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Gut stasis?

lauryn1289 said:
Yeah I understand about the poop output, would this delayed output still apply if he’s been given Metoclopramide twice todwy or gut stimulants in general? I’m just worried he hadn’t been getting enough critical care the day of his operation or after! And he may have been spitting up more than I thought. I seem to have got a lot into him today even though it just seems like he isn’t even swallowing it but since 90% of it isn’t coming out of his mouth I have to assume he is. :(
I tried to weigh him but I have a small kitchen scales that’s been so inaccurate today for some reason? Usually I can get a fairly accurate reading plus or minus 50 grams but today apparently no matter what way I sat him on a surface onto the scales he was 1.8kg 😑 When he was weighed at the vets the other day he was 1.15kg down from usually 1.2kg
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lauryn1289 said:
Bobby has none left in his mouth so I have to assume it’s been swallowed! At points he was holding it in there though and then dribbling it back up
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Any gap in food intake is going to produce a gap in poop output.
Keep going with the syringe feeding,

Perhaps try changing the batteries in your scale?
 
This morning he’s quacky and very unsteady on his feet. He can move fast when he wants to and gets to where he’s trying to go but just not in any coordinated way, he seems to be flopping to the side. Can’t say I’m too hopeful to be honest but I’m just trying to remember I’ve done everything I could for him whatever happens. :( I’m worried not leaving him at the vets after surgery was a mistake even though he would’ve had 12 hours of no syringe feeding, at least they may have been able to treat anything if it was going wrong but it was what felt right at the time.
I’m absolutely devastated if this is the end for him, only had him since November 2021 after I took him and his cagemate in from kids who got a puppy and didn’t want them anymore. He’s so young and the sweetest most docile most sociable little boy I’ve ever met. I absolutely adore him so thinking this is the end is absolutely horrific but whatever he needs I’ll do it. Maybe there is some hope of recovery but who knows. Whatever happens thanks everyone for all your advice xx
 
I am sorry Bobby is not doing so well. I would try seeing if he can be seen before 12pm, tell the vets what he is like and how worried you are. Hopefully it is the buprenorphine and once that is out of his system he will improve. From what you say he seems to have been gaining weight which means the syringe food is going in but perhaps his guts are only moving it along slowly. You are doing everything you can for him and he is lucky to have such a caring owner. Hugs xx
 
Yes I agree - hopefully it is the buprenorphine.

For what it is worth, I would have done the exact same thing in bringing him home. I would not have wanted a piggy fresh out of surgery left at the vets unattended and unfed for 12-14 hours.
 
Not the post I wanted to make at all but he’s gone. :( He went downhill so fast. After over €1,000 in vet bills and 12 hour round trips to the exotic vet at least I know I did absolutely everything I could for him, trying not to have regrets about what may or may not have been done or could’ve been done differently.

I was so worried this morning I was aspirating him by syringe feeding if he wasn’t chewing and I feel so guilty if I was but I was stuck because if I feed him and he aspirates he’ll die but if I don’t feed him he’ll die too. Trying not to blame myself either way but at least he died at home in his own bed. As miserable and uncomfortable as he was it was probably better than dying in a carrier on a 2 hour car journey or at the vets.

He’s had such a miserable few weeks but he’s so loved and I hope he knew how much he was loved. Thank you everyone for all your help and thoughts and advice after these rollercoaster couple of weeks, it means the world xx
 
Just want to send you hugs at this sad time.

Please do not blame yourself, you have been a wonderful piggie slave and he will have known that.

He is up at the Bridge now popcorning free

Sending love your way, be kind to yourself xx
 
Two_Wheeks said:
Just want to send you hugs at this sad time.

Please do not blame yourself, you have been a wonderful piggie slave and he will have known that.

He is up at the Bridge now popcorning free

Sending love your way, be kind to yourself xx
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Thank you so much ❤️ It was my pleasure to be his servant for the past year
 
I am so sorry, I have been thinking of you this morning. You did absolutely all you could and far more than most people would have. You gave him a chance, you have nothing to blame yourself for. I would have (and have) done in the past what you did and brought him home after surgery. I feel piggies are much happier and more likely to eat in their own environment.
Sleep tight gorgeous Bobby.
 
Livia Rabideau said:
I am so sorry for your loss 😞. You tried everything you could ❤️. It is so painful to lose them. Sending you big hugs!
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Thank you so much, I just spotted your post about your poor Zoey and I’m so sorry you were in the same situation! It’s so tough. I saw you mentioned buprenorphine too and just wanted to say I really regret giving Bobby it too, but we were doing what we thought was best for them and their comfort and that’s all we can do in the moment ❤️
 
piggieminder said:
I am so sorry, I have been thinking of you this morning. You did absolutely all you could and far more than most people would have. You gave him a chance, you have nothing to blame yourself for. I would have (and have) done in the past what you did and brought him home after surgery. I feel piggies are much happier and more likely to eat in their own environment.
Sleep tight gorgeous Bobby
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Thank you so much, I do wonder if I’d left him would any issues have been spotted quick enough to save him but his surgeon called me this morning to give condolences and remind me it’s so touch and go no matter what and sometimes they just won’t recover no matter what you do :( Wish this ended differently but I gave him the best fighting chance I could. Hope you you some sleep and your piggy is doing well! x
 
lauryn1289 said:
Thank you so much, I just spotted your post about your poor Zooey and I’m so sorry you were in the same situation! It’s so tough. I saw you mentioned buprenorphine too and just wanted to say I really regret giving Bobby it too, but we were doing what we thought was best for them and their comfort and that’s all we can do in the moment ❤️
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I have been following your thread as well since it was so similar. I was really rooting for your guy as he was still taking food and producing stool.
I am so sorry. Thank you. I am so sick about it. It's been a week tomorrow amd I still keep going through everything. Wondering what I did wrong. What I could have done differently. She had so much wrong once they opened her up. I just thought if she made it through surgery the hard part would be over. I was wrong. We tried. We have done our best.
 
Livia Rabideau said:
I have been following your thread as well since it was so similar. I was really rooting for your guy as he was still taking food and producing stool.
I am so sorry. Thank you. I am so sick about it. It's been a week tomorrow amd I still keep going through everything. Wondering what I did wrong. What I could have done differently. She had so much wrong once they opened her up. I just thought if she made it through surgery the hard part would be over. I was wrong. We tried. We have done our best.
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I understand completely and I feel awful you’re feeling the same way, it’s so hard. It’s so easy to look back and think what could’ve been done differently but it seems like sometimes no matter what you do it just doesn’t help sadly. I’ve seen so many posts here of piggies not making it a few days past surgery unfortunately, seems so common. I really thought the surgery and anesthesia would be the hardest part too. Bobby’s surgeon did warn that sometimes irregardless of the amount of care you or the vets can offer they just aren’t going to make a full recovery, unfortunately for us :( What matters most is you and I both tried our best because we loved them enough to ❤️
 
I am so sorry you have lost Bobby. You did everything you could. We always question if there was something we could have done sooner/better/differently but if we had made different choices we could just have easily ended up in the same place just questioning those choices instead. Bobby was loved, you gave him a great life and did all that was possible.
When you are ready you may want to post a tribute to him on the Rainbow Bridge section, where he can be remembered as the happy little boy you knew and loved. Hugs xx
 
lauryn1289 said:
Not the post I wanted to make at all but he’s gone. :( He went downhill so fast. After over €1,000 in vet bills and 12 hour round trips to the exotic vet at least I know I did absolutely everything I could for him, trying not to have regrets about what may or may not have been done or could’ve been done differently.

I was so worried this morning I was aspirating him by syringe feeding if he wasn’t chewing and I feel so guilty if I was but I was stuck because if I feed him and he aspirates he’ll die but if I don’t feed him he’ll die too. Trying not to blame myself either way but at least he died at home in his own bed. As miserable and uncomfortable as he was it was probably better than dying in a carrier on a 2 hour car journey or at the vets.

He’s had such a miserable few weeks but he’s so loved and I hope he knew how much he was loved. Thank you everyone for all your help and thoughts and advice after these rollercoaster couple of weeks, it means the world xx
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Or dear, I am so so sorry you have lost your beloved Bobby. It is heart shattering. You really did do your best for him. Sleep tight little one ❤️
 
Oh I'm so sorry to hear your sad news. RIP you brave little fellow x

In truth there is no option but surgery for a big stone in a boy. There just isn't any way to break these things up. George's got bigger and bigger - far faster than I'd anticipated - and by the time it came out it was about a cm across like a marble. And if I'm being honest with myself I think he's formed another... or at least got some sludge - which we knew many of them do, and sometimes within a few weeks. George had buprenorphine before his op and a double dose before he came home at tea time and he wasn't happy on it - but he wasn't in pain. He never made a peep. He took some syringe food but only because he couldn't really argue about it. I was rubbing bits of veggie on his lips so he would 'come to' and eat a very little before he went under again. But he did pull round after about 24 hours. When my poor Zara tried to recover from her anaesthetic (an injectable one that time, George had gas) she would look pretty good, if wobbly, then she would suddenly go flat and zone out. She got worse over a couple days. Her op was on Monday night, she passed on Wednesday. She went into gut stasis despite having plenty of food before the op and taking quite a bit after. There were full sized poops in her back end, poor girl. It wasn't for the lack of fuel that everything just stopped. It really is heart-breaking. She had an incisor removed and apparently it just came straight out - no bleeding or anything. But she reacted very strongly against the anaesthetic. I think it might have damaged her brain somehow. I'm so very sorry, he was such a lovely boy and so brave x
 
Free Ranger said:
Oh I'm so sorry to hear your sad news. RIP you brave little fellow x

In truth there is no option but surgery for a big stone in a boy. There just isn't any way to break these things up. George's got bigger and bigger - far faster than I'd anticipated - and by the time it came out it was about a cm across like a marble. And if I'm being honest with myself I think he's formed another... or at least got some sludge - which we knew many of them do, and sometimes within a few weeks. George had buprenorphine before his op and a double dose before he came home at tea time and he wasn't happy on it - but he wasn't in pain. He never made a peep. He took some syringe food but only because he couldn't really argue about it. I was rubbing bits of veggie on his lips so he would 'come to' and eat a very little before he went under again. But he did pull round after about 24 hours. When my poor Zara tried to recover from her anaesthetic (an injectable one that time, George had gas) she would look pretty good, if wobbly, then she would suddenly go flat and zone out. She got worse over a couple days. Her op was on Monday night, she passed on Wednesday. She went into gut stasis despite having plenty of food before the op and taking quite a bit after. There were full sized poops in her back end, poor girl. It wasn't for the lack of fuel that everything just stopped. It really is heart-breaking. She had an incisor removed and apparently it just came straight out - no bleeding or anything. But she reacted very strongly against the anaesthetic. I think it might have damaged her brain somehow. I'm so very sorry, he was such a lovely boy and so brave x
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Oh no I hope poor George doesn’t have another stone :( Praying for him. So sorry about your Zara too, especially after such a smooth removal. It’s incredible how fragile they can be and how fast they go downhill.

I started to wonder if the subcutaneous injection of metaclopramide we gave him at home started to kill Bobby somehow. Maybe injected wrong and caused a stroke. But we were shown how to do it and it was cleared by his surgeon as safe before we did it. Then I wondered if this morning giving him more Rheumocam and Gabapentin finished the job or made him worse but I’m trying to remember he was already bad to begin with. Or that the Buprenorphine was the nail in the coffin for his gut or maybe he aspirated on his syringe food. I really at that point wasn’t that hopeful about his survival either way. It’s so difficult not to think of what you may or may have not done right or wrong was what made the difference between life and death. All day yesterday he was lying splayed out on his tummy with 0’interest in anything staring into space, no poops and few wees then this morning very weak and off balance and visibly uncomfortable and eventually just gone.

So sorry about your poor Zara again and I really hope George is doing well and stone free. He’e such a handsome little boy, so brave especially at 6 to get such a big op xx
 
StayGold86 said:
Please look into Sherwood Pet Health diet and preventative tablets for stones. They have a youtube video that is interesting too. May help out with stone problems.
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Bobby had been prescribed a lifelong diuretic for to prevent future stones before he passed. I will check it out though for my other two boys!
 
Hi again everyone, maybe a bit of a weird addition to this thread but didn’t wanna start a whole new one. Just wondering if anyone else has ever felt guilty per se getting another pig? Bobby and his brother Ollie were adopted the day my first pig died to ensure Rico’s best friend Kip wasn’t alone and lonely for even a day because I love him so much. Was a very very sudden and panicked decision, took a while to adjust to Rico being gone and having Ollie and Bobby but I’m obviously so glad I did but it was hard to do so soon at the time.

I have an L shaped C&C cage with Ollie and Kip and looking at Bobby’s empty side I’m just thinking I should take in another pig who needs a loving home. My partner saw an advertisement for someone giving away a young lone boar and my heart just broke. I always knew I’d want to get another boy but it feels very soon to even be thinking of this. There’s just so many guinea pigs who were bought on whims from pet shops who don’t have the loving homes they deserve. Just feels somehow wrong to be thinking of Bobby’s side of the cage as being prepped for someone else so soon and even giving Ollie Bobby’s water bottle felt so disrespectful. (Trying to encourage Ollie to drink more so figured 2 bottles would)

I know it might sound silly but in the back of my mind I worry I’m trying to replace Bobby, which I’m not or that it’s disrespectful to even consider taking in another pig at this stage. I cried so much yesterday that my face actually stings and today I’m just emotionally drained and almost numbed a bit. I’m absolutely devastated beyond belief he’s gone, hasn’t even fully hit me yet I think but the realisation he’s gone hits me like a truck sometimes. I just have such a soft spot for piggies and seeing ones on their own and lonely breaks my heart and I figure if I can offer him a better life I should, even though I know it’s soon. Has anyone else ever felt guilty about getting another pig or am I just being overly sensitive about it? :( This is the little guy who’s on his own and unwanted
 

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You can never replace him. You would be rescuing a piggy who desperately needs it. If you are ready to open your heart to a piggy who needs a wonderful home, I say go for it. He would be very lucky to have you ❤️.
 
My partner’s take on me feeling guilty about it is “Bobby’s bed was his for as long as he was able to stay” :(
 
Livia Rabideau said:
You can never replace him. You would be rescuing a piggy who desperately needs it. If you are ready to open your heart to a piggy who needs a wonderful home, I say go for it. He would be very lucky to have you ❤️.
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I know deep down you’re right! It’s just hard to not feel like I’m disrespecting him and his memory by bringing another little boy into his bed so quickly after he’s gone. But this little boy also deserves a loving home too :( Thank you ❤️
 
It is a tricky one isn't it, especially when you're grieving yourself, but it sounds like you have a nice set up for boys there. It will be a time of adjustment for everyone whichever path you choose. But the young boar would be lucky to have a home where he was wanted and people could look after him x
 
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