Why are my piggies getting sick?

Post Reply
User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:38 pm


GI issues are a new development for Mr Bubbles. He just turned 4 a couple of months ago, so I guess he's officially a senior pig now? Good news is that I can skip the early evening feeding. He grazed outside again and ate grass like his old self. Drank water several times too.

He's not out of the woods by any means but I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing. There's fresh hay in with him, so we'll see how much of that he eats and then I'll decide on how much critical care to give him. I will probably have to give him water, but he doesn't seem to mind that too much.

User avatar
ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:50 am


We've used Cerenia often for our little dog who has bouts of gastritis. An injection lasts 24 hours and it does make them feel better overall. It must be pretty potent because it's used for animals who are ill from chemo. One vet told me it also had mild vasodilator properties and helped to open airways.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:40 am


As long as it doesn't hurt him, I'm willing to try anything to help Mr Bubbles to get his appetite back. He got two pretty good turns on the lawn today and ate a good amount of grass. He didn't eat much of his veggies, so I thought I'd try romaine lettuce and he did eat that. I'm giving him a little bit of the critical care cocktail (Cc, Vitamin drops and Benebac probiotic) just to make sure he's got enough food in his system.

I was under the misconception that all antibiotics cause appetite loss, but I've read in several places that it's not usually the case. If an antibiotic alone causes total appetite loss, then the piggie is probably not tolerating it well. The only infection any of my guinea pigs have had which required oral antibiotics are digestive system or upper respiratory. They didn't lose appetite with the URI, or the bactrim (or baytril, cant remember which) they were treated with.

The other thing that hangs me up is that when I read about oral antibiotics for guinea pigs, it's usually bactrim or baytril. It's hard to find references on orbax being used to treat them. It knocked out Scruffy's infection in a matter of days and he was very near death from it. It also could have been what cleared up Mr Bubbles even though he was only on it for 3 days. I just don't know if that's what curbed his appetite like this, but he was starting to get it back with the critical care cocktail. It wasn't until after he had two doses of it that he stopped eating altogether.

He's coming back, but it's slow. The vet said to give him what he'll eat and plenty of water. I don't give him much romaine because of his age and the high calcium content. The same with dandelion greens, but if that's what he'll eat, then that's what he'll get until I get him eating again. He won't eat bell pepper, but what do you guys think about blending it up into a liquid that I can syringe feed him?

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:59 pm


Not as much improvement in Mr Bubbles as I'd like to see, but he is doing a little better. Still picking at the hay and lettuce, but he'll eat his fill of fresh grass. That's all fine and dandy but the grass is not going to be green for much longer. I'm hoping he'll get through this before it runs out. Still giving him the probiotic and vitamin drops in his critical care.

He's not lethargic and he comes out to greet me again. He'll even jump into my arms. He's drinking water on his own, but I'm still giving him extra with every syringe session. I think we're on the right track, so we're going to keep it going.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:51 pm


That's good news. I have an ill piggy myself at present, so I'm handfeeding too. Fingers crossed for continued improvement for our guys.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:31 pm


If I were a sick piggie, I'd want you to care for me, Sef. I hope your little one has a speedy recovery!

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Oct 15, 2020 10:13 pm


Aw, thank you! Harold is my special old boy. :)

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Fri Oct 16, 2020 4:02 pm


Same for me with Mr Bubbles. He is the first guinea pig I got when we decided to get guinea pigs again. More like my wife decided to get one for our 11 year old granddaughter and I ended up taking over when she inevitably lost interest. Oh she still loves him and all of the piggies, but not anywhere near the level that I do. He was the cutest little pup! He was 5 weeks old and so tiny.

I've since been educated on pet store pigs, but I still have so much sympathy for the babies in the store. I just wish I could adopt them all and let them grow up in a loving and caring home with all of the nurturing I can give them; without supporting the cruel process that puts them there in the first place. Sometimes I wish I could open a licensed, properly maintained, cavy vet supervised, humane and holistic type of breeding outfit. That's not really feasible for me since I don't have the means and probably never will.

Anyway, I gave Mr Bubbles a wide variety of veggies last night and he ate some, but not all of them. He did eat more hay than he has since the onset of this thing. There was a nice amount of regular sized droppings under his house when I checked on him this morning. I'm still not comfortable with his food intake. It's quite a bit less than I'm used to seeing him eat.

It's very nice out today so I'm taking him out there to eat as much as he wants. I got to do that twice yesterday and he ate a lot. It was enough so that I didn't have to do a full critical care feeding, but I still gave him the cocktail. That could explain why he didn't eat the veggies. We're still pressing forward. He's getting back to his more active self. Let's hope he is all the way back soon.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:35 pm


The normal-sized droppings is a very good sign. I'm so glad to hear he seems to be doing a little better every day.

Keep up the good work, both of you. :)

User avatar
ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:48 pm


I hope you both get your piggies back on track again. When mine was ill from Baytril I was lucky to have corn husks in the freezer that I kept for a treat. It was the one thing she continued to eat and apparently that had enough fiber to keep her digestion moving. If there is still sweet corn available where you live it would be worth getting some for the husks.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:28 am


It's slow, but I'd rather have that than him getting worse. It took him half the day, but he did finish his large romaine lettuce leaf. That to go with the grass and parsley. I also saw him eating some hay and he's had plenty of water. I'm going to try mashing up some bell pepper into a liquid to go with his probiotic and vitamins.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Oct 17, 2020 8:14 am


Refresh my mind - does he have any issues with sludge or stones? I ask because both romaine and parsley seem to be items that should be avoided. Fresh grass is fine.

Post Reply