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Switchover to Orchard Grass Hay?

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bonbonpiggie

New Born Pup
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Nov 13, 2021
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I had previously posted about my piggie's illness here: Dental - Guinea pig gagging when eating

He was getting better with the medications provided and seemed to be eating fine (we were still continuing the medicines as the vet had recommended to do so till he gets his full appetite back).
2 days back (Sunday), we noticed that he started having very wet poop, almost like diarrhea. We immediately stopped giving him veggies for 24 hours and tried to feed him hay and pellets. He wouldn't eat the hay willingly, so we went back to syringe feeding him critical care and also water. After 24 hours when his poop started getting a little better (but smaller than usual), we slowly started giving him veggies (like spinach, dandelion, kale). We completely stopped lettuce, cucumber, tomato, etc. He seemed to wait only for dandelions and not care for anything else. He wouldn't eat his hay (timothy) either. (if it helps, I think he was also extremely annoyed with us force feeding him the critical care and water).
Today, I bought a small bag of orchard hay to see if that helps, and he seems to LOVE it. He has been at it non-stop for quite some time. He is also drinking more water (which he rarely ever does). Although it has been only a couple of hours of him doing this, it looks like he is liking the orchard hay better than the timothy.

My question is, is it okay to switchover to orchard hay in a day? (I still have stacked timothy hat in his cage, incase he wants that too). Is there any difference in nutrition among the two? And how long should I wait till I stop giving him critical care? ( am also wondering if this just a bad batch of timothy hay as he was eating it fine before he fell ill)

Thank you!
 
Also wanted to add that I did read up on other posts and discussions in the forum that mention that orchard grass hay is good for guinea pigs too. I just wanted to check if there is any harm in doing the complete switchover so quickly.
 
Yes you can switch it over.

You cannot stop giving critical care until his weight remains stable enough through him eating enough hay independently. Continue with daily weight checks to be sure of when you can reduce/stop syringe feeding
 
Piggies&buns said:
Yes you can switch it over.

You cannot stop giving critical care until his weight remains stable enough through him eating enough hay independently. Continue with daily weight checks to be sure of when you can reduce/stop syringe feeding
Click to expand...
Thank you! Yes I have been monitoring his weight twice daily and it doesn't to be reducing as such. It has been constant around ~1140-1150 g. I will continue to monitor his weight and try to syringe feed him till he is completely eating enough hay on his own.

Thanks for your response.
 
bonbonpiggie said:
Thank you! Yes I have been monitoring his weight twice daily and it doesn't to be reducing as such. It has been constant around ~1140-1150 g. I will continue to monitor his weight and try to syringe feed him till he is completely eating enough hay on his own.

Thanks for your response.
Click to expand...

Thats good.
Weighing once a day is plenty - you then gauge one weight check against the previous day. If you weigh twice a day you can pick up too much fluctuation so if you are going to continue weighing twice a day ensure you only use one weight check and compare it back to the check at the same time the previous day
 
So Bonbon seemed to be doing fine in the morning. I continued to give him critical care (I reduced the quantity a little bit) and he was eating his hay as well. I gave him a little bit of veggies, since he gets very annoyed and restless when he doesn't get any. I tried to keep it at 1 small dandelion leaf, 2-3 spinach leaves, a little piece of red pepper. He was doing fine all day, his poop was more solid and a bigger size as before as well.
Later in the evening, when I was feeding him critical care, he seemed to poop a lot more during that time. It was also softer than earlier. He seemed to also make a noise when pooping (it sounded like a little grunt). His weight had dropped to 1120g too. I will be calling the vet in the morning, but giving that its Thanksgiving holidays here, it would be hard to find someone over the next couple of days. If not, I will try emergency as well.
I have been continuing his medications (Metronidazole and doxycycline) twice a day, as the vet had told us to continue it till he gets his usual appetite back.
I will increase his feed of critical care and won't give him veggies tomorrow. However, anyone has any idea what else I can do in the meantime?
 
If he has dental issues, then until they are resolved, things won’t necessarily improve.

Are you giving probiotics? This can be helpful when A piggy is on antibiotics. Antibiotics affect the gut and their appetite. Please stop giving veg if his poops are soft and don’t reintroduce them until they are normal again and o then for a further 24 hours after - he could need to be off veg for a couple of days
 
:agr:

I would add probiotics an hour before or after his antibiotic, as well as stopping all fruit and veg for at least 48 hours.
Keep syringe feeding and also keep offering plenty of what ever hay he seems to be eating.
 
Piggies&buns said:
If he has dental issues, then until they are resolved, things won’t necessarily improve.

Are you giving probiotics? This can be helpful when A piggy is on antibiotics. Antibiotics affect the gut and their appetite. Please stop giving veg if his poops are soft and don’t reintroduce them until they are normal again and o then for a further 24 hours after - he could need to be off veg for a couple of days
Click to expand...
Are there any specific probiotics you would recommend?
I have not seen him struggling to eat / doing the gagging action in over a week or so, so I am not sure if he still has dental issues. I will stop giving him veggies as well.
Thanks!
 
Hi everyone,
Bonbon's poops are getting a little better. I am continuing his critical care and have kept him completely off of veggies since 48 hours. I will continue doing so for another day or so. I also got the Benebac delivered today, so I will try giving it to him. His weight has been ~1138 g.
I noticed that he has been trying to also eat his cecal poop today. He also eats the poop pellets as well (I know they do this usually). However, the one thing I noticed is he makes the grunting noise when he tries to eat the cecal poop (right before he eats it). I don't see any any blood in his poop or urine. Is this an emergency? (the vet I take him to is closed till Monday, I can only contact emergency services in the meantime)
Few questions:
1. When should I stop giving him the Benebac? As I understand, it should be till I give him the medicines. Is that correct?
2. How long should I keep him off of veggies after tomorrow? (which will be 72 hours). I see that you all recommended 24-48 hours and maybe a day after that. But I am worried that if I start giving veggies he might get the diarrhea again.

Thank you for all your help so far! Appreciate all the suggestions and recommendations. I hope Bonbon gets back to his chirpy self again :(
 
Keep him on the benebac for as long as he is on the medications and then until his poops are normal. It doesn’t matter for he is on the benebac longer than the meds.

When you reintroduce veg, you need to do so slowly so as to not suddenly cause further soft poops - eg 1-2 sprigs of coriander only. Then monitor what happens. If his poops remain normal, then add in a bit more the next daymand so on. If he goes back to having soft poops, then stop veg again.
 
Bonbon's poops are getting a little better, his weight is also around 1140-1150g. I have been feeding him critical care and he is eating his hay. He is drinking water from his bottle, and I am also giving some water when feeding him. I gave him Benebac ~45 mins after giving him his antibiotics.
However, he is still squeaking when pooping and he is doing it quite often now. I read that this could be an indication of uti / stones. I still don't see any blood in his urine or poop.
I have been trying to contact vet hospitals and emergency services. No one seems to take in guinea pigs at this time. The vet I usually go to will be open only on Monday.
I am worried that his health will deteriorate in the next 2 days.
Can anyone recommend what I can do at this point?
 
bonbonpiggie said:
Bonbon's poops are getting a little better, his weight is also around 1140-1150g. I have been feeding him critical care and he is eating his hay. He is drinking water from his bottle, and I am also giving some water when feeding him. I gave him Benebac ~45 mins after giving him his antibiotics.
However, he is still squeaking when pooping and he is doing it quite often now. I read that this could be an indication of uti / stones. I still don't see any blood in his urine or poop.
I have been trying to contact vet hospitals and emergency services. No one seems to take in guinea pigs at this time. The vet I usually go to will be open only on Monday.
I am worried that his health will deteriorate in the next 2 days.
Can anyone recommend what I can do at this point?
Click to expand...
Also to add to this, the vet had taken his x-rays (twice, once on 12th Nov and then on 13th Nov) and also a blood test, they did not find any stones at that time.
 
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