Hi guinea pig friends. I am nursing my Piggy at the moment he has Gut Statis. He is very weak. I've been to the vets today and she prescribed some gut stimulant medicine and he is also on antibiotics which were given to him the day before by a different vet. We are syringe feeding him every hour with recovery food and then water with prebiotic vit c in the water. However, I have just read that the condition is painful. The vet did not provide any pain relief. I do however have oral suspension at home which he had before on a different occasion. Should I give him some or do you think I should wait until his vets appointment tomorrow at 10? Are we doing enough or can I do anything else we are about a 3 hour drive from a Cavy vet. Thank you.
Hi
Gut stasis in itself is not painful although in some cases it can be triggered by an intense pain event or by bloating (which is) - thankfully that is one of the rarer causes. GI stasis is simply the gut stopping to work either fully or partially.
Crucial for the recovery are the gut stimulants and your feeding regime to get the gut starting up again if there is no indication that a pain event has been the cause - and that is what you are already doing. In most cases, a piggy will bounce back rather quickly and fully if there are no other underlying issues.
In order to keep it up for several days and nights if needed, please switch to a two hourly feeding regime during the day and then get up once during the night until the gut is moving again and you'll see pre-stasis poos appearing. You are the engine right now but you need to take care of yourself, too, so you can keep running yourself for as long as needed.
There will follow a gap in the poo output that reflects the stasis event, followed by post-stasis poos, which are usually very small and funny looking at first. So please don't panic; think of the gut as a long conveyor belt which has to run its course and reflect what has happened during its journey. It will be slow at first and very much running behind events.
You may find these links here helpful with lots of practical information and tips:
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
All the best!
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