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Fluid buildup

The pain relief dosage guidelines you mention there are for cats I think, they metabolise meloxicam more slowly and are at much greater risk of overdose.
Scientific studies have shown up to 1ml of 0.5mg/ml meloxican is safe for guinea pigs long term- and in reality many experienced vets prescribe the stronger dog meloxicam which is 1.5mg/ml at a dose of 0.4mls daily.
I would speak to the vet and ask them to review the meloxicam dosage, based on the research studies on piggies- typically even a low maintenance dose for an underweight piggy is 0.2mls twice daily.
Does ypur piggy have a friend? If so how is the friend's appetite and food preferences? Often food choices are learned behaviours from companions, and eating is very much a social activity for guinea pigs, they often eat much more hay and try a wider range of veggies with a companion to share things with.
 
For guinea pigs, they can take higher doses and need their pain meds twice a day. The dose you have been given is low.
 
That was off of this website and I scrolled to the guinea pig section: Dosage and administration

Could anyone provide links with the medical studies so I have the correct information?

His companion is a big greedy boy and he will eat whatever is in front of him he's a hefty 1.2kg, I've just bought romaine lettuce which I know Freddie did love so I will try some in a short while.
 
Can anyone give me any ideas as to what is causing him to not want to eat. He's just not touching the lettuce, it seems to be tougher things. It's really starting to stress me out as I don't feel like we're making much improvement, could it be his time or?
 
It could be a number of things but unfortunately the vet is your best bet with regards to finding out. Hopefully once his pain is under control (he could just be hiding it well), he’ll start to recover.
 
Christuphar said:
Can anyone give me any ideas as to what is causing him to not want to eat. He's just not touching the lettuce, it seems to be tougher things. It's really starting to stress me out as I don't feel like we're making much improvement, could it be his time or?
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You are doing a great job, so try to be kind to yourself.

If any of mine ever have issues eating, then the first thing I address is pain - guinea pigs are absolute experts at hiding it, so if there isn't another obvious cause I make sure they are on a decent dose of pain relief (Metacam).
As your boy is on a very low dose which is unlikely to be having any effect I would start here.
Guinea pigs can comfortably have up to 1mg per kilo of body weight every 12 hours - this is listed as appropriate in various scientific articles which your vet should be able to access online. These are often not available free of charge to the general public unless you subscribe or have access to specific publications, either personally or more likely through your place of work.

If your vet is unsure about this they should be happy to research it, or consult a more specialist vet.
This is what my local vet tends to do, as she is great for every day things, but in no way a specialist.

Have you tried cutting his food into matchsticks? Sometimes this can also help them get it into their mouthing the most comfortable position for them.
Sprigs of herbs are also often popular as they are easy to eat and very tasty.
 
Hello all, so this morning we went to check on the boys and Freddie's brother Teddie decided that he also had to develop an eye problem so we had an emergency vet appointment, I will upload a photo shortly as I don't want to stress out the poor guy, after we finished his consultation I asked the vet (he was new to us and seemed a little bit more familiar) he's said to go ahead and drop Freddie's Frusol to 0.5ml twice a day and due to Freddie eating after his small dose of metacam to do .12ml twice daily, he said we could up it but to do so gradually and let's just see how the boy responds to it twice daily with a reduced Frusol. I got his name as he was very willing to listen to what you all had said and agreed that metacam can be increased due to the piggies fast metabolism, but as he is reduced eating he didn't want to increase it significantly.
 
I've spoken with Cat and Rabbit care over in Northampton and we've got an appointment for Freddie on the 16th August and to call next week to see if we can get an emergency appointment 🤞 - it's been on my mind and I want a cavvy specialist to have a check to try and get the best possible care
 
Evening all, Freddie is not eating, not mobile and lost his balance a lot, I think we may lose him tonight. We're sat with him and have been trying to provide water and food to little effect. He's on his fleece after some love, cuddles and kisses and thanking him for being such a wonderful piggie. Any advice on how we can best comfort him? I am almost certain we've lost this fight and it brings so much heartache
 
We lost Freddie, he lost all of his balance, started running on his side and took one last breath and passed peacefully. Thank you everyone for your help through this, I am devastated. ❤️
 
Sorry to hear your news.
Popcorn free over the rainbow bridge Freddie. 🌈
 
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