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What Could Be Wrong? Stomach Problems, Heavy Breathing, Lethargic...

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Venus

Venus

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I wrote here a couple of weeks ago about my Kiss. She had uri and was treated with antibiotic. They completely cured her and shes been fine and energetic for a week now.

The day before yesterday, late at night I fed her a slice of cucumber and noticed about an hour later that she was slightly unwell but was eating her hay so I thought it was just a mild stomach upset.

Yesterday after I had woken up I noticed she was in poor shape, I don't think that during that night (12 hours) she had eaten OR drank anything. Her eyes were sunk and she looked dehydrated, was tired. Had lost about 80 grams of weight.

I immediately started giving her water with electrolyte-solution (from vet and ment for this purpose) and syringe feeding her with mushed pellets and oatmeal porridge. I have also given her a medication to get rid of the possible gas in her gut, vit. C, probiotics and poop from healthy piggy.

Her poops are hard, oddly shaped and mucus or slime is attached to them.

Yesterday they started having a rounder shape but were still hard and stringy mucus attached in some of them. She gained some weight, she got hydrated and her eyes weren't sunk anymore. She has not lost anymore weight and it's at stable 1.150 kg.

But, she is extremely tired.

If she tries to move, her walking is wobbly and its just not working. And suddenly she has started to breath VERY rapidly, I mean VERY rapidly, her heart is pumping fast. If I try to syringe feed her, swallowing is difficult.

We are going to see a vet but there is only one in this town and it's 6 more hours to the appointment and I'm going through in my mind what it could be.

I really need some friendly advices right now. I just do not understand what might be causing her rapid breathing and heart beat.

I think that even though the antibiotics cured her uri, they might have upset her stomach bacterial balance and when she ate cucumber and lettuce previously, it was too much fresh food for her gut. And so came the upset stomach. But this heavy breathing, I just dont understand. Could there be something in her lungs? I gues we know after the vet... :( Just thinking. I just can't understand why this had to happen, she was so full of life and happy still in the beginning of the week. Wish us luck.
 
Whereabouts in the world are you?
First signs of illness I take my pigs off veggies when I see odd poops. You are doing the right thing going to the vets and youve done everything right.
I just wanted to wish you luck.
 
Well done on getting her dehydrated. The breathing is worrying, is there any way you can move your appointment, maybe explain that it is an emergency? She may need diuretics if she has any fluid on her chest and these would need to be given as soon as possible.
 
The mucus covered poos are usually a sign of dehydration and gut stasis (guts not working). Good that you are getting food and water into her; from her weight loss, she's hardly eaten and drunk anything for a day.

I agree with helen that the breathing and lethargy are very worrying; it needs to be treated as an emergency. Diuretics may help.
 
I definitely agree with Helen & Wiebke. Time is important with a poorly piggy like Kiss. Seeing a vet as soon as possible is essential. Other things you could use to help her stomach are probiotics & Fibreplex. I really hope she pulls through & I can see that you care a lot for her.
 
We have ust returned from the vet. I called and ask if they could take as sooner and they did.

They took an x-ray that showed some gas in her stomach.
Also there was a minimal shade in the lungs.
No fluid but the vet figured that the past URI hasn't healed yet complitely. No voices or rattles in the lungs.

She also thought that her heavy breathing is caused by pain and injected Meloxicam and gave a gut mobility drug metoclopramide orally.

She is still panting and breathing heavy, it's been almost an hour since she got the painkiller, wonder why it hasnt worked.

I just gave her simethicone and water with electrolytes.

I'm not sure what to do next. It's about time to give her the pellet-oatmeal mix but is it a wice thing now that she's apparently in pain and there is gas in the stomach? Her tummy doesnt feel gassy, more like loose.

Thank you for your support, I really have no other people to talk about her who would understand my distress :/
 
Are you in the UK? My Madeline had a very similar problem last week though hers was triggered by her being a heart pig and having an electrolyte imbalance. She also sucked in air due to her heart problems and if yours has had a recent URI she may have done the same thing. I gave her regular pain relief and also gave gripe water and Dioralyte (electrolyes) every few hours. We also put her on the massage pad to help the gas move, do you have anything that vibrates like an electric toothbrush?

How are her poos?

If when she goes back to the vets there is still a shadow, ask them to check again for fluid, as this can be common with a respiratory infection and she may need diuretics.
 
No, in Finland.

It's been 18 hours she last poopt. Then she made many, but since, nothing. Well she urinated once or twice.

I fear it might be intestinal blockage. When i feel her tummy, right after the ribs, on the right side I can feel a hard, longish lump. The vet said she didnt see any blockage but she was no guinea pig specialist.

If it is an intestinal blockage, what then? She is still breathing hard.
 
If it is a blockage she would need to see tge vet again asap. Going gut stimulants if there is a blockage can be dangerous. If the vet didn't see it on the xray though, it could be gas. If you are worried though please call the vet.
 
I hope that the painkiller and the simethicone (gas breaking med) will work for her!

How much has she eaten? Have you been hand feeding her? You only get back in poos what goes in - and if she is struggling for air, she will not have an appetite. Nor will she be able to get much in one session, so just keep feeding her little but often. http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

I know how worrying bloat is; if it is a blockage, then you need to see the vets again. At the worst, you may have to let her go as the kindest thing you can do for her.

Just give the meds a chance to get working first! If you can vibrate her to help break up the gas, that will also help. Even resting one of your legs slightly on the floor so it shakes will help a little!
 
Minky had a similar problem & tried lots of things including taking her on a 40 miles ride in the car so these receive gentle vibration. What seemed to work best was lying her on her back on my knee & gently massaging her with an electric toothbrush, the type that vibrates. This worked well & she was pooing like a machine gun with up to 50 poos in a 30 minute session. I have since purchased an electric massage pad & will use that for any of mine who suffer with bloat in the future.
 
The massage pad is a godsend.

Can I just say though that if she is having trouble breathing please don't place her on her back.
 
I have massaged her stomach for a long time now. No change.

Is there an organ on the right side of guinea pigs stomach right after the ribs? Because thats where i can feel a longish lump. but maybe it's an oragan of some sort? Kidney? Ovary?

I can't understand how it could be a blockage. She had these symptoms at the vet and the x-ray didn't show any blockages. But nothing comes out, not even the air in her belly. And theres that weird lump in her side.

Here it's customary to give liquid parafin to piggies with possible intestinal blockage so I gave her 1ml of that and massaged her belly. No change.

My poor Kiss. She is such a delight.

When I got her, she was very, very shy and scared of everything. Little by little I have managed to get her to trust me an life in general and what a lovely girl she has turned out to be. Very vocal in a sweet way, I have other piggies but none are like her. She's such a beautiful little girl inside and out.

I just blame myself so badly. This all starter with an URI and it was my fault that the apartement was so cold. I didn't realise it was that cold for them. And after antibiotics I shoud never have given her any fresh food. Just hay. I just lost another guinea pig in the fall because she ate too mych dandelions after a course of antibiotics and got severe diarrohea. I can't believe I made the same mistake again! But I didnt give her that much, just a slice of cucuber, just a bite of tomato and a small vedge of lettuce. But anyway the original Uri was my fault. And now she's suffering because of me. I feel so horrible. I feel I can never forgive myself. I feel I just don'd deserve to have animals.

No vet is open anymore. I can just wait now and hold her and massage her stomach and feel horrible and guilty.
 
I really feel for you, I really hope she is going to be ok.

We have always fed our piggies veggies during a course of anti biotics and afterwards. The veg you have her didn't cause this, I'm certain of that.

Has she pooed at all? Are you still syringing her food? When one of ours had bloat a car ride cured it so that could be worth a try.

Does the painkiller appear to have kicked in yet?

Sending you all my best for you and your girl.
 
Thank you. Your support is important for me. Kiss seems to be in pain. I'm thinking of maybe giving her more meloxicam. She got 0.2ml at the vet but it isnt helping. It was about 7 hours ago. The medicines strenght is "1.5mg/ml" says on the label. I just dont want her to be in any pain. Do you think it would be safe to give her 0.1ml for excample?

(I did stop syringe feeding her. I gave her 5ml of food around 6 and I've been giving he water but since nothing comes out, I don't dare to force feed her anymore.)
 
Please don't blame yourself you sound like a very caring owner. I really hope she turns the corner soon & starts to get better. Sending lots of healing vibes & hugs in the hope that it will help. xx
 
There is scope to increase it but I would not be comfortable recommending this without you speaking to your vet. Is there no out of hours phone number you can call?

I can see why you have stopped feeding but this could make the difference in her surviving or not. If she has no food she does not have a chance. It sounds to me like she has gone into stasis though, can you hear any gut sounds?
 
You are a very caring owner and you are doing absolutey your very best and all the right things! Unfortunately, severe bloat or blockage is one of the worst things you can come up against as a piggy owner. :(

The 1.5 suspension is the equivalent of the dog metacam/meloxicam we use here, so 0.2 ml every 12 hours is all you can give. In extremis you can up it to 0.3 ml for a couple of days but not on a regular basis.

I am thinking of poor Kiss and you! Please continue to hand feed; every half syringe you can get into her can make the difference in keeping her guts going.
 
Kiss is gone.

During the night, she started to have cramps in her belly every minute and every time she would make a soud of pain. She was hurting so badly and she started to gag.

I realised she was beyond help.

I managed to find a vet from a town an hour and half away from here, we had to wake her up and we drove there with my sister to euthanise her. It was the longest drive I have ever been on. I held her and new she would soon be gone.

When we arrived to the vet, I wasn't even allowed to be with her when she was put down.

Vet had two options, she could put her to a little box that would fill up with a gas or she could inject her.

She told the gas would be painless to her whereas the injection would hurt a bit. If I chose injection, I could be there with her but if I chose the gas, she would take her to another room and for safety reasons, I couln't be with her.

I just didn't want her to be in pain anymore so I chose the gas. I talked to her for the last time and lifted her to the box and the vet took her. away.

It was less than five minutes when she broughther back to me.

I wonder did she suffer. I have never heard of stunning with gas before. Have you? Is it really painless? Do they really go to sleep complitely so thet they wont feel the leathal injection that comes afterwards?

My poor, dear girl. I felt I was closest to her from all the other piggies I have. Like I said, she was the scariest guinea pig I have ever seen when I got her. I was visiting a pet store to buy hay and I noticed a guinea pig in a same cage with a huge rabbit. She was hunched up in a corner looking absolutely miserable and I knew I wanted her out of there.

I knew she just needed time and a lot of affection to get rid of her scares. Apparentely she was traumatised of something and I took a lot of time to brave her up. I always spoke softly to her, movement near her had to be slow and quiet. She screamed heartbrakingly for two years if anyone would touch her but me. But with me, she wasnt scared.

Little by little she started to trust me but it took almost two years. And just after that her real personality came up when the scared behavior vanished.

She turned out to be the most sweetest little piggy I had ever met. She loved to give little kisses to my hand every time I would touch her, she didn't do this with anyone other than me.

And I wish I could tell you what her voice was like, it was truly a really feminine, girlish voice. It was lovely to hear her speak like that when she had been almost silent for two years.

And she started speaking so much when she got rid of her scares! She had a lot more voices than any of my other piggies! She used to "chat" to other piggies all the time and to me too. Like she had a lot to say :) The variety of her voice was huge. I will really miss her constant chatting. Now it feels so silent.

So I have four other guinea pigs too. They are all wonderful personalities but none of them seem to be especially attached to me. But Kiss had a special habit of coming to me when I was in the room. If I would go to the other side of a long room and sit on the floor ( I often did, I have a reading corner in the floor where I sit often) Kiss would almost always come running to me and just sit by my side.

Just to be there with me.

None of my other pets have ever done this. The last time she would do this was on monday and then I really thought how lucky I am to have her and how grateful I am that she got cured of her uri that could have been fatal. I just filled up with love to her. Now she is gone and I will never see her again.

I know you say I shouldnt blame myself but the original cause of all this was that I let upstairs got too cold. Our house warms up by firewood and when the temperatures in january got hugely cold here in finlad for a week, the upstais where the piggies are got way too cold for few days. I could have turned the battery on but I don't pay the electricity bill in this house (it's my fathers house where I temporarily live and get to use) so I chose not to. And because of that choise of me, Kiss is dead.

And because she was cured of her uri, I did some other mistake in her feeding and she fell ill again. When she was allready cured. Just mistakes after mistakes and all the blaim is on me.

My Kiss. She would have been only three in the next month. She should have had many happy years more. And she only got to enjoy life for a year when she got confident and her special personality showed up and was shining like a lamp.

I will miss her so badly. And I could't even be with her when she left this world. I just hope the gas wasnt horrible and that the last shot din't hurt. It is going to be a long time before I get over this.

I just can't believe Kiss is no longer here.

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I am very sorry for your loss; you have certainly done for Kiss what you could!

To reassure you; you have made the right choice re. pts! It is a much more humane method, as the piggy is just drifting away and not feeling any discomfort. The injection is not very nice, to be honest. I had to do it in earlier years when there was no alternative and found it a rather unsettling experience.
 
I'm so sorry. You 100% made the right decision though. Night night Kiss.
 
Also I can assure you the gas is completely painless and the better option. Our local vets let us be there but I know a lot don't.
 
I'm so sorry to hear that she has gone, I've been thinking of you all day.

And I am so sorry for what you are going through - we put our little girl to sleep last week and like Kiss she was so special to me. They also used gas and I assure you she wouldn't have felt any pain.

Having a pig put to sleep is such a hard thing to do but is also one of the kindest things you can do - you have taken all the pain that Kiss was feeling away but in return you are suffering yourself, which shows just how much you love her.

The pain will ease and you have so many beautiful memories of your gorgeous girl. Print off a few photos and be assured that she will always be looking over you and her little friends.

Sending you all our love.
Xx
 
I have just read this and feel so upset for you. It is clear you loved kiss with all your heart. Please do not blame yourself. You are meant to feed a guinea pig when they have antibiotics. This would not have done any harm at all. You are loving and caring. You rescued kiss from a terrible situation and gave her a happy life. She was loved and well cared for. I am so very sorry you lost your special girl. If you ever want to talk you are welcome to pm me. My thoughts are with you.
 
I seem to have trouble finding right words to respond to you. The kind things you have said have really touched my heart and have been an enormous help. I am so happy I stumbled upon to this forum. Thank you all, so much.

Now that I have calmed down a bit, I wonder if there was something else that was wrong with Kiss. Maybe the original reason why she got sick wasn't that I let the room get more cold than normally.

During her whole life she had one strange symptom. She kept sheding her fur. Her fur was always pretty and intact, no bald spots but when you'd hold her, loads of fur would get to your hand and clothes. Noticeably so. White fur absolutely everywhere. None of my other piggies have never done the same. I even took her to the vet thinking she might have parasites or some other skin disorder but nothing was found. Vet made a scrape test and examined with microscope, nothing.

Her skin looked always clear and healthy, no dandruff or anything visible why this always puzzled me.
She got on well with her friends so it coudnt have been stress. She always got plenty of vit. c also and high quality food.

So maybe the shedding of hair was a symptom of some underlying condition so she was more prone to get sick from lowering of the room temp?

The other piggies of me have been acting strangely also. Every night I wake up when someone, always a different one, is singing loud.

I have always been really close to animals and the fact that to me they are more of family members than pets, makes the sadness hit stronger. And the responsibility is so big because they are so dependant of their owner. One mistake and its over.

I try to kinder to my self. I know I gave her plenty of love and cared her well. If mistakes were made, I made them unintentionally. I just hope she wouldn't have to suffer so much in the end but no she is free of all pain.

Thank you all again.
 
I am so sorry that you lost Kiss, please don't worry about her last moments, I was present with my Girl Ruby as she went over the bridge and the gas that they give them is the same as if they are being put under for an operation, she would not have felt the injection as she would be sleeping.
(( Hugs to you)) RIP now little Kiss. God bless you. x
 
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