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Sven’s weight loss

HeatherRose

HeatherRose

Adult Guinea Pig
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Sven was neutered on the 18th, he has an abscess now and started antibiotics on Wednesday. His weight has gone from 811g on the 19th, to 725g today. I feel like the abscess is a tiny bit smaller and less red. How long does it usually take for the antibiotics to start making a difference? Should I start syringe feeding him? Also I have some pain meds left from his neutering and Olaf and Kristoffs neutering, should I start giving it to him, does the abscess cause a lot of pain?
 
I feel bad that i didn’t think about the pain before. I just gave him a dose. I have 7 doses left right now
 
I have had him in his travel cage next to me on my desk while I work. He has a whole buffet of hay and veggies and some apples (his favorite) in there and I hear him eating, so that’s good.
 
Weigh him daily at the same time then at least you can monitor how much he is eating. He really needs hay more than veggies. I take it he has access to water? Only you didn't say in your post. It is good that he is still eating.
 
Yes he has water too. Hopefully now that I gave him pain meds he will perk up a little. He hasn’t even gone up to see Elsa through the bars in a few days!
 
Oh poor Sven. Hopefully as you say he'll begin to feel better soon. I bet Elsa is wondering what has happened to her intended ...
 
Sending lots of healing vibes! I hope Sven recovers quickly from his abscess. They can be very tricky at times.
 
Back at the vet. My vet is not in today, so another vet checked him. She said to syringe feed twice a day and they are giving him more pain meds. I come back Monday to see my guinea pig savvy vet and see what he says.A0470974-9AAD-4AC6-B8C3-F1A0C4B0B6F2.webp
 
Sven’s first syringe feeding was a success, he had 20ml . Is that a good amount? I gave it to him a tiny bit at a time. He’s not as weak as he looks in the second picture, he just cuddled up to me and I thought it was sweet! I made up too much critical care, can I save it for the next feed? Do I put it in the fridge or anything?
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Aw! Poor baby! Here's to hoping that healthier days are ahead. Hand feeding the little guys is a good bonding time, though.
 
20ml is not a bad amount. It depends how hungry he is and if he's still eating for himself. Are you topping him up or fully syringe feeding him? Is he liking it or is it a struggle?
 
Betsy said:
20ml is not a bad amount. It depends how hungry he is and if he's still eating for himself. Are you topping him up or fully syringe feeding him? Is he liking it or is it a struggle?
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He is still eating on his own just not enough to keep his weight up. He seems to like the critical care and does not have trouble eating it.
 
Weigh him daily to see if you are topping him up enough, if not add more feeds. When I was fully syringe feeding Chrisitian he would take anything between 7-9ml every 3 hours.
 
Poor Sven! Love and hugs and wheeks from us and really hope he gets better soon for Elsa. We are neutering Theo next week and this has got us so scared! I dont tell Theo how scared I am but he is getting double triple watermelon rations and extra cuddle time. Sven is so adorable and his love story with Elsa is so lovely we are all hoping for the best :)
 
Sven has really gone downhill today. His weight is up from 708g to 750g which is good, but he is not moving around at all, not eating on his own anymore, and his breathing is really slow (I’m not sure how he breathes normally, but it just looks slower than the other piggies). He goes to the vet tomorrow at 1100, but I’m really worried he won’t make it through the night! I syringe fed him at 2:00 and he ate pretty good, but I tried again at 5:00 and he seemed less interested and really lethargic.
 
PigglePuggle said:
Poor Sven! Love and hugs and wheeks from us and really hope he gets better soon for Elsa. We are neutering Theo next week and this has got us so scared! I dont tell Theo how scared I am but he is getting double triple watermelon rations and extra cuddle time. Sven is so adorable and his love story with Elsa is so lovely we are all hoping for the best :)
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I had two others neutered with no problems at all, that’s why I thought nothing of getting Sven neutered. I think it is more the norm to come through without complications.
 
I was just talking to my husband and mentioned Sven was on pain meds. My husband is a paramedic so has some medical knowledge. Basically, we came to the conclusion that Sven might just be over medicated. Obviously, he still has an abscess or whatever it is, but his slow breathing and lethargy could be explained by the pain meds, yesterday and today I gave him 3 doses a day (as the vet said to do) and before that I was only giving him 2 a day. I didn’t give him his 3rd dose tonight so hopefully he will improve. I really hope that is it and he gets this abscess under control at the vet tomorrow! I hate the time difference because you guys are all sleeping right now and I like your input!
 
We are all routing for Sven today. I hope you get some good news at the vet Heather. You must be absolutely exhausted. Massive hugs to you both from over the pond xx
 
I'm sorry to hear Sven is so poorly. Baytril affects appetite so maybe you could ask to change to a different antibiotic? Are you giving a probiotic, as this is important when you give antibiotics to a piggie, especially Bayril, as it affects the gut.
 
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