alfalfa_sprout
New Born Pup
One of our 2 beautiful boys, Edwin - 4.5 yrs - has been losing weight. His healthy baseline weight was 1kg. 2 weeks ago we felt he was lighter and when we weighed he was 900g. Took him to the vets the next day and noticed at the vets for the first time a very small amount of blood in their travel bag where he had passed urine. He was 860g at the vet. She prescribed rheumocam 2 x per day and arranged an abdominal X-ray ?bladder stones. She took his temp and it was normal. His X-ray was completely normal - no bladder stones or anything else.
Over the first weekend he was tired, eating less and looked sad - not his normal self. I ordered Critical care and started to syringe feed him 40-50 ml per day. I would like to do more but it's extremely difficult to get him to take even this amount. His poos have improved with this as they were tiny and dry. Blood in urine stopped after about 3 days and hasn't returned, he is doing normal wees, no apparent pain or straining. His weight loss has slowed but continues to drop - today 2 weeks since we first noticed a problem he is 807g. He has been otherwise fairly active, going up and down his ramp, interested in what's going on, going up on his back legs, bossing his brother around and he is eating pea flakes and veggies happily (though less than he used to and he's gone off some sweeter treats he used to like like blueberries and carrot.) He barely eats nuggets - maybe a couple of a day, he is still drinking water from bottle and bowl - and this isn't more than usual. He mouths at hay and eats very small amounts but not enough to sustain himself. He really hates the syringe feeding and tries to spit out as much as possible and won't take any at all voluntarily this has made it really hard to get enough into him
He isn't coughing or sneezing, breathing is normal, eyes and ears look good, no lumps or swellings, vet said his teeth looked normal and she didn't feel any lymph nodes or lumps. His coat still feels silky and looks healthy. He's living with the same friend he's always had, Albert, so no changes there. They have fleece bedding and he hasn't eaten anything new/out of the ordinary at all prior to getting sick.
Vet said he might have kidney failure - but the blood has completely stopped after about 3 days and was just a small amount - no clots. She said to just syringe feed for a week and if we're going for longer than that then to consider if he needs to be put to sleep or if he completely stops eating anything. It's been about 1.5 weeks since she gave this advice.
I wondered if anyone had any ideas or advice - even practical advice for syringe feeding - i've read the guides on here and watched some youtube videos but the piggies in videos seem quite happy to take the syringe and it hasn't been the case for us. I feel so cruel syringe feeding him as he really hates it but even leaving out 1 feed, his weight drops even more dramatically but in between feeds he seems quite happy and he's enjoying his veg and pea flakes still. It's so sad to see him more skinny - he's always been such a strong and cheeky piggy. I feel really conflicted as I don't want him to suffer needlessly but he also seems to have a good quality of life still - aside from the syringe feeding which is always hard. My previous piggies both died quite suddenly and at pretty old ages (7 and 8) so I've never had to navigate a more prolonged illness with a piggy and am struggling with what's best and how to navigate it - it's quite heartbreaking to think about losing him
Over the first weekend he was tired, eating less and looked sad - not his normal self. I ordered Critical care and started to syringe feed him 40-50 ml per day. I would like to do more but it's extremely difficult to get him to take even this amount. His poos have improved with this as they were tiny and dry. Blood in urine stopped after about 3 days and hasn't returned, he is doing normal wees, no apparent pain or straining. His weight loss has slowed but continues to drop - today 2 weeks since we first noticed a problem he is 807g. He has been otherwise fairly active, going up and down his ramp, interested in what's going on, going up on his back legs, bossing his brother around and he is eating pea flakes and veggies happily (though less than he used to and he's gone off some sweeter treats he used to like like blueberries and carrot.) He barely eats nuggets - maybe a couple of a day, he is still drinking water from bottle and bowl - and this isn't more than usual. He mouths at hay and eats very small amounts but not enough to sustain himself. He really hates the syringe feeding and tries to spit out as much as possible and won't take any at all voluntarily this has made it really hard to get enough into him
He isn't coughing or sneezing, breathing is normal, eyes and ears look good, no lumps or swellings, vet said his teeth looked normal and she didn't feel any lymph nodes or lumps. His coat still feels silky and looks healthy. He's living with the same friend he's always had, Albert, so no changes there. They have fleece bedding and he hasn't eaten anything new/out of the ordinary at all prior to getting sick.
Vet said he might have kidney failure - but the blood has completely stopped after about 3 days and was just a small amount - no clots. She said to just syringe feed for a week and if we're going for longer than that then to consider if he needs to be put to sleep or if he completely stops eating anything. It's been about 1.5 weeks since she gave this advice.
I wondered if anyone had any ideas or advice - even practical advice for syringe feeding - i've read the guides on here and watched some youtube videos but the piggies in videos seem quite happy to take the syringe and it hasn't been the case for us. I feel so cruel syringe feeding him as he really hates it but even leaving out 1 feed, his weight drops even more dramatically but in between feeds he seems quite happy and he's enjoying his veg and pea flakes still. It's so sad to see him more skinny - he's always been such a strong and cheeky piggy. I feel really conflicted as I don't want him to suffer needlessly but he also seems to have a good quality of life still - aside from the syringe feeding which is always hard. My previous piggies both died quite suddenly and at pretty old ages (7 and 8) so I've never had to navigate a more prolonged illness with a piggy and am struggling with what's best and how to navigate it - it's quite heartbreaking to think about losing him
'm not an expert but have his teeth been checked? Also could you try a different critical care to see if he prefers it then he would hopefully eat more. 
