GI Stasis in Guinea Pig

[cece78311]

Hi! So my piggy, Pepe Le' Pew, has been ill for two weeks now. I noticed that he had stopped pooping and hadn't touched his food or water in about a day at first, I took him to a vet soon after and they told me he looked okay, took a fecal sample and tested it and he had no parasites or infections. They gave him Benebac, an appetite stimulant, and Critical care and told me to give him that and if I didn't see any improvements in the next day, to take him in again. There was still no poo or any additional eating other than the critical care, so I took him to a different vet on the 13th, that specialized in piggies. They told me it was most likely GI Stasis as everything else looked good (teeth were good, no bloating, xray came back good just some built up gas and noticeable poo backed up from not pooing) but that I should stop the benebac and just focus on the critical care, 4x a day (40-48ml of critical care), they also gave him pain management. So I started doing that and checked in with that vet on Monday the 15th and updated the doctor that there was really no change and I was becoming very concerned at this point since he hadn't really pooped. He finally did have some poo later that evening, but it was still clumpy. The following day his poo changed and it was not thin and ribbon like. I called the vet on the 18th and told him this and they said it was probably just the critical care doing its job and it was normal and I shouldn't be concerned. I insisted on an additional vet appointment though and they got me in that same day on the 18th. They did another evaluation and took blood this time, it came back clean expect he was dehydrated. The doctor said that hydration and the consistent critical care should fix him right up. He wanted me to come in over the course of the next two days for fluids, vitamin C, and an additional medication via IV. All this did was cure the constipation, but now his diarrhea is worse than before, its just a wet mess and he can't always push it out himself so I have to gently squeeze it out. On Friday last week, the 19th, after our third round of fluids, I told the nurse he was not getting better, there was no change, he was only getting worse and I really needed them to help cure him because I was and am afraid this is going to take his life. She said there was really nothing more they could do since his tests came back clean. I am feeling so defeated and helpless as this point. I thought I was going to lose him over the weekend because he was grunting in pain on Saturday morning. He really fights getting syringe fed, and he isn't improving. I don't know what to do as it seems the doctors are no help anymore. I am so afraid that he is in pain and I don't want him to live in pain, so I am even more afraid that there will come a point that I have to make a very difficult decision if he doesn't get better. I know no one here is a vet, but if anyone has had a similar experience, has any tips, tricks, or advice, I would very much appreciate it. This piggy mamas heart is hurting for her baby, I hate seeing him suffering and I just want him better and his peppy self again.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this,

BeneBac is a probiotic - it helps replace gut bacteria which help keep the gut functioning, it’s not a stimulant medication as such.
You would want a painkiller (stasis can often be as a result of another health issue, not the main issue itself), and something like emeprid or cisapride as gut stimulants.
As he has a painkiller, what dosage was he given?

The amount of critical care that needs to be given in each 24 hour is directly linked to daily weight checks. You need to weigh a piggy daily during an illness (you can go back to routine weekly weight checks once well again). Those weight checks tell you how much critical care to give in each 24 hour period. If your piggy is losing weight each day then not enough critical care is being given.
40-60ml is the minimum amount to keep them alive. A healthy piggy would eat around 100ml per day.

It can be more difficult to get it into a piggy who is very unwell so giving lots of smaller feeds throughout the day - this means feeding every two hours - including a feed during the night in very unwell piggies (any night feeding needs to be sustainable for you as well, you can’t function if you aren’t getting enough sleep). Four times a day may not be enough.

The guide below details more about stasis.

Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

 

[cece78311]

I’m sorry to hear this,

BeneBac is a probiotic - it helps replace gut bacteria which help keep the gut functioning, it’s not a stimulant medication as such.
You would want a painkiller (stasis can often be as a result of another health issue, not the main issue itself), and something like emeprid or cisapride as gut stimulants.
As he has a painkiller, what dosage was he given?

The amount of critical care that needs to be given in each 24 hour is directly linked to daily weight checks. You need to weigh a piggy daily during an illness (you can go back to routine weekly weight checks once well again). Those weight checks tell you how much critical care to give in each 24 hour period. If your piggy is losing weight each day then not enough critical care is being given.
40-60ml is the minimum amount to keep them alive. A healthy piggy would eat around 100ml per day.

It can be more difficult to get it into a piggy who is very unwell so giving lots of smaller feeds throughout the day - this means feeding every two hours - including a feed during the night in very unwell piggies (any night feeding needs to be sustainable for you as well, you can’t function if you aren’t getting enough sleep). Four times a day may not be enough.

The guide below details more about stasis.

Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

I'm not sure what his dosage is, I can look when I get home though. Currently his weight is stable, he hasn't lost any and that has been confirmed by both myself and the doctor. I have been weighing him every other day just to check and make sure he isn't losing anything as I know that can make things worse very quickly. As bad as this sounds, four times a day is all I can manage right now. I live across the country from any of my family so I have no help with him, its just me taking care of him and I have two jobs. Each feeding that I give him takes about an hour because he fights quite a bit during the feeding and I have to go slow to ensure he eats it and it isn't falling out of his mouth. I think because his weight is stable that the four times is enough right now, obviously if his weight changes, I will change the amount of food he gets, but for now it seems okay. I guess I just don't know what to do at this point, if this doesn't work I don't seem to have any options left. Thank you for responding, I also read the article you provided.

 

[Free Ranger]

Is he an older or younger boy?
It is difficult sometimes to tell if they have pain. I lost my girl last month at the age of 5 to gut problems. She didn't want to eat much - just nibbles here and there - and was syringed for a few days to get things going again. Because it was just over a short period I didn't worry too much about the large volumes... just little and often to try and get things moving along with metacam (pain relief) and emeprid (gut stimulant). Well it worked, but then there was a little bout of runny wet poop and then everything just stopped. And she passed with a day, bless her But she'd had a sensitive tum for a few weeks and a big part of me thinks that whatever was wrong wasn't going to be a curable thing. She hadn't lost weight, she hadn't stopped eating long enough for it to be gut stasis, mercifully she didn't have any pain as far as we could tell, not even when the vet gave her a good exam with poky fingers. 5 didn't seem old, she didn't seem old, but there you go.

If your boy is older you are doing the right thing by weighing up his options and thinking about whether this is an illness he can recover from or whether it is the start of him winding down. If he is younger it's going to be a case of trying to identify what might be wrong. Sometimes overdoing the gut stimulant can cause a temporary diarrhoea - there are a range of doses so you could ask whether they gave you a high dose to start with when his guts seemed to have stopped? Maybe they could drop it down or give it less frequently (sometimes they say every 12 hours sometimes it's every 8) But he stopped eating for a reason. I'm never sure what they look for with blood tests - is it cancers or something?

If his teeth are even and he is chewing well maybe his problem is swallowing. If he is chewing slowly and his teeth are maybe sloping to one side at the front that might indicate a mouth problem. I'll be thinking of you little Pepe, and your devoted owner x

 

[cece78311]

Is he an older or younger boy?
It is difficult sometimes to tell if they have pain. I lost my girl last month at the age of 5 to gut problems. She didn't want to eat much - just nibbles here and there - and was syringed for a few days to get things going again. Because it was just over a short period I didn't worry too much about the large volumes... just little and often to try and get things moving along with metacam (pain relief) and emeprid (gut stimulant). Well it worked, but then there was a little bout of runny wet poop and then everything just stopped. And she passed with a day, bless her But she'd had a sensitive tum for a few weeks and a big part of me thinks that whatever was wrong wasn't going to be a curable thing. She hadn't lost weight, she hadn't stopped eating long enough for it to be gut stasis, mercifully she didn't have any pain as far as we could tell, not even when the vet gave her a good exam with poky fingers. 5 didn't seem old, she didn't seem old, but there you go.

If your boy is older you are doing the right thing by weighing up his options and thinking about whether this is an illness he can recover from or whether it is the start of him winding down. If he is younger it's going to be a case of trying to identify what might be wrong. Sometimes overdoing the gut stimulant can cause a temporary diarrhoea - there are a range of doses so you could ask whether they gave you a high dose to start with when his guts seemed to have stopped? Maybe they could drop it down or give it less frequently (sometimes they say every 12 hours sometimes it's every 8) But he stopped eating for a reason. I'm never sure what they look for with blood tests - is it cancers or something?

If his teeth are even and he is chewing well maybe his problem is swallowing. If he is chewing slowly and his teeth are maybe sloping to one side at the front that might indicate a mouth problem. I'll be thinking of you little Pepe, and your devoted owner x

He's middle aged, he is about to turn 3 in July. Same with him, he doesn't seem old. Before all of this started he was a popcorning, running, prancing, and peppy little pig. His temperament has definitely changed, he is slower, and not as energetic as he used to be. He has moments of energy, he still purrs when I pet him, and he still licks me whenever he gets the chance, but in his cage, he is just hunched under his hut or in a corner. He stands by his hay and pellets sometimes and even climbs on them to sniff them and it looks as though he is about to eat, but then he backs up and doesn't.

In the blood test they were checking his organs to make sure it wasn't something internal going on, but everything looked good, he said he was in good shape pertaining to his organs, only dehydration. They also said his teeth were really good too, he didn't have any sores, cuts, or injuries in his mouth either. Thank you for your thoughts <3

 

[piggl]

What medications is he on and at what dosage?
Gut stimulants, painkillers etc.

So they have done xrays, dentals and bloodwork and all came back negative? What do they think the cause is then?
Sometimes if you overload a pig with medications and fluids they can go to the other end and get diahorrea. Is he still getting veggies?
If he is dehydrated you can offer him some water or if he is really not taking it on his own you can syringe feed small amounts when he is getting his medication.

Sorry to hear your wee boy is going through this and I wish you all the best x

 

[Free Ranger]

Sometimes pigs can get internal growths that put pressure on the gut. I had a girl who stopped eating (although she was clearly hungry) and fought the syringe but once the food was in she chewed speedily - but just kept chewing and chewing and didn't really swallow. Her behaviour otherwise was normal, Only towards the very end did she look unwell and the vet speculated that something was preventing her from swallowing and that it must have gotten advanced enough to make her suddenly ill in this way, my poor beauty. Whether that growth was in the throat or further down in the gut I couldn't say. The did an ultrasound of her abdominal internal organs and couldn't see anything unusual.

Then there were pigs who had something wrong in the mouth itself. Pigs with toothy problems can sometimes chew in a weird way, maybe much slower or more unevenly like 'chew chew - pause - chew chew chew - pause..." as they try to manipulate the food into a good position. Sometimes it is not the teeth but a small (or large) gum abscess causing pain as they bite together. These pigs might be more willing to eat soft food like sloppy CC or well soaked pellets from a dish- hard food like hay or dry pellets are avoided. One of my girls with a painful front incisor would only slurp up little bits from the middle of a cucumber on her own. Sloppy foods and cucumber middles are all hydrating.

Has your vet offered ultrasound or x-ray to try and see is something is amiss inside? US is usually done consciously over here but they do have to have the fur clippered off the belly which is not nice for them. X-ray is sometimes done consciously - my vet swaddles pigs firmly in a towel and I've seen pics where piggy is just sat in a little covered box - these can avoid a general anaesthetic. Some UK vets will give a whiff of isoflurane gas. I think this puts them under but without analgesia (pain relief) but as x-ray don't hurt that doesn't matter. They can recover quickly when the gas is removed. I don't know whether this will tell you anything though... and over in the States it will probably be pricey.

I hope he is at least feeling as comfortable as you can manage x

 

[cece78311]

What medications is he on and at what dosage?
Gut stimulants, painkillers etc.

So they have done xrays, dentals and bloodwork and all came back negative? What do they think the cause is then?
Sometimes if you overload a pig with medications and fluids they can go to the other end and get diahorrea. Is he still getting veggies?
If he is dehydrated you can offer him some water or if he is really not taking it on his own you can syringe feed small amounts when he is getting his medication.

Sorry to hear your wee boy is going through this and I wish you all the best x

Currently he is on the critical care, metacam 0.4ml once a day, and bene-bac plus 1gram per day.

The doctor said they can't find out what the cause is as these things happen very randomly and often for no reason at all so they have no way of knowing what caused it. I just feel like they aren't taking all measures possibly or even really taking this seriously, or even trying to help him. It feels like they are taking a generic route based on what most guinea pigs deal with. He is interested in eating bits of veggies, but he won't finish them anymore. I have pulled him from veggies though for the past five days per research that I did that suggested to stick with critical care, pellets, and hay only to reset their GI tract. I am syringing him water everyday at this point because he is not drinking it on his own. He gets hydration from the critical care mixture and then 40-45ml of water everyday. The amount of liquid I'm giving him seems to make the diahhrea worse, its not just liquid, its not even just kind of mushy, its just liquid poo.

 

[cece78311]

Sometimes pigs can get internal growths that put pressure on the gut. I had a girl who stopped eating (although she was clearly hungry) and fought the syringe but once the food was in she chewed speedily - but just kept chewing and chewing and didn't really swallow. Her behaviour otherwise was normal, Only towards the very end did she look unwell and the vet speculated that something was preventing her from swallowing and that it must have gotten advanced enough to make her suddenly ill in this way, my poor beauty. Whether that growth was in the throat or further down in the gut I couldn't say. The did an ultrasound of her abdominal internal organs and couldn't see anything unusual.

Then there were pigs who had something wrong in the mouth itself. Pigs with toothy problems can sometimes chew in a weird way, maybe much slower or more unevenly like 'chew chew - pause - chew chew chew - pause..." as they try to manipulate the food into a good position. Sometimes it is not the teeth but a small (or large) gum abscess causing pain as they bite together. These pigs might be more willing to eat soft food like sloppy CC or well soaked pellets from a dish- hard food like hay or dry pellets are avoided. One of my girls with a painful front incisor would only slurp up little bits from the middle of a cucumber on her own. Sloppy foods and cucumber middles are all hydrating.

Has your vet offered ultrasound or x-ray to try and see is something is amiss inside? US is usually done consciously over here but they do have to have the fur clippered off the belly which is not nice for them. X-ray is sometimes done consciously - my vet swaddles pigs firmly in a towel and I've seen pics where piggy is just sat in a little covered box - these can avoid a general anaesthetic. Some UK vets will give a whiff of isoflurane gas. I think this puts them under but without analgesia (pain relief) but as x-ray don't hurt that doesn't matter. They can recover quickly when the gas is removed. I don't know whether this will tell you anything though... and over in the States it will probably be pricey.

I hope he is at least feeling as comfortable as you can manage x

There absolutely is a possibility that that could be it, I don't think hes fighting the food simply because its food, he just doesn't like his face touched, he never has. But like your situation, we would never know he had a growth.

His chewing seems normal when he is "chewing" his critical care and the doctor confirmed his mouth and teeth look really good. I had considered an infection or a loose tooth possibly but when I pushed on his front teeth he didn't squeal or flinch so I think his mouth it okay.

They did do an Xray during the beginning and it just showed some backed up poo and minimal gas, the doctor wasn't concerned about it though. They don't seem to have been concerned about anything at this point and it makes me feel crazy. Everything is pricey in the US haha.

Thank you for your well wishes and input

 

[piggl]

Currently he is on the critical care, metacam 0.4ml once a day, and bene-bac plus 1gram per day.

The doctor said they can't find out what the cause is as these things happen very randomly and often for no reason at all so they have no way of knowing what caused it. I just feel like they aren't taking all measures possibly or even really taking this seriously, or even trying to help him. It feels like they are taking a generic route based on what most guinea pigs deal with. He is interested in eating bits of veggies, but he won't finish them anymore. I have pulled him from veggies though for the past five days per research that I did that suggested to stick with critical care, pellets, and hay only to reset their GI tract. I am syringing him water everyday at this point because he is not drinking it on his own. He gets hydration from the critical care mixture and then 40-45ml of water everyday. The amount of liquid I'm giving him seems to make the diahhrea worse, its not just liquid, its not even just kind of mushy, its just liquid poo.

It seems like quite a few tests were done off the bat which is quite impressive as, at least at my vets, they generally start with medication when it comes to things like this.

Liquid poo is really quite concerning, and in most cases is classed as emergent.
Have your vets spoke about Emeprid, Cisapride or Fibreplex.
The first two are gut stimulants which work on separate areas of the gut and Fibreplex is a high fibre probiotic which helps keep the guts moving, but thinking about it you may not need.

Is the metacam dog or cat?
If I was in your position I would focus on trying to fix his stomach, start with his diahorria as that will definitely not help with his lack of drinking.
If you are with an exotic vet I wonder why they are not so concerned about his poop state.

In all honesty I really am not sure where I would go from here, but I definitely think it is a discussion to have with your vet, although you said they have already done everything they can.
I would really be looking get him out of this stage before looking at the cause of such and they should be able to help aide that through medication.

Wishing you and your boy all the best x

 

[Piggies&buns]

Is his weight still stable?

I would be very concerned about his poops being full liquid. I would be worried about dehydration. His gut needs to be settled. Being on benebac is good, it’ll help replace gut bacteria. However, does he have a healthy companion from whose you can make poop soup? Poop soup can be given alongside the commercial probiotic. It helps directly replace gut microbiome in a very effective way.

 

[Free Ranger]

I wonder how they discounted any infection in his poop - which is generally full of different types of bacteria anyway...?