Uri And Pneumonia Advice

[VeRoBa_96]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this so please excuse my ignorance.

I adopted a guinea pig four months ago, he has been perfectly healthy. He got re-homed due to the fact he doesn't get on with others. I re-visited the centre to pick up some supplies and noticed a poor guinea pig who had been there for 6 months because no one wanted to adopt him! I couldn't not give him a home, I brought him back on the 20th of October. He apparently does not get on with others either even though they don't know if that's why he was given up. He seems very young, so I suspect he might have been bullied. So both of them only squeak at each other from across the room but other than that don't have much to do with one another.
The first few days were great, he was eating (he was really underweight when I got him) and even in a few days was gaining weight. But then he started to rattle and his nose was very blocked. He then stopped eating. We took him to the vets and was soon admitted to the vet hospital where he spent a few nights. He's back home now and after another trip to the vets today has been given "recovery food" as he still won't eat his pellets, only some veggies. He has to go back tomorrow for another injection to get his stomach going as he's not pooing much either. Despite living separate life's ( I know it's passed via air, so I did move him out of my room as soon as I knew but was to late) my other guinea Fred has also caught it. We got it really early with him so seems to be doing fine, he's still eating and antibiotics are keeping it at URI and not pneumonia unlike poor Patches. Although Patches pneumonia seems to be getting much better, I am still incredibly worried. He is already dangerously underweight, he can't afford to not be eating. I was wondering if anyone who has been through similar has any tips or advice? Did yours start to eat okay soon? Will this likely be an ongoing problem and come out in times of stress? I just want to give him the life he's never had, so any tips on getting him back to full health I'd be incredibly grateful. I am just hoping he pulls through

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

Unfortunately URI and pneumonia are appetite killers, as the need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. Then he needs an antibiotic, which is additionally an appetite dampener.

It is VERY important that you promptly step in with syringe feeding whenever a piggy is not eating fully; if not, the guts will start to slow down and eventually close down. Always switch to weighing daily at the same time when a piggy is ill (instead of the normal weekly weigh-in) to monitor the daily food intake. Up to 80% should be hay, which is very hard to control. The less a piggy is able to get down in one go, the more often you need to feed, if necessary around the clock during a crisis. never give more than a guinea pig can swallow and wait with the next lot until the previous one has gone down. Also make sure that a guinea pig is being offered as much water as it will take.
You can use mushed up pellets in an emergency, but there are also fibre-based recovery foods in powder/fine grind form. You can also mix mushed pellets with recover food if a piggy doesn't like the taste. I would recommend that you also mix some probiotic into the mush to help bolster the guts and restock them with good bacteria that are needed for the digestion. Extra vitamin C to boost the immune system may also be a good idea. Please do not put it in the water and rather syringe it once or twice daily.
Please take the time to carefully read our illustrated step-by-step guide. It has all the necessary information from how to prep the syringe to make up the feed, handle the piggy, to amounts/and frequencies of feeding as well as information on support products. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Hopefully, the syringe feed will do the trick in stabilising the weight, first and foremost before you can consider building him up with a good balanced hay based diet once he is back to eating normally. URI is a bit of an opportunist that hits whenever a piggy's immune system is low and it has to deal with major stress. But your good care can really make a difference and pull him through this! You sound like a very caring owner, so he is in the right hands.
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight