Unwell Guinea Pig! Help.

RE: Unwell Guinea Pig! Help.

PolkaDotty — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 20:00:24 GMT

Thanks for your reply

Nothing changed post dental, same food, continues same medications. I’ve syringe fed dualcare, supreme recov + and just tried him with oxbow from yesterday as I’ve had previous success with patients with it but he's just not thriving.

He‘s booked with the exotic vet but theres no appointments until Monday

Its so hard when it’s one of your own.

RE: Unwell Guinea Pig! Help.

Olivia Coulton — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 18:17:23 GMT

Hey,

I think taking him to an exotic vet is a good idea to see what is going on. Have you stopped any of the meds or changed anything since he had been eating post dental? In terms of the D+/loose stools are you using emeraid, supreme or oxbow critical care? I found emeraid can sometimes cause loose faeces so would choose either oxbow or supreme recovery diet, if he is struggling to eat you can get Burgess dual care pellets and they can be watered down to make recovery diet so you can soften the pellets with water so he can eat these instead and will boost his fibre intake. You can also put him on fibreplex to give him a fibre boost especially if he has/had gut stasis. I am sure you know this anyway just trying throw ideas out

RE: Unwell Guinea Pig! Help.

PolkaDotty — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 17:41:40 GMT

Thanks so much for your response

He's receiving pain relief daily for the last 14 days, he perked up initially but then seems to have taken a turn over the last few days. I'm thinking of trying the exotic referral to a local exotic vets to see if they can help any further as i'm at a real loss at what to do next.

Keeping everything crossed but I fear the worst

RE: Unwell Guinea Pig! Help.

therainyj — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 12:14:57 GMT

Hey,

Sorry to hear this, thinking of you and your piglet!

I'd be tempted to send away for a full faecal screen, just to rule everything out from that perspective. Ideally use an exotic lab if you can.

Not sure if ultrasound scan would be helpful? Is his abdo or anywhere else painful, even if not obvious? Might pain relief (maybe not Metacam if GI problems) make him more comfortable - possibly then causing him to eat better? Not a long term solution but may help to trial in the short term while investigating further.

Referral to an exotic specialist could be wise if he continues to struggle.

I hope Butterscotch gets better soon, keep us posted

-therainyj