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Lump on back - vet trip booked!

Hi everyone - just a quick question does anyone know the correct dose for emeprid oral? Dougal has been given a dose of 0.6ml three times a day. Hes had one dose at lunch time so giving his next one with his night time feed but I’ve noticed he’s not pooping very much? I cleaned his cage out earlier to keep the fleece bedding fresh for him so I’m hoping I’m just being paranoid now. We’re syringe feeding him every two/three hours and managing 5/6ml in at one go and we’re already up to 28ml so far today and hoping to get him up to 40/50ml throughout the night.

Could he be impacted or is it normal for them to not poop as much when they’re being syringe fed. If he could be impacted how do I check? Is it just to see if anything’s stuck around his bottom area?

Thanks!
 
The Emeprid dose sounds right, that’s what Ted had last time after his operation.
Check his bum see if you can feel any swelling. You can usually look inside the sack to see if anything is in there. Has he had a run around, this can sometimes help get things moving. A gentle tummy rub can help too. Otherwise if he is not pooping at all then seek vet advice. Hope he’s pooping loads soon X

There is an information sheet on Impaction on the health guides
 
Thanks for the quick reply @Bill & Ted . I’ve since read the thread about GI stasis and now I’m thinking that the small amount of poos this evening could be due to the fact that on Saturday he didn’t eat very much until we stepped in with syringe feed so poops would be running two days behind. The vet did do a thorough check today so I’m sure she would have noticed if he was impacted or something sinister so think I’m being a bit paranoid. I’ve only given one feed since cleaning his cage so will ring the vets tomorrow if I notice he’s still not pooping much. Hopefully after his next dose of the emeprid he starts to poop more too!
 
poop output is 1-2 days behind food Input, so if he didn’t eat much a couple of days ago then that could explain it. Syringe feeding doesn’t make them poop less - unless you aren’t syringe feeding enough (which I don’t think is the issue) - as you are simply replacing what they aren’t eating for themselves
 
Yeah I’m hoping it does explain it @Piggies&buns. I’ve tried to be positive until now but hitting a bit of a bump in the road with tiredness I think. Hoping it’s not because I’m not syringe feeding enough as like I said we’re doing it every two/three hours and trying to get 5/6ml each time... we’ve tried more but he has enough by then!
 
DougalandDiego said:
Yeah I’m hoping it does explain it @Piggies&buns. I’ve tried to be positive until now but hitting a bit of a bump in the road with tiredness I think. Hoping it’s not because I’m not syringe feeding enough as like I said we’re doing it every two/three hours and trying to get 5/6ml each time... we’ve tried more but he has enough by then!
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I think you are right, there will be that gap when he wasn’t eating that takes a couple of days to start coming through. When I have had to syringe feed Ted, I give him about 4/5 syringes full then offer him little Bits of veg. I find the syringe food gets him chewing and he is more open to try and eat some veggies by himself? Then top up with a few more syringes depending upon what he’s eaten. It might work for you/or not? Might be worth a try. Hang in there 😊
 
Thanks @Bill & Ted. Seems so strange as he’s quite happy to eat when I’ve syringe fed him. He eats veg from me and my partner in between syringes and then has a munch on hay for a little bit when I put him back but then he mostly sleeps until the next one. He is drinking for himself now and eats the hay heads we give him but just hope he starts to pick up soon as this is the 3rd day after the op. Although he did have another vet trip today which is an hours drive each way so hoping that’s why he’s tired 😢 thanks for the tips my partners gone to the supermarket and I’ve asked him to pick up a sweet potato to grate a bit and give to him too.
 
DougalandDiego said:
Thanks for your kind wishes everyone. Just got back from the vets and doing a syringe feed. Managed to get another 6ml down him so already on 18ml today which is good.
Kristina was quite concerned with his weight loss but said that because of the lump removal it might not be that he’s lost as much as we think. She said his wound and everything was healing nicely and that he hasn’t got much bruising. She said his dose for the meloxidyl at 0.4 x2 daily is quite high so doesn’t want to up it so to ring on Wednesday when he’s due to finish and see if we need to reduce it or stop it. She has given me some gut stimulation medicine because she listened to his tummy and said it was fairly quiet and doesn’t want him to go into GI stasis. Going to keep syringe feeding him every couple of hours and Hope we can get more into him today. She thinks that he isn’t in pain due to the high dose of painkiller but thinks he’s not coped very well with the anaesthetic. (She’s an exotics specialist so trust what she says)
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I’m presuming this is Kristina in Exeter - if so I trust her implicitly. She removed a huge lump off my Holly’s side last year and dealt with a whole host of other piggy related problems while she was our local exotics vet.
 
Yeah @VickiA it is! I remember you saying now that you had animals treated by her. Yeah she’s great isn’t she. We live in Taunton but drive the hour to get the pigs seen by her because she’s so good. Hoping that my little man is weighing more or the same tomorrow and is pooping more! Got alarms on through the night to wake up and feed him 👍🏻🤞🏻
 
So pleased, lots more poops this morning during our feed and they’re looking like his normal poops! :yahoo: Hopefully the gut stimulant is starting to kick in now. Also weighed him and today he’s 1250 exactly and yesterday he was 1237 so going to keep the feeds up today and hope he weighs the same/more tomorrow 🤞🏻Having to take time off unpaid to look after the little munchkin but hopefully he’s strong enough for me to go back to work on Thursday/Friday if we do a big feed before and after work.
 
@Piggies&buns the only thing I forgot to add is that he was a bit squeaky/complainy during the feed this morning. Is that just him telling me off or do you think that’s when he’s passing the poops because he’s probably been a bit bunged up? He passed about 10 fairly large poops in a 20 minute sitting so wonder if the tummy massages have been helping so he’s a bit uncomfortable until his tummy settles?
 
DougalandDiego said:
@Piggies&buns the only thing I forgot to add is that he was a bit squeaky/complainy during the feed this morning. Is that just him telling me off or do you think that’s when he’s passing the poops because he’s probably been a bit bunged up? He passed about 10 fairly large poops in a 20 minute sitting so wonder if the tummy massages have been helping so he’s a bit uncomfortable until his tummy settles?
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All I can say is to keep an eye on it, he could be uncomfortable and hopefully he’ll start to feel better once his system is back up and running normally, or he may just be feeling well enough to tell you off!
it sounds as if things are heading in the right direction though
 
We’ve been giving Dougal a belly rub at the end of the feeds and he’s passing about 10 poops each time which is really good and all look like perfect poops.

My only concern is that he’s been a bit windy during the poops after his feeds so wonder whether it’s the anaesthetic and gut stimulant because his tummy is soft and isn’t bloated. Is it anything to worry about? I haven’t had experience of using a gut stimulant before so not sure what’s normal! Sorry for all the questions!
 
(Hoping I’m doing this right by adding to this post and not starting a new one!)
I'm soo pleased with my little mans progress, he’s now weighing in at 1271 this morning :yahoo: so 21g more than yesterday and we only managed to give him 41ml in the last 24 hours because he was struggling more (must have felt better to put up a fight!) I also noticed where most of his poops are going and that he was eating them bless him. I’m giving him probiotics a couple of hours before/after his meds too.

I’m going to ring the vets when they open as he’s due to come off his meloxidyl painkiller today but I’m wondering if it’s better to just give him a small amount for a little bit so his body doesn’t have a shock of it suddenly stopping from a fairly high dose of 0.4ml x2 daily.

I was hoping to get some advice about syringe feeding and when to start reducing it if he’s starting to put weight back on again? I don’t want to do anything wrong now that he’s doing so well. I hope you don’t mind me tagging you @Piggies&buns and @VickiA ? X
 
You’ve definitely done the right thing by keeping it to this same thread.

great news about his weight!

Definitely speak to the vet about the pain killer. If there is even the slightest chance he is still experiencing some pain then stopping isn’t a good idea. Reducing the dose maybe rather than just stopping. its obviously the vets decision.

Regarding syringing, you stop when he is eating enough hay independently. You can reduce the feedings down to top up feeds (a couple of times a day) before stopping altogether if he is maintaining his weight on his own. you would still want to continue to weigh daily for a while afterwards so you can be sure he is truly on the mend. it just all comes down to his weight really!
 
Thanks so much for your advice @Piggies&buns and always getting back to me so quickly! :luv:

Yes I’m hoping that even if I continue with the feeds today that hopefully I can drop the night feeds down to the once if we stay up and give him one right before we go to bed? Do you think if we gave him one at 11 that he’d be ok until 4? I might keep the usual time of the feeds up today and drop the amount to 4ml for each sitting instead of 5 as that’s when he seemed to get wriggly and see how that goes?

Yeah I was thinking the same with the painkiller dose, I’d rather he kept up a small amount for a little bit rather than be in pain! I rang the vets and she’s ringing me back in between operations today.
 
Yes it sounds like a good plan to try - stay as normal today, then drop a night feed first and if he is happier with 4ml. If he is eating hay independently it’ll be fine but you just have to see how his weight goes - any issues and the feeds will need to be back on
keep us posted!
 
Perfect thank you. Yes he’s definitely eating hay on his own now just don’t think it’s up to his usual amount quite yet! I’ve taken until Thursday off so far so hopefully by Friday he will be ok for me to return to work and do a feed before and after 🤞🏻🤞🏻
 
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