Male Rescue Guinea Pig Chronic URI and Not Eating Hay (Stumped)

JJGiebz
Make Good Choices

Post   » Fri Apr 08, 2022 9:09 pm


Piling onto the molars-as-suspect. My pig went through about 8 months of on-again-off-again not eating. The vet could find nothing wrong and we thought maybe it was bouts of gas, so I was giving him metoclopromide which seemed to help, then he would stop eating again. He was chewing a lot and started eating the bedding but still no food, so we thought it was maybe pain associated with his chronic bladder issues so I upped his metacam which didn't work and we added gabapentin which seemed to help for a while. And then he would stop eating again.

Finally it got to the point that he stopped eating everything except for lettuce and it wasn't until then that the vet put him under anesthesia to get a good look at his molars and discovered that he had spurs that were digging into his cheeks the whole time. He had a large ulcer on one side. That was in November and he's had to have his molars trimmed every 6-8 weeks after that.

In the interim, I did the same as ItsaZoo - I bought a ninja fit smoothie blender and I put all of his day's food in there. Veggies, pellets, everything and I topped it with two scoops of critical care, and mixed it all up with probably 5 or 6 ounces of water and I fed him that throughout the day.

I hope you get good responses from the vets, and I hope everything works out! Fingers crossed.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Tue Apr 12, 2022 11:00 pm


Wheat grass is extremely easy to grow inside. I have a large tray of it growing right now. I've already clipped it to feed my guinea pigs and had it grow back. I've gotten as many as 4 rounds of it before. It's an inexpensive way to give your pigs a nutritious treat that they'll love.

Check this out on Amazon

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Rynn21

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2022 3:06 am


He was taken to another exotic vet and they also aren't sure why he isn't eating but a few strands of hay. He has a clean bill of health when it came to the x-ray of his mouth. No tumors, no blockage, perfect teeth--so all they could do was do a bacterial culture, antihistamines temporarily (made no change in the chronic UTI) and give him very strong antibiotics that I'm not allowed to handle without gloves. It's accompanied by eye drops that are supposed to help the antibiotics in their fight. He's currently screaming/wheeking past midnight out of hunger, but I can only give him so much critical care at a time before I need to sleep. We've had a very rough month or so financially, and I'm just exhausted. Will give an update if anything changes.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2022 8:07 am


Have you tried the suggestions to blend up a day's worth of food, including hay, as suggested by ItsaZoo and seconded by JJGiebz?
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewt ... 0#p2321320

Would your guinea pig eat any of this mixture on his own on a small plate?

I understand how frustrating this is and worried you are about him. Your own sleep is important too.

I think of a possible sensitivity in the throat or obstruction exacerbated by eating hay. Does he still eat fresh grass? Do you see the back and forth action guinea pigs usually do when they are eating hay and grass?

I broke up some of your earlier posts because I could not read them.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2022 9:14 am


How very worrying. I can't really think what else to suggest that has not already been covered. It sounds like this vet was very thorough, so I imagine he or she checked for any issues with his throat and tongue.

I have long wished that Oxbow would come up with a soft morsel diet that would help recovering guinea pigs as a transition food from Critical Care to hard pellets. Something like that would be helpful in this case.

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Rynn21

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2022 6:38 pm


Broke up the posts? Ok, I guess. Some people have been asking me questions I've already covered.
I haven't had a chance to come back to the forums till last night, so haven't had time to read/try anything yet.

There's no obstruction. Yes, he eats grass (mentioned it). Yes, chewing seems normal.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2022 10:19 pm


Rynn21, Lynx just means that she broke up long sentences or paragraphs to help make them a little more readable. It helps old folks like me follow along.

What antibiotic was he given? Are you using probiotics with it? How is his weight?

Sometimes we ask some of the same questions more than once because things can change with an ill guinea pig from one day to the next.

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Rynn21

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2022 2:02 am


It’s ok. Just tired and on top of everything we lost a rescue last week (not a guinea pig). It was old age luckily, but still.

It’s called chloramphenical, and it’s the first time I haven’t been given probiotics with an antibiotic. It’s being given along with ofloxacin eye drop solution. His weight isn’t great, fluctuating between 970-1000g.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2022 11:07 am


You can certainly give probiotics with chloramphenicol (I knew which drug it was when you mentioned cautions when handling). Many (perhaps most) vets do not also prescribe them when prescribing antibiotics.
https://www.guinealynx.info/probiotics.html

I'm sorry for your loss.

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Rynn21

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2022 9:57 pm


I put veggies, orchard grass, pellets, critical care, and water into a blender. The hay mostly is still intact, but the rest is a sludgy mixture with it. It seems thicker than critical care gets for a syringe. Does that sound right?

He’s not liking it either. :/ I can’t get him to stop picking at everything. He won’t eat pellets again either.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2022 11:32 pm


Sounds like you are trying! I had hoped it would work for him.

With the hay, it is possible to finely chop it with a sharp knife and add it to the blender after chopping. Use a knife you might use to make coleslaw.

Do you have a syringe with the tip cut off? Can you get any into him?

This is what I recommend for hand feeding (top has tip, bottom has it removed):

Image

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Rynn21

Post   » Mon Apr 25, 2022 3:15 am


That’s what I do to the syringes for critical care. He screams past midnight every night now. He really hates every kind of hay. Doesn’t make any sense. Going to try alfalfa tomorrow, but don’t have high hopes.

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