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HELP! My Guinea pig was overdosed with extended release buprenorphine

MessyMoose

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My Guinea pig,Toby, was overdosed with extended release buprenorphine. He was given >6.5 times the dose and the exotic vet didn’t do anything about it causing my piggie to get GI stasis. I transported him to another clinic and treatment was started. He is currently getting:

-Metoclopramide every 6 hours
-cerenia every 24 hours
-simethacone every 8 hours
-SQ fluids once a day (~40-60mLs)
-pedialyte every 8 hours ~5-10mLs
-feeding as much critical care as possible but he seems to fall asleep so can’t take in very much

It has been 5 days and we have seen mild improvement in his energy but doesn’t seem to have an appetite.

Does anybody have any suggestions on what else to do? Normally the buprenorphine extended release last 48-72 hours but bc he was overdosed we are not sure how long it is going to last!

Any help would be much appreciated, located in texas.
 
I’m so sorry this has happened to your piggy. I don’t have experience with this unfortunately. I do know that a few people on the forum have had bad experiences with this drug. If you search for it you’ll find their experiences. Good luck I hope Toby is soon on the mend.
 
So sorry to hear about Toby. Good advice above - there are quite a few posts about experiences with buprenorphine. My piggie just recently had a bad reaction to it. He was very lethargic and was on critical care for about 5 days before he started to perk up and that was after a normal dose. Thinking of you and Toby x
 
My Guinea pig,Toby, was overdosed with extended release buprenorphine. He was given >6.5 times the dose and the exotic vet didn’t do anything about it causing my piggie to get GI stasis. I transported him to another clinic and treatment was started. He is currently getting:

-Metoclopramide every 6 hours
-cerenia every 24 hours
-simethacone every 8 hours
-SQ fluids once a day (~40-60mLs)
-pedialyte every 8 hours ~5-10mLs
-feeding as much critical care as possible but he seems to fall asleep so can’t take in very much

It has been 5 days and we have seen mild improvement in his energy but doesn’t seem to have an appetite.

Does anybody have any suggestions on what else to do? Normally the buprenorphine extended release last 48-72 hours but bc he was overdosed we are not sure how long it is going to last!

Any help would be much appreciated, located in texas.

Hi

BIG HUGS

I am extremely sorry. We are not a medical forum and I do not have personal experience with overdosing on buprenorphine (or with buprenorphine at all).

The lethargy seems to unfortunately be more related to the overdose rather than the stasis but your currently treating vet should be aware of any potential side effects of buprenorphine; including long term ones. All you can do is hang on in there and hope for the best. It may take a while for the side effects to disappear.
For that side, speaking to the treating vet would give you more of a perspective re. the buprenorphine related side and longer term effects.

In order to keep him alive at least 40 ml in 24 hours (ideally 60 ml or more) should be got into him; little but often - ideally every 2 hours during the day. With any poisoning, keeping a piggy well hydrated is also important so the poison can be worked out via the kidneys and the urinary tract even when the gut has stalled. It looks like that all that can be done is being done.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Here is our GI stasis care advice: Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed!
 
Hi, I am so sorry this happened to you. I had the same happen to my piggy last year. It was distressing, but with patience and care he got out of it eventually. Hang in there!
Is he with you at home or is he being kept at the clinic? If he's with you, I also suggest keeping him warm and making sure he is on dry bedding, as he will be incontinent and unable to groom himself, so you'll need to help him out a bit with a warm damp cloth to get rid of the urine on his underside and drying him gently. I also gave him gentle massages on his belly, that should be explained in the guide if I remember correctly. Be very gentle as his belly is probably sensitive at this time. Feeding him with a syringe will take long and a lot of patience.
Try to get some sleep between feedings and make sure you take care of yourself too, if you're exhausted it won't help either of you. Best of luck to your piggy, you have all my love and support ❤️
 
I also gave my piggy a dose of activated charcoal but please do ask your vet or wait for a moderator's opinion before you do so.
 
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