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Urgent Help Needed - Overdosed

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Guinea Slave

Guinea Slave

Adult Guinea Pig
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Help I am desperately worried! My little girl is on .33 ml metacam once a day (dog I presume) as she is losing weight and we do not know why,so we are trying a little pain relief to see if this helps. I have a stinking (cold not an excuse but clearly not thinking straight) and just gave her 1.3ml rather than .33! an overdose of 1ml! I cannot believe it :-( I spoke to the emergency vet and there is nothing I can do other than make sure she has a full stomach. She said probiotics and fibreplex may help get it through her system but thats all I can do.

Anyone else done anything this stupid!? I am beside myself. Any ideas on what I can do please let me know. I hope I hav'nt killed her.
 
I am sorry that this has happened but please do not blame yourself, these things happen.

How is she in herself? Is she acting normally or does she seem dosed out?

All you can do is keep and eye on her, keep her warm and make sure she is eating and drinking. Fibreplex is a probiotic and I assume it will help to settle her tummy but I am afraid I can not advise further.

Keeping everything crossed that it comes out of her system quickly and she will be ok x
 
Thanks Claire. She seems fine, but I only did it about 15 mins ago. She's eating and had fibre plex and large pile of grass. I have read up and it seems guinea pigs can tolerate higher doses (not recommended). Vet said to look for gastric distress over next 2 days. So worried about her, she's lost 70g in 3 days and no idea why. This won't help her :-(
 
Guinea Slave said:
Help I am desperately worried! My little girl is on .33 ml metacam once a day (dog I presume) as she is losing weight and we do not know why,so we are trying a little pain relief to see if this helps. I have a stinking (cold not an excuse but clearly not thinking straight) and just gave her 1.3ml rather than .33! an overdose of 1ml! I cannot believe it :-( I spoke to the emergency vet and there is nothing I can do other than make sure she has a full stomach. She said probiotics and fibreplex may help get it through her system but thats all I can do.

Anyone else done anything this stupid!? I am beside myself. Any ideas on what I can do please let me know. I hope I hav'nt killed her.
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Oh you poor person. You are in a position none of would want to be in. I'm afraid you can't turn the clock back so don't continue to punish yourself. You know in your own mind that you did what was best when you realised you had made this mistake and I am sure you are following the vet's advice.
 
Don't panic, these things happen. You're right they can tolerate higher doses and there was a pig on here the other day who was prescribed over 1ml of dog metacam. Like your vet says just keep a close eye, watch out for any laboured breathing or signs of pain and that she is pooing ok and doesn't seem bloated.

Just curious, what size of syringe was it? a 1ml or 2ml.
 
Ah thank you both. Trouble is she's not well and I am not sure whether it's her illness or the overdose now! She is at the vets again on Wednesday but I am going to try and get her there sooner. It was a 1 ml syringe. In all my years with guineas (10 years) I have never made such a mistake. Feels like a bad dream :-(
 
Yep don't feel bad. If you are worried though then get her to the vets tomorrow, or sooner if needed.
 
Don't worry - just keep getting the food in. A one off large dose is unlikely to cause a problem.
 
Thank you. She is eating at the moment, she seems to want hay more than anything. I may give her some critical care before bed to make sure she has a full belly before bed. Thanks Amanda, let's hope so! Just wish I knew what was wrong with her otherwise. :(
 
Guinea Slave said:
Thank you. She is eating at the moment, she seems to want hay more than anything. I may give her some critical care before bed to make sure she has a full belly before bed. Thanks Amanda, let's hope so! Just wish I knew what was wrong with her otherwise. :(
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we had someone at work do a similar thing with a rabbit. Was all fine.
 
Fingers firmly crossed but there should be hopefully no lasting damage. I have accidentally overdosed once (not quite as much) and it didn't have any impact.
 
I agree shouldn't do no harm long term if it was a one off. My vet told me they break it down easily due to what its made from and can have a fairly high amount without worry. Follow what your vet said and keep an eye on her :)
 
Hope it goes okay, as others have said it is a one off and they metabolise things very quickly too. Things like this can happen. Big hugs
 
Thank you everyone, you guys make it so much better and I have stopped panicking now. She 'seems' ok. Definitely not well but that's something else not the overdose. She is eating, pooping etc all ok so far. Still everything crossed as next 48 hrs will tell but so far so good on that score. Just need to find out what is causing her illness. She's lost so much weight in a few days bless her :-(

Thank you all x
 
Fingers firmly crossed! I know what a worrying time it is when you are up against something serious, but don't know what exactly!
 
I am really sorry .....but I am sure all of us have done similar things. I'm sure your piggie will have no ill effects from the metacam but she does sound like a poorly girl anyway ....
.
 
Interestingly, with the heavier dose of painkiller, she actually slept over on her side for a while tonight and looked comfortable which she has not done for a few days. She looked uncomfortable before. Points to a pain issue which was the point of trying the metacam in the first place. But what it is , I don't know. Poor girl. I have a feeling it'll be one of those awful mystery illnesses as nothing is obvious at the moment.
 
Guinea Slave said:
Interestingly, with the heavier dose of painkiller, she actually slept over on her side for a while tonight and looked comfortable which she has not done for a few days. She looked uncomfortable before. Points to a pain issue which was the point of trying the metacam in the first place. But what it is , I don't know. Poor girl. I have a feeling it'll be one of those awful mystery illnesses as nothing is obvious at the moment.
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Ah, mystery illnesses! Know about them all too well! CT scan for Maggie later today! It's good that you might have a lead on the problem though!
 
I am glad that she had a comfortable night and doesn't appear to have any side effects from the metacam.

I can also relate to what you are going through as mystery illnesses are awful :(

All the best and I hope that the mystery is resolved soon xx
 
Mystery illnesses... yes, we've had a few of them here! Sometimes I feel that the poor owners and vets should open a de-vet-ive agency#1!
 
sorry to hear your piggy is ill and you don't know why. the metacam dose is fine and as a one off, or even a short course at that amount, would be fine and shouldn't have caused any damage. interesting that she seemed better on it though. maybe she has high pain, or alot of inflammation somewhere? my maisie is on a dose nearly the same as what you gave at the moment and is doing fine. hope you can find out what is going on with her. x
 
Hi Guys

Thank you so much for your replies and help. I actually managed to sleep OK last night thank you to all! She seems fine this morning, has been eating hay and her food so I think she is OK with the Metacam overdose. Interesting what you say Biscandmatt....

Will have a long chat with the vet but I agree, its something pain or inflammation related for sure. She has had teeth issues in the past so I am hoping its as simple as that, but her teeth are checked regularly and were fine 3 weeks ago. Like we said, these mystery illnesses are a real pain and worry :-( She is such a character and had a very bad start to life (was a rescue and did not trust people) that I would feel awful if we lost her before her time.

Keeping everything crossed....at least she is enjoying all the extra love and attention.

Will keep you posted...
 
Well she's good so far. Interestingly she has put on 20 g in the last 24 hrs and whilst a little hunched and miserable, is definitely slightly perkier and none the worse for her overdose. Does point to pain. I have given her the correct amount tonight so we'll see if she continues to put on weight. I have kept vet appointment for Wednesday as thought I'd give her another 24 hours on meds. I need something to tell the vet!

Comforting to know I am not the only one with mysterious illness. We should start a mysterious illness thread!? I do find it incredibly stressful as there is so little you can do. It's sad but good to know we are not alone.

Will keep you posted.
 
I'm a little late in seeing this thread. I just wondered what size syringe you are using. Most of us on here would use a 1ml syringe for piggies so this large an overdose wouldn't of happened. Seems like she's no worse for wear after it. Did you give her anymore Metacam today or have you given her a break. Good to see she's putting weight on.
 
It was a 1ml syringe Stewybus, I asked yesterday.

Hope she gets on ok at the vets on Wednesday and you get some answers.
 
Hi Everyone

Well my little girl went to the vet yesterday. She gave her a thorough examination and found two things wrong. Firstly, a very hard piece of hay or splinter of wood (hard to tell) had got wedged between two of her rear teeth (sticking upwards) which must have been causing her a HUGE amount of discomfort.

Secondly, and this hopefully explains her intermittent weight loss, she has a large ovarian cyst. I am a little annoyed that the other practice did not pick up on this a few weeks ago but there you go when I had her checked over as I was worried about her. So she is on Chorulon injections and I am hoping we will see an improvement. She is already much brighter in herself and was the first to the grass this afternoon. The Chorulon will take a few days to have an impact but I am quite sure the 'splinter' will be instant!

So pleased we have hopefully solved the mystery ! I will weigh her tonight and see how she is.

Keep you posted!

x
 
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