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Guinea pig refuses to eat hay after surgery

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Namida

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My guinea pig (2 1/2 years old boar) had surgery to remove stones yesterday. He is given metacam and baytril. He looks depressed and refuses to eat hay at all. He is willing to eat veggies, though.

I have been trying to feed him critical care with syringe but he keeps rejecting it quite aggressively that his wound started bleeding a little bit (looks like a mix of body fluid (mostly) and blood). I am so worried that forcing him too aggressively would result in more severe bleeding. How can I syringe feed him without potentially hurting him?
 
I would suggest speaking to the vet about further pain relief. Was he eating okay before surgery? What does he weigh and what dose of metacam is he on?
 
sport_billy said:
I would suggest speaking to the vet about further pain relief. Was he eating okay before surgery? What does he weigh and what dose of metacam is he on?
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He lost appetite on hay suddenly last Sunday so I sent him to the vet on Morning morning. He got diagnosed with bladder stones and did the surgery on the same day.

Although he has not been eating much hay since Sunday, his weight has not changed much surprisingly — around 1150g (+/- 30g). He is now on 0.33mls metacam twice daily (10am, 8pm). He just took the metacam at 8 but still is not touching the hay. I have tried my best to syringe feed him 15ml CC so far, and he looks exhausted already…
 
Hi, I am sorry to hear about your piggie and your struggles. I too have had my fair share of struggling when it comes to administering medicine and syringe feeding.

I was told by my vet to wrap my piggie up in a towel, like a burrito if you get what I mean. Place your piggie in the middle of a towel, fold the bottom over his bottom and back and then fold the sides over his back so he is completely wrapped up with only his little head sticking out. Then pick him up like you would usually, one hand under his bottom, the other around his chest/tummy area.

I found it did help when it came to restricting their movement but still had to hold their heads firm in place and did still struggle a little but nowhere near as bad. Hope this helps and hope your piggie recovers well. Best of luck.
 
Also, if he has completely stopped eating hay, please aim to syringe feed him 40-50ml in a 24 hour period. Feeding him every three hours or so but making time for your rest too, as it is exhausting looking after a sick piggie. Do try to give him a little water too but only as much as he will take as he will receive fluid in his syringe feed too.

Try only small amounts at first, around 0.3ml of syringe feed and of water, just to make sure he is able to swallow and to avoid choking. Adding probiotics to his feed is a good idea too, as if his tummy is upset, probiotics will do a good job at keeping his gut moving and his gut happy/stable.
 
Popcorns & Wheeks said:
Hi, I am sorry to hear about your piggie and your struggles. I too have had my fair share of struggling when it comes to administering medicine and syringe feeding.

I was told by my vet to wrap my piggie up in a towel, like a burrito if you get what I mean. Place your piggie in the middle of a towel, fold the bottom over his bottom and back and then fold the sides over his back so he is completely wrapped up with only his little head sticking out. Then pick him up like you would usually, one hand under his bottom, the other around his chest/tummy area.

I found it did help when it came to restricting their movement but still had to hold their heads firm in place and did still struggle a little but nowhere near as bad. Hope this helps and hope your piggie recovers well. Best of luck.
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Thanks for the tips! I will definitely keep trying :nod:
 
Hi, I'm very sorry to hear your piggie is so poorly.
It reminds me a bit of my old piggie's story - so I thought I'd offer some insight on what worked for us.
After his bladder stone surgery, my boy wouldn't touch any food by himself for the first 12 hours, and even after that he wouldn't each too much by himself the next couple of days after.
I would advise, personally, to keep your boy warm (my vet told me this was very important the couple of days following a surgery), obviously not too hot though! I covered up window drafts with a towel, placed a towel over one side of their cage and made sure to give him blanket-wrapped cuddles, sometimes with my other piggie.
Trying grass may help as well, my boy wasn't eating hay but was eating bowls of grass lol. Make sure you introduce it slowly, though.
We also used EmerAid for critically ill herbivores when his weight was really low (650g). I wouldn't think your boy would need it right now (since his weight seems to be maintained), but it's worth keeping in mind.

If you don't mind me asking, did the vets check his teeth when they found the bladder stones? My boy had the bladder stone surgery and then dental issues like a week later (unrelated to the surgery, he had chronic dental issues), which is the main reason why he stopped eating/gaining weight rather than the surgery itself I found. However it may be different in your piggies case.

Either way, I understand the stress of a post bladder operation piggie, so I hope he gets better soon. I found it helped to ring my vets with any questions and concerns I had, even without necessarily bringing him in.
 
My old boy had a big stone removed last month. They gave him an opioid painkiller called buprenorphine before his surgery and then a 'double dose' afterwards to come home with. It is very effective pain relief but it can stop them eating until it wears off - they are pretty stoned on it. Pain will also stop them eating though. Your vet should have arranged a follow up appointment within a couple of days of the op to check his recovery.

Syringe feeding is important but their stomach will only take so much in one go. Personally I don't expect to get much more than 10ml down a poorly piggy at a time and if it's only 7ish ml I'll leave it a bit. Little and often keeps the guts moving. Your vet might have given you something like Emeprid which is a gut stimulant to help keep everything moving along?

George sat in his soft snuggle sack or snuggle tunnel for a couple of days - then he ventured out a bit at a time, but he was separated from my girls by metal grids. He also had a heat pad. He was 6 when it was done so it took a long time for the buprenorphine to wear off... over 24 hours after his last dose before he started to look more like himself again. I fed him bits of veggie in the night by pushing them into the snuggle sack but I had to literally touch his mouth with them before he'd suddenly 'come to' and start eating. Then he'd drift off again... it was a frightening time. After the first night I'd mix up a big blob of CC and leave it in with him overnight. By the next morning it would be mostly gone. As long as he's eating something it should keep him ticking over for a few days until he can pick up a bit. You might be able to tempt him with a little fresh grass? they need hay of course, but when they are ill it is the first thing they stop eating and as they get better it is the last thing they go back on to. It's pretty hard work to chew!

Is your metacam the 1.5mg/ml dog version? I hope it is the dog one. My George has actually been on the same dose of this daily for nearly 3 years now (arthritis) and has had no ill effects. If it is the cat one I think he might still be in pain after such a big op and it would be worth speaking to a vet again.

Could I ask whether they also checked him for urinary infection or whether the baytril antibiotic is just given as a precaution?
Post op George.webp This was George after his op. You'll see I was monitoring his poop - also very important!
 
Thank you for all the messages.

Unfortunately, the guinea pig’s situation did not improved today. He had symptoms of gas bloat as his bully was inflated, he barely moved, ate anything and produced any drops. I brought him to the vet ASAP but later on we received a call from the vet saying that the guinea pig’s heartbeat stopped after they gave him the meds. My heart is broken 💔
 
I'm so sorry for your loss 😔
You really did everything you could. Surgery is a big thing for such a little animal, and general anaesthetics are a risk for them even if the procedure goes well. I've lost pigs immediately after surgery and also a couple of days after surgery. When a boar has a stone there is no way to 'dissolve' it and surgery is generally the only option. You gave him the best chance he could have had. I'm so sorry. Be gentle with yourself, he would have known how much he was loved x
 
Sending you big hugs, I am sorry sorry you lost your little man 🌈
 
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