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Sophie1307

I went into the shed this morning and one of my guinea pigs, sue (2 1/2 yrs old), wasn't moving much.
I picked her up and she has a really runny nose. I brought her in and cleaned her up a bit.
I looked through one of our peter gurney books and it said to use olbus oil, so we have done that. We are about to ring the vets. What else can I do?
 
Is she eating? If not then mash some pellets with water and feed it to her, if you don't have a syringe then use the back of a teaspoon handle. If you have some critical care though I would get that into her. Pigs can go downhill fast. Good luck and keep us posted! x
 
Thankyou, no she won't eat.
We don't have any pellets at the moment, is there anything else we can use?
 
You could try some baby food or maybe mash some veggies up. I find wrapping in a blanket always works and put the pigs back to your chest and feed that way.

Hope she manages to eat something for you!

Louise
x
 
Thanks, my sister is now coming home so we can take her to an emergency vet.
 
Back from the vet, she had to meet us there.
She listened to her lungs and aparently it's not too good, but it's not major.
Her nose has cleared up a bit since this morning thanks god.
We have been given 3 syringes, 1 for food, 1 for water and one for Baytril.
I'm about to go out and check all the other pigs, we really hope she will be ok
 
Sue is much better O0
She has a normal nose now, below her mouth is still wet, but it's drying.
We tried feeding her the food, but she didn't want to take much, so we will try again soon.
We put some other food in her cage and hopefully she will nibble it a bit. We also put her on my bed and shes much more active, she was walking around so all is good at the moment.
 
sounds good, lets just hope she picks up.

as for food, i had to syringe feed a sow of mine last year who had dental problems.. and its hard to try and think of things they will eat so ive tried every concoction under the sun! lol

the best i found to syringe were:

veggies blended, if you have a food processor use that and just blend them all down you may need a bit of water top help them blend to a really smooth paste so it doesnt get stuck in your syringe. if you dont like i didnt, i used to boil up the veg until soft then blend it with a hand mixer and she liked that, you can also use some of the juice from the veg to mix with pellets :)

there is a baby food called Ella's Kitchen, they stock it in tesco its a little pouch of food for 75p or there abouts, brightly coloured packets and its pure fruit/veg puree and its organic, i always have a pouch of this in my cupboard for emergencies :) i think there is a brocolli and pea one, and an apple and bannana one that guineas can have.. just check what fruit/veg are in them first.

i aslo made porridge for mine, just rolled oats and some hot water, pop into microwave (or about 30 secs when its thickened up let it cool until its cool enough for them to eat (back of your little finger is a good indication to whether its too hot! lol) and if they like oats thats good, also dried oats if you can get her to eat them, they are good at helping gaining weight just incase she stops eating.

and there is also a pellet food called cavy performance, which is for ill/pregnant guinea pigs and is packed with calories, which is great if she isnt eating and needs help to maintain her weight you can syringe them into her :)

and not forgetting critical care, this is a must have if your piggy doesnt eat you can buy it from thistle cavies or sph supplies, quite expensive but deffo worth having some in.

good luck, and keep us updated!

i think thats all of what i used
 
It just sounds like your G-pig had a cold...Mine have both had a cold before and they make this weird noise from their lungs and sometimes a runny nose...

..But the stuff the vet gave you should sort it.Mine had the stuff and they were ok in about 3days.

Hope all goes well ^_^.
 
Thankyou everyone for your help.
We tried feeding her again, but she didn't want it. She took a little bit :-\
She's almost completely dry which is good. Her nose is back to normal and she's quite active.
Is there any special ay of holding her when I try and feed her?
 
if she wont take it just stood up on her own, then wrap her up in a towel and hold her up, or get someone to hold her whilst you feed her
 
erm well gucci used to have quite a few syringes, but she would stand and eat from the syringe so when she got fed up and started to wander i knew she had eough, and i got used to how much she ate aswell..

make sure she has the option to have veggies too, give her a little pile in the corner of her house or a dish so that she knows its there if she fancies a nibble :)
 
Sue doesn't even want half a syringe :o
We also give her water after it as well. She has a small pile of veggies too, so i'm hoping she will try and nibble these.
 
what food are you giving her syringed? some dont like certain things like with gucci i had to ry a few diff ways of making up her food cus she hated the taste..
 
Thankyou :)
We have been syringing her Science Recovery which the vet gave us. I don't think she likes it tbh.
 
Did your vet give her water tablets too? They are called Frusemide. only half a tablet twice a day.If she has a chest infection she probably has some fluid on her lungs, making it uncomfortable for her to eat. If you hold her chest to your ear and hear a click between her breaths, she most likely has fluid build up. The Cambridge Cavy trust always prescribe Frusemide alongside baytril. Vets do not always. Whilst she is on antibiotics try her with a probiotic like Yakult. Guinea pigs like it from a syringe. They love it. This will keep replace the good bacteria that antibiotics kill off too. It will also help her not to get runny poohs.
Also,keep her indoors if you can. Guinea pigs do not fare well in temperatures under 15*C as they are not hardy animals and are very susceptible to respiratory illnesses.
As for supplementary feeding, she must not go without food for too long, water is very important too of course. Try to get her to take water from you herself, from a bottle.
Complan mixed with water+ oatmeal is tasty to Guinea pigs, otherwise other vegetables she usually likes, cooked and mashed to runny, fed via a 1ml syringe with the end cut off is best. Feed slowly. At regular intervals. A few syringes at a time. Guinea Pigs do not always take to being syringe fed but it is necessary to get some food into her. Weigh her too and keep a record to make sure she doesn't lose weight.
They can get better with lots of TLC, and being kept warm and dry.
Good luck, look after her.
PatX
 
GuineaLover, thankyou very much for your help.
We will go out tomorrow and get all the things you suggested, thanks again. :)
 
Just went up to feed her again, at first she refused, then she decided to go for a walk on my bed and discovered some veg. She ate it ;D She's suddenly become much happier and she's walking around her cage looking for food. :smitten:
 
That's great news Sophie! Sounds like you are doing great with her! She should be back to her oldself in no time!

Well done you!

Louise
x
 
She had more food than yesterday this morning! :smitten:
What is the best way to give her, her meds? Should I put it on a bit of food or syringe it straight into her mouth?
 
Well, I don't want to come across as telling you what to do but I have always syringed any meds (that way you know they're getting the whole dose) and then give a sweetener - fave food such as cucumber always works for me. Good luck O0
 
Thanks :)
I used a syringe and almost all of it went into her mouth, not that she liked it much. :-\
She had a tiny bit more pepper after, so she seems alright.
She hasn't tried eating anymore dry food or anything, so i'm guessing she is still getting her appetite back?
I checked on the other girls who she was with and two of the older ones seem a bit different. They were a bit grumpy, which is not what they are usually like. I'm worried that they are getting the same thing as Sue? or perhaps they are missing her?
 
She had dry food finally! and has been to the toilet for the first time in a day. O0 She also had some cucumber and hay! I'm about to help her with the water bottle, I don't think she has quite solved where it is yet. ::)
One problem though. When she went to the toilet, her poops came out stringy and wet. They were dry at first, now they have sort of changed. Is there anything I can give her to get her back to normal?
 
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