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Guinea pig with potential bloat

J

julepalaia

New Born Pup
Joined
Sep 22, 2024
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Location
USA
I am new to this forum, so I apologize if anything i’ve done is wrong. I am desperate for advice because I am in a very sticky situation.
For backround: I have an older guinea pig (7 years old). I noticed this Friday (20th) that she hadn’t eaten and she seemed a little swollen. Unfortunately, by the time I noticed, I didn’t have time to make a vet appointment, and they’re not open all weekend.

I’m syringe feeding her ever 4 ish hours with mashed up pellets and water because I cannot find critical care for the life of me anywhere, including amazon. I can call to make an appointment for the vet on Monday, but this is where it gets sticky. I will be at school for most of the day, so I will be mostly unable to feed her throughout the day to prevent her from starving.

Things am trying so far: Vibrating toothbrush, tummy massages and very small doses of Infant gas relief (0.25 ml)
She is barely pooping or peeing if she does any and hardly ever moves around her cage. It is really hard to see her like this.
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

Please make sure you switch from the routine weekly weight checks and ensure she is weighed every morning. This is the only way to ensure she is being fed enough to stop her from losing weight and keep her gut functioning. No poop means not enough food is going in/stasis.
Where there is total loss of appetite, and she is taking only 5-10ml per sitting then you are aiming for a minimum of 40-60ml per 24 hours and needing to be fed every two hours.
You should also offer (never push) a little water from a syringe to help with hydration. Not peeing is concerning.

Gut issues are painful and are an emergency situation. She needs a hands in check, gut stimulants and painkillers. I know it’s different in the US but is there any emergency vet?
Can you see if anybody else can take her to the vet and feed her?

What infant gas drops are you using? A product which contains simethicone isn’t recommended as that tends to gather gas into one big bubble which is fine for human babies but makes gas more painful for piggies (guts are simply different).

I’ve added in various guides below which explain everything more fully

Wiebke

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

1 Statement
2 Emergency assessment and accessing vets
- How urgent is my guinea pig's problem?
- Finding an emergency vet
- Seeing a vet not familiar with guinea pigs (including lists of safe and dangerous medications)
3 First Aid care and easily available products
- General 'always have at home' stuff and comfort measures for very ill guinea pigs
- Improvising support feed; recovery formulas...
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Wiebke

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

1 Not eating (anorexia) and the importance of syringe feeding fibre
2 Soft poos and runny diarrhea
3 Acute bloat (severe dysbiosis) - blockage - twisted gut - persistent milder bloating
4 GI stasis (no gut movement)


Severe runny diarrhea, bloat, blockage or a twisted gut, GI stasis and excessive salivating in guinea pigs that are not eating are absolute life and death emergencies that need to be seen ASAP by an out-of-hours vet at any time of the day or night or that should be seen by a vet as soon as you can get an appointment outside the UK...
Wiebke

Thread 'Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support'

1 Weight and Weight Loss
- Why regular weight monitoring matters
- How weight changes over a lifetime
- How to weigh on your kitchen scales (with video)
- The weight loss rules
- How critical is the weight loss for my piggy?
- Possible causes for weight loss
2 Body Mass Index (BMI) or 'Heft'
- Why is understanding your piggy's weight so important?
- 'Average' weight vs. individual weight - the big trip up
- How to check for the BMI
3 The...
  • Like
Wiebke

Thread 'How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency'

1 Feed
- Important crisis management resources
- When is improvising necessary?
- Which food group am I replacing with my feeding support?
- How much and how often should I feed and water?
- What can I use that I have already got at home?
- Other possible easily available foods with their pros and cons
- How do I prep a syringe for rougher pellet fibre?
- What can I do without a syringe?
- The role of lukewarm water
2 Probiotics
- Probiotic products...
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Wiebke

Thread 'All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures'

Introduction
1 Choosing the right place to medicate/feed your piggy
2 Guinea pig whispering and asserting your authority
3 Recovery products and emergency improvisation
4 Syringe recommendations
5 Weight monitoring: your biggest ally
6 Weight loss guidelines and when to step in with feeding
7 Syringe feeding amounts/frequency advice
8 Practical medication and syringing tips
9 Medicating and feeding cooperative guinea pigs (videos)
10 Medicating and feeding uncooperative guinea pigs (hold pictures and tips)
11 The line between life and...
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Thank you so much for your response and all the materials. Unfortunately I don’t have a car and the nearest emergency vets are about an hour away. I don’t have anyone that can take me at this moment because it is very late. She is also immensely difficult to feed at this time, which she wasn’t before. It took me around 10 minutes to get down 1ml so it is very time consuming.
The product does in fact contain simethicone. she only got one very small dose of it so I won’t feed her it again. She has been pooping, but very little and irregular droppings.
 
The small irregular poops are because of reduced food intake - her system is still working but it’s clear it’s not working properly.

All you can do is keep feeding and get her to the vet as soon as you can. Sadly the less they take the more poorly they are. Looking after a poorly piggy is tough work. Hang in there.

When you do get food into her, Is she swallowing properly?
 
I’ll start to feed her much more then. I’ve been trying to ensure chewing and swallowing but it’s hard to tell. Is there anyway I can like “nudge” her jaw to remind her to chew? I’ve sort of done it like that. She started wheezing a little bit (out of nowhere, not after feeding) and It’s awfully scary but I dont know if there is much I can do now.
 
you are well ahead of me as far as being prepared goes. My guinea pig that was 6 years n 2 months stopped eating last year on a saturday. Regular Vet closed. Which means i'd have to wait till monday. I tried everything. Giving her whatever meds i had at the time (pain and anti biotics), lettuce which she ran to but did not eat. putting water in syringe thinking the water would push down whatever was in her throat (if it was blockage), holding her up n kind of burping her (if it was bloat). I tried critical care but i only gave her this once and I'm not sure she ever took it all. zero clue this had to be given every few hours. Tried other things. All on saturday. No account on any forums to ask for help. no friends with pets. nothing.


I googled for hours up to 12 at night n i did see guinea pig forum uk threads n posts but I'm like this place is for uk people so i never made an account. I saw no one from usa. Had i known anyone can make an account i would have made one asap, asked for help n saved her life. But the uk letters in the domain name n posts from other countries made me stay away. After she passed on sunday i kept reading posts to learn why she passed what i did wrong. Then i start seeing people from usa pop up asking the same question i asked "oh i thought this was a uk based forum" "I'm new from usa hello my pet just passed". The amount of people who signed up n the first post is "my pet just passed" that i saw........i can only imagine how many others did not make an acc sooner on here because of what i just described.


Had i known then what i know now id have rushed to the emergency vet n they would have saved her. 2nd option would be feeding her critical care every 2-3 hours for 2 days (sat n sun) ,give her infant gas drops...etc.....so she can make it to monday for the regular vet. I had a small window where calling my regular vet there was an answering machine which left an emergency vet #. I called the number, made an app, had a ride picking me up (lyft i think) then i start thinking what the hell am i doing rushing to these unknown people at this unknown place. I start reading what is an emergency vet and read reviews of this specific location. Very horrible to the point it scared me into not going. I took a chance n hoped she would make it 2 days till monday and she did not make it. Its one of those things where you have a regular amazing vet and you do not trust the guineas in any else's hands. Months later my 2nd guinea stopped walking n i did learn from my 1st mistake and took her to an emergency vet (again regular vet closed). looking back if a guina pigs stops eating or stops walking those are emergency vet visits if a regular vet is closed.


About critical care yes from around April 2024 or so i noticed there was a shortage of critical care and amazon didnt have it no one did. But i checked amazon a few days ago (even today) and they do sell critical care tho its the small bag (4.97oz) and it seems to take 1 month to deliver. I was fortunate to have bought a big bag in march and then i hear you cant find critical care anywhere. So it seems they re-stocked but arent fully back if it take a month to get to you. I have 1 guinea left from my original 4 and if i ever go the critical care route i will not sleep for 2+ days because i know when that emergency comes my regular vet will be closed.
 
julepalaia said:
I’ll start to feed her much more then. I’ve been trying to ensure chewing and swallowing but it’s hard to tell. Is there anyway I can like “nudge” her jaw to remind her to chew? I’ve sort of done it like that. She started wheezing a little bit (out of nowhere, not after feeding) and It’s awfully scary but I dont know if there is much I can do now.
Click to expand...

Gently stroking a piggy can sometimes wake them up and jog them along a little but there is sadly little you can do when they get that weak and their body may be giving up on them.

My thoughts are with you and my fingers are very firmly crossed.
 
julepalaia said:
I am new to this forum, so I apologize if anything i’ve done is wrong. I am desperate for advice because I am in a very sticky situation.
For backround: I have an older guinea pig (7 years old). I noticed this Friday (20th) that she hadn’t eaten and she seemed a little swollen. Unfortunately, by the time I noticed, I didn’t have time to make a vet appointment, and they’re not open all weekend.

I’m syringe feeding her ever 4 ish hours with mashed up pellets and water because I cannot find critical care for the life of me anywhere, including amazon. I can call to make an appointment for the vet on Monday, but this is where it gets sticky. I will be at school for most of the day, so I will be mostly unable to feed her throughout the day to prevent her from starving.

Things am trying so far: Vibrating toothbrush, tummy massages and very small doses of Infant gas relief (0.25 ml)
She is barely pooping or peeing if she does any and hardly ever moves around her cage. It is really hard to see her like this.
Click to expand...
Update: she had a mass on her jaw that spread through her body. i made the difficult decision to put her to sleep because her quantify of life wasn’t good enough to justify keeping her at home. thank you to everyone who offered advice. 💕
 
julepalaia said:
Update: she had a mass on her jaw that spread through her body. i made the difficult decision to put her to sleep because her quantify of life wasn’t good enough to justify keeping her at home. thank you to everyone who offered advice. 💕
Click to expand...

BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry tht you have had the kind of news none of us ever wants to get nd had to make the decision on the spot without being able to bace for it.

You have done absolutely the right thing. It is not something you can prevent, so it's not your fault. Just one of the short straws in the cosmic lottery of bad luck. :(

Please be kind with yourself as you have both the loss and the shock to digest. That is quite a traumatic experience you have had.

Here is some helpful practical information and tips if you find yourself stuck in some pernicious thought loops. Grieving is nothing like you expect and can take you to some strange places.
Wiebke

Thread 'Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children'

1 The grieving process
- Loss and the start of the grieving process
- Grieving with a terminally ill guinea pig
- Going through the grieving process
2 Ways of coping
- Expressing and processing your feelings
- Regaining your guinea pig
- Burial and marking the passing
- Dealing with special days
3 How do I tell my children?
- Finding local support lines and charities...
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Here is our advice for what you can do for any companions immediately and for the longer term with plenty of tips:
Wiebke

Thread 'Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig'

1 What can I do immediately after a guinea pig has died?
- Saying goodbye
- What can I do for my grieving piggy?
- Emergency: acute pining (not eating/drinking) or sudden illness
2 New companionship and human grieving
- When can I start looking for a new mate?
- "Replacing" a guinea pig: the conflict between human and cavy needs
- How do I best go about finding a new mate? (Possible options listed for bereaved sows and boars)...
 
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