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Help for Gus. Metacam dosage and advice

They mentioned CT scan of whole body but it costs thousands:( so trying to find out what's wrong without it
 
Buggster10 said:
Much stronger weight and heart and eating more syringe feeds. Can access sat morning at vets or emergency vets if gets worse. They liked the idea of melon juice. Said puree mint too. He's unable to hold much in mouth and definitely struggling to pass foods or drink through front of mouth. He did use his water bottle on his own last night quite a bit though
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How Are you coping with feeding him every half an hour?
Have you given any thought to spacing his feeds out but giving him more at a time?
Regaining weight on just syringe feeding isn’t easy as it can take weeks. You need to make sure it is sustainable for both yours and his sakes
 
Piggies&buns said:
Did they give you any idea of what they needed to see in terms of declaring him strong enough for treatment? A particular weight for example?

Did they increase his metacam dose?
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Just said split metacam am n pm
 
Piggies&buns said:
How Are you coping with feeding him every half an hour?
Have you given any thought to spacing his feeds out but giving him more at a time?
Regaining weight on just syringe feeding isn’t easy as it can take weeks. You need to make sure it is sustainable for both yours and his sakes
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Doing every hour but he only manages three or four MLS then won't take any more. Today he sat in his veg box and ate some mint maybe one leaf he's desperate but can't seem to pass it through the front unless I hold it. His bite is odd
 
Piggies&buns said:
At what amount at each dose?
Is that still cat metacam or is he now on dog?
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They said cat metacam. 0.13 am n pm? Still not enough I don't think. What should I do. Should I switch to dog and if so what dosage for a pig of 650 g
 
Piggies&buns said:
How Are you coping with feeding him every half an hour?
Have you given any thought to spacing his feeds out but giving him more at a time?
Regaining weight on just syringe feeding isn’t easy as it can take weeks. You need to make sure it is sustainable for both yours and his sakes
Click to expand...
Is belly is full but could be gas or bloated maybe.. not pooing and not sure on wee
 
Buggster10 said:
Doing every hour but he only manages three or four MLS then won't take any more. Today he sat in his veg box and ate some mint maybe one leaf he's desperate but can't seem to pass it through the front unless I hold it. His bite is odd
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All you can do is keep feeding and get as much into him as he will take.

It definitely sounds like there is something dental going on.
Did you give some thought to getting him to Northampton for a conscious dental? I know it’s a long trip, but he really sounds as if he needs help and a dental check up much sooner than he is likely to regain weight

Buggster10 said:
Is belly is full but could be gas or bloated maybe.. not pooing and not sure on wee
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If he has gas, has he been given medication for it? (Gut stimulants). That is essential particularly if he isn’t pooping - no poop output is never a good sign.

Buggster10 said:
They said cat metacam. 0.13 am n pm? Still not enough I don't think. What should I do. Should I switch to dog and if so what dosage for a pig of 650 g
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0.13ml twice a day is better than once a day obviously! So that’s something at least
We cannot tell you to switch to dog, and we cannot tell you what dosage to give. Only the vet can do so.
I'm jusf so surprised a specialist vet isn’t more knowledgeable on the dosages piggies can take. Particularly if he does have bloat, then that is very painful.
 
Piggies&buns said:
If they need him to regain weight theh amount of syringe feed he is going to need will be quite a lot. 40-60ml will just about stop weight loss, and that may be all he can manage, but regaining won’t be easy on that amount.

It definitely sounds like there is something dental going on.
Did you give some thought to getting him to Northampton for a conscious dental? I know it’s a long trip, but he really sounds as if he needs help and a dental check up much sooner than he is likely to regain weight



If he has gas, has he been given medication for it? (Gut stimulants). That is essential particularly if he isn’t pooping - no poop output is never a good sign.



0.13ml twice a day is better than once a day obviously! So that’s something at least
We cannot tell you to switch to dog, and we cannot tell you what dosage to give. Only the vet can do so.
I'm jusf so surprised a specialist vet isn’t more knowledgeable on the dosages piggies can take. Particularly if he does have bloat, then that is very painful.
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They aren't sure it's bloat just putting it out there. I paid alot for the advice off specialist today but didn't see him..
 
Buggster10 said:
They aren't sure it's bloat just putting it out there. I paid alot for the advice off specialist today but didn't see him..
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You can tell if a piggy has bloat by their ballooning belly and by gently tapping their tummy to see if it sounds hollow.

When did he last poop?
 
Piggies&buns said:
You can tell if a piggy has bloat by their ballooning belly and by gently tapping their tummy to see if it sounds hollow.

When did he last poop?
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Ok will check. Thanks. I scooped out mush poop yesterday lunchtime but nothing since. He's empty there
 
Buggster10 said:
They gave fibreplex but will order emeprid
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Did they say how long it will take for the emeprid order to come in? Perhaps, if it is going to be a little while, they could send the prescription to a different vet surgery and you could pick it up from another practice who already have it in stock?
Fibreplex isn’t the same thing as emeprid. While Fibreplex is useful for a piggy on antibiotics, it’s not a gut stimulant.
Did you tell the vet he hadn’t pooped?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Did they say how long it will take for the emeprid order to come in? Perhaps, if it is going to be a little while, they could send the prescription to a different vet surgery and you could pick it up from another practice who already have it in stock?
Fibreplex isn’t the same thing as emeprid. While Fibreplex is useful for a piggy on antibiotics, it’s not a gut stimulant.
Did you tell the vet he hadn’t pooped?
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Yes they know and saw the mucus but said yes it's a worry but he's not eating so expect him not to poo
 
As another data point, I've had two girls on long term dog metacam/loxicom at a dose of 1ml twice daily. One has arthritis in her spine and the other had recurrent bladder issues - they both weighed just over 1kg.

I'm with others in that the dose Gus has been prescribed seems extremely low :(
 
Buggster10 said:
Yes they know and saw the mucus but said yes it's a worry but he's not eating so expect him not to poo
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Well, yes - he’s not eating so he won’t be pooping and in piggies not eating and not pooping is a massive problem (gut stasis). You need to get as much syringe feed into him as possible to get poop output back. Poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake. Those daily weight checks are you guide to knowing he is getting enough syringe feed.
How much syringe feed has he taken today?
I'm glad the emeprid will be there tomorrow as it sounds as if he really needs it.

Ive linked ghe syringe feeding guide below and the recommended vet list in case thats helpful

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
 
Piggies&buns said:
Well, yes - he’s not eating so he won’t be pooping and in piggies not eating and not pooping is a massive problem (gut stasis). You need to get as much syringe feed into him as possible to get poop output back. Poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake. Those daily weight checks are you guide to knowing he is getting enough syringe feed.
How much syringe feed has he taken today?
I'm glad the emeprid will be there tomorrow as it sounds as if he really needs it.

Ive linked ghe syringe feeding guide below and the recommended vet list in case thats helpful

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
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Thanks. He's had 10 MLS critical
 
Buggster10 said:
Thanks. He's had 10 MLS critical
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Is that 10ml all he has had today?
He needs to be having at least 40ml a day, to keep gut function (ideally at least 60ml a day). If he is very poorly then 60ml may be too much of a stretch. That is just to stop weight loss though, it won’t help with regaining weight.
 
I’m syringe feeding my piggy at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 7pm and 9pm. He didn’t gain any weight until we managed to get over 60ml a day into him. Just to give you a gauge. Good luck you are doing really well for your piggy its exhausting I know. Try him with grass (dog pee free). Also I don't know if this is a coincidence but my piggy eats more when the radio is on 🤷🏻‍♀️
 
weepweeps said:
I’m syringe feeding my piggy at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 7pm and 9pm. He didn’t gain any weight until we managed to get over 60ml a day into him. Just to give you a gauge. Good luck you are doing really well for your piggy its exhausting I know. Try him with grass (dog pee free). Also I don't know if this is a coincidence but my piggy eats more when the radio is on 🤷🏻‍♀️
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I will try anything! He eats more when his buddy Sam the cat is by him x
 
Piggies&buns said:
Is that 10ml all he has had today?
He needs to be having at least 40ml a day, to keep gut function (ideally at least 60ml a day). If he is very poorly then 60ml may be too much of a stretch. That is just to stop weight loss though, it won’t help with regaining weight.
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He's had say 20 MLS now today so far. Plus ate three spinach leaves on his own
 
Just checking in. Been thinking of you today.

When our last piggy was struggling to eat (he was weaker because of cancer) we offered a selection of foods in the cage - mushed recovery food, mushed pellets and cut some of his usual veg into small strips. That seemed to help alongside the syringe feeding. He would only eat very small pieces of very fine soft hay but not much. Same with grass. Syringe feeding was easier once we found one he loved - it was the oxbow critical care fine grind.

If you’re suspecting bloat though, take him to the vets to make sure because if it is, he’ll need more intensive care and the feeding routine may need to be adjusted because putting food in without meds to move it through, it just sits there causing discomfort, gas and pressure.
 
Also, I have a packet of the fine grind (arrived the day after he passed :() that you’re welcome to have if you’d like to try Gus with it?

I can post it if you’ve got an address you feel comfortable giving out, or I could send it to your local vet for you to collect?

Let me know if you’d like it.
 
Free Ranger said:
We got something called Emeprid which is quite commonly prescribed. It encourages the gut to keep moving - it contains metoclopramide. One girl had 0.2ml every 6 hours, another had 1ml every 8... there is a range of active doses and it will all depend on piggy's problems, weight, other meds etc. I will say the irl who had the 0.2ml it didn't seem to make any difference to her.

Just try and keep him going while the ABs start to work. Even just for 24 hours after you started them because they'll be working from the first dose but they need time to get any bacterial load down. There are other painkillers that can be used by the vet - injectables etc if they think he's in a lot of pain. When did all this start - days ago or weeks ago? Do you know if its something fast and aggressive or something that's been creeping on for a while.

Poor, lovely boy - we'll be praying for you x
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Spaniel said:
Also, I have a packet of the fine grind (arrived the day after he passed :() that you’re welcome to have if you’d like to try Gus with it?

I can post it if you’ve got an address you feel comfortable giving out, or I could send it to your local vet for you to collect?

Let me know if you’d like it.
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Gosh that is very kind of you! I'd be so greatful!
 
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