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Variable Interest In Food - Anything Else I Can Do Until Morning Vet Appt?

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claire2281

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I've got two 5 year old boars.

One of them, Fred, has been a bit off his food in the past couple of days. He suffers from impaction and when I cleaned him out the other days he was very gross - soft and smelly. He has had this before but it has resolved itself by reducing his veggies. He seemed to perk up a bit and was eating more enthusiastically. Now he's gone back down again.

He is eating but not as much as usual and with less enthusiasm. If you put fresh food in he is interested and will eat some but then doesn't want to know. He also seems to take a very long time to chew anything in comparison to his 'brother'. I'm think it could be an issue with his teeth, it could that he's in pain because of something or he's got an issue with his gut flora.

His poops got very small, presumably from not eating enough. They improved in the last couple of days and now they're soft, small and sometimes linked together again.

He's lost about 30g in weight since yesterday. Not a terrifying amount since his brother goes up and down by the same amount and he's a healthy 1.230kg still. He's also not behaving terribly sick in that he's still grooming and wriggling strongly when picked up. I've made an appt at the vets for 9am tomorrow and I'm 'topping him up' with pellet mash to ensure his gut keeps going.

Anything else I can do to help him stay as healthy as possible until the morning? He does have a tendency to drop the pellet mash out of his mouth - is this because I'm not putting it far enough back?

Thanks!
 
I am sorry about your worries. Good that you have booked him in!

The dropping out food could be indicative of developing a dental problem with his back teeth or a fungal in the mouth/throat area. Please make sure that your vet checks the pre-molars and not just the front teeth. Please do not let your vet just clip front teeth without addressing any issues further back.

It would be good if you started topping him up with hand feed. You may find our new guide helpful: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

It would be very helpful if you added your country, state or (for the UK) your county/city to your details, so we can tailor our advice to your options and available medication etc. to your part of the part of the globe. Click on your name on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. thanks!
 
Added that info. I'm in Ashford (Kent).

Thanks for the advice so far. I am hand feeding him with mashed pellets. I also have some Pro C which I will mix in. I have some critical care ordered from Amazon which will be here tomorrow. He is dropping some of the food I syringe in but definitely eating most. He's had about 15ml so far today but he has been eating a bit too. How much more would it be advisable to give in order to keep his strength and gut going overnight?

He doesn't seem to be in any bodily discomfort in that when I put him down he wandered happily across the floor doing that happy chirping to himself thing. It does appear that he wants to eat. He is noticeably slower at chewing than his cagemate particularly with stalky herbs like sage or hay (he's fine with bits of romaine or spinach). Similarly when I syringe stuff in he seems to be chewing for ages. His poop has been not right but of course that could be a consequence of his not eating enough.

I will definitely ensure that the vet checks his back molars, thanks. Been reading up on dental issues so I have a good idea what they should be looking for. Feeling very grateful right now that having phoned them at 6pm they can fit me in at 9am tomorrow!
 
It sounds like dental issues could be a distinct possibility.

As to hand feeding; you will have to do so slowly, but basically, feed him as much as he wants. Try to get one or two more feeding sessions in tonight if you can; that should keep him well overnight. ;)

I am tagging our dental specialist, who runs a sanctuary for guinea pigs with dental problems.
@furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary
 
Thank you so much. You are a star. This is all very helpful and put my mind at ease a bit that I'm doing the right thing.

Mum has just been feeding him very small bits of broken up romaine and I've just given him some spinach leaves. He definitely wants to eat. He ate them and showed keen interest but was slow. Just held some cucumber for him and he sniffed it and bit into it but didn't eat any. He'll basically eat small amounts in one go. Possibly a sore mouth?

His incisors look fine - they're even and seem to line up well. Obviously I can't see the molars though.

He's sitting in his basket in front of me, alert, looking around and grooming himself. I'm just feeding him bits of soft food slowly. Obviously just having veggies would be bad for him though so I'll make sure he gets some pellet mash too. He doesn't seem to want me to syringe feed him at all (which is understand if he has a sore mouth for any reason) and is a bit of a fuss when I put the syringe in his mouth but eats it once it's there. How can I tell when he's had enough?
 
Make sure that he gets plenty of fibre; it should make up to 80% of the daily intake and hay will be one thing that he is likely to struggle with. Try to grate up veg and place it in his mouth. His mouth will be sore and - you have to brace yourself for it - will stay sore for a bit even after treatment. Please make sure that you get painkiller.
 
I'm currently giving him mushy Excel nuggets so he's getting fibre through those and I should have that critical care tomorrow. I've put him back in his cage and he's shown some interest in hay. He's been tugging at and eating little bits although definitely not enough for my liking.

I will most certainly ensure he gets a painkiller.

I do know Mum likes to feed him a lot of veggies and he loves him timothy hay but I am wondering if this has caused him some dental issues :(
 
He does graze his hay well but I definitely think he has too much veg and his stomach is more delicate than his brother's.

Just been syringe feeding him more and heard some loud gurgling from his belly. He's not bloated at all (he's looking basically his normal size) and he's producing poops but I am wondering if he's got a bit of gas too. I'm massaging his belly to help relieve things a bit and will ask the vet to check for gas too.
 
It may just be just that his tummy has been a bit empty... Please don't work yourself into a lather!
 
Thank you. I know it's daft but I do adore the little guy. I've had a bad time with anxiety after a car accident and I still sometimes freak out about the unknown. I've been making myself paranoid all day about whether my normally lazy boy is lazier than usual! I will feel much better once I've got him to the vet and I've got things to help him.
 
Update - took him to the vet this morning. Again he has been eating bits and pieces but not enough. She had as good a look in his mouth as possible and said there was nothing obvious. He hasn't been drooling which she said would be the obvious sign of teeth issues but was very happy to agree that his teeth might not be bad enough for that but still bothering him. She checked his belly and found no discomfort or signs of gas. She said her first thought was to send him home with probiotics etc but since I'd already given him that she agreed it was better to check his teeth properly now rather than wait until he's very unwell. I've given my permission for them to sedate him if necessary for treatment. They have some new high tech dental xray equipment so they're going to xray first and go from there. The same surgery operated on my other pig a couple of years ago to remove a lump and the lady had successfully neutered her own 3 boars so I have as much faith in them as I can.

Crossing my fingers for the little guy. :(
 
Fingers firmly crossed! Again, it could also be a fungal complaint/thrush in the mouth/throat area. It is often detective work for a vet to find out what is going on. :(
 
Just got him back. The good news is his teeth are apparently in perfect condition and there's no sign of any infection or sores in his mouth or throat. She did a full body xray as well as said there's no sign of gas or anything that could be upsetting him like bladder stones.

Obviously that doesn't explain his lack of appetite although she was pleased with how bright he was in the patient area and she's ruled out some of the more serious causes. On the basis that his gut is obviously not right she's given me some baytril, metoclopramide and I have a probiotic. These are all to be given for 7 days, keep an eye on his weight and if there isn't signs of improvement then bring him back for more tests. The good news is he was munching some hay in his carrier when we picked him up and when I checked him over he had a soft impaction lump to remove - his impaction has always been soft so that's normal for him and seems to show that the drugs they've given him already have done something. He's a very chilled out pig so the day's adventures don't seem to have bothered him at all.

His cagemate George didn't seem at all bothered by his absence - quick sniff when he came back and ignored him!

Hoping the drugs now get things back to normal.

Just to check - how long between baytril and probiotic? 2hrs?
 
I usually say at least an hour, so 2 hours is perfect.
 
Thanks. Would you suggest 5ml twice a day or more? What amount should I aim for? I don't want to stress the poor guy out too much considering he's had quite the day but at the same time obviously want to do what will help him.
 
Doh! Another question - should there be a time between the baytril and metoclopramide? I managed to remember to ask the vet whether he'd had them already today but forgot to ask if they can be given directly one after the other!
 
I am not too sure actually as never had a pig on both at the same time. I would think it would be ok though.
 
Fred is slightly grumpy at me for syringe feeding him things but he has put on a bit of weight this morning (1250 up from 1218 yesterday morning). He's not produced much poop but he seemed to be eating a lot of his yesterday and he's only had the first dose of the gut motility drug this morning - the one he had at the vets yesterday definitely got things going! He's also eaten much more this morning. Still having to pass him stuff to eat but he was enthusiastic and tbh I think he's wary of coming out of his tunnel because I keep doing things to him, poor guy.

He's got slightly watery, crusty eyes which obviously makes me wonder about a URI but he's already on baytril so if it is that he's being treated.
 
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