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Emergency - Guinea Pig Not Taking Syringe Food Anymore

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caseypig

caseypig

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Hello,

I have a pig with dental problems, he's been going to Simon in Northampton for about 6 months now every 3 weeks. He went on Monday after he stopped eating, but since then still hasn't started eating. I've been syringe feeding him food, but he's now not even eating that. He's obviously in pain, barely moving. I've giving him the max amount of metacam. I have a vet appointment for 9am but I'm worried he's not going to make it if he's not had food since 8am this morning. What can I do to get him through the night? Should I go to an emergency non specialist vet to get him through now? Would he be able to do anything? Please help :-(
 
I understand your pain as I had a similar trouble long ago... It is necessary to keep the liver and the gut in use, otherwise every inner organ will start a self-destroying process. Maybe something liquid... I would try a pellet dissolved in water, or a baby food with vegs, or even some flour for babies... it is not a proper food for piggies, but it might work for keeping alive the digestive system and the liver which can stay without food only for 12 hours. This is what I have read online (from a savvy cavy vet's website).
 
Casey dunlop said:
Hello,

I have a pig with dental problems, he's been going to Simon in Northampton for about 6 months now every 3 weeks. He went on Monday after he stopped eating, but since then still hasn't started eating. I've been syringe feeding him food, but he's now not even eating that. He's obviously in pain, barely moving. I've giving him the max amount of metacam. I have a vet appointment for 9am but I'm worried he's not going to make it if he's not had food since 8am this morning. What can I do to get him through the night? Should I go to an emergency non specialist vet to get him through now? Would he be able to do anything? Please help :-(
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Can you syringe some hand warm water and very diluted syringe feed, hand warm as well; that sems to go down best. Goo that you have a vet appointment first thing tomorrow morning. He can survive without food and water for 24 hours, but if you can keep the guts going a bit, that would be better.

Fingers very firmly crossed!
 
Thanks for your reply Wiebke. He died in my arms last night. We tried to get him to an emergency vet but he didn't make it there. My heart is broken. I loved him so much.
 
That is very sad, I am so sorry he didn't make it. They can deteriorate very quickly sometimes despite our best efforts. Was your planned appointment today with Simon or another vet? Either way, you could have a phone conversation to 'debrief' with the vet if you think that would help.
 
I'm so so sorry, Casey Dunlop you worked really hard to keep him with you, you couldn't have done anything else. Please don't feel guilty you couldn't have done any more.
Sleep tight little one,
Popcorn free over the rainbow bridge.
 
Casey dunlop said:
Thanks for your reply Wiebke. He died in my arms last night. We tried to get him to an emergency vet but he didn't make it there. My heart is broken. I loved him so much.
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BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry.

You have done what you could, and he could not have had a better or more caring home. Please do not feel like you failed your beloved boy in any way. It is very likely that even a vet visit in time would not have saved him. You have bought him lots more time by going to Simon (I know, as Simon has bought a lot more time to a fair number of my own piggies over the years), but when the body has had enough, then there is very little you can do. Total refusal of food usually means that the body can no longer process it. it is most likely that your boy has gone into multi-organ failure - when that happens, there is no way back. But of course, you always hold out hope! :(

You are welcome to post a tribute in our Rainbow Bridge section if or whenever it feels right for you. We all grieve differently. It is there for those that want to make use of it at whichever point.
 
I am so sorry... I was hoping you would have had more luck than me... But when it happened to me the vet was humble, although very expert of guinea pigs and decided to call by phone an expert collegue in your country and he said what I then read also online and I told you: piggies for unknown reasons are able to activate a weird and self destructive process inside them as soon as they stop eating for even 12 hours; that process is often irreversible. Nobody knows the reason why it can happen... maybe the body itself knows when it is time to give it up... but their liver dies before the rest of their body.
You have made all you could and you took him to the best vet you have in UK.
Look, when it happened to me I was able to force my piggie swallowing some special liquid formula used for humans who stop eating (!); the piggie had to die in some hours for the vets, therefore I tried all the experiments. My piggie "lived" other 2-3 weeks, but that wasn't a life... he was letargic and lost a lot of weight, his teeth became very long and I decided to stop feeding him (he died peacefully 24 hours after my last syringe). The image of him in that situation is something which still scares me... at least you will have only the best images of your piggie into your mind.
 
Thanks for your kind words everyone. I keep going over what I could have done differently, how I could have done more to save him. He started seizuring in the end on the way to the vet in his last minutes which will haunt me forever. But we were all in the car together with him, his brother snuggled beside him for moral support, me stroking his body as he passed and my partner sobbing beside me driving. Who thought you could love a guinea pig this much. I'm pretty inconsolable right now, this is going to be tough to get through. I'll love him forever. Goodnight pooky pig. You've taken a piece of my heart with you.
 
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