• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Wooky is struggling to eat

Status
Not open for further replies.
Wooky

Wooky

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 17, 2012
Messages
37
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Bath
Hi all,

I'm sorry for not having been here for a while.

Last night my little boy started acting strangely. He was having some floor time yesterday evening and was just sitting under the table or chair etc which isn't like him at all (he's usually running everywhere, trying to eat everything).

So we brought him and his girls in for a little while (temp indoor cage) to watch their eating and drinking closely and saw he wasn't eating or drinking and was just sitting in the middle of the cage. After giving them some veggies and him not even attempting to eat it (one of his girlfriends even took it out of his mouth which he would never allow!) we took him to the emergency vet.

The vet had a feel around and weigh. He's lost a little weight (he is 1.15kg) and said he thought there was something wrong with his stomach but he wasn't 100% sure. He gave two injections and then gave us critical care, Metacam and Baytril for us to give during the weekend and then suppose to go back on Monday if things haven't improved.

He is struggling with the critical care but is getting some and occasionally has a little munch of a piece of lettuce or hay (very little) but not drinking anything. He is also very lethargic.

Sorry not really sure why I'm posting but very worried about him and the emergency vet didn't seem too sure what the problem was.

Many thanks
Hannah and Wooky x
 
Sorry to hear that Wooky is unwell. Well done on being so alert to the problem, and for taking him straight to the vet.

I'm afraid that I'm not experienced enough to offer any advice, so I just wanted to send best wishes. I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable members will come along soon with suggestions.

What I do know is that loss of appetite and just seeming a bit 'down' could be caused by all sorts of things. It must be frustrating that the vet couldn't be more helpful.

Did the vet check his teeth? One of my boars stopped eating and seemed uninterested in everything when he had teeth spurs that needed addressing.

A guinea pig in pain (for any reason) can stop eating. The Metacam will help with the pain, but obviously does not directly address the cause of it.

What are his wees/poos like? Normal size, colour etc?

Sending lots of healing vibes x
 
Poor Wooky,

I would get him back to the vets tomorrow as soon as you can. Guinea pigs are great at hiding illness, so if he has stopped wanting to eat then he must be feeling very unwell. Is pooing/weeing ok? It may be worth getting a urine sample for the vet to check out to rule out any urinary infections. Make sure your vet does more diagnostics if he/she doesnt know whats wrong with Wooky. Without getting to the bottom of the problem he might not be getting the treatment he needs. He/she may start by taking a simple xray or an ultrasound of his tummy. (without sedatives etc really).

With the critical care, try to feed about 120ml over a 24 hour period. If he isnt really eating at all you will need to ideally feed him about 20ml every 4 hours, this may mean you have to get up in the night to feed him too. If you need advice on syringe feeding feel free to ask.

Hope this helps. Sending healing vibes for him!

xx.
 
Thank you for your responses and advise.

He is weeing and pooing as normal, other than a couple of poos which seem to have a slimy coating (only two in the last 24 hours) which I have saved to take to the vet in the morning.

We have been on the critical care since about midnight (when we got back from the vets) and have given him some every three hours since then and will continue through tonight until we get to the vet. He seems to manage about 10ml each sitting so am a little worried he isn't getting enough. Any tips would be brilliant please.

He is managing a little veg and hay in between each sitting but hasn't managed any water or seeds.

The vet checked his mouth and said his gums were pale but didn't comment on the teeth. He felt his stomach and said he didn't feel bloated or anything else.

I am also worried that he is very inactive. Once eaten he just curls up to sleep, is this to be expected? He is usually an active piggy.

I will def be back to the vet first thing tomorrow and will take your advice with me to get him better.

Many thanks for your help
Hannah and Wooky
 
Sorry to here Wooky is unwell. Well done for spotting it so quickly.
When you say "seeds" what type are they?
 
They have Wagg Guinea pig crunch.
Sorry seeds wasn't a good description, brain is no longer functioning!
 
Sounds like your getting enough into him, although another 30ml a day would be better. Only tips i can give you really is to go slowly. Piggies can only take about a 0.5-1ml of the syringe food in their mouths at a time. Its very time consuming but by using a 1ml syringe you may find its easier for him to process the food and swallow it.

The pale gums dont sound great. It would usually mean he is aneamic in some way. Make sure your vet looks into this. And possibly looks at his heart, pale like gums can sometimes also be a sign of a heart problem too.

Hope all goes well tomorrow.

x
 
Last edited:
Thank you for your advice.
Keeping fingers crossed for tomorrow and the rest of the night, it's so sad seeing my lovely lively boy looking sorry for himself.

Many thanks
Hannah and Wooly
 
Thank you.

We had quite a long night of feeding we had a couple of glimmers of hope this morning as he took more interest in his hay.

We have just returned from the vets where she thinks he is looking better, she says gums look ok. She also checked his mouth and teeth and says all looks ok. She also had a feel around and thinks there may be a gut problem so has added zantac to his medication list. She says keep monitoring and take him back on Wed if still not right. I asked about diagnostics but she thinks we are on the right path at the moment.

I'm not sure I can wait till Wed so wondering if it was bad to push tomorrow if no significant improvement. He does seem a little brighter at the moment but it's still not right.

Many thanks
Hannah
 
Hi Hannah, at least his appetite is ok and he seems a bit brighter, that's something positive. Keep up the feeding! The vet didn't have any clear diagnosis then? It certainly won't hurt him to have the zantac and if I remember rightly helps the hind gut.

Don't hesitate to call them tomorrow if you're still not happy with how he's getting on.

I really hope he's 100% again soon x
 
See what you think tomorrow. Sounds like your vet is thowing the usual concoction together. If he has Zan-tac he really ort to have Meto-clopromide, ad zan-tac only increases gut movement in the fore gut, and not the hind. If hes taking your food ok and pooing though i really wouldnt worry. Try maybe with some probiotics, this may or may not be helpful, but wont hurt. I agree if hes making no improvement by wednesday he probably should go back in, but do push for more. If your vets unwilling to do much, ask for a second opinion.

x.
 
Hi sorry to hear your little piggie is not eaten. I had same sort of thing happen to my little man.He would not eat so after 3 vet appointments mallethead they found his back teeth were long.To do this they used gas as the back molar teeth can not been seen properly . I went to another vet in the end .
They cut them back and I syringe feed him for 2 months .
I understand how you must be feeling xx
I gave him carrot and parsley mixed up in blender and syringe feed him that he loved that. I also mushed a bit of banana in with critical care for breakfast for him.

I hope your little wooky will be ok.:)
 
Hi all,

Thank you for your help. Sorry for the delay in the update. After seeing the vet on Monday nothing much changed, we continued with the syringe feeding intended to go back on Tuesday if nothing noticeable changed.
On Tuesday there were a couple of glimmers of hope when he seemed a little more interested in veg but would take a bite of the veg or hay and then stop. There was also a change in his poo so I phoned the vet and she didn't think it was something to worry about urgently and thought critical care and medication may be the reason so I booked an appointment for Wed.
On Wed we had another trip to the vet where she stopped one of the medications to help and gave another injection.

During Wed although I continued to give critical care I noticed he was a little more lively and started to join the girls waiting at the bars while the veggies were being cut. He also started eating more hay. On Wed night just as I was about to give a dose of critical care (I've been slowly reducing the amount given to encourage back on food on advice of the vet) he started drinking again :):):) so I gave him a little with his medication and as soon as I put him back in the cage he went straight to the hay :) He has now also started munching back on the guinea food and veg intake is much improved :) (Only the girls seem sad about this as they are no longer eating his portion! Lol).

He seems much happier and his eating and moving are nearly there (still not 100%) so fingers crossed he is over the worse and soon he will be back running around our living room causing trouble :):)

Many thanks for the advice
Hannah and Wooky
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top