Syringe feeding

[Mizzpigz]

Hi guys, I just wondered if you can advise me what to do if I have one of my piggys that may stop eating or drinking. The reason why I ask if that after being a newbie piggy owner I read many threads where people have to take their piggys to the emergency vets and wondered if I can start any treatment and what it should be if my piggy stops eating or drinking. Is their a medicine I can buy or do I need too get this prescribed or can I get it from the vet as a preventative measure?

I always have syringes in the house as we have a cat and chickens and just wonder if you can please advise me.

Many thanks

 

[shiny]

I always keep in some 1ml & 5 ml syringes (no needles!), Oxbow Critical Care for rodents http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxbow-Criti...1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361228578&sr=8-1-fkmr0 and a probiotic (I use Bio-Lapis) http://www.vetuk.co.uk/rabbit-suppl...o-lapis-sachet-for-rabbits-and-rodents-p-1175 you can get these things at vets too. I see these things as a sort of guinea pig first aid kit!

That way if I have an ill guinea pig, I can get some food into them if it happens (as it normally does!) late at night or on a bank holiday. There is a good feeding guide on guinealynx http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

I would stress though that there's no substitute for finding yourself a good exotics vet, getting your pigs registered with them & having their out of hours contact details for emergencies especially if you're new to guineas. It can be extremely hard to know what is going on with a guinea & I would not self-diagnose.

Don't worry though, I know there are lots of threads on here about poorly pigs but what you don't see are all the piggies doing absolutely fine & not needing all this stuff

 

[Mizzpigz]

Thank you shiny. Where our pets are registered they do specialise in exotic pets and I've found them to be great with our chickens when they are poorly. I will invest in some critical care just in case their is a delay in getting them to a vets, but just wanted to know what can be done during that interim period.

 

[Stewybus]

Last week when our little girl Madam wouldn't eat, I took her to the vet's who gave her an injection of Metoclopromide & put her on a course of Fibreplex. She still wasn't eating so I made up a mix of finely grated carrot, apple, pepper & melon. I fed her this through a syringe & it did stabilize her weight but there was something more seriously wrong with her & she went downhill quickly. Unfortunately I had to have her PTS on Saturday. I feel that I gave her a chance but she was too ill to respond.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

It is good to be prepared and Shiny has given some great advice and links. I too always keep a handful of syringes and a packet or Critical Care, and i always have the burgess excel blackcurrent and oregano nuggets anyway as thats what i feed on, but i use this mushed up to syringe feed sometimes too. I also have fibreplex now in their cupboard.

 

[flintstones]

I always have Fibreplex and critical care along with some science supreme syringes, this enables to provide supportive care well the vet investigates and treats there illness.

 

[sport_billy]

Great adviceby Shiny. As others have said above, experience has shown me to always be prepared. We have a piggie draw full of syringes, critical care, fibreplex, pro biotic, shampoo, gg foot balm and a few other bits and bobs. It does help to keep things in then if things do go wrong it is one less thing to stress over and trying to get things in last minute can be difficult.

 

[Mizzpigz]

Hi again,

Stewy I'm really sad to hear that you lost your piggy but thankyou for the advice. We feed our piggles burgess excel mint nuggets so thats always an option but I will definately get some critical care.