[Emergency] Guinea Pig not eating after loss of bonded cagemate and losing weight consistently.

[iamatulroy]

Need Help!

Hey Guys. One of our Guinea Pigs, Eddie sadly passed away this Saturday from some dental issues. Needless to say that we are absolutely devastated. But what has us scared shitles is how his bonded cagemate and friend since they were young, Ollie is behaving since his death. He has lost his appetite, shows interest in the food, but just doesn't want to eat. Since 28th Feb, when Eddie got sick we have just been visiting the vets almost everyday, first for Eddie and now for Ollie.

He is nibbling at his food, but doesn't seem to cut into it and eat it. Before, when he was eating the little that he did, he was making strange mouth movements so the vet gave him some Antibiotics for throat infection.
We got Ollie checked thrice now, the vet says that his teeth are Okay. We also got his teeth trimmed (just the pointy edges and spurs so as to eliminate dental issues) but he doesn't want to eat. He has lost a lot of weight (around 160 gms since 28th Feb). He is currently on Antibiotics, Pain Meds, and digestive stimulatnts. We are at our wit's end and so is the vet. She says that there doesn't seem to be any underlying health issue and teeth look Okay.

We also got two young boars yesterday so as to give him company and so that he doesn't feel alone. We have been trying to comfort him and play with him and we are cuddling him as much as he likes. Now we are really afraid for his life as his weight is in a downward spiral. We don't want to syringe feed him because we are afraid after Eddie.

I would request you guys to give us some insight from personal experiences. We just can not afford to lose him too.

Edit: We have started to Syringe feed him since today afternoon.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please please syringe feed him mushed pellets or recovery feed. This is urgent. If he doesn’t eat and continues to lose weight then I am afraid he will not recover. He needs to have food constantly going through his system to stay alive.
Is there another vet you can get a second opinion from about a diagnosis?

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig

Sadly as you have got two boars, he will not be able to live in the same cage with them both. Boars must only be kept in pairs and if you try to keep three boars together in one cage it is highly likely to cause fights. Ollie will only be able to interact through the bars with the new pair of boars.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

 

[iamatulroy]

Thanks for your kind reply. We have started Syringe feeding him since this afternoon. As far as the two boars are concerned, they are still babies and so we thought that we will be able to bond them with him. In case the three don't get along we may look at getting one of them rehomed or sent back.

We have already gone through the resources mentioned by you and also through Guinea Lynx resources.

Over the course of the week Ollie was looked at by two different Vets. We are also taking him to another vet in the morning for a different opinion.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry for your loss.

Please take the time to read the very practical and helpful links in the first post. They tell you in detail what you can do but what we cannot repeat in every single post of ours.

It is more likely that your companion may also be ill so I would not mix him and concentrate on syringe feeding (you can find in our emergency and crisis care guide how you can improvise in a pinch).

All the best!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks for your kind reply. We have started Syringe feeding him since this afternoon. As far as the two boars are concerned, they are still babies and so we thought that we will be able to bond them with him. In case the three don't get along we may look at getting one of them rehomed or sent back.

We have already gone through the resources mentioned by you and also through Guinea Lynx resources.

Over the course of the week Ollie was looked at by two different Vets. We are also taking him to another vet in the morning for a different opinion.

Make sure you weigh him daily so you can ensure he is getting enough syringe feed in each 24 hour period.
Best wishes and I hope the new vet can help

Character compatibility comes first and unfortunately it’s very difficult to get that in boar trios particularly once they hit their teens. As the two new ones are young they may well only get on for a short period until hormones hit the babies at around 16 weeks of age, from then on the risks of fights increases dramatically given they will have become hormonal teenagers. Most boar trios will fail by the time the young ones are around 6 months of age, and most will not make it as far as adulthood.

 

[iamatulroy]

Thanks for your reply @Wiebke

I have already gone through the resources and some more. We are trying to do almost everything that's mentioned in them.

What we are looking for is people's experiences in similar situations so as to probably have an idea as to what may be happening or if we are missing anything.

 

[Swissgreys]

Thanks for your reply @Wiebke

I have already gone through the resources and some more. We are trying to do almost everything that's mentioned in them.

What we are looking for is people's experiences in similar situations so as to probably have an idea as to what may be happening or if we are missing anything.

Whilst guinea pigs certainly can pine after the death of a companion, to loose so much weight over more than a few days is unusual.
He may well be ill too. The fact that Ollie shows an interest in food but can't eat also supports this theory.

Has your vet ruled out something like oral thrush?
Antibiotics can mess with the mouth and throat flora, so a probiotic would also be a good thing to include 9if you haven't already).

I am just throwing ideas out there - it really does sound like you are doing everything possible, and I wish you all the best with diagnosing the problem and getting Ollie back on the path to recovery.

 

[iamatulroy]

Whilst guinea pigs certainly can pine after the death of a companion, to loose so much weight over more than a few days is unusual.
He may well be ill too. The fact that Ollie shows an interest in food but can't eat also supports this theory.

Has your vet ruled out something like oral thrush?
Antibiotics can mess with the mouth and throat flora, so a probiotic would also be a good thing to include 9if you haven't already).

I am just throwing ideas out there - it really does sound like you are doing everything possible, and I wish you all the best with diagnosing the problem and getting Ollie back on the path to recovery.

Thanks for your reply.

We are giving him Probiotics too. As of now he is getting Septran (Antibiotic for throat infection), Probiotics, Meloxicam (Pain relief), Gut stimulant, and one Digestive Stimulant.

I will surely ask the Vet to check for Oral thrush. Thanks for your ideas as we need them, we are at our wit's end.

 

[iamatulroy]

@Wiebke @Piggies&buns @Swissgreys

Update on Ollie:

He is slightly better. His weight loss has slowed down (from 20g to 10g per day). He is also drinking water by himself. Drank a lot yesterday. Must have been very dehydrated. Yesterday we had taken him to the hospital. She checked him thoroughly. She is saying it's not something related to the mouth. His teeth are absolutely fine. This seems psychological. We also gave his swab samples of mouth to do a culture and cytological exam to rule out fungal infection. We should get the results in a couple of days. We got the X Rays done. His chest and gut are clear. Slightly reduced gut sounds but that's to be expected because he is eating less. He is also pooping (not well formed but slightly clumpy). Still not eating by himself despite showing interest in food.

As suggested by someone we discussed about switching to stronger pain med Gabapentin from Meloxicam and the Vet said we can try even though she doesn't think it's necessary. So we will switch to Gaba for a couple of days and see.

He also has a small ulcer on the tip of the tongue which the vet said could be because of lacerations from instruments while doing the dental trim and it's already healing and it should not hamper his ability to eat.

 

[Swissgreys]

Thank you for taking the time to come back and update - it really is appreciated.

Honestly it sounds like you could not be doing more for your piggy.

 

[iamatulroy]

@Swissgreys @Wiebke

Update on Ollie:

We got the Cytology report today. Ollie has Candida Infection (Thrush). The report came this late because it takes a week to culture fungi. Since Oral Thrush is not so common, the Vets don't have any pre determined meds or dosage to prescribe, so they are currently discussing what meds to prescribe. They will let us know in 3-4 hours. We will then start the meds immediately.

But we have another problem on our hands. Ollie has become very weak and yesterday he was showing signs of Gut Stasis. We kept on feeding him throughout the night and since this morning he has started passing stools. We took him to the ER Vets today and they said that it is a good sign and his gut has started moving again. He was also administered subcutaneous fluids and we will take him for drips tomorrow as well.

We are really afraid because he is very week and doesn't want to move much. We don't know if he will pull through long enough for the anti fungal meds to be effective. We are really scared.

Do you guys have any suggestions? Thanks.