How long until she starts eating again?

[danuutka]

Long story short, my Nelli (who is an older piggy) has had a plethora of tests done to determine the cause of her steady weight loss. Turns out she seems to have bronchitis, and her blood tests have shown that she has absolutely no white blood cells.

Our VERY specialist cavy vet has given her a two week course of Karidox, and Metacam. She is also on vitamin C supplements. Her teeth were also thoroughly examined, and all the vet found was evidence of calcium all over her back teeth.

however, since we came home from the vet hospital on Wednesday, Nelli has not shown ANY interest in food. She hasn’t touch a single veggie since then, or a nugget. She’s also refusing oats which she usually loves. We have offered her her favourite herbs and grass, dandelion etc - but she couldn’t care less. She seems to nibble a bit here and there, but other than that turns her head and walks away.

I have been syringe feeding her, and she is producing some poops (small and skinny) and is weeing. She’s also maintaining her weight, so I think I’m giving her enough food. I also have been adding the poop of a healthy pig to the critical care, and giving her probiotics.

my question is - how long will this go on for? We have an appointment with the vet in just over a week, but it’s been a few days already with very minimal improvement. I'm just concerned about the poor thing, because refusing grass is really unlike her

 

[Wiebke]

Long story short, my Nelli (who is an older piggy) has had a plethora of tests done to determine the cause of her steady weight loss. Turns out she seems to have bronchitis, and her blood tests have shown that she has absolutely no white blood cells.

Our VERY specialist cavy vet has given her a two week course of Karidox, and Metacam. She is also on vitamin C supplements. Her teeth were also thoroughly examined, and all the vet found was evidence of calcium all over her back teeth.

however, since we came home from the vet hospital on Wednesday, Nelli has not shown ANY interest in food. She hasn’t touch a single veggie since then, or a nugget. She’s also refusing oats which she usually loves. We have offered her her favourite herbs and grass, dandelion etc - but she couldn’t care less. She seems to nibble a bit here and there, but other than that turns her head and walks away.

I have been syringe feeding her, and she is producing some poops (small and skinny) and is weeing. She’s also maintaining her weight, so I think I’m giving her enough food. I also have been adding the poop of a healthy pig to the critical care, and giving her probiotics.

my question is - how long will this go on for? We have an appointment with the vet in just over a week, but it’s been a few days already with very minimal improvement. I'm just concerned about the poor thing, because refusing grass is really unlike her

Hi!

All you can do is hanging in there. It would be nice to have a nice set timetable for recovery; but unfortunately each case is unique. All the best!

If in any doubt or if your girl is getting worse instead of better, please inform the clinic.

 

[weepweeps]

I hope you start to see an improvement soon. It’s horrible seeing them poorly. You are doing all you can.

 

[danuutka]

Hi!

All you can do is hanging in there. It would be nice to have a nice set timetable for recovery; but unfortunately each case is unique. All the best!

If in any doubt or if your girl is getting worse instead of better, please inform the clinic.

Thank you so much, that’s really reassuring. I guess my main question was how long it can last for just because previously even if my piggies have been in very dire situations, they made massive improvements for 2-3 days!

but I guess if she’s maintaining/gaining weight, and still functioning normally in terms of toileting etc, I will just hang on. Of course, if it gets worse I will take her in

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much, that’s really reassuring. I guess my main question was how long it can last for just because previously even if my piggies have been in very dire situations, they made massive improvements for 2-3 days!

but I guess if she’s maintaining/gaining weight, and still functioning normally in terms of toileting etc, I will just hang on. Of course, if it gets worse I will take her in

Feeding support can last for weeks or even months; I have certainly had piggies who needed round the clock support for several weeks when the only choice was between a strong appetite killing antibiotic or pts, and some who needed topping up over the last months of their lives.

All the best.

 

[danuutka]

Feeding support can last for weeks or even months; I have certainly had piggies who needed round the clock support for several weeks when the only choice was between a strong appetite killing antibiotic or pts, and some who needed topping up over the last months of their lives.

All the best.

Thank you so much, that’s good to hear. I’m more than happy to give her round the clock care, I just didn’t want to be doing the wrong thing!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much, that’s good to hear. I’m more than happy to give her round the clock care, I just didn’t want to be doing the wrong thing!

All the best and keep going. Try to up the amount of feeding so the poos will get thicker over the coming days. Keep in mind that the poo output does run a day or two behind the intake, depending on fast it is running, so you are now seeing what went in yesterday.

She will recover in her own time.