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Guinea pig lethargic and not eating

G

GuineaGang96

New Born Pup
Joined
May 1, 2022
Messages
47
Reaction score
91
Points
185
Location
Cornwall
Hi all,

I know it is late now and unlikely to get advice, but thought I would give it a go as always been super helpful in the past.

I have noticed one of my Guinea’s is hiding away and not interested in food this evening. I fed them all at 8pm and there wasn’t a problem, however when I was completing a spot clean around 9pm I noticed she had been laying down the whole time and had squinted eyes, where as she’s usually very active.

I manage to get her to take a small bite of some apple at 10pm, and and just got her to take a small bite of romaine lettuce, but after one bite of each she wasn’t interested.

I phoned an emergency vet and they said it is obviously cause for concern, and I booked an appointment first thing tomorrow morning. I then enquired about the idea of bringing her tonight, but they explained that out of hours consultation fees are £300 which I can’t afford.

I feel like awful waiting and was wondering if I should just put the emergency vet cost on a credit card and worry about it later, or if I am ok to wait until the appointment first thing tomorrow (or if there is anything else I can do in the meantime)

I will remove this post if no response by tomorrow morning so I don’t use up people’s time that could be spent helping others.
 
GuineaGang96 said:
Hi all,

I know it is late now and unlikely to get advice, but thought I would give it a go as always been super helpful in the past.

I have noticed one of my Guinea’s is hiding away and not interested in food this evening. I fed them all at 8pm and there wasn’t a problem, however when I was completing a spot clean around 9pm I noticed she had been laying down the whole time and had squinted eyes, where as she’s usually very active.

I manage to get her to take a small bite of some apple at 10pm, and and just got her to take a small bite of romaine lettuce, but after one bite of each she wasn’t interested.

I phoned an emergency vet and they said it is obviously cause for concern, and I booked an appointment first thing tomorrow morning. I then enquired about the idea of bringing her tonight, but they explained that out of hours consultation fees are £300 which I can’t afford.

I feel like awful waiting and was wondering if I should just put the emergency vet cost on a credit card and worry about it later, or if I am ok to wait until the appointment first thing tomorrow (or if there is anything else I can do in the meantime)

I will remove this post if no response by tomorrow morning so I don’t use up people’s time that could be spent helping others.
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Sorry your piggy is poorly at such an awkward time! I can't really advise regarding the urgency, but if you do wait until morning, then you need to try to keep her eating if at all possible. Critical Care/Recovery Food is best, but if you don't have either of those, then mush up some pellets with water and syringe them into her mouth gradually. (Don't force it in if she doesn't want to eat though)
 
Welcome to the forum, I'm sorry it's in these circumstances. You are not getting much response because it's only the raging insomniacs awake. I'm not one of the experts but I agree with @Qualcast&Flymo about the syringe feeding.
I hope the vet doesn't find anything serious, please keep us posted.
 
I agree with the others regarding stepping in with home care.

The home care is that you step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed or mushed pellets and switch from routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh each morning. This allows you to more closely monitor independent hay intake. Any weight loss of 50g or more means she is not eating enough hay and your syringe feeding is essential to further weight loss and ensure gut function.

Let us know how you get on with the vet.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Please don’t feel you should delete a thread (only a moderator can remove one) and that you are taking up time. The H&I team (those of us with relevant badges in our signatures) work hard to ensure all posts are answered and we are here to help you
 
I hope your piggy is ok and the vet can find out what’s wrong. Hopefully it’s something easily treatable. Good luck. 🤞🏻
 
GuineaGang96 said:
Thanks all for the responses!

I did actually manage to get some sleep after getting her to manage another leaf and she is still with us but still won’t take food and is hiding away.

I’m getting her to the vet first thing this morning so will update after the visit🤞🏻
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I’m glad you got some sleep.
Please do syringe feed her mushed pellets.
Lettuce isn’t anywhere near enough to keep her system running - it’s the fibre from recovery feed or mushed pellets (as the emergency alternative) that her gut needs to function and avoid/get out of stasis. She needs around 60-90ml of syringe feed in each 24 hour period, but 40ml of syringe feed is the absolute bare minimum to keep them alive. If she is very poorly then she is only going to take a few ml at each sitting so she could need feeding every two hours.
It’s the daily weight checks which tell you whether youve got the amount right.

In addition to the other guides above, I’m also linking in our stasis guide and emergency guide.

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

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

I hope she is ok
 
Aw poor little one :< I hope everything goes well at the vet, that you get some answers and that your piggy starts feeling like herself again soon! You're a really caring owner and that will make all the difference for your little one 🩷
 
The vet believes it is something with her gut so I have some liquid recovery food to syringe feed her every couple of hours.

Just weighting for first feed to get to room temperature and then will start off with a 5ml food. Nervous about having to force feed her the syringe but I know it’s in her best interest.

Then just going to keep a close eye on her over next 24 hours and get her back to the vets if no improvement.

Thanks again for all the responses, Always so helpful!
 
Sorry just realised I used the term force feed as opposed to syringe feed. I will be gentle, I just meant I will make sure she has her feed.
 
I’m glad the syringe feeding wasn’t a battle.

Make sure to weigh her every morning so you know she is eating enough to keep her weight stable each day
 
GuineaGang96 said:
Not a lot of forcing involved! She got a taste and then it was gone so I’m going to get her another 5 ml. Such a relief to see her atleast take in some food.
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Hi

Try to get as much food into her in each session as possible. If you can get 10-15 ml into her in one go, then that usually means that her appetite is not totally gone and that you are at this moment not fighting a desperate battle for life.

Ideally you aim for at least 10 ml per session; any extra is a bonus. If getting to 5 ml and any ml above are a real struggle, then your piggy is truly unwell and you are in a crisis. You are aiming at around 60 ml over 24 hours in as many sessions as it takes; if feeding is a real battle, then you try to get as close to 40 ml in 24 hours, ideally feeding every 2 hours during the day and once during the night - make sure that you get some unbroken sleep if the life and death battle drags on.

We have got practical step by step emergency/crisis care advice available on here in case there is the need for immediate advice during our down time for overnight UK emergencies and for our international members from different time zones; we have bundled it all into one link so you do not have to search around when in a panic.
I would recommend that you bookmark this link below so you always have it readily available, just in case. It is our one-stop emergency and crisis care collection which deals with all the issues that can come up ranging from vet access, being able to assess how urgent is the health problem to home support (improvised and regular), first aid measures at home and also covering practical end of life support at home if a vet is out of reach etc...
Every aspect has practical how-to care guides which talk you through what you can do and how to go about it. ;)
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

As to gut problems, you may find these links helpful:
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
Wiebke's Guide to Poops
Wiebke's Guide to Tummy Trouble
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Try to get as much food into her in each session as possible. If you can get 10-15 ml into her in one go, then that usually means that her appetite is not totally gone and that you are at this moment not fighting a desperate battle for life.

Ideally you aim for at least 10 ml per session; any extra is a bonus. If getting to 5 ml and any ml above are a real struggle, then your piggy is truly unwell and you are in a crisis. You are aiming at around 60 ml over 24 hours in as many sessions as it takes; if feeding is a real battle, then you try to get as close to 40 ml in 24 hours, ideally feeding every 2 hours during the day and once during the night - make sure that you get some unbroken sleep if the life and death battle drags on.

We have got practical step by step emergency/crisis care advice available on here in case there is the need for immediate advice during our down time for overnight UK emergencies and for our international members from different time zones; we have bundled it all into one link so you do not have to search around when in a panic.
I would recommend that you bookmark this link below so you always have it readily available, just in case. It is our one-stop emergency and crisis care collection which deals with all the issues that can come up ranging from vet access, being able to assess how urgent is the health problem to home support (improvised and regular), first aid measures at home and also covering practical end of life support at home if a vet is out of reach etc...
Every aspect has practical how-to care guides which talk you through what you can do and how to go about it. ;)
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

As to gut problems, you may find these links helpful:
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
Wiebke's Guide to Poops
Wiebke's Guide to Tummy Trouble
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Thank you for the information - that’s all been bookmarked and I will keep a very close eye on her to make sure I’m doing everything I can to keep her as comfortable as possible.

With regards to the syringe feeding, I just gave her an additional 10ml and she took that straight down aswell and was looking for more.

I am going to fill it up again and give her another 15ml in an hour or so.

When I put her back she moved a lot more comfortably and happily clucking as she moved along. I understand it’s still a long way to go but nice to see her slightly more comfortable at the very least.
 
Wheekallweek said:
If she will keep taking it, I would keep offering it until she's had enough. Great that she's eating! 😍
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Haha shes had 15ml so far and was looking for more, just letting another 15ml get to room temperature and then will give her that. It was nice to see her munching away and she instantly became more interactive.
 
GuineaGang96 said:
Thank you for the information - that’s all been bookmarked and I will keep a very close eye on her to make sure I’m doing everything I can to keep her as comfortable as possible.

With regards to the syringe feeding, I just gave her an additional 10ml and she took that straight down aswell and was looking for more.

I am going to fill it up again and give her another 15ml in an hour or so.

When I put her back she moved a lot more comfortably and happily clucking as she moved along. I understand it’s still a long way to go but nice to see her slightly more comfortable at the very least.
Click to expand...

If your piggy is eating 15 ml in one go, you can keep it to four feeding sessions a day; with ca. 10 ml you do 6 sessions if possible and make sure that you get 6 hours unbroken sleep.
Round the clock feeding care is needed when every syringe is a battle. ;)

Great that she seems better in herself. Gut meds can help, and seeing a vet promptly for them can make a read difference!
 
Wiebke said:
If your piggy is eating 15 ml in one go, you can keep it to four feeding sessions a day; with ca. 10 ml you do 6 sessions if possible and make sure that you get 6 hours unbroken sleep.
Round the clock feeding care is needed when every syringe is a battle. ;)

Great that she seems better in herself. Gut meds can help, and seeing a vet promptly for them can make a read difference!
Click to expand...
Ok great to know thanks :)

She’s eaten some cucumber now aswell which is good however she still is not moving though so have to say I’m still concerned that it is something quite serious but will see how she is tonight and tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed.
 
GuineaGang96 said:
Ok great to know thanks :)

She’s eaten some cucumber now aswell which is good however she still is not moving though so have to say I’m still concerned that it is something quite serious but will see how she is tonight and tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

Here are our practical care tips for looking after piggies who are not moving around much or at all (whethet that is a serious illness or mobility related): Looking After Guinea Pigs With Limited or No Mobility
 
Wheekallweek said:
Sounds like she's cheered up a bit, that's great! 🙂
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Bit of a roller coaster - she’s now gone back to just sleeping (however they’re all having a snooze at the moment.) she also wasn’t interested in last syringe feed, but she had eaten a fair bit of hay so I’m just giving her a break and will try again soon! :)
 
fluffysal said:
Thank you for keeping us updated. I'm pleased she likes the recovery food.
Click to expand...

I probably am over updating, I just want to make sure I am doing everything correctly and everyone’s been so helpful.

I let her sleep for a bit, and have just tried to syringe feed again but wasn’t as successful. I manage to get her to eat a bit (less then 5ml) but then she refused and was squirming around a lot. I put her back and she ate some hay and has gone back to resting.

My partner is home soon so I am going to get her to help me to syringe feed as soon as she is back.

Disappointing after she took to it so we’ll earlier.
 
GuineaGang96 said:
She ate some carrot aswell, looks a lot better in her eyes etc. however she will not eat the syringe food and I’m unsure if I should be forcing it in her mouth or not.
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Sorry opening her mouth for her, not forcing the syringe in.
 
Sorry I have what is hopefully my last question for now.

We are really struggling with syringe feeding, I have managed to get her about 25ml and she was meant to have 60ml, however she is eating hay as usual, moving more comfortably and looking a lot more herself (still lethargic compared to normal)

Should I still be attempting to syringe feed despite her seemingly having her appetite back and try get her to have atleast 40ml within the next couple of hours?
 
In such circumstances, the best thing to go by is whether she is maintaining her weight; so you need to be weighing her every day (morning preferably) to check that she is getting in enough food in the hay she is eating herself and the syringe food. If she isn't maintaining her weight then she needs more syringe food.
 
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