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GI Stasis: Urgent please guide me

Lsd3

New Born Pup
Joined
Mar 9, 2023
Messages
26
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25
Points
160
Location
Calgary
Hi,
Due to undiagnosed malocclusion, my guinea pig stopped eating. we noticed on friday evening, took her to a vet who just said she might have cancer so she stopped eating, put her to sleep. We took her home, we didn't know about syrigne feeding, we just watched her in pain puffed up in corner, we took her to another emergency vet who wasn't a exotic vet. Then on Sunday, we found a proper exotic vet, who told us Skye has no sound in her gut. the reason she stopped eating was malocclusion, there is no diagnosis of cancer. I was devastated for not catching the dental issue early. vet started her on an entire protocol sunday evening:
- Midazalom and gabapentin every 12 hours for pain. alternate (she clearly came out of her pain and showed her desire to eat, but couldn't eat, plus the statis).
- Critical care (every 4 hours - 9ml), we are able to do 51 ml by monday, and then 54 ml tuesday, 54 ml wednesday, today aiming for 63ml.
- Cisapride (every 8 hours)
- Sulcrate and dioctyl every 12 hours. X-Ray revealed a lot of gas in the abdomen.
On Monday she had produced some poops, thin, and tiny. On tuesday she produced more formed poop. she didn't really have a desire to eat still. on tuesday she took some pellets from my hand. On tuesday, my exotic vet fixed her front teeth and the back teeth (floating) which was a big problem. She is experienced, so it didn't require anesthesia. her munching is much faster now, i can tell the way she was eating pellets, they gave her subq fluids too for dehydration.
Wednesday she was more sleepy all day, last night, she ate a little dill, a tiny piece of cilantro and celery leaf on my lap and some pellets. still no interest in hay.
Thursday (today), she showed some interest in a biting a tiny timothy hay waffle (those treats/enrichment toy), and she ate very few pellets. she moves around, then naps for long.
She lost 180g in 2 days (her weight on sunday was 850g, today her weight is 880g. she is gaining.
- Sometimes i lose hope because she is still not eating herself much, she hasn't really shown much interest in hay. she did selectively pick a few herbs like dill to eat, and pellets. she always loved pellets, what am i expecting here? i want to do everything i can, she showed me she has desire to live. her teeth floating definitely made her more comfortable to eat, we can see that, even in the way she is munching on pellets, which she couldn't before we started the protocol.
- her GI statis, she is producing poop, does this mean it's working? how long does it take? i don't mind doing this for a month even. i just need to know i m not putting her through unnecessary suffering. we gave her benebac also. Can you give me some guidance based on our progress so far? are those signs good? is her gut starting again? will the appetite return, if so what realistic expectations should i keep on dates. we have a recheck on sunday. we will do more x-rays.
-do you think she will turn around because of the weight gain, interest in picking some herbs, and pellets? Please please please, help me. i am staying up most nights, sleeping for 2 hours at a time, then giving her meds, her critical care. what more can i do?
 
I'm afraid I have no personal experience of this but know it's hard to look after a sick piggy. I just wanted to offer support for you and healing rumbles from my boys ❤️
 
I don't have experience with this type of problem (although the increase in the critical care quantity seems like a good sign to me), but I've been taking care of a piggy with a dental abscess for over a month now, and I know how hard it is to not have answers or a deadline for when things will be resolved. It's hard to stay strong and hopeful, especially with sleep deprivation. But just by reading your story, I can see how much you love your piggy and care about her. And that makes a difference in the end.
 
I'm not an expert, but I think if she is eating and pooping, then she is no longer in stasis. It takes time to get back to normal though. And if she has had dental treatment (it's great if your vet was able to do it without anaesthesia) her mouth and jaw might still be uncomfortable and putting her off eating some things.

You need to give her enough critical care or mushed pellets to stop her losing weight at the daily weighing. I wonder if grass might tempt her a bit more than hay, if you can get any fresh grass (probably not in January in Calgary, unless you dig under snow...)?

You and she are doing very well, keep it up. Sending healing vibes 💓
 
Hi,
Due to undiagnosed malocclusion, my guinea pig stopped eating. we noticed on friday evening, took her to a vet who just said she might have cancer so she stopped eating, put her to sleep. We took her home, we didn't know about syrigne feeding, we just watched her in pain puffed up in corner, we took her to another emergency vet who wasn't a exotic vet. Then on Sunday, we found a proper exotic vet, who told us Skye has no sound in her gut. the reason she stopped eating was malocclusion, there is no diagnosis of cancer. I was devastated for not catching the dental issue early. vet started her on an entire protocol sunday evening:
- Midazalom and gabapentin every 12 hours for pain. alternate (she clearly came out of her pain and showed her desire to eat, but couldn't eat, plus the statis).
- Critical care (every 4 hours - 9ml), we are able to do 51 ml by monday, and then 54 ml tuesday, 54 ml wednesday, today aiming for 63ml.
- Cisapride (every 8 hours)
- Sulcrate and dioctyl every 12 hours. X-Ray revealed a lot of gas in the abdomen.
On Monday she had produced some poops, thin, and tiny. On tuesday she produced more formed poop. she didn't really have a desire to eat still. on tuesday she took some pellets from my hand. On tuesday, my exotic vet fixed her front teeth and the back teeth (floating) which was a big problem. She is experienced, so it didn't require anesthesia. her munching is much faster now, i can tell the way she was eating pellets, they gave her subq fluids too for dehydration.
Wednesday she was more sleepy all day, last night, she ate a little dill, a tiny piece of cilantro and celery leaf on my lap and some pellets. still no interest in hay.
Thursday (today), she showed some interest in a biting a tiny timothy hay waffle (those treats/enrichment toy), and she ate very few pellets. she moves around, then naps for long.
She lost 180g in 2 days (her weight on sunday was 850g, today her weight is 880g. she is gaining.
- Sometimes i lose hope because she is still not eating herself much, she hasn't really shown much interest in hay. she did selectively pick a few herbs like dill to eat, and pellets. she always loved pellets, what am i expecting here? i want to do everything i can, she showed me she has desire to live. her teeth floating definitely made her more comfortable to eat, we can see that, even in the way she is munching on pellets, which she couldn't before we started the protocol.
- her GI statis, she is producing poop, does this mean it's working? how long does it take? i don't mind doing this for a month even. i just need to know i m not putting her through unnecessary suffering. we gave her benebac also. Can you give me some guidance based on our progress so far? are those signs good? is her gut starting again? will the appetite return, if so what realistic expectations should i keep on dates. we have a recheck on sunday. we will do more x-rays.
-do you think she will turn around because of the weight gain, interest in picking some herbs, and pellets? Please please please, help me. i am staying up most nights, sleeping for 2 hours at a time, then giving her meds, her critical care. what more can i do?

Hi

If your piggy is producing poos, then the gut is moving. Please keep battling on; it is always a very tough and draining battle for life.

Please make sure that you free ideally up 6 hours overnight in one piece for yourself for your sleep so you can stand the distance as a primary carer and rather feed more often around it; otherwise exhaustion will really get to you if this is dragging on.

You may find the information and the practical how-to advice in these links here helpful. Please accept that we cannot type everything out in full every time. The poo output is running one to several days behind the input - normal is 1-2 days but with a full GI stasis event it can be longer.
You will get first the normal poos from before the gut stop (if it stops fully and not just partially), then the gap where the internal conveyor belt stops and then the funny poos reflecting the event and reduced food intake.
Vets will now lump (partial or full) GI stasis, bloating and other gut events all under GI stasis, which can be a bit confusing for owners. The various symptoms can play into each other, though.





My thoughts are with you. All the best!
 
Just offering our support I will keep you in my prayers for a speedy and full recovery for your guinea 🙏
 
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