Still concerned for Guinea pig:(

[thwinka]

Hi, this is a continuation from my old thread, but wasn't sure as to whether to start a new one or not Anyway, I have taken all the fantastic advice that was posted on here and have relaxed over his inability to manage anything other than liquidized food. But I would like to know if I should be concerned about his weight etc? He isn't maintaining his weight at all. He is eating lots of pureed food very enthusiastically, one day he will put the weight on, and the next he has lost it again. The vet seems to think its normal, but he has lost 30 grams in the last 2 days:(
I just don't know whether to worry or not. Surely he should be steadily putting it on?? Not putting 20 grams on one day and then losing it the next etc?(scales are accurate btw)
He has also started to have poo problems now. Sorry for TMI but he is containing small marble sized balls of soft poo in his anus now instead of the sausage shaped shaped ones? Should I be worried about this? Could it be a side effect of his pureed food? I kind of massaged it out for him but just don't know what to think for the best at the moment:(
Sorry for posting again, I just feel so worried for him at the moment

Very glad to have an update and sorry he isn't recovering as you would want yet. He does need to be maintaining his weight so you are right to be concerned. Keep going with the puréed food, if he is eating with enthusiasm that is encouraging, offer him hay and grass to give bulk. Guineas need to eat almost constantly to keep their guts working. The poos you describe are because of the soft food, but keep an eye that this does not turn runny... Maybe schedule in another vet visit if you are worried. He has had major guinea surgery so the recovery probably will be slow and the care needed intensive, look for positive signs in his recovery, the key is his appetite and ability to waft bulky stuff. Keep going :)

Eat bulky stuff
Bloody phone

Thank you for your reply:) You are all great for reassurance. He does have a great appetite for pureed food so long as it is only his nuggets. Strange little fella still wont touch his veg though, even if pureed!! I would just feel a lot more positive if his weight stabilized I guess. I've never looked after an ill pet before, they've all always been so healthy so this is a first for me as to what is normal, so apologies if I seem a bit OTT with panicking about him:)

Its no problem, its lovely to have someone to help! I know I would be the same, we had 9 girls in total, and had to give 3 or 4 or them intensive care at some stage... I always brought them indoors to keep an eye on them if I felt they needed it, regular bedding changes, food and water and lots of reassuring noises so they knew someone was there. I think it is still early days yet for him, and the fact he is eating is a great start - keep going with offering the pureed stuff, esp cucumber, spinach and broccoli, something will tempt him I am sure!!

thwinka - keep at it, as long as he's not losing weight, he should be okay. It's normal to worry - if one of mine is off his food for a day, I can't sleep. You're doing everything right.

guineapiglet - at 'waft bulky stuff' - is this something that 70's farting pig does?

Consistantly losing weight day after day, take him back to the vet. But if weight is fluctuating up and down not so worried, still not great though .

The reason you need to massage the poo out is because he has not eaten enough roughage ie hay to push it through himself. The poops you pop out for him maybe his special 'first time round the block' poops. So offer them to him to eat. Yuk I know, but all piggies chow down on their special poops when we are not looking . But don't force him, they may not be the eating kind , your piggie will know though.

Good luck.

Hi, just an update really and would really appreciate advice again. Went for his check up again today and not great news:( His back teeth are starting to cross over again and not a lot they can do apparently other than operate again. Feel so sad at this as his weight had finally started to stabilize. He's still not eating, and she doesn't think he will again after this length of time:( I don't have a problem with syringe feeding him long term as he seems to be quite happy with that but I can't put him through a general anaesthetic every 5 weeks, it just seems cruel:(
I asked about them filing his teeth down with out GA but she doesn't think its fair on the guinea pig?
I would really appreciate advice here as others have said on here that their piggies go in regularly for this treatment? What does it involve please, and is it the back teeth that this is done for? Vet says that it would be so traumatic for him to be done without GA and that vets that do do it are far and few between and they would need to keep my piggy for at least 8 hours to do it?
Also, does anyone know of a piggy savy vet in the Dorset area? Have spoke to the Cambridge cavy trust and the nearest Rodentologist is 2 hours away, so would be great if could find someone nearer. If not, then is there a site or something that post me in the direction of piggy savy vets or is it a case of phoning each one up? I really don't want to give up yet, just don't feel it right to subject him to GA every month either:(
Thankyou, and so sorry for the length of post

Poor you and your guinea, what a rotten predicament especially as he seems to rallying.. I have been sitting thinking what I would do and its not a happy situation to be in. Put out a call to Kritiq who has been through similar, and try for a second opinion at a more rodent savvy vet. Your boy is getting better but that is down to you feeding him, it is a worry if he cant feed himself. As much as i loved all my guineas would not have wanted them to go through regular GA it is far too stressful and is not a quality of life for them , but you may disagree. You have got some tough love decisions to make, i know you dont want to give up on him or watch him suffer either. I guess we have to see it from the animals' point of view and consider their long term quality of life, your family need to have best advice and prognosis possible before you can decide. Thinking of you..

Thankyou, I do feel very upset:( I got the impression earlier that we'd be looking at twice yearly ops if his teeth re-grew. I can't put him through that every 5 weeks. I hate the idea of having any animal PTS though, even though I know sometimes its for the best, feels like your not giving them a chance:( He just wont use his front teeth and she cant say why? He will eat some soft nuggets, but wont attempt anything which he has to bite with his front teeth. He loses weight rapidly on the one day I stopped feeding him to see if he would start feeding himself.
I will see a Rodentologist before I decide, see if they think its feasible to trim them without GA every few weeks.
But even then I'm still not sure its fair to keep him going if he can't eat properly for himself, but would like to give him a bit more time to get back into things where that's concerned. Thankyou for replying understanding. Its such a heartbreaking decision to make where your pets life is concerned:(

If it is any help or support, I do know what you are going through, we had to make a similiar decision when one of our girls developed teeth problems ( and they are very common in guineas) - we watched her get more and more depressed and so desperate to join in when all the others had their grass and hay, (to be honest I am welling up thinking about her, she was an absolute sweetheart, blind, a rescue, she did not deserve such a horrible ending, )but she did have a VERY good life inbetween all the bad bits, and that is what you have to tell yourself. The worse case scenario is that , no-one wants to put a healthy animal to sleep but he probably is only surviving because you are loving him and keeping him going, I'm sorry to sound so stark, but that is the long and short of it - we kept our girl going for about a month, but it was quite labour intensive and very emotional- desperately wanted her to recover well enough to eat for herself, but she never really rallied, and it was heartbreaking watching her. In many respects, animals are luckier than we are, in that the kindest thing we can do for them is to end their suffering, - believe me this was not an easy decision to make, and my husband ended up taking her and holding her, but I couldn't bear to watch her suffer any more and really really had to harden my heart. Give him a couple of weeks and see if there is ANY kind of improvement whilst you try and find a second opinion, as I said, PM Krtiiq who may be able to give you more support and advice re the long term prognosis. Pets are an absolute joy, but times like this are very upsetting, which is why I am so glad there are vets and vet nurses who are able to be more detatched and unemotional about it all. Hope you get some positive signs from him, remember it is only a couple of weeks since surgery, and the instinct to survive is strong. XX

PS if you lived nearer I would come and see him and give you some help _ I'm in Hampshire, whereabouts are you?

Thank you so much for your kind posts:) I am in the Southampton area of Dorset and would have snatched up your kind offer of coming to have a look at him and give your opinion but I have actually spoken to a Rodentologist in the last hour and he is going to see her tomorrow and possibly spend a week with her so she can assess him:)
I don't want to get my hopes up but I feel a bit more positive at the moment. She seemed so much more knowledgeable and thinks its unusual for a guinea pig to not eat for himself yet show so much interest when I feed him? She is concerned they may not have sorted his teeth properly, or that he may even have a fracture of his front teeth from where they cut them back to operate. If this is the case, then she will correct it and hopefully he may start to eat again. She also doesn't think its a problem to just trim them down every 3-4 weeks without GA!! She mentioned that she could show me how to do it myself, but not sure about that!!
At least if it doesn't work, I will know that I have done my best for him and it is time to let the little fella go.
I'm so sorry to hear about your little girl. That must have been so sad. I am welling up now just imagining it:( I think people are honoured to have pets. They deserve the best that we can give and it is sad that not every animal gets that chance. Your little girl must have been spoiled rotten and I'm sure she had a good life with you.xx

thwinka - so sorry to hear about how it's going for you. Hope the Rodentologist can help you and your boy more. Will be thinking of you.

You are absolutely right about people being 'honoured to have a pet'. We love our boys and I was worried sick when Smoothpig damaged his leg recently, which was followed by Current Bun not eating for 3 days. Luckily my boys were not too poorly and after much pampering and parsley have recovered well, but I was in pieces at the time. Your boy is very lucky to have you caring so much about him - I don't think anyone could do more than you are doing now.

Good luck tomorrow and please let us know how you get on. (I also start worrying about anyone's else's pig/rabbit/gerbil etc when I read on here that they're sick).

Hi thwinka and hi fernie

Fabulous news!! It sounds like you have found a really good contact and someone who knows their stuff, so we will all keep everything crossed for you and your guinea, really pleased you have found someone to make you feel more positive and hopeful. She is right, by the way, guineas quickly do get used to being spoiled and handled and can get very lazy in the ways of food, so it is much better that he can be assessed and encouraged to eat for himself.

You are actually not too far from me, I am about 8 miles N of Southampton. There is a rescue at Bishops Waltham called Wheek and Squeak who might be able to recommend a guinea savvy vet, but it sounds like you have found one, so that's great. IF you ever need any respite care or holiday care for you guineas, let me know, I am DESPERATE to have more guineas, and would be only to pleased to be a guinea aunt again!

Let us know who it goes. I agree, it is an honour to have a pet, wish more people thought like that... Fernie glad to hear all your boys are back to normal - still following the morning routine????!

how it goes, obviously...

Thanks guys, will definitely let you know how it goes:) Wish I had found this site earlier, nice to chat to people who care about piggies so much!! Most people I know are aghast that I am going to so much effort 'just for a guinea pig' as they so nicely put it Nice to find others who understand. fernie I love your piggies names!! Mine are named after Transformer characters courtesy of the kids!!
I just hope so much that she finds something amiss. I just don't feel that current vet is giving me any answers as to why he is still drooling so much etc if his teeth are fine now. He leaves a trail of drool bless him whenever I pick him up and will eat very enthusiastically from me, or if its shoved in the back of his mouth, but wont go near anything that involves him using his front teeth. Very frustrating!!
Will bear that in mind thanks guineapiglet always handy to know people to board them with!! Unfortunately my MIL snatches them along with the dog whenever she gets the chance if we go away :o I will contact that rescue. This Rodentologist is 98 miles away!! Would be very handy to find a cavy savy vet closer although will stick with her for now as I think my boy needs to a specialist ATM:)

Hi, here with an update:) Saw the Rodentologist yesterday and she was fab!! Turns out my gorgeous little piggy is riddled with a throat infection, and a secondary infection in his mouth. It is quite advanced so she thinks he may have had it quite a while:( She has sent us home armed with anti-biotics, pain killers, and a cough medicine. Although she says he is very poorly(can feel his ribs now poor mite:( ) she thinks he will pull through, and he does seem a little better. He has been munching away on fresh grass today!! First time in weeks!!!
She thinks the infection was the reason why his teeth grew so bad in the first place, that he wasn't eating enough to grind them down, but is confident that once he is well and eating properly again then then he probably wont have a problem with them again:) Don't want to get my hopes up to much yet, but I am so much happier and positive since seeing her:)
I am bloody furious at the vets though and will be contacting them at some point in the next few days This is quite basic stuff and they had him ready to PTS saying there was nothing they could do if he wouldn't eat. Poor mites mouth and throat is in a right state apparently so no wonder he wont eat, and they really should be capable of picking something like that up. Really am disgusted with them at the moment. They even told me it was cruel to take him somewhere to have his teeth done without GA saying it was to traumatic and they would cut his mouth to pieces. Rodentologist simply wrapped him in a towel, prised his mouth open and filed them. Took her 2 mins. Shocking that they are so incapable of this basic stuff.
Thankyou to everyone who provided moral support the last few weeks, it has been a great help and really valued. I would really like to spread the word on how good these Rodentologists really are for dental work and treating illness in piggies. A lot of people like me have never even heard of them and I'm sure there are so many piggies that die each year due to vets ignorance about them. Its a crying shame:(

Delighted to hear your news, so pleased you have seen someone who knows their stuff, and so glad your guinea is doing so well - eating grass! Really hope all your tlc and this intensive AB therapy, he will be back to his old self quickly, poor chap. I would be furious with the vets as well - why didnt they refer you to a specialist - and well done to you for having the nouse to go and get it sorted. I feel that many vets just simply don't know their stuff and will revert to the easiest option, which is just not good enough, and I would certainly be writing to them and explaining just what good care you have received elsewhere. I am sure many on here would be glad of the details of your rodentologist, so do post them, and maybe send your story to the guineapig magazine and on the online forum, so that others will be able to benefit too.

My offer of holiday or respite care still stands!!!! If you ever need him looking after do ask, it would be a pleasure, but I am so glad, you sound so much happier and it sounds like it is good news for your guinea:)