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Emergency - Possible Bloat

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lindsayl

lindsayl

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi,
I have not posted for a really long while but I am having a bit of an emergency!
I think my pig has bloat. On one side his stomach appears to be distended slightly and when I tap it sounds hollow. The other side however is fine.
He's still eating, drinking and toileting like normal.He is also moving about like normal.
Should I take him for an emergency today or wait and see how it goes from now until tomorrow?

Kind Regards,
Lindsay
 
Could you get infacol or gripe water to give him?
Also if the vet isn't available long as tomorrow is Sunday I would go today.
 
I'm not sure what either of those are, can you explain?
My vet is already closed today so I would need to try and get an emergency vet and it'd be the same tomorrow.
I thought my vet was open all day today but I phoned at around 2.30pm and they were already closed
 
Also I read online that massage helps, so I have given him a light one and right away he began to pass more stoole. I have given another just now and the hollow sound seems to have lessened.
 
Gripe water can help him break up the gas it is good that you massages him. Another thing that might help is vibration, like using an electric toothbrush and it's good that he's moving around on his own. Cut out veggies until the bloat is gone. High quality pellets and hay is all he should eat right now
 
I have googled gripe water and hopefully a family member is going to drive out to the pharmacy and pick this up for me. How much of this would I give to him?
Okay I have an electric toothbrush so I will try that too. I have taken away his veggies and left him just with hay and pellets. He is still running about and making little happy squeaks but I have read how quickly bloat can make them really ill so I don't want to risk overlooking it
 
:agr: With @Keiko The Pig. Gripe water (you can buy from the baby aisle in supermarkets or chemists) works a treat to break up gas, massage also helps. It's important to keep guts moving so ideally a vet would give Zantac and metclorporamide to stimulate the gut. Cut out all veggies and grass until this has passed. If no improvement you will need to see a vet
 
I'm waiting on a family member coming home with the gripe water. He's having a wee lie down just now but this isn't really out of the ordinary for him when he's out playing. He usually has a run about then a nap and it alternates like that. The side that was distended seems to have gone down a bit
 
Gripe water they can have up to 3ml every few hours but I think some people on here have dosed at 0.3ml every few hours. Keep going with the massage too and if you can sit him on something that vibrates that will help too. You may need to get him to the emergency vet if he deteriorates though.
 
okay thanks, I'm sure I have a wee syringe somewhere from his old antibiotics I can use for that.
If he worsens I'll 100% take him to the emergency vets. I've just been reluctant to do that at the moment because he is still running about happy, eating and toileting fine etc. If I hadn't noticed the swelling on one side and the fact his wee belly felt firm like how ours would feel when bloated, then I would never have known there was something up as he is behaving like his regular wee self. I'm currently watching him doing wee hops and runs over my bed haha, so behavior wise he's not letting on at all
 
I have given gripe water to a very bloated piggy ,iml every 3 hours or 0.7mls every hour,given grainfree pellets which helped a lot,but these are hard to findZooplus website carry them,i give Jerry thesenowbloat has eliminated permanatly now.also Zantac from the vet,plenty of exercise in large space if he/she is well enough.i syringe fed 10mls of water to ensure drinking plenty.you sound like you are doing all this,great piggy mum.hope your piggy gets well soon.if your piggie gets any worse please take to the vet.x
 
Do you think it would be okay to dilute the gripe water with diluting juice as my wee pig can be a bit funny about taking anything out the syringe unless it is flavoured?
I'll give the grain free pellets a wee research. He's currently on a brand of pellets called Selective after previously being on excel. So I don't know if maybe it's been the change in pellets that has caused this or the amount of Kale my dad was giving him.
Thank you. He's literally the most important wee character in my life, I dunno what I would do without him.
Yeh I will 100% take him to the vet if he gets any worse at all.
Thank you for your advice x
 
My pig loved the taste of gripe water but if yours doesn't just measure the dose, then mix it with something that tastes better then draw it up again I'm sure it can't hurt
 
When toast has mild bloat my vet advised Infacol 0.2mls 3 times daily. Along with massaging her, giving a lot more floor time and cutting out veg this really seems to work and she's only ever needed stronger prescription medication twice (she gets bloat every now and again)
 
I can't find the syringe that I had from the vet, does anyone know where I could buy one or if it would be safe to pop a few drops into his water bottle until I can get one?
He's been out all day since about 1pm and I'm gonna keep him out until I go to bed so hopefully the full day run around helps shift it. He seems to have slowed down a bit now but that's pretty normal for him. I've made sure to bring his water bottle out and give him that by hand while he's out so I know he's still hydrated. He's still eating as well.
 
If an out of hours pharmacy is open you should be able to get one from them.
 
Don't put medication into the water bottle, you won't be able to monitor or control if he gets the meds. You can get syringes from boots/tesco/ any pharmacy. It's possible to use a straw to give him the medication if you can't get a syringe
 
I'll ask my dad to pick up straws on his way home because there's no way he will take it off of a spoon. He hates anything like this and even with a syringe getting him to take anything is a huge huge struggle :(
 
lindsayl said:
I'll ask my dad to pick up straws on his way home because there's no way he will take it off of a spoon. He hates anything like this and even with a syringe getting him to take anything is a huge huge struggle :(
Click to expand...
Did you get infacol? As it's quite thick you could probably manage to put some into a little bit of veg?
 
My dad managed to get gripe water from the chemist. I've managed to give him a wee bit of it by measuring about half to 3 quarters of a 5ml spoon and then I popped it from there into a wee container thing that had a spout, I then poured it into his mouth from there although a wee bit of it went on his face instead. At least I've manged to get some of it into him though
 
That's good. Is he moving about? Lots of floor time should help, and a massage (I sit Toast on a warmish hot water bottle while rubbing her belly- it seems to help)
 
yeh he's still pottering about and having a wee munch. I've been giving him a wee massage every so often but he doesn't let me do it for long before he runs away
 
Update -
His toileting has slowed down a little in comparison to earlier but he also seems a lot less bloated after going so much earlier. Is this normal?
 
lindsayl said:
Update -
His toileting has slowed down a little in comparison to earlier but he also seems a lot less bloated after going so much earlier. Is this normal?
Click to expand...
As long as he's feeling less bloated it should be okay. Just keep an eye on it over night
 
Thanks, I will.
I think it's just cause he's tired now. Usually when he starts to wind down his eating and toileting come to a stand still because hes too busy snuggling in
 
infacol can cause the gas to not disperse as well,but it is worth a try.Gripe water worked best for Jerry. Kale can cause gas! dont worry about grainfree pellets now,just a suggstion for the future if your piggie becomes prone to bloat.wheat /grain can be hard for some piggies to digest.internet sell iml syringes,specially eg vet uk,viovet. Just a suggestion i feed my piggies 1ml of water from a syringe once a weekso they become used to the feel of a syringe being placed to there mouth.it is alot harder to syringe feed/give medications to a very poorly piggie,than a well piggie.It just makes the process much easier for you and your piggie.I hope you should never need to do this.:)
 
Thats a good idea as he's been on antibiotics 2-3 times and although it's got a bit easier to get him to take the syringe he still fights me on it. So I might try the water thing.

Thanks everyone for all of your advice, I appreciate it sooo much.
He is doing a lot better today and the swelling has gone almost totally :D
 
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