 0.2mls 3 times a day
Infacol 0.2 3 times a day
Loxicom 0.2 2 times a day
Probiotic 1m 3 times a day

She's back home now and she's to stay on these meds until at least Thursday.
She's started eating nuggets for herself last night but she's not drinking so I'm still syringing her water.

I've also only gave her very limited veg. Just some cucumber and some pepper for vit c, don't want to over do it as her tummy is still quite tender after not eating and doing no poos...

She's still quite sluggish, just because she's had such a stressful time, poked and prodded at the vets, but she is doing some normal poos now and wandering around a bit.

Hope this helps... x
 
Thanks for your reply. I have been following the threads on your girls, you've certainly been through the wars lately! Squeak isn't bloated(at least wasn't when I left him at the vet) but isn't pooing despite taking syringe feed quite well. He was pooing yesterday before he went in although they were small from not eating much so I would imagine its to do with the meds. I remember when my Bubs was on Zithromax for a jaw abcess ringing up the vet cos he wasn't pooing but then later that evening they came with a vengeance! I just want him to start so that I know his guts are still working. I am so worried, I'm just glad I'm on holiday from work this week. x
 
I know it's so worrying. I've had to phone into work yesterday and today. It's horrible seeing them like that isn't it :no:

Is he on fluids, or is he drinking enough himself? X
 
Hopefull they will get to the bottom of it soon. The lymph nodes being up is usually a sign of infection, hopefully they can find the source soon and get him on treatment.

Hes in the right place and on the right meds to get his guts moving.. Hopefully you have answers soon.

All the best x
 
Adelle said:
Hopefull they will get to the bottom of it soon. The lymph nodes being up is usually a sign of infection, hopefully they can find the source soon and get him on treatment.

Hes in the right place and on the right meds to get his guts moving.. Hopefully you have answers soon.

All the best x
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Apparently to find the source of infection they need to put him under and do bloods, do you know if theres a less dangerous way? x
 
piggie smitten said:
Apparently to find the source of infection they need to put him under and do bloods, do you know if theres a less dangerous way? x
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Other than the source jumping out at you , which it obviously hasnt when theyve checked him over, bloods is the best way. This can be done with sedation instead of full blown GA, but they may be doing this so they can check his mouth properly etc and give him a thorough check x
 
piggie smitten said:
Hi, my 3 year old boar Squeak didn't eat his morning veggies on Sunday. My partner had stayed at his brothers sat night as he was doing some work over there and wanted to make an early start. Initially I thought this was the reason Squeak was off his food as he's a huge daddy's boy and cuddles up on my partner all evening! Anyway my partner came home sun night and Squeak still didn't eat his veggies. I phoned the Cat and Rabbit care clinic in Northampton(as that's where I take our other boy Bubble who has to have regular dentals). I was gutted to be told that Simon and Kim were off this week. I remember reading good reports on here about Sarah Pellet at Animates in Thurlby, Lincolnshire and managed to get them to squeeze Squeak in yesterday afternoon. I was syringe feeding mushed up pellets in the meantime. His Lymph glands were a little up and his gut movements were less than they should be and Sarah gave me three options. First was to give him a GA and take bloods, and some fluid from lymph glands, second was to put him on antibiotics(Bactrim) and two different gut stimulants and keep him in on two hourly syringe feeds, third was to send him home with meds. I chose option two as didn't want to risk a GA unless absolutely necessary. I've had a call this morning to say he's still not eating by himself but is taking the syringe feed well but he hasn't pooed. Going to give the drugs a bit longer to work then possibly go back to option 1. Does anyone have any advice please or had a pig with similar problems. Thanks, sorry it was so long!
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Fingers firmly crossed! It takes about 1-2 days for poos to come through if a piggy has stopped eating/suffered partial or full GI stasis, depending on how sluggish the guts are, so that is not quite uncommon, especially if the amount of food that has gone in is has been small. it can also take some time to get eating again, especially if the guts have stopped working and/or if there is a major pain issue.

Somewhat swollen lymph nodes are worrying, as that points to either an infection or lymphoma, which is sadly becoming more common (or more often diagnosed) in guinea pigs in recent years.
 
Wiebke said:
Fingers firmly crossed! It takes about 1-2 days for poos to come through if a piggy has stopped eating/suffered partial or full GI stasis, depending on how sluggish the guts are, so that is not quite uncommon, especially if the amount of food that has gone in is has been small. it can also take some time to get eating again, especially if the guts have stopped working and/or if there is a major pain issue.

Somewhat swollen lymph nodes are worrying, as that points to either an infection or lymphoma, which is sadly becoming more common (or more often diagnosed) in guinea pigs in recent years.
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Sarah did say Lymphoma was a possibility but said the lymph nodes were only slightly up and she would have expected them to be worse in this case. I just hope when they phone later they say he's pooed. Surely if they're syringing food every 2 hours like they said he must be getting pretty uncomfortable if none is coming out?
 
piggie smitten said:
Sarah did say Lymphoma was a possibility but said the lymph nodes were only slightly up and she would have expected them to be worse in this case. I just hope when they phone later they say he's pooed. Surely if they're syringing food every 2 hours like they said he must be getting pretty uncomfortable if none is coming out?
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It takes time to process the poos; that, you cannot hurry it on, especially if the guts have totally or in part stopped working.

Any guinea pig that is unable to process food would fight feeding, so please stop worrying over that point and be patient. The fact that he is taking syringe feed means that the system is still/again working, if slowly, so you have to patient and not freak if the first poos coming through are very funny looking and small.

I have been there with piggies of mine, so be patient - the poos will come at some point!
 
Wiebke said:
It takes time to process the poos; that, you cannot hurry it on, especially if the guts have totally or in part stopped working.

Any guinea pig that is unable to process food would fight feeding, so please stop worrying over that point and be patient. The fact that he is taking syringe feed means that the system is still/again working, if slowly, so you have to patient and not freak if the first poos coming through are very funny looking and small.

I have been there with piggies of mine, so be patient - the poos will come at some point!
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Thanks Wiebke, I can't help worrying, I will try to be patient, can't wait for them to ring me back this afternoon though!
 
Had an update from the vet. Squeak is eating the food from the syringe without them even having to put the syringe in his mouth! He's done a small handful of normal looking poos but hasn't eaten any veg apart from a bit of dandelion leaf. Apparently he's quite bright when they get him out but a bit quiet when in the cage which is to be expected I suppose. The nurse was just about to get him out for a cuddle. Sarah the vet is ringing me later tonight with another update. Tomorrow I'm going to either visit or bring him home as appropriate. I just hope he decides to start eating on his own soon.
 
Hi, good news! Squeak came home yesterday afternoon. We actually went just to visit but they said he can come home. He's been given Co-trimoxazole, Emeprid, Ranatidine, Meloxicam, and Avipro Plus. Sarah said to stop the Meloxicam today and only give the gut stimulants if he wasn't eating well or pooing. Well he was eating even on the way home in the car so he hasn't had any of that since he's been home. His lymph nodes are still a bit up and we've got to take him back next weds, I really hope they go down as the next option is to put him out so bloods and a biopsy can be taken. I'm hoping its an infection and the antibiotics will do the trick. He'd only been on them about 48 hours when he came home so hopefully there's chance that the inflammation will still go down. He's had veggies this morning and devoured every bit and there's a lovely pile of poos so I'm well pleased! Its not until you've got a sick piggy that you get so excited over a pile of poo!
 
Just wanted to add I did restrict the amount of veg this morning. I know I have to build it back up gradually, although I think Squeak might like to argue otherwise!
 
Hi, just a little update.
Squeak went back for a check up yesterday. His lymph nodes have gone down and he has been discharged. He's still eating and pooing well and is bouncing around. I am so relieved. Sarah said to hold on to the gut stimulants and avipro plus though as they are handy to have. Should they be in the fridge? They are currently in a kitchen cupboard. Also what is the shelf life of them please?
 
Glad he is doing well!

They should have an expiration date on the bottles.. The avipro plus should be good for around 6 months. Kitchen cupboard is good, as metacloprimide reacts to sunlight (so should be kept in the dark or in a box) if thats what you have x
 
Thanks for all your well wishes, it means such a lot. He's doing great. He's currently tucking into his bowl of nuggets as I type. There's been a lot of popcorning this evening also. Can't thank Sarah at Animates vets enough. It was about an hour and 20 minutes each way but well worth it. X
 
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