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The worst possible timing

Sappyshelly

Sappyshelly

Teenage Guinea Pig
Joined
Sep 25, 2018
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Location
New Jersey
Hello everyone!
Clifford lost 45 grams in the past two weeks and 18 in the past 2 days. This could not come at a worse time as I’m going on vacation on Saturday. We are booking a appointment for after the vacation, but now I’m gonna be worried about my boy instead of enjoying the sun. Clifford is an old boy, and is around 5 years old. He’s been eating normally, active, and wants food every time I go in the room. He’s just been drinking a lot of water recently. It had been hot and a bit humid here and there the past few weeks, but we have an air conditioner in the room for when the house gets hot. I trust my pet sitter and will tell her to give cliff and bit more fruit and carrot to increase his weight. Was not too long ago when he had an infection that was treated. I just hope my boy will be ok when I’m gone for a week.
 
Hi, try not to stress too much about your holiday and have fun, but is there any way he could see a vet today? Or even have the pet sitter maybe take him and tell you what they say?

The fact he is acting normal is good, very ill guinea pigs will be lethargic etc. And you'd know something isn't quite right. The weight drop could be a mere fluctuation due to the heat, buy I agree it's better to check it out with his age.

In order to put more wait on, I'd feed oats as opposed to fruit and carrots - too much fruit can cause diarreah and sores around the lips.
 
Sappyshelly said:
Hello everyone!
Clifford lost 45 grams in the past two weeks and 18 in the past 2 days. This could not come at a worse time as I’m going on vacation on Saturday. We are booking a appointment for after the vacation, but now I’m gonna be worried about my boy instead of enjoying the sun. Clifford is an old boy, and is around 5 years old. He’s been eating normally, active, and wants food every time I go in the room. He’s just been drinking a lot of water recently. It had been hot and a bit humid here and there the past few weeks, but we have an air conditioner in the room for when the house gets hot. I trust my pet sitter and will tell her to give cliff and bit more fruit and carrot to increase his weight. Was not too long ago when he had an infection that was treated. I just hope my boy will be ok when I’m gone for a week.
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Hi!

Would it be possible to see a vet before you are off, so if Clifford needs any medication, he will have it?

Please do not feed more fruit and veg as that can cause digestive problems. Over 80% of the food intake is hay which is needed to keep the fermentation process in the gut stable, so supplement feeding with recovery formula and/or mushed up pellets is doing that job much better to slow down any weight loss without creating more potential problems. If Clifford is still eating by himself, offering the syringe feed on a spoon or in a bowl should be sufficient. If he doesn't like the taste of recovery formula, then mix it with more familiar soaked pellets.
Porridge oats are also an other safe support food you can offer.

Here are our tips on how you can organise your holiday absence, including things you should have in place with any frailer piggies: Tips For Organising Your Holiday Absence

Suddenly increased drinking in older piggies is often connected to problems with the kidneys or other internal organs, I am afraid.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Would it be possible to see a vet before you are off, so if Clifford needs any medication, he will have it?

Please do not feed more fruit and veg as that can cause digestive problems. Over 80% of the food intake is hay which is needed to keep the fermentation process in the gut stable, so supplement feeding with recovery formula and/or mushed up pellets is doing that job much better to slow down any weight loss without creating more potential problems. If Clifford is still eating by himself, offering the syringe feed on a spoon or in a bowl should be sufficient. If he doesn't like the taste of recovery formula, then mix it with more familiar soaked pellets.
Porridge oats are also an other safe support food you can offer.

Here are our tips on how you can organise your holiday absence, including things you should have in place with any frailer piggies: Tips For Organising Your Holiday Absence

Suddenly increased drinking in older piggies is often connected to problems with the kidneys or other internal organs, I am afraid.
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I doubt it. My trusted vet is always booked with appointments. They do have emergency hours but this is not an emergency. It is possible he was drinking a lot because of the heat, because we did have a heat wave not too long ago.
 
Betsy said:
Hope Clifford is OK. Try oats, grated sweet potato with a bit of grated apple for putting weight on. It's very tasty if you are a piggy.😋
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Haha, Clifford hates sweet potato but will try some oats. Thanks for the tip.
 
Jesse's pigs said:
Hi, try not to stress too much about your holiday and have fun, but is there any way he could see a vet today? Or even have the pet sitter maybe take him and tell you what they say?

The fact he is acting normal is good, very ill guinea pigs will be lethargic etc. And you'd know something isn't quite right. The weight drop could be a mere fluctuation due to the heat, buy I agree it's better to check it out with his age.

In order to put more wait on, I'd feed oats as opposed to fruit and carrots - too much fruit can cause diarreah and sores around the lips.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t be able to take him in today as my vet is always fully booked. My vet is a good hour drive away, and I wouldn’t put that on my pet sitter as she’s not very knowledgeable on piggies (she just follows a list of instructions) and she also takes care of our dogs. Will definitely try some oats for Clifford.
 
Timing worse you say.
Hope Clifford is only having a blip but really if he's eating and the weight is fallin then really a vet visit will be needed.
If you can asap.. .
I'm not wanting to be negative but hope you and Clifford have a great vacation time.
 
Betsy said:
Hope Clifford is OK. Try oats, grated sweet potato with a bit of grated apple for putting weight on. It's very tasty if you are a piggy.😋
Click to expand...
Just tried some oats and he hated it. He ate a few, then spit the rest out and ran straight for the pellets.
 
David Piggie Lover said:
Timing worse you say.
Hope Clifford is only having a blip but really if he's eating and the weight is fallin then really a vet visit will be needed.
If you can asap.. .
I'm not wanting to be negative but hope you and Clifford have a great vacation time.
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We will try to get him there as soon as we get back. It’s a little hectic today, and our vet is booked.
 
Sappyshelly said:
Just tried some oats and he hated it. He ate a few, then spit the rest out and ran straight for the pellets.
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All you can do is give them a try - it is down to the piggies whether they like them or not. ;)
 
Switching from fleece to bedding for when I go tomorrow so the sitter doesn’t have to spot clean. The bedding is 99% dust free. Man bedding is expensive. Glad I made the switch to fleece as the cage takes a whole bag of bedding.
 
Sappyshelly said:
Switching from fleece to bedding for when I go tomorrow so the sitter doesn’t have to spot clean. The bedding is 99% dust free. Man bedding is expensive. Glad I made the switch to fleece as the cage takes a whole bag of bedding.
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Yes the fleece is easier, we were using woodshavings with a litter scoop in the first week we got guinea pigs..lots of waste..at least you can see the poo on the fleece!

it is terrible timing with the weight loss..would your pet sitter be able to weigh your wee man, and then have the details to book him into the vet if needs be while you are away? I know you said she isn't very confident piggy wise, but if you could guide her about roughly the weight you are expecting it may help? An hour drive is a long drive, but worth it if urgent..and you could leave some extra petrol money for your petsitter and get the vet to invoice you on return..(I know it is not the same circumstances, but we managed to travel pretty well, by foot, bus and train 2 hour trip and 2 hour back on buses and trains to adopt some piggies, not ideal but doable..was quite warm for us here last week..for Scotland anyway..we took some cucumber off of the veggie allowance and had a thermos of cold water some, frozen water bottles, and etc...yes and the train was a fancy new one, we were too cold with us in our shorts and T shirts, the air con worked too well..:lol:)

I hope you manage to find a solution that works Sappyshelly x
 
Leafy Lou said:
Yes the fleece is easier, we were using woodshavings with a litter scoop in the first week we got guinea pigs..lots of waste..at least you can see the poo on the fleece!

it is terrible timing with the weight loss..would your pet sitter be able to weigh your wee man, and then have the details to book him into the vet if needs be while you are away? I know you said she isn't very confident piggy wise, but if you could guide her about roughly the weight you are expecting it may help? An hour drive is a long drive, but worth it if urgent..and you could leave some extra petrol money for your petsitter and get the vet to invoice you on return..(I know it is not the same circumstances, but we managed to travel pretty well, by foot, bus and train 2 hour trip and 2 hour back on buses and trains to adopt some piggies, not ideal but doable..was quite warm for us here last week..for Scotland anyway..we took some cucumber off of the veggie allowance and had a thermos of cold water some, frozen water bottles, and etc...yes and the train was a fancy new one, we were too cold with us in our shorts and T shirts, the air con worked too well..:lol:)

I hope you manage to find a solution that works Sappyshelly x
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I’m not sure as I’m scared she will drop him. Clifford is hard to get and knows he spots where we can’t pick him up in be cage. He’s not the biggest fan of handling. Also when you try to put him down he runs in place which scares me every time I put him back in.
 
Sappyshelly said:
I’m not sure as I’m scared she will drop him. Clifford is hard to get and knows he spots where we can’t pick him up in be cage. He’s not the biggest fan of handling. Also when you try to put him down he runs in place which scares me every time I put him back in.
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That's difficult..but if it would be an urgent thing she may find the confidence to handle him and get him into his carrier? I can understand though with a skittish pig myself, we herd her into the snuggly house to get her up and seen to! But she is still only a baby at circa 6 months..

That's good he has gained..I take it you have been doing a daily weigh in, that must be a relief.
 
Leafy Lou said:
That's difficult..but if it would be an urgent thing she may find the confidence to handle him and get him into his carrier? I can understand though with a skittish pig myself, we herd her into the snuggly house to get her up and seen to! But she is still only a baby at circa 6 months..

That's good he has gained..I take it you have been doing a daily weigh in, that must be a relief.
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It is quite the relief! If something were to happen on the vacation I would be able to call her and give her instructions, but knock on wood nothing will happen.
 
Hehe, that's why if we go on holiday next year (Not enough money comfortably this year, what with moving and my eldest daughter 17 deciding on getting the guineas)..I have introduced my dad to the guineas, he usually looks after our budgie, and knows about getting emergency vets, feeding and the travel cage.. he enjoys just cutting loose in our house now..a bit of enjoyment he is recently retired and not old...he is a cat whisperer and loves birdies and small animals, although he was astonished to find the body language and sounds of the guinea pigs so complex..he thinks they are like little cat type creatures, or on the same spectrum as ferrets (He is a yorkshire man).

I am lucky I would trust him very much to have them out for feeding time while he poo picked etc. And at the same time pop them off to the vets and wrangle them into a carrier..but on the other hand he is not experienced with wriggly pigs so I have the option of putting them in for a holiday board with the 2 hour journey as I mentioned earlier..it is all about peace of mind..Thinks might seem ok but can go wrong quite quickly, so we all have to bear that in mind...for the future..(Sorry don't want to worry you unduly..just my current train of thought)
 
Just an update.
Clifford is going to the vet tornorrow. He lost more weight but is still acting fine so we should see what happens.

Here’s something I wanna say to get off my chest.
Animals are very stressful. We spent so much money on one of our dogs with wobblers syndrome (who is doing good now) and now Clifford is having issues. They really do pretty much eat your money away. Hopefully it’s skmething minor so we don’t need many follow up appointments but I don’t have very good luck :(
 
Alrighty
Went to the vet today and the vet assumed it was the same thing Clifford had a month ago (which was a infection) so he gave him the same antibiotics. He said if he continues losing weight he’ll have a go at dental work and see all the stuff in the back.
 
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