Diarrhoea & puffed fur :(

[sar123]

Our little sow has been unwell since Thursday. She began having sloppy poops which began to worsen overnight. We gave her critical care & fibreplex until we could see our vet. She has been prescribed cisapride and metacam by our (wonderful) exotic vet. At our appointment, she was also given a metacam injection and another painkilling injection (we can’t remember the name) because of discomfort in her gut. By today, she has worsened and puffed up her fur, isn’t being her usual self and is hesitant to eat or drink. We took her back this morning & the vet on call gave another pain killing injection, some fluids and told us to carry on the current medication. We’ve taken her off fresh veg whilst we wait for her poops to firm up & have given critical care to ensure she is receiving all the nutrients she needs. Feeling a little lost as she’s huddled up in a corner and won’t run round as usual (though she does wheek for veg at tea time from under the hide). She’s just behaving very strangely Should we be giving anything else or any veg to ensure she’s getting the vitamins she needs? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Wiebke]

Our little sow has been unwell since Thursday. She began having sloppy poops which began to worsen overnight. We gave her critical care & fibreplex until we could see our vet. She has been prescribed cisapride and metacam by our (wonderful) exotic vet. At our appointment, she was also given a metacam injection and another painkilling injection (we can’t remember the name) because of discomfort in her gut. By today, she has worsened and puffed up her fur, isn’t being her usual self and is hesitant to eat or drink. We took her back this morning & the vet on call gave another pain killing injection, some fluids and told us to carry on the current medication. We’ve taken her off fresh veg whilst we wait for her poops to firm up & have given critical care to ensure she is receiving all the nutrients she needs. Feeling a little lost as she’s huddled up in a corner and won’t run round as usual (though she does wheek for veg at tea time from under the hide). She’s just behaving very strangely Should we be giving anything else or any veg to ensure she’s getting the vitamins she needs? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hi and welcome

Please have her seen again as soon as possible after the bank holiday if she is not improving and she remains very ill.

A lab test of her diarrhoea may be the next step to get to the bottom of her persistent symptoms if the usual (and sadly very limited) pain and gut meds are not helping. Until then, please keep syringe feeding and watering; stay off any fresh veg. Monitor the food intake by weighing daily first thing in the morning for best comparison

Dioralyte (USA: pedialyte) or any other electrolytic product helping with rehydration can also help with runny diarrhoea.

If your sow has a healthy companion, then you can consider giving additional 'poo soup' (i.e. a live healthy gut microbiome transfer if done correctly) twice daily. Also add normal probiotic powder to the syringe feed.

You can find the how-to advice for 'poo soup' (not quite as gross as it sounds) and syringe feeding advice in this link here. I have included further helpful and practical links in the various chapters to make finding all the necessary advice and infoprmation easier: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Please contact an out-of-hours vet if there is a sudden marked deterioration in the coming two days.

All the best. Sorry about the bad timing.

 

[sar123]

Hi and welcome

Please have her seen again as soon as possible after the bank holiday if she is not improving and she remains very ill.

A lab test of her diarrhoea may be the next step to get to the bottom of her persistent symptoms if the usual (and sadly very limited) pain and gut meds are not helping. Until then, please keep syringe feeding and watering; stay off any fresh veg. Monitor the food intake by weighing daily first thing in the morning for best comparison

Dioralyte (USA: pedialyte) or any other electrolytic product helping with rehydration can also help with runny diarrhoea.

If your sow has a healthy companion, then you can consider giving additional 'poo soup' (i.e. a live healthy gut microbiome transfer if done correctly) twice daily. Also add normal probiotic powder to the syringe feed.

You can find the how-to advice for 'poo soup' (not quite as gross as it sounds) and syringe feeding advice in this link here. I have included further helpful and practical links in the various chapters to make finding all the necessary advice and infoprmation easier: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Please contact an out-of-hours vet if there is a sudden marked deterioration in the coming two days.

All the best. Sorry about the bad timing.

Thank you so much for your reply. Such bad timing with the bank holiday, so I’m really hoping things improve and she’s back to her usual popcorning self before then.

Thank you for the advice regarding keeping off veg & the poo soup - we’ll give that a try with our other piggies’ healthy poops. We’ll continue syringe feeding the critical care and hope for the best.

Thanks again!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much for your reply. Such bad timing with the bank holiday, so I’m really hoping things improve and she’s back to her usual popcorning self before then.

Thank you for the advice regarding keeping off veg & the poo soup - we’ll give that a try with our other piggies’ healthy poops. We’ll continue syringe feeding the critical care and hope for the best.

Thanks again!

Fingers crossed. All you can do right now is to keep your piggy going as best as you can and - if needed - see an out-of-hours vet. Bank holidays with a seriously ill piggy are always such an anxious time.