• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Guinea pig not eating

Zorro1

Zorro1

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
4,223
Reaction score
2,796
Points
975
Location
TNQ, Australia
I noticed about 2 weeks ago that my piggy had stopped eating hay. I wasn't too stressed as he seemed to be very happy as usual and acting normal. He was still eating pellets and veggies. However, since a couple of days ago, he's slowed down eating veggies and pellets as well and is a little more lethargic. His droppings are also really soft and this morning he hasn't even touched breakfast. 😟

I'm aware that I will need to find a vet but until then, does anyone know why my guinea pig is behaving the way he is? Has anyone experienced the same thing? Could he have something like bloat? Any help is really appreciated.
 
Please urgently step in with syringe feeding and ensure you switch to weighing him every morning (rather than the normal weekly weight checks) so you can monitor he is getting enough syringe feed and stops losing weight.

He is behaving like this because he is unwell and has been since the first day he stopped eating hay.
It could be down to any medical condition, so he does need a vet rather quickly now it’s been going on for so long.

Hay is the most important part is the diet. As soon as hay intake reduces but even if they are still eating veg and pellets then they need help. Hay is 80% of their daily food needs whereas veg and pellets jointly is only 20% so he has lost a large amount of his food intake over the last few week. This is why he is lethargic and his poops aren’t right.
The very first day they stop eating enough hay they will start to lose weight as that is the day they need syringe feeding and to see a vet.

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
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
 
Should I use pellets soaked in water (to a mush consistency) as all his meals until it's unneeded or is that just until I can get a recovery formula?
I've never syringe fed before. All help is really appreciated.
 
Zorro1 said:
Should I use pellets soaked in water (to a mush consistency) as all his meals until it's unneeded or is that just until I can get a recovery formula?
I've never syringe fed before. All help is really appreciated.
Click to expand...

Yes soak pellets in water. It’s the emergency equivalent of recovery feed but some people prefer to only use mushed pellets. The difference is that recovery feed is higher in fibre than pellets.

The guides I linked in explain everything about how to adjust it and the weight checks
 
Zorro1 said:
Just came home from the vets, apparently he has a stomach upset and needs to be given antibiotics.
I'm not confident of how to syringe feed him the oral meds. @Piggies&buns would you have a link to something helpful?
Click to expand...

What sort of ‘stomach upset’? This really is important to knowing how to proceed - for example if it is bloat or a digestive upset then he needs painkillers and to be taken off of veg (particularly as he has soft poops, it suggests his digestion isn’t working properly so veg should be removed from the diet)

What antibiotics has he been given? Antibiotics treat infection.

Put the syringe down the side of his mouth, and then between the teeth at the side. Squirt in a little at a time. It’s in the syringe feeding guide I linked in
Have you doing the weight checks?
 
The antibiotic is Baytril. The vet was a little vague on what exactly was the problem but from what I understand, he has an bacterial infection in his gut.
 
Zorro1 said:
The antibiotic is Baytril. The vet was a little vague on what exactly was the problem but from what I understand, he has an bacterial infection in his gut.
Click to expand...

How did they diagnose that it’s a bacterial infection?

I would remove veg from his diet and ensure he is getting plenty of fibre - lots of access to hay and plenty of syringe feeding.

Is he in any painkillers?
 
Sorry your piggy is poorly 😔
Did the vet check his teeth thoroughly? Often piggies with dental issues will stop eating hay first as it can be difficult to chew, then nuggets and veg as the problem progresses.
 
The vet did check his teeth thoroughly and he is fine there. He's not on any painkillers and he doesn't seem to be in any pain.
Lately he has been eating a some veggies so I don't want to take that away from him. Fortunately, he is also accepting a few pellets.
I'm not sure how he diagnosed a bacterial infection or if he diagnosed that. To be honest, he wasn't good explaining what the problem is but he gave us the medication to give Zorro.
 
Zorro1 said:
The vet did check his teeth thoroughly and he is fine there. He's not on any painkillers and he doesn't seem to be in any pain.
Lately he has been eating a some veggies so I don't want to take that away from him. Fortunately, he is also accepting a few pellets.
I'm not sure how he diagnosed a bacterial infection or if he diagnosed that. To be honest, he wasn't good explaining what the problem is but he gave us the medication to give Zorro.
Click to expand...

The issue is that if his gut is not functioning properly and the wrong bacteria are taking hold, giving veg won’t help. With not enough fibre and too much veg it will make issues with soft poops and a digestive balance worse. Obviously for a bacterial infection antibiotics are needed but the advice for soft poops and diarrhoea is always to remove veg from the diet.

He needs loads of syringe feeding of fibre recovery feed (or mushed pellets) - every few hours - at least 60ml per day, could be as much as 100ml.

Have you been weighing him? This is so important particularly if he hasn’t eaten hay properly for two weeks - he will very likely have lost weight. Eating veg and pellets isn’t enough.

I would call the vet and ask for a clearer explanation of the problem, particularly if you aren’t sure if he diagnosed a bacterial gut infection.

Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
 
Ok, I guess if it will help, removing veg entirely is the thing to do.
Admittedly, I usually forget to do the weekly weight checks and the last time I weighed him was only 2 days ago. 😟
Since I started weighing him not long ago, he's lost about 0.1 - 0.2 kg.
Thanks for the good advice and helpful links. 👍
 
Zorro1 said:
Ok, I guess if it will help, removing veg entirely is the thing to do.
Admittedly, I usually forget to do the weekly weight checks and the last time I weighed him was only 2 days ago. 😟
Since I started weighing him not long ago, he's lost about 0.1 - 0.2 kg.
Thanks for the good advice and helpful links. 👍
Click to expand...

So a 100-200g loss is a huge amount and requires you to urgently step in to stop him losing any more weight.
50g of loss is the point at which action needs to be taken. 100g of loss particularly if it happens within a day or so is an emergency.

While he is unwell you need to weigh him every morning as it’s the only way to know he is getting enough syringe feed. If he continues to lose weight while being syringe fed then he needs to be fed more/more often.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top