Thanks for this he is trying to show me up now I put him in the play pen to see what is coming out and he did three poos in 10 mins and he has eaten a little lettuce and a few nibbles of carrot (not even a whole small piece though just nibbled the edge!
Three in ten minutes isn't so bad!
Though clearly he's not quite his normal self with intake or... Output.
Will watch him for a couple of hours and then see how he goes. I will try to get him moving as very cramped in a split nero 4. Will perhaps leave him in the playpen overnight as he cannot get out as it is a meter high and count the poos in the morning. As you said I think he must be eating them as to only have about 12 after that period of time and then do three at once does not add up.
So long as he's going to be warm enough the extra space can't hurt, and like you say, you can have a far better idea what's going on.
The vet did not tell me to give probotics but he never said not to give him any either just didn't mention it at all.
*Sigh*
That's better than one vet I know of (who my mother was using for a while, think it's the same one as said piggies can eat fine with the other side of their mouths when she took one in with a tooth spur...), that vet said to give a one week course of the probitoic *after* finishing the course of antibiotics.
So many vets aren't overly aware of guinea pig sensitivities to medication and the nature of such a delicate herbivore digestive system. I must admit my OK vet (opinion is slowly dropping there...) doesn't mention probiotic, but then he knows full well I use it so maybe he doesn't feel the need to remind me.
It is baytrill he is on! Will weigh him again in morning and again tomorrow night to see what is going on. I am going to give him a mix of pellets as I have three types at minute and he normally has a mix of two and will weigh it and see if he eats any if not I will have to syringe him some and will keep you posted.
I think so long as you're seeing poo then he's not at critical level yet, but of course that doesn't mean you can ignore what's going on!
With 6 hours between food in and poo out in a healthy pig, you know he's had at least something this evening. If there's no poo for anything over 12 hours it's time to stop worrying and start panicking!
What are his poos like? Firm and a good size, a bit soft, small, etc? Gives a slightly better clue as to what's what.
Will get some probotics tomorrow. Where do I get them and what exactly are they? (sorry for my stupidity but never come across them before!).
Probiotics are basically things like Yakult, but you want a piggie friendly version. From memory I think the good bacteria in typical probiotics isn't actually one of the common helpful gut ones, but it for some reason works in symbiosis (partnership) with the good ones in the intestines and creates a more comfortable environment for the good bacteria. I could be wrong on that, the bacteria in probiotics might be the good ones, not sure. Either way, they're a "Good Thing" when giving an antibiotic. If you think of what Baytril does (it inhibits/ kills quite a wide variety of bacteria - Good in infections, bad in intestines), putting some helpful bacteria back into the system is nigh on vital. Most probiotics will also have some element of vitamins in them, which is also a good thing when a piggie is unwell.
For piggies, the biggest seem to be Bio Lapis (I've only ever seen in sachets, available from vets without prescription) and Avipro (comes in tubs, again easiest bought from vets, no prescription needed). There's also Fibreplex, which is extremely good, but I find it a bit of a faff to syringe as it's a paste rather than a powder that is mixed with water. I'd suggest using cooled boiled water, or filtered water, or even just water that's been stood for a few hours, for the probiotic if going with one that needs giving in water, to try and minimise any chlorine that might reduce the effectiveness of the mixture.
As an overnight measure you could try and get him to eat a poo from a healthy piggie who isn't on meds - The poo will have a level of good bacteria naturally found in the digestive system (hence be a probiotic in effect) as well as fibre and some other nutrients that can't hurt. If he's not big on eating other pigs poo (and who could blame him) then you could break it down into a syringe with some water and give it him that way. So long as you're careful with the syringe it can't hurt, and might even help
I think so long as he keeps eating, and it keeps coming out the other end, this should be straightforward to recover from. Thankfully as the Baytil course is over tomorrow he'll have a greater chance of getting his system back on track, hopefully without too much intervention. The only thing I can't stress enough is to make sure he eats a lot of hay. He needs to keep his guts moving, and hay, being long chain fibres (as opposed to short/ broken chain in powdered food and certainly some pellets I've seen), keeps the guts working. He also needs to be tucking into other foods, so keeping an eye on poo and weights comes in there.
Fingers crossed he's stuffing his face and sat on a poo mountain
he is back to eating nuggets and some hay and not finishing his veg but think it is just a phase as he is now bright and has started to wheek for veg and run around a lot more