ForeignKey
New Born Pup
Hello,
I've been reading these forums for many years now for advice for my guinea pigs, but this time I need some help with a case of my own. English is not my first language so be warned lol
One of my pigs is called Harry and he is about 6-ish years old. I've been struggling with his health for a few months now and the vet and I cannot get it under control. It started late last year with coughing during dinnertime but I didn't think too much of it because they all do it sometimes. This turned into a crackling sound, like walking on fresh snow, combined with a typical -help me I can't breathe- sound like we humans make. Not constantly but it got worse and he started to lose a lot of weight also. A few trips to the vet eventually thought me he had a pneumonia and I've treated it with antibiotics and painkillers.
The poor thing really struggled trough this treatment and he got visibly sick from it. His poops got really disgusting, very sticky, very stinky, and in big chunks instead of little poops. We've powered trough though and I was hoping he would recover when the antibiotics were done. And he did a bit, the poops slowly started to normalize a bit, but he still was not eating enough.
I know what you're probably thinking; it's his teeth. It was what I had been thinking because that's pretty much the only explanation the internet gives me when I search his symptoms. He was so sick and weak though that the vet and I were both afraid how/if he would recuperate from an anesthesia, and without that there was no way to check his back teeth. I've tried to strengthen him a bit with painkillers and medication to get his guts going and to approve his apatite but it was not enough. After a few days of this I've decided to take the risk and he got to surgery. They straightened his front teeth, because they were growing crooked and sharp because he hasn't been eating properly for months now, and they removed tiny sharpish angles from his back teeth. The vet told me however that it wasn't bad at all and the chances that this is causing his eating problems was very tiny. Yeah, it did not improve after his surgery.
We keep keeping on and I'm still hoping he magically starts eating more himself but so far, not so much. A few weeks ago he started crackling again, and another trip to the vet thought me his lungs still sounded "not too bad" but a little irritated. So we started the antibiotics back up the tackle a possible infection from starting up again. This resulting in him completely stopping with eating any food. So back to the vet, and I quit the antibiotics because it was definitely not helping him this way.
Where are we now? The little chad went from weighing 1.22 kilos last year to a small 835 grams now. He is so skinny, it makes me cry every time I pet him. I can feel all his little bones and he just looks so small.. His body temperature is a little over 36°C, so way too low. I keep him separate so I can see the input and output, he mostly lays on a warm water heating pad (not sure what the English word for it would be), he has hay and pellets available all day every day, I give him at least 4-5 different vegetables/fruits/herbs during dinner time and he gets extra vitamin c and d. He chews very slowly so he usually takes all night to finish his dinner, he drools a lot, and he pukes up green looking stuff. When he is relaxing/laying down he sometimes jumps up like something bit him? Other then all the bad things, he looks relatively happy! He gets up when I enter the room in the morning, he takes his treats, gets up for dinner, loves playtime with his girlfriend (who lives in the cage right next to him so they can interact), he is alert and awake, just doesn't move around much.
I am at my limit here, I have no idea how to help him anymore and neither does my vet. So please, if anyone has any advice or suggestions I would be very grateful.
Sorry for the long post, and thank you for reading.
I've been reading these forums for many years now for advice for my guinea pigs, but this time I need some help with a case of my own. English is not my first language so be warned lol
One of my pigs is called Harry and he is about 6-ish years old. I've been struggling with his health for a few months now and the vet and I cannot get it under control. It started late last year with coughing during dinnertime but I didn't think too much of it because they all do it sometimes. This turned into a crackling sound, like walking on fresh snow, combined with a typical -help me I can't breathe- sound like we humans make. Not constantly but it got worse and he started to lose a lot of weight also. A few trips to the vet eventually thought me he had a pneumonia and I've treated it with antibiotics and painkillers.
The poor thing really struggled trough this treatment and he got visibly sick from it. His poops got really disgusting, very sticky, very stinky, and in big chunks instead of little poops. We've powered trough though and I was hoping he would recover when the antibiotics were done. And he did a bit, the poops slowly started to normalize a bit, but he still was not eating enough.
I know what you're probably thinking; it's his teeth. It was what I had been thinking because that's pretty much the only explanation the internet gives me when I search his symptoms. He was so sick and weak though that the vet and I were both afraid how/if he would recuperate from an anesthesia, and without that there was no way to check his back teeth. I've tried to strengthen him a bit with painkillers and medication to get his guts going and to approve his apatite but it was not enough. After a few days of this I've decided to take the risk and he got to surgery. They straightened his front teeth, because they were growing crooked and sharp because he hasn't been eating properly for months now, and they removed tiny sharpish angles from his back teeth. The vet told me however that it wasn't bad at all and the chances that this is causing his eating problems was very tiny. Yeah, it did not improve after his surgery.
We keep keeping on and I'm still hoping he magically starts eating more himself but so far, not so much. A few weeks ago he started crackling again, and another trip to the vet thought me his lungs still sounded "not too bad" but a little irritated. So we started the antibiotics back up the tackle a possible infection from starting up again. This resulting in him completely stopping with eating any food. So back to the vet, and I quit the antibiotics because it was definitely not helping him this way.
Where are we now? The little chad went from weighing 1.22 kilos last year to a small 835 grams now. He is so skinny, it makes me cry every time I pet him. I can feel all his little bones and he just looks so small.. His body temperature is a little over 36°C, so way too low. I keep him separate so I can see the input and output, he mostly lays on a warm water heating pad (not sure what the English word for it would be), he has hay and pellets available all day every day, I give him at least 4-5 different vegetables/fruits/herbs during dinner time and he gets extra vitamin c and d. He chews very slowly so he usually takes all night to finish his dinner, he drools a lot, and he pukes up green looking stuff. When he is relaxing/laying down he sometimes jumps up like something bit him? Other then all the bad things, he looks relatively happy! He gets up when I enter the room in the morning, he takes his treats, gets up for dinner, loves playtime with his girlfriend (who lives in the cage right next to him so they can interact), he is alert and awake, just doesn't move around much.
I am at my limit here, I have no idea how to help him anymore and neither does my vet. So please, if anyone has any advice or suggestions I would be very grateful.
Sorry for the long post, and thank you for reading.
