Vets Advice- Is this right? Please help.

[Skelly]

Hi All,

I found Oliver with bloat late last night so stayed up all night,into the early hours keeping him warm and massaging his tummy until the vets opened.
Once they did I made an appointment and took him in, the vet confirmed he had gut stasis and so gave him two injections to help this along.
Whilst there he did a wee which the vet took a dip stick test of, it showed high levels of glucose, so she suggested keeping him in so she could perform more tests to diagnose him, she was not worried about the bloat.
I left him over the day and they cam eot the conclusion that he had a possible UTI, so i have bee prescribed baytril and emeprid. IS emeprid ok for pigs?

When I arrived at the vets to collect Oliver I was told that he was overweight (1.26 KG) and was told to reduce his feed intake, that I shouldnt feed sweet peppers or babycorn because they were high in sugar, and that I should nly feed him once a week on pelets and fresh food, due to this causing him to be overweight. (He is not fat, just big by the way)

This is all conflicting with what i usually do for Oliver, I was also told that due to Oliver being neutered he should be less 'interested' with the girls and therefore shouldnt be humping them?

I'm so confused at the moment as what I have researched and what I have been told by the vet/vet nurse all conflicts.

Any opinions would be much appreciated,
Thanks,
Jess.

P.S. Oliver's bloat seems to have gone!

 

[GPTV]

Sorry i dont really know but surely the bloat would make him heavier? excess water/ water retention would make him approx 1g heavier for every extra 1ml of water wouldnt it? I'm sure one of the experts on here will be able to help

I gave my piggy extra dandelion & celery as a diuretic (makes them wee more) to help reduce the bloat. From what i have read the massaging works really well too. my girl at the moment is what you would call 'solid' and she weighs in at 1.02 kg. wouldn't call her overweight though!hope that helps! hugs to hugs to oliver though.. Hope he's on the mend soon. ...

Oh oops just noticed the bottom bit about bloat gone! xx

 

[Amanda1801]

Are you sure she said glucose? This would indicate diabetes. An infection would be white cells/white blood cells/leukocytes (possible you may have misheard this as glucose? I'd phone the vets and check)

Emiprid is fine, it's metoclopromide, a foregut stimulant to help the gut stasis.

Is he pooing?

If you have questions, you can call your surgery and ask if the vet can call you.

 

[katiepops]

I wouldn't be worried about him being over weight. 1.2kg is certainly within the normal range for a boar. As long as he can move around comfortably and his belly doesn't drag along the ground I wouldn't class that as overweight.

 

[Kenzo]

My boy Charlie is usually around 1.5kg (a little less now because of illness) and I have never been told he's overweight when we go to the vets. She always says he's a normal weight.

 

[piggyme234]

Nico is 1.27 kg and he is not overweight he is almost pure muscle, short and stocky, like a staffy. Being neutered doesn't stop Nico being interested in the girls. Do see a different vet about possible diabetes though if his glucose is high.

 

[sport_billy]

As Amanda has said Emeprid is perfectly safe, it's also known as metoclopromide and is a gut stimulant so will keep his tummy moving now he has recovered form his bloaty episode.

As for his weight I wouldn't say 1.2kg piggie is over weight especially if he has a big frame.. One of our girls is extremely active and she weighs 1.25kg she has quite a large frame and our vet doesn't think she is overweight. As long as he is active then I wouldn't worry, I certainly wouldn't cut down his veg to once a week.
However as he has just got over bloat I would introduce veg back into his diet carefully avoiding things such as Cabbage, Kale, Brocoli (the gassier foods) Treacle suffers from bloaty episodes from time to time so we are wary of too much gassy food in her diet.

Hope Oliver feels better soon

 

[Tavaher]

My exotics vet says that glucose in the urine can be normal when a piggy is stressed, so I wouldn't worry if Oliver had glucose in a wee he did when he'd been taken to the vet's. Especially if the vet was rude enough to call him fat!

 

[neuroticmum]

Patches is 1.35kg and although the vet commented that he's chunky, she certainly didnt say he was overweight!

 

[Beautifulmess]

I never 100% trust vets opinions tbh. I've had so many vets and every one differs, I prefer a vet that will work with you, not demand they are the only person in the world who can help. Like my current vets do not question my rodentologists opinions, I had one vet scream at me for listening to him, yet this vet charged me over odds for basically nothing... :/
I've never had a pig suffer from bloat but my pigs are over 1000gs and have never been called over weight, just 'Wow this is a big pig' lol.

If you're not comfortable with how they're dealing with you, ask if theres another vet you can see who has experience with guinea pigs. I have 2 I can see at my vets. Mind you my vets is a hospital not just a vets. I'm also not over charged, last vet visit for 2 pigs and medicine cost £24

 

[Sue and Smartie]

I'd have said his weight is about average too. Only one of the pigs I've had over the years has been below that, one of mine weighed 1.6kg in his prime.

I wasn't quite sure whether you meant the vet said only to feed your pig once a week - or was that just for veg? Only I'd have thought that idea was quite dangerous tbh.