Urgent advice needed - poorly piggy

[Jenniferturkington]

Four weeks ago one of our guinea pigs died during the night. They are nearly five years old so we accepted it as ‘old age’.
We are left with a lonely piggy who up until yesterday seemed ok. He didn’t run around much yesterday and this morning wasn’t very hungry. He is clearly breathing badly.
We took him to the vet today, and tbh, I was half expecting him to be put to sleep. However the vet prescribed a variety of meds and sent us back home. She advised us to bring him indoors and put him in with our house rabbits. He has been with them all day.
I’m wondering whether I should put him back out in his hutch for the night? I worry that he will be more stressed in unfamiliar surroundings? I am still not convinced he will pull through so I’m just wondering what to do for the best.

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How is he in himself is his breathing still bad? Is he walking around ok squeaking?

No he’s still not moving around much or squeaking. He has eaten some kale and a bit of his food though.
The vet said his chest is clear but he has an upper respiratory infection.

Sorry your piggie isn’t well. I agree with your vet that he needs to be indoors, but it’s far safer that he’s in a cage by himself rather than with rabbits as rabbits can easily injure guinea pigs. What medications were you given?

You’ll also probably need to syringe feed, it’s really important that guinea pigs’ digestive systems are constantly working and weight loss happens rapidly and is very serious. Oxbow critical care or emeraid are the most common and, you can definitely get critical care on Amazon.

The guinea pig forum is a great source of information and support when you’ve got to nurse a sick pig.

Also, weigh him now and then again each day at the same kind of time to keep an eye on weight loss. They can recover from URIs but often require quite intensive nursing.

Thank you.
He was given liquid food for syringe feeds, a gut motility drug, an anti inflammatory and an antibiotic.
The rabbits will be out of the run over night so he will be safe.

Poor piggy and poor you. Unfortunately they do tend to go downhill very quickly. Critical care is a good idea and he especially needs to stay hydrated. I'd say cage alone indoors and probably get up through the night to drip feed. I'm sorry to say but also be prepared for the worst.x

How is he today OP? X

He seems a bit brighter today. I got up in the night to syringe feed him and give him a bit of apple. He went back outside for the day but we have bought him back in for tonight. He’s still a lot more subdued than normal though.

*brought

Oh that's good news though at least he isn't getting worse x

He might be depressed, being on his own. They generally need to be with other guineas & don't do well alone. Is there a rescue near you that could help find some company for him?

applesfortea yes he was diagnosed with depression as well as his cold.
Update: piggy is still with us and has perked up a lot. We were bringing him in at night and letting him back out during the day.

But, weighing everything up, we’ve decided to move him inside permanently to live with our rabbits. There is such contrasting advice around. The vet recommended this initially. Also, he is pretty old and realistically doesn’t have long left. Therefore I think the benefits outweigh the risks at this stage in his life.

It was very funny today watching him steal apple from the buns and run in to his tiny igloo so they couldn’t get it back!

Rabbits can injure a gp, biting, kicking, trying to mate with them - all sorts of things. Plus they don't speak the same language so it's not like having another gp as a friend.
He's not even five yet, he could have a couple more years left easily. Is there a local gp rescue you can contact for advice?