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Guinea pig CAN’T eat

Free Ranger said:
Oh my goodness, that must have been painful! Well done on finding a vet who was a bit more willing to try for him. I hope the antibiotics kick in soon.
Whatever happens from this point on it makes such a difference to an owner when we can identify what is wrong - obviously to try and get the right treatment for piggy, but also psychologically it preys on your mind very much that it is something so serious that they stop eating but we haven't a clue what is going on. Here's hoping he can turn the corner x
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You hit the nail on the head with this. Not know was like torture. Knowing is like a different kind of madness, just wishing that this hole in his throat would heal.
I found one other person who posted in 2020 about a similar thing happening
Piggies&buns said:
I’m afraid we can’t know what could be wrong - dental or mouth issues (oral thrush for example) would be our guesses given the things you report but guessing obviously isn’t good enough

While you try to find a different vet, all you can do is switch to daily weight checks and support feed (we don’t call it force feeding as there should be no forcing involved) enough in each 24 hour period to keep his weight stable.
If he is having soft poop, then remove veg from his diet and feed only the syringe feed and of course continue to offer lots of hay.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
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Can I ask, do I need to syringe feed at night time? My pig still isn’t eating anything on his own.
 
If he won't slurp up pellets or mush from a bowl it is something to consider but it depends how he's eating in the day and maintaining his weight.

If I've had pigs in at the vet overnight they don't syringe between 11 and 6-7am unless it's a properly desperate case where you're recovering from an op or verging on gut stasis. They give them a break and a chance to sleep. My girl who was syringed long term here at home was the same. It took several hours every day to get the food down her but she maintained her (reduced) weight of 950g with the night-time break. If piggy can eat enough during the day he'll manage overnight - if he's in with a friend that friend will probably gobble up any mush you leave in the cage but don't split them for the sake of a supper 💕
 
Free Ranger said:
If he won't slurp up pellets or mush from a bowl it is something to consider but it depends how he's eating in the day and maintaining his weight.

If I've had pigs in at the vet overnight they don't syringe between 11 and 6-7am unless it's a properly desperate case where you're recovering from an op or verging on gut stasis. They give them a break and a chance to sleep. My girl who was syringed long term here at home was the same. It took several hours every day to get the food down her but she maintained her (reduced) weight of 950g with the night-time break. If piggy can eat enough during the day he'll manage overnight - if he's in with a friend that friend will probably gobble up any mush you leave in the cage but don't split them for the sake of a supper 💕
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Thank you :) My little guy is losing weight fast. How much should I give him in a 24 hr period? I was getting in 55ml per day and he was maintaining
Free Ranger said:
If he won't slurp up pellets or mush from a bowl it is something to consider but it depends how he's eating in the day and maintaining his weight.

If I've had pigs in at the vet overnight they don't syringe between 11 and 6-7am unless it's a properly desperate case where you're recovering from an op or verging on gut stasis. They give them a break and a chance to sleep. My girl who was syringed long term here at home was the same. It took several hours every day to get the food down her but she maintained her (reduced) weight of 950g with the night-time break. If piggy can eat enough during the day he'll manage overnight - if he's in with a friend that friend will probably gobble up any mush you leave in the cage but don't split them for the sake of a supper 💕
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Thanks for the advice! My piggy seems extra attached to his buddy right now so I definitely won’t be splitting them up :)
 
Marshly said:
Thank you :) My little guy is losing weight fast. How much should I give him in a 24 hr period? I was getting in 55ml per day and he was maintaining

Thanks for the advice! My piggy seems extra attached to his buddy right now so I definitely won’t be splitting them up :)
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How much weight has he lost?

There is no exact science to the amount - it’s dictated by the daily weight checks. If 55 isn’t enough then it’s a case of increasing it until you find an amount which stabilises him. However 40-60ml is often the minimum amount.
 
I’m posting for anyone who might come across my post in the future and would like to hear the outcome.
After 3 different vet opinions it was determined to be a highly likely case of TMJ. The “hole” Marsh had in his mouth healed beautifully but he never ate properly again. A specialist told me that whatever infection he had may have irreparably damaged his jaw.
Marsh could eat very little on his own and had a diet of mush pellets and support feeding every 4 hours. I would have continued to do this forever but his weight was unstable and it was nearly impossible to get him above 830grams. He was always hungry and ended up with bumble foot on all four paws due to never really being comfortable enough to lie down. Due to not being able to eat anything on his own his teeth became unmanageable and his weight was plummeting. While I would have kept up with constant teeth trimmings he could barely handle sedation when he was healthy let alone when he was a weak piggy. I made the sad decision to let him go because I felt it was what was best for him :( My poor sweet boy didn’t even make it to 3 years.
 
I’m so sorry you had to make this hard decision to help Marsh over the bridge. You tried all you could. Sometimes it’s just not enough. He was a loved piggy. He would have known that. He had a short but wonderful life.
 
So sorry to hear about Marsh. You were clearly a very loving and attentive owner who did the very best for him including knowing when it was time to let him go. 💕
 
So sorry that you had to give that last gift of love. It’s a painful decision to make.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve.
Holding you in my heart ♥️
 
Aw I’ve just seen your thread and I am so sorry that you had to let Marsh go in the end 😞 but you made absolutely the right decision for him. We had to let my Edward go in August after he developed bumble foot from severe arthritis and him sitting in his own mess. He lost the ability to swallow too 😞 x
 
I'm so sorry 💔
He was a loved piggy, your decision to let him go proves that :hug: Sleep tight Marsh.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. It sounds like you did everything you could, but his quality of life was just not going to be good under the circumstances and the kindest thing was to let him go peacefully. I lost one piggie at under two years due to dental issues as well, I know how unfair it is. ((HUGS.))
 
I'm so sorry for your loss - he was a very brave boy who really tried his best 💕
You've done incredibly under such difficult circumstances and thanks so much for updating the thread because you're right, other people in similar circumstances will come across this in the future and it might strike a chord to identify their problem. We'll be thinking of you and his cage mate. Rest in peace Marsh x
 
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