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Help for little pig in Spain

sunshinepig

sunshinepig

New Born Pup
Joined
Jan 21, 2023
Messages
25
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Location
spain
Hi had a horrible week. We have two little pigs only around 2-2.5 years old. peanut was the mother and disco is the baby. Disco has been sick not eating well for about a week, we took both to the vet here in Spain, they did a check but couldnt see anything on the surface. Peanut passed away the same day :( she was breathing funny after the vet and seizured and passed away.

Now disco is on her own, still very sick not eating, we have resorted to syringe feeding, shes losing weight daily, trying to get to 40-60ml per day but shes struggling with 20-30 a day at the moment. Ordered the oxbow critical care but takes time in Spain and no stockist nearby, so currently using a few types of feed of wet food and pellets. Shes of course very down after her mum has passed and resorting to sleeping most the time/little energy/hiding :(

She is on antibiotics which seems to have helped her breathing but shes still grinding her teeth, interested in food but just picks it up and fights with it, taking very small bites of food like cucumber and strawberries but very little. Before she sleeps she pushes her head against her little bed house, not sure if this could be mites? I noticed some black pepper like dust just yesterday around ears and cleaned them out.

Any tips or guidance welcome, Vets in spain don't really know how to deal with guinea pigs so not sure what else to do at the moment/
 
Oh i forgot to mention something important! I took Disco back to the vet the day after Peanut died, they did an xray and they said her bronchi were inflamed hence the antibiotics, originally i brought her in because she wasnt eating and thought she had tooth problems but the vet was not keep to put her on aneasthetic until this Tues.
 
I’m sorry to hear your piggy is unwell. Do keep trying with the syringe feeding. Perhaps you could use pellets she is used to and leave a bowl of them in the cage near her.

I see she takes 20-30ml a day. How often are you giving her a feed?

Was she diagnosed with a URI? I’m sorry you’re in a difficult position. I would have her checked again by the vet.

Hope she does start improving. Keep going with what you’re doing, you’re doing you very best for your girl.
 
Thank you for your kind words. The vet initially said to do 10ml a day and then looking around this seemed way under so have been increasing daily. She hit around 30 mls feeding from 8am-midnight. Today I'm going to do a night feed as worried maybe her gut is getting slow at night, so hoping today we can do 5ml every 2-3 hours and hit 40-50ml.

she was diagnosed with bronchitis i suppose is URI but the vet didnt say.
 
Since she is on antibiotics, I would recommend putting her on a probiotic 2-4 hours (Bene-Bac, ProC, etc) before giving the antibiotic. This helps the gut microflora. If she has small poops then a motility drug might be needed as well. Keep syringe feeding her. Encourage exercise to keep her digestive system active. How are her teeth? She should have access to Timothy Hay all day and night. It is 80% of their diet. If there is any sort of infection (URI/UTI) then you must keep her home as clean as possible at all times. Try to keep your own home clean too.

While she has everything she needs, do a complete search of vets in or close to your area. A proper vet is a must and should be seen asap.
 
StayGold86 said:
Since she is on antibiotics, I would recommend putting her on a probiotic 2-4 hours (Bene-Bac, ProC, etc) before giving the antibiotic. This helps the gut microflora. If she has small poops then a motility drug might be needed as well. Keep syringe feeding her. Encourage exercise to keep her digestive system active. How are her teeth? She should have access to Timothy Hay all day and night. It is 80% of their diet. If there is any sort of infection (URI/UTI) then you must keep her home as clean as possible at all times. Try to keep your own home clean too.

While she has everything she needs, do a complete search of vets in or close to your area. A proper vet is a must and should be seen asap.
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Yeah I think i have to wait for the vet on Monday for probiotic unless you have any ideas for making one :)

The Timothy Hay she just wrestles with her teeth (like most food) and then drops it and doesnt seem to eat any. Pellets she will eat a very small amount but only if they are / have been wet or by syringe. I originally thought it was back teeth problems because she was tossing her food around (front teeth are perfect) but the vet wanted to wait for a week to check weight/ improvement because they have to put her under to check the back teeth here...

Poop is defo small and fewer.
 
Or so sorry you lost your beloved Peanut. Sleep tight little one ❤. Yes definitely put her on probiotics. When my piggies have been on antibiotics in the past, I truly believe these helped keep their guts going. My 🌈 Susie went into stasis and I think giving her probiotics played a big part in saving her life.
 
sunshinepig said:
Yeah I think i have to wait for the vet on Monday for probiotic unless you have any ideas for making one :)

The Timothy Hay she just wrestles with her teeth (like most food) and then drops it and doesnt seem to eat any. Pellets she will eat a very small amount but only if they are / have been wet or by syringe. I originally thought it was back teeth problems because she was tossing her food around (front teeth are perfect) but the vet wanted to wait for a week to check weight/ improvement because they have to put her under to check the back teeth here...

Poop is defo small and fewer.
Click to expand...

Can you order a probiotic online?

Whether her unwillingness/inability to eat properly is due to dental issues or due to the respiratory issue is for the vet to decide. But, Piggies cant really breathe through their mouths so if she has a respiratory infection and breathing is difficult, this can put them off trying to eat (the need to breathe comes before the need to eat).

Poops are smaller and fewer because she is not getting enough food.

Is she on a painkiller?

Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
 
Shes not on any painkillers will defo check about the probiotic, metacam, anti inflam and motlity for the gut :) Thanks everyone. Unfortunately post here in Spain is just aweful, amazon even with prime takes around 7 days :mal: Shes just eaten some hay the fist time in 5 days! so Happy! :luv:
 
Try grinding up pellets, mixing them with water, and syringe feeding them. She needs to eat. If you have another healthy pig, you can make poop soup from that pigs poo. Then you can feed it to the sick pig. That can be substituted for a probiotic.
 
sunshinepig said:
Shes not on any painkillers will defo check about the probiotic, metacam, anti inflam and motlity for the gut :) Thanks everyone. Unfortunately post here in Spain is just aweful, amazon even with prime takes around 7 days :mal: Shes just eaten some hay the fist time in 5 days! so Happy! :luv:
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That’s really good.
Keep going with the syringe feeding - as much as she will take - keep up daily weight checks so you can monitor what is going in, and speak to the vet on Monday.
Order a probiotic if you can but speaking to the vet may be your best bet by the sound of your postal system.
 
Quick one any guidance on the amount of water to syringe as she’s always been bad at drinking and her poo is very dry. I read somewhere recommended 10ml per 100g but not sure if that’s correct. Thank you!
 
sunshinepig said:
Quick one any guidance on the amount of water to syringe as she’s always been bad at drinking and her poo is very dry. I read somewhere recommended 10ml per 100g but not sure if that’s correct. Thank you!
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With water you just very carefully offer as much as they will take.
If she is being syringe fed, then she will also be getting fluid through the water used to make syringe feed
 
hello! Little update, managed to keep Disco's weight steady, still feeding 4-5 hours per day hitting around 40-50ml.

Have critical care, metacam, pro C and the vet also provided vetregul i think to combat the gas/poor digestion. shes still struggling to eat biscuits and hay, poo is much better but a bit soft.

She seems more herself, looking around and doing exercise!

Answers on a postit :luv:
- Should I try to hit more like 60+ for feeding?
- Should i mix some biscuits and wet food into critical care, I noticed her poo is soft recently, it was super dry like i was shocked was like tiny twigs so very happy she is pooing more even if it is softer!
 
I can’t advise you but when one of my piggies has had soft poops the vet recommended Fibreplex.
I don’t know if it’s available in Spain though.

If syringe feeding I usually add a small piece of mashed banana into the critical care which mine all love.

Good to hear that Disco’s is maintaining her weight.
You’re doing a great job there.
 
Wheekallweek said:
Might be worth discussing an anti inflammatory with your vet too like Metacam 😊
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wanted to say a big THANK YOU! 3rd week of piggy being sick but if you hadn't told us about Metacam for sure she would be a lot worse and the previous vet didnt even have it on her radar... we had to request it!

We finally managed to get in with the Exotic Vet here in Spain, her gums are very inflammed, (teeth are fine :yahoo:) this vet also knew exactly how much metcam to give so its been upped significantly and now on twice a day. So thank you, I'm sure your advice here was life saving! shes still struggling to eat but hopefully this will help the inflammation and she can eat soon on her own!
 
sunshinepig said:
wanted to say a big THANK YOU! 3rd week of piggy being sick but if you hadn't told us about Metacam for sure she would be a lot worse and the previous vet didnt even have it on her radar... we had to request it!

We finally managed to get in with the Exotic Vet here in Spain, her gums are very inflammed, (teeth are fine :yahoo:) this vet also knew exactly how much metcam to give so its been upped significantly and now on twice a day. So thank you, I'm sure your advice here was life saving! shes still struggling to eat but hopefully this will help the inflammation and she can eat soon on her own!
Click to expand...
Great news! I'm so glad I could help 🤗
 
Thanks for all of your support! Good news Disco started eating something hard (pellet and spinach) for the first time in 3 weeks and she is up 20g in weight! Usually she loses 10 or maintains after syringe feeding 60-70ml for the last 3 weeks. So its a relief to see it jump up the first time! I managed to get to the UK to get some fibreplex to give her gut an extra support after all the drugs shes been on, shes been on Pro C but this sounds like its a better dose.

Her poos are back to solid and just 3/4 of the size too after weeks of bad poos either shards or super wet sticky poos. Her inflammation in gums is still there but hopefully in a few days she will be able to eat hay again! So very happy! I'm sure this is the road to recovery. So thanks to this group you helped save her life! :luv: :luv: :luv: Such a valuable resource for piggy lovers!
 
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