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Guinea Pig unwell- advice please?

7 replies

DuchessDumbarton · 01/09/2019 09:12

GP1 who is our livelier, more sociable girl came down with a dose of the runs yesterday. We isolated her and left her quietly alone.

This morning she is very lethargic, breathing rapidly.
Continues to have runny stools.
Not seeking to drink and refusing to take water from a syringe.
No vet available locally until tomorrow.

I've googled and it sounds as if she might not make it until tomorrow, or she could make it and still pop her clogs.
Any advice (other than comfort the children- DS1 in particular is very taken with"the girls")

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 01/09/2019 09:51

Loose bowels in pigs is bad news Sad but until you know one way or t'other (and it may well be that she'll slip off quietly within hours) you'll need to syringe feed her .

They don't like it . They will either fight or you'll feel cruel putting them through it but if they don't eat their guts go into stasis and they will get organ failure . Often they aren't saveable but give it a go.

If you don't have Critical Care mash up a few pellets and warm water until really sloppy and fill the syringe .

You need to hold the piggie securely (either towel wrap or place on your lap with the rump towards you and hold the muzzle in one hand )
You need the syringe just behind the front teeth and squirt a tiny bit , size of a pea . They need to chew , they'll chew the syringe . Then you know its going into the oesophagus not the windpipe .

Takes ages and you need to do every 2-3 hours .

If you have Vit C , give them some in water , same way .

Has she eaten anything like lettuce that has upset her ? Or too much fruit?

We lost our huge young boar to this -we did all the extra hay , cut out salad veg things . He went to the vet , they said increase his veg slowly , he improved a bit . Then a couple of days later , it came back with a vengance . He had saline injected , antibiotics . It didn't save him Sad . The Rescue I got him from said they'd had a pig with the same .
The other pigs didn't have it so don't think it was contagious .
Though I did read later that vermin mouse pee can cause an infection in pigs that causes loose bowels !

Keep her comfy and quiet , maybe keep her in chatting range of her cagemate .
She might appreciate a very brief bumdip if her backend gets dirty save her skin getting sore .
Give her a fleece and some hay to sleep in.

Hope for the best , prepare for the worst .
Piggies are such fragile little things Sad

DuchessDumbarton · 01/09/2019 09:59

70 thank you for your long and thoughtful post.

I'm afraid that I am preparing for the worst. I don't like the rapid breathing this morning, at all.

I'll have to be more forceful on the water at least, as she hasn't had any for about 18hours at least.
Sad
Thank you- lots of detail.

OP posts:
DuchessDumbarton · 01/09/2019 09:59

Sorry- should have answered your question.
no, nothing new or different or excess in her diet. Other pigs just fine.

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 01/09/2019 12:54

Poor thing Sad
Just dropping the water behind the front teeth , most of it will dribble out but when she chews she'll swallow some .

There gets a stage where you think Am I doing more harm? Do they want to be picked up and bothered ?

Our boar was ill just after Christmas , we did the Critical Care / Water , he picked up a bit , poohed a bit , peed .

We liquidised cucumber and herbs to make it more palatable .
He looked like he was pulling it together then just slumped .
We had to have him PTS as he survived the night ( complete surprise to us) but wasn't really living , just existing.
We knew what we had to do but it didn't make it easier Sad

One thing I would've done earlier though was the Vit C , I have tablets that I crush in water but I should have got them into his syringe much earlier looking back.

DuchessDumbarton · 01/09/2019 13:07

Ah, @70isaLimitNotaTarget thank you for coming back again.

Sadly, DPig passed away about an hour ago.

DS1 is devastated [Sad] and there were tears. He is now thoroughly bleaching all their equipment while the other DPigs happily munch on the lawn.

Bloody cuddly fragile animals

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 01/09/2019 13:29

Very Sad but from what you described it was inevitable .
They do tend to go quickly which is a blessing for them but not the wake they leave behind them of Pig Slaves and bereaved cage mates !

Unlikely the vet could've done anything (and having been through our boar being injected saline under his skin, and it not helping , I'm not really convinced intervention can swing them round , there's such a narrow window . And often it's just 'time' )

The other pigs are eating which is a good sign , they don't let anything get in the way of their bellies !
Flowers

DuchessDumbarton · 01/09/2019 13:32

PigSlaves Grin I haven't heard that term before....but so apt!

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