Anorexic guinea pig having trouble pooping

[breenotbri]

Hi all, this is my first post but I’m at my wits end. About 2 weeks ago my boy Boomer lost interest in his hay out of nowhere, became lethargic, and is hiding much more than normal. He has lost a significant amount of weight, so much so his spine and hip bones are visible. I was able to get him to an exotics vet and get xrays done last Saturday as his symptoms reminded me of my baby, Cheese, who I lost in January due to bladder stones. He does not have bladder stones and the vet said his teeth look perfectly healthy, but she thinks he may have stasis and gas. The day prior a large, misshapen clump of poop with white mucus came out of him, so I figured any blockage was out, but he still is having trouble pooping and eating. The vet prescribed meloxicam 1.5 ml for pain, simethicone 0.3 ml for gas, and critical care. He has gotten all his doses and absolutely LOVES his critical care, but still is hunching over and straining when trying to poop, hiding excessively, getting mushy poops stuck in his butt, and will not eat hay. Tonight I tried putting a vibrating back massager under him to help move his gut, but he is seemingly even more hunched, straining, and lethargic than before. It’s already been a week and I’m not seeing any signs of improvement, if anything the opposite the way tonight is going. Does anyone have any advice? I’m going to try to get him back to the vet ASAP within the week after my paycheck comes in, and most likely get bloodwork done


Btw, if I can figure out a way to post pictures I will post them for references

 

[breenotbri]

Hope I’m doing this right. The third image is the clump I was talking about, and the last picture is his hunched posture from the other night. It seems even worse tonight :/

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m so sorry Boomer is poorly.

A few questions:
How much critical care are you feeding per day and how much does he weigh.
Are you weighing him daily.

The pain killer dose seems on the low side. Is it once or twice a day.

Here’s the syringe feeding guide.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

If you think Boomer is getting worse I’d take him to the vet sooner as they can go downhill quickly. Good luck.

 

[Piggies&buns]

It would be useful to have answers to the questions above

How much critical care is being given per day? You need to be feeding a minimum of 60ml.

Are you weighing him daily?

I would also personally be expecting some gut stimulant medication - something like emeprid.
The problem with simethicone is that it collects any gas bubbles into one large bubble. This is fine for babies but for piggies simethicone can make it much more painful. I personally would avoid simethicone for my piggies.

So he has being given 1.5ml of pain meds per day?

 

[breenotbri]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m so sorry Boomer is poorly.

A few questions:
How much critical care are you feeding per day and how much does he weigh.
Are you weighing him daily.

The pain killer dose seems on the low side. Is it once or twice a day.

Here’s the syringe feeding guide.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

If you think Boomer is getting worse I’d take him to the vet sooner as they can go downhill quickly. Good luck.

I’m sorry I wasn’t more thorough! I’m currently using a 5 ml syringe for the critical care and he gets fed every day around the clock at least 12 syringe fulls. (I made a little schedule for his doses). He absolutely loves it and it makes me so happy he has interest in at least some food!

Unfortunately our scale is broken at the moment. However he has visibly put on some weight since his vet visit, definitely not enough but some. And I’m making sure to check for a distended abdomen about twice a day. So far so good

And as for the meloxicam the prescription is 1.5 ml every 24 hours. I had no idea that was considered low

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry I wasn’t more thorough! I’m currently using a 5 ml syringe for the critical care and he gets fed every day around the clock at least 12 syringe fulls. (I made a little schedule for his doses). He absolutely loves it and it makes me so happy he has interest in at least some food!

Unfortunately our scale is broken at the moment. However he has visibly put on some weight since his vet visit, definitely not enough but some. And I’m making sure to check for a distended abdomen about twice a day. So far so good

And as for the meloxicam the prescription is 1.5 ml every 24 hours. I had no idea that was considered low

You need to be able to weigh him daily so you can gauge how much syringe feed is actually needed and adjust accordingly to make sure his weight is kept stable each day.
If he in stasis, he needs the proper medication for that - a gut stimulant.

I assume it’s cat meloxicom he has been prescribed? The dose goes on the piggy’s weight and clinical need. Stasis itself is not painful but the reason behind the stasis usually is, in this case if it is gas, then that is painful.
So is he being given 1.5ml of meloxicom in one go? Piggies metabolise their pain meds in around 12 hours so if is recommended that pain meds are split and given twice a day.

this is our guide which explains more about digestive problems
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)