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My piggy Solomon has been having health issues for almost one month

CavyMom58

CavyMom58

New Born Pup
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Solomon's health problems started with an unfortunate eye injury. Which developed into an infection requiring oral antibiotics. Which zapped his appetite and seriously slowed his gut. Then he developed a bladder stone with blockage, very painful. Still battling the anorexia. The euthanasia word was discussed but the stone was in the urethra and they were able to manually work it out which extended his life and I am so thankful! That was 4 days ago. He still eats very little on his own so I continue to syringe feed. He is not pooping normally at all, amount or size and color. He is getting Benebac for gut health. He is drinking and peeing normally, I think. But one other strange thing I've noticed is that he is chewing things he never used to chew... paper (lines his hay bin litter box), wooden chew toy, and plastic. I'm wondering why and if that might be a symptom of another problem. Your insight would be very much appreciated as to what might be going on with the chewing... 🤔
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

Are you weighing him each morning?
This is essential to know you are getting enough syringe feed into him - you are looking to feed enough to keep his weight stable each day which is around 60-90ml per day.

Poops reflect food intake 1-2 days prior - so lack of poop today reflects a reduced amount of food intake yesterday /the day before. This is where the daily weight checks are essential as poop output is delayed so not a useful source of up to date information.

Is he on adequate pain relief?

His chewing paper etc - they can sometimes do that if their tummy is feeling off.

Do you have another healthy piggy from whose poops you can make poop soup? It is very effective in rebalancing their gut. You can give poop soup a few times a day alongside a commercial probiotic.

Wiebke

Thread 'Wiebke's Guide to Poops'

Overview
1 How the Digestive System Works
2 Poo Eating (Coprophagy)
3 Health Monitoring: Weighing vs. Poos Watching
- What does weighing do?
- What does the poop output tell you?
4 Minor Poop Issues
- How to deal with a minor tummy upset
- Funny poops: What do they mean?
- Caked on poops
5 Serious Diarrhoea...
  • Informative
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Well... about an hour after I posted this, I noticed him in the hay bin and lifted up his favorite hidey where he had been sleeping and low and behold I found a mound of very normal looking poops! Praise the Lord and pass the hay! He is much more active this morning and keeps going back for more hay nibbles. I'm hoping he has turned a good corner. I have been weighing him every day and at one point he was down 150g. But first thing this morning his weight was up 50 g. Not back to his normal yet, but better. I did see him nibbling the paper a bit, but less so far today.
Thank you for the great information and links... I appreciate this forum so much. This has been my first experience with a seriously sick or injured guinea pig, and I couldn't have gotten through this without all of the helpful information and support. Still dealing with his eye injury and possible enucleation, but at least he seems to be doing better otherwise.
 
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