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Truffle Still Not Eating Or Pooping

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brillmini

Junior Guinea Pig
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Poor girl still not eating anything or pooping had a full days meds yesterday and I thought maybe she might have been a bit better but no. Hubby is considering taking her to another vet. Just thought she might have picked up a bit by now x
 
Hi!

Please start syringe feeding and watering asap in order to prevent the guts from closing down (gut stasis). Here is our step-by-step guide. https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-syringe-feeding-guide.115359/

Contact your vet asap. Not pooing rather reflects yesterday's or even the intake the day before than today's food intake. if you see your vet, please ask him for gut stimulant.

It would help us very much if you please stated; as things stand, we cannot help you any further than the advice I have given you above:
- what she is being treated for
- what her medications are (ideally with dosage and strength)
- when did she stop eating and drinking?
 
The vet saw her Sunday and said her bladder was inflamed. She's on 0.4ml of metacam once a day, 0.6ml of emeprid 3 times a day and 0.45ml of baytril twice a day. I've been syringe feeding her since Sunday. She's had a tiny bit of food just lettuce or mouthful of grass.
 
:( Poor little Truffle. Sending lots of healing wheeks and vibes! I hope your vet can sort out the problem.
 
brillmini said:
The vet saw her Sunday and said her bladder was inflamed. She's on 0.4ml of metacam once a day, 0.6ml of emeprid 3 times a day and 0.45ml of baytril twice a day. I've been syringe feeding her since Sunday. She's had a tiny bit of food just lettuce or mouthful of grass.
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Thanks! Did the vet do an x-ray to check for a bladder or urethral stone? And did the loss of appetite happen before or after you started the baytril. Baytril has an appetite dampening effect. I would strongly recommend to split the metacam dose and give it twice daily, as piggies have a very fast metabolism; is it cat or dog metacam? It is good that your vet has already included a gut stimulant (emeprid).

There are several issues with similar issues lumped under bladder issues. If you are dealing with cystitis, an inflammation of the bladder walls (as opposed to a bacterial urine infection), this is often caused by a build-up of sludge in the bladder or by stones, and it often doesn't react much to antibiotics. If you are dealing with a chronic bladder wall inflammation that flares up from time to time, you are speaking of an interstitial cystitis; this is something that often can only be managed, but not healed until it disappears on its own after a few years. I would also recommend to have the womb checked; it can also present with similar symptoms.

How much do you syringe feed? A healthy piggies needs about 120 ml in liquid or solid food per day to keep the weight up; during an acute crisis when a piggy is not eating at all, you should try for at least 40-60ml food intake in a day. Just a mouthful of grass is not enough, as up to 80% of the food intake is actually unlimited hay.

Please see a vet again, if the appetite is still off and there are no poos even with increased syringe feeding and syringing extra water (important especially with a bladder problem, as you want to keep the bladder flushed). Some people say that fresh grass can make a cystitis worse; I cannot yet comment on this. Please carefully read our syringe feeding guide, so you can judge whether you are feeding enough food - in which case not getting any poos is rather alarming!
 
Thanks so much for your help. I swapped vets tonight her bladder is not inflammed like it was but she has some gas in her belly I have read in here that an electric toothbrush can help? She hasn't had an xray as yet. The loss of appetite happened before the baytril. The metacam is the dog one. The vet has advised I feed her the 2ml mark on the recovery syringe every 2hrs which I am going to do through the night and all tomorrow as I'm off work tomorrow. Should I give her some liquid at the same time I do get feed or would this be too much to cope with? Also does it hurt giving 2sorts if the meds at same time ie the baytril with the emeprid? Sorry for the long post x
 
brillmini said:
Thanks so much for your help. I swapped vets tonight her bladder is not inflammed like it was but she has some gas in her belly I have read in here that an electric toothbrush can help? She hasn't had an xray as yet. The loss of appetite happened before the baytril. The metacam is the dog one. The vet has advised I feed her the 2ml mark on the recovery syringe every 2hrs which I am going to do through the night and all tomorrow as I'm off work tomorrow. Should I give her some liquid at the same time I do get feed or would this be too much to cope with? Also does it hurt giving 2sorts if the meds at same time ie the baytril with the emeprid? Sorry for the long post x
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Please feed her as much as she will take every two hours; 2 ml is VERY minimum to just about keep her alive. Many vets are not aware just how much guinea pigs need to eat. Offer her water while you are feeding, as much as she will take. Take your time and make sure that she swallows before you give her the next portion. You can find all the necessary information and tips in our syringe feeding guide.

Has he given you anything to help disperse the gas? Anything vibrating can help towards moving the gas.

With the additional gassing issue is more likely that something painful is pressing on the guts to cause both the loss of appetite, the ongoing weight loss and the gassing issues. I doubt that you will be able to get to the bottom of it without an x-ray or scan.
 
I'll try 4ml every 2 hrs. Haven't been given anything for the gas. I just remembered I've got a neck massager which is like a vibrating cushion so I've sat her on that and she's either happy or very scared as she hasn't moved!
 
brillmini said:
I'll try 4ml every 2 hrs. Haven't been given anything for the gas. I just remembered I've got a neck massager which is like a vibrating cushion so I've sat her on that and she's either happy or very scared as she hasn't moved!
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That is a good idea and much better than the electric toothbrush. Just try to see how much she will take in one go. She will tell you when she's had enough. it can be a bit of a fight getting food into a seriously ill piggy.
 
She's terrible for keep moving her head I do sometimes have to laugh! She did come out from under her fleece a while ago had a small drink from the water dish put her head in the pellets, she went to the hay rack and tray and her water bottle but didn't eat or drink it's like she wanted to but kept hesitating. I hope feeding her every 2hrs for 24hrs will help as I'm at work again thurs but off Fri. The recliner is ready I'm a light sleeper anyway! x
 
Well I managed to feed truffle nearly 5ml at 1130pm, 1.30am, & 4.30am. Even though she hates it I'll continue to do the same throughout today. She's still not eating or pooping as yet, does it take a while?
 
I am sure Wiebke will add more later but in the meantime well done for getting up in the night for feeding - you must be shattered today.
One of my boys was in a similar state to what you are describing in May and it was stressful but he did pull through - you have to be completely focused on the regular syringe feeding though - as you are doing. I know it is hard but if you can get up to 10ml a sitting that would be good.

Yes it takes ages for the smaller amounts of food truffle is taking to appear as poo - and a watched guinea pig always takes flipping ages to poo.
Other thoughts are would your vet be willing to up the metacam dose? - they may not be as it is going outside the typical dose but my vet will for a crisis (with risk caveats). Truffle will only really eat more herself when in less pain.

Also worth asking about Zantac or similar? again my vet uses this alongside emeprid for gut stasis symptoms - I think they work on different bits of the gut but don't quote me on that. Good luck for Truffle.
 
Thank you yes I'm glad I'm not at work today. I have to go tomorrow though which means I'll have to leave at 6.30 and won't be home until 4pm so I'm really worried as truffle won't be able to be syringe fed through the day. I know it's for her good but I feel so guilty having to pick her up when she's sleeping breaks my heart. Thanks for advice on poops I think I was expecting to see them quicker. The vet said last night that she was happy with what she was on meds wise although I have took wiekbe advice and am halving the dose of metacam and giving it to her twice a day xx
 
Is there anyone who could help with syringe feeding on your work day? Also the vets should be able to offer care over the day and the nurses would syringe feed - just an option?
 
Unfortunately not and the vet charges £100 per day to keep her there which I really can't afford after already paying £186 in vets bills. I keep watching her like a hawk at the mo willing her to eat a little hay but maybe it's early days.
 
brillmini said:
Unfortunately not and the vet charges £100 per day to keep her there which I really can't afford after already paying £186 in vets bills. I keep watching her like a hawk at the mo willing her to eat a little hay but maybe it's early days.
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Oh heck. You could advertise on here for someone in Suffolk to syringe feed? I know it is a long shot but stranger things have happened on this forum....If I was nearer I would be offering syringe feed help!
 
Thank you x I just hope tomorrow doesn't undo today's work x I still keep trying to tempt her with everything possible to eat!
 
Well I syringe fed truffle all yesterday and through the night again and she did seem brighter even had a piece of lettuce at 3am this morning. She had some grass this morning which she enjoyed and there was a few very small poops in the cage. She's not eating properly as yet so I'll carry on with the feeding 10ml every 3hrs. Hopefully she'll be ok until I get home at 4pm.
 
brillmini said:
Well I syringe fed truffle all yesterday and through the night again and she did seem brighter even had a piece of lettuce at 3am this morning. She had some grass this morning which she enjoyed and there was a few very small poops in the cage. She's not eating properly as yet so I'll carry on with the feeding 10ml every 3hrs. Hopefully she'll be ok until I get home at 4pm.
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It is a very encouraging sign that there are now poos (necessarily few and small ones after not eating much in the last few days) and that she is showing some first signs of appetite. continue with syringe feeds until she is maintaining her weight by eating fully on her own. If you continue to syringe feed regularly as much as she will take in one go, you can hopefully slowly up the overall amount, but at greater intervals. For the recovery phase you are looking at an overall daily food intake of 60-90 ml; this is the phase when the poos are slowly normalising again. This phase is likely to take several days, but you can hopefully reduce the nightly feeds and get more sleep; especially on those days you are at home and are able to feed more throughout the day.
Please re-read the chapter about recovery in our syringe feeding guide. ;)
 
Thank you your help has been brilliant! The vet said to keep her on the meds for 5days which means these will finish tomorrow do you think 5 days is enough?
 
brillmini said:
Thank you your help has been brilliant! The vet said to keep her on the meds for 5days which means these will finish tomorrow do you think 5 days is enough?
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Please contact them and ask for more. She is only just starting to recover, but she is in now way stable yet.
 
I've still got plenty left so I'll carry it on over the weekend and see how she goes. I weighed her when I got home and tues night she was 950g which is small for her but tonight she was 1kg 75g so at least she's gained some weight. Not eating much still at mo well some brown paper bag and bark off her wooden house lol.
 
Clever girl Truffle - brown paper etc is good for stabilising the guts with fibre so it is a good sign - maybe offer some kitchen paper inner tube or similar too? Hope she keeps mending for you.

PS in similar situation we had to keep the syringe feeding going for quite a while to top up the food intake levels - just to warn you!
 
Thank you we've got some toilet roll inner tubes cut open with hay in. She's seems quite sleepy but hopefully that's just all the meds she's on x
 
Is there an easy way of getting the food into the small syringe I struggle everytime it seems very thick and won't suck up
 
brillmini said:
I've still got plenty left so I'll carry it on over the weekend and see how she goes. I weighed her when I got home and tues night she was 950g which is small for her but tonight she was 1kg 75g so at least she's gained some weight. Not eating much still at mo well some brown paper bag and bark off her wooden house lol.
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Guinea pig often prefer nutritionally poor and very rough fibre when they are trying to rebalance their guts after an illness or operation. it is actually a positive sign.

if she has got a healthy companion, you could offer her poo soup, which you make by syringing water in which you have soaked some fresh, healthy poos; these contain all the right stuff and - though gross for us - piggies usually love it, as it mimics what they would do.
 
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