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Just come back from the vets.

Jennie_

Jennie_

New Born Pup
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Hi everyone,

I had to take one of my boys to out of hours last night as I noticed blood in his urine and he was also making retching noises like a cat does just before they bring up a hair ball.
They gave him morphine and a antiflam and nothing else as his temp was fine, but they said it could be kidney infection, bladder stones, kidney failure (he's roughly 1yr 8months). So I saw my vet today, they took his temp which was a whooping 41c and have given me Enrocare which I need to give 2x aday while giving him water and crit care as he just wants to not move an sit in his hidey hole oh he also lost 10% of his weight in 3 months. Anyway I noticed he started to this little jerk movement (I've attached a video)
https://imgur.com/Pspl12n
I have vets again tomorrow for a temp check but I'm just really worried about him.
 
Did they carry out an X-ray to confirm/rule out stones etc? What did they say is the next step? I’m sorry he’s unwell. Please switch to weighing once daily at the same time (preferably morning). Your aim is to feed him 60ml in a 24 hour period, if he’s not eating for himself. If he’s losing weight daily then try minimum 5ml every two hours to help him maintain.

I’ve got everything crossed for you that he will turn the corner. I’ll also tag @Wiebke @VickiA @PigglePuggle
 
It looks to me like he can’t get comfortable. Probably because of pain. It sounds like you are doing all you can to help him. Hopefully the medicine will soon start to take effect. Good luck at the vets tomorrow. Keep us posted.
 
Siikibam said:
Did they carry out an X-ray to confirm/rule out stones etc? What did they say is the next step? I’m sorry he’s unwell. Please switch to weighing once daily at the same time (preferably morning). Your aim is to feed him 60ml in a 24 hour period, if he’s not eating for himself. If he’s losing weight daily then try minimum 5ml every two hours to help him maintain.

I’ve got everything crossed for you that he will turn the corner. I’ll also tag @Wiebke @VickiA @PigglePuggle
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No x-rays taken they just felt his bladder. He does moan when picked up or when the vets played with his bladder though.
 
Hi!

I am very sorry for the bad news.

All you can do at the moment is to switch to weighing daily at the same time and to adjust your syringe feeding and watering support accordingly. The poo output is unfortunately running a day (or even two with a slow gut) behind.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Unfortunately, you are now in the uncomfortable position where all you can do is keeping your fingers very firmly crossed and waiting for the meds to kick in and hopefully do their work. It is always an agonising period, as I know from my own experiences. :(
Here is our Crisis and Emergency care guide with practical help for you on what to do if things are not going to plan over the next 24-24 hours: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All the best!
 
I think the next step would logically be xrays and ultrasound scans to take a good look at his kidneys, bladder and tummy. The retching sound is also a worry, possibly a gut blockage or twisted bowel? We can only speculate here of course so I think some more vet diagnostics are definitely needed to see why he is in so much pain- not sure why that wasnt done straight away if the pain is severe enough to require opiate pain relief, but all you can do for now is hope the meds give him some relief and follow the emergency care guides that @Wiebke has linked in above x
 
PigglePuggle said:
I think the next step would logically be xrays and ultrasound scans to take a good look at his kidneys, bladder and tummy. The retching sound is also a worry, possibly a gut blockage or twisted bowel? We can only speculate here of course so I think some more vet diagnostics are definitely needed to see why he is in so much pain- not sure why that wasnt done straight away if the pain is severe enough to require opiate pain relief, but all you can do for now is hope the meds give him some relief and follow the emergency care guides that @Wiebke has linked in above x
Click to expand...
Honestly the out of hours vets last night was in my mind not helpful. Charged a blooming fortune and didn't do much let alone explain anything and with what she explained it was done under her breath, my vet tomorrow will more likely send me to Origins vet the exotic vet which comes to our town two times a week. Fingers crossed he doesn't go down hill.
 
Jennie_ said:
Honestly the out of hours vets last night was in my mind not helpful. Charged a blooming fortune and didn't do much let alone explain anything and with what she explained it was done under her breath, my vet tomorrow will more likely send me to Origins vet the exotic vet which comes to our town two times a week. Fingers crossed he doesn't go down hill.
Click to expand...

Fingers very firmly crossed!
 
I am so sorry. From my look at the video, he’s in pain.
As Wiebke says, it’s a fingers crossed situation that the meds kick in and you see some improvement. I agree that really he needs an X-ray or scan to see what is going on. Thoughts are with you.
 
Paws crossed you can get some answers, of course we cannot in anyway replace hands on vet checks and diagnostic tests and you should always be guided by an experienced vet, but hopefully we can offer support and provide some suggestions for things you might ask the vet to test for x
 
I’m so sorry you didn’t have a good experience with your out of hours vet! It’s awful when you don’t feel like you’ve got the answers you need.

My guinea pig recently had a bladder stone removed and he was making a very similar movement/tensing when he came home the evening of the op as he was uncomfortable going to the toilet. This may not be the case with your piggy, I’m not an experienced vet so recommend discussing it with them but I, like other members have suggested, would recommend getting some X-rays/ultrasounds as soon as possible to rule out any stones/bladder problems. Hopefully this will help you find the answers you need. Big hugs x
 
Update: Been to vets again today his temp was 37.9c he's not wee'ing that I know of but it's hard to tell. I am giving him water through a syringe plus his crit care. He seems more with it but not his self still. We're back at vets tomorrow again which I will ask for some tests done.
His poops are now going from normal to long thing. Right now as of typing he's at him water bottle drinking so :yahoo: I'm just very confused by him.
 
Jennie_ said:
Update: Been to vets again today his temp was 37.9c he's not wee'ing that I know of but it's hard to tell. I am giving him water through a syringe plus his crit care. He seems more with it but not his self still. We're back at vets tomorrow again which I will ask for some tests done.
His poops are now going from normal to long thing. Right now as of typing he's at him water bottle drinking so :yahoo: I'm just very confused by him.
Click to expand...

Keep on doing support feeding and offering water. Fever in guinea pigs is pretty rare, it is usually a sign of a serious infection that may need several days to get on top of. Any slight improvement means that the medication is starting to kick in.

Please keep in mind that antibiotics take several days to build up to full efficiency before they gradually peter off again. Don't expect miracles within hours of starting a course. Unfortunately, the crisis may take a bit of time to hopefully resolve.

As hard as it is, you will have to hang in there until then and keep on doing what you are doing now. Your good care will make a difference and can hopefuly contribute to getting hims through the crisis. :(
 
He's drinking by him self now, seems to eat his hay from time to time but not much so I will keep up with the feeds. He does drink alot more then his brother though not sure if that is due to hi fever or something more kidney related. I've given him Fibreplex too I thought it might help as he's on antibiotics. He still sits in one spot and if he does move he walks odd like tippy toed, it's hard to explain.
 
One thing I have found helpful when a sick piggy needs syringe feed is to put some mashed banana into the mush - mine love it.
I also put some into a ramekin dish in the cage to help encourage them to eat..
Yes - the cage mates will help eat it but that won’t hurt.
Hope things are a bit brighter tomorrow
 
I hope you get to the bottom of it all.. such a worry when we don't know what the problem is x
 
Really hope you can find out what’s going on with him bless him, glad he’s drinking and his temperature’s down a bit today. Good luck at the vets tomorrow ❤️ x
 
Update: So been seen this morning I thought the vet said yesterday his temp was 37.9 but he corrected me and said it was 39.7 and today it was 39.6 boyfriend says it's not a fever no more? His weight Tuesday was 1.20kg and today is 1.12kg even with feeds and the hay eating and carrots munching but I'm hoping he'll gain slowly. I'm off to Tesco tomorrow so I'll pick up his fave stuff and some bananas to mash up as Merab's Slave said they do.
He's more alert and rumble strutting with his brother so I'm hoping it's a good sign, he does drink alooot more then his brother though. Monday I'm back at vets from weight and temp check.
 
I’m so glad he’s doing a bit better and has been doing a bit of rumblestrutting at his brother! I’d up his syringe feeds too as Siikibam has said. Really hope he continues to improve over the weekend and you can get some weight back on him ❤️
 
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