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Scared - without food for 20 hours!

hannahs26

hannahs26

Junior Guinea Pig
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Location
Wales, UK
Have just come home from 3 days away, with my mother caring for our girls with a visit daily to clean and replenish with heaps of fresh hay, veg and pellets and replace water, and found she accidentally didn't put hay in when she left.
They have been left with no food (only water) at all since 4pm yesterday, until midday today. She gave them their veg and pellets yesterday at 4, and I came home to find their home empty of food. I am so upset and there's nothing I could do but give them food when I returned.
Any advice, other than to look out for signs of bloat and GI?
I will definitely be paying for boarding for them next time we go away, as I can't risk this happening again. I have done previously, but since our 7yr old girl has been getting more frail, I didn't want to put her through the stress of travelling to the boarding place, and the stress of being elsewhere for a few days. I thought this was best for them. I realise my mother's memory let her down though, despite the detailed instructions that were in writing for her. I can't be angry with her, but I'm so upset it's happened to my 3 girls.
I'm so very worried and upset. I am so scared they're going to go down hill over the next 24 hours due to lack of food over those hours.
Has anyone ever had such an awful thing happen, and if so, what was the outcome?
😭😔
 
I’m so sorry this happened.
I would also suggest you weigh them now and then do a few daily weight checks until you can be sure they are stable.
 
🤞I hope they are alright. Give them plenty of good hay now and keep a keen eye on them. I’m sure they will have eaten every scrap of hay left from previous feeds so probably haven’t been totally without food, at least they had some water. You must feel really let down though, is there anyone else who would step In while you are away? Sometimes it’s better just to board them even though it can be stressful for a day while they settle in

Hope no harms done x
 
Bill & Ted said:
🤞I hope they are alright. Give them plenty of good hay now and keep a keen eye on them. I’m sure they will have eaten every scrap of hay left from previous feeds so probably haven’t been totally without food, at least they had some water. You must feel really let down though, is there anyone else who would step In while you are away? Sometimes it’s better just to board them even though it can be stressful for a day while they settle in

Hope no harms done x
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Thank you, I really hope so. My mother cleaned their run of hay and poop, so the only edible thing in their run would've been a cardboard tube, which I'm hoping they may have chewed on, for some fibre, despite it not being nutritious.
Unsure if I could get anyone else to help with them - will have to have a think.
I have a bag of rich dark green redi-grass, and a bag of oat redi-grass, which they only have a little of occasionally due to it being rich - should I give them some of that? They're on a lovely long Timothy Hay from Scotland normally, which is what was left here to give them, and they had as soon as I got home.
 
There was a piggy rescued on here last year abandoned in a pre-school who was incredibly thin and had not had anything at all for some time - he was nursed back to health and gained weight. It's an awful thing to happen but as long as they are eating and drinking at this point you know that the guts are still working. Just keep a close eye on them and make sure they have plenty of hay and not to overdo veg if you are worried about bloat. Mine eat cardboard - they eat their carrot cottage and their haybox - so they might have chewed on the tube.

Whoever you get to look after the piggies you could ask them to text you with updates while you are away. If you have smartphones they could even send a pic to reassure you. We have a like-for-like arrangement with a neighbour for pet-sitting. It's just who you'd like to trust with your house-key basically!
 
Free Ranger said:
There was a piggy rescued on here last year abandoned in a pre-school who was incredibly thin and had not had anything at all for some time - he was nursed back to health and gained weight. It's an awful thing to happen but as long as they are eating and drinking at this point you know that the guts are still working. Just keep a close eye on them and make sure they have plenty of hay and not to overdo veg if you are worried about bloat. Mine eat cardboard - they eat their carrot cottage and their haybox - so they might have chewed on the tube.

Whoever you get to look after the piggies you could ask them to text you with updates while you are away. If you have smartphones they could even send a pic to reassure you. We have a like-for-like arrangement with a neighbour for pet-sitting. It's just who you'd like to trust with your house-key basically!
Click to expand...
Thank you, that kind of makes me feel more hopeful. They're thankfully all eating and drinking, but isn't it right that the state of their gut is only evident a day later or so, from their poops, as it takes a day to pass through their gut? Anyway, really hoping they'll be ok. We lost an elderly one only a couple of weeks ago, and after nursing her for weeks and the grief we feel, I feel so worried and upset these 3 have gone through this and may be poorly from it. 😭 They are so loved and spoilt.
 
hannahs26 said:
Have just come home from 3 days away, with my mother caring for our girls with a visit daily to clean and replenish with heaps of fresh hay, veg and pellets and replace water, and found she accidentally didn't put hay in when she left.
They have been left with no food (only water) at all since 4pm yesterday, until midday today. She gave them their veg and pellets yesterday at 4, and I came home to find their home empty of food. I am so upset and there's nothing I could do but give them food when I returned.
Any advice, other than to look out for signs of bloat and GI?
I will definitely be paying for boarding for them next time we go away, as I can't risk this happening again. I have done previously, but since our 7yr old girl has been getting more frail, I didn't want to put her through the stress of travelling to the boarding place, and the stress of being elsewhere for a few days. I thought this was best for them. I realise my mother's memory let her down though, despite the detailed instructions that were in writing for her. I can't be angry with her, but I'm so upset it's happened to my 3 girls.
I'm so very worried and upset. I am so scared they're going to go down hill over the next 24 hours due to lack of food over those hours.
Has anyone ever had such an awful thing happen, and if so, what was the outcome?
😭😔
Click to expand...

Hi

Please take a deep breath. It is deplorable but it is not life-threatening unless you have a frail piggy that relies on several times a day support feeding.
Just give them plenty of hay and water first and only start feeding fresh food a few hours later on once they have lined their belly with plenty of hay, which should avoid any tummy upsets. As long as they have had access to water during that time and it was not too hot (as you are in Australia, you are still in winter anyway), they should be fine and should survive their ordeal without any problems. ;)

Leave a big heap of hay in the cage in the future (if necessary in a walk-in cardboard box with two exits) and instead of a long list of instructions, leave veg prepared in labelled fridge boxes, as well as pellets already measured out and extra hay by the cage (just far enough that your piggies cannot get at the plastic through the bars), together with a simple tick list on the inside of the main door or pegged to the cage to remind your mother to check all food groups before she leaves your accommodation and if needed check on her with a chatty phone call.
Tips For Organising Your Holiday Absence
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Please take a deep breath. It is deplorable but it is not life-threatening unless you have a frail piggy that relies on several times a day support feeding.
Just give them plenty of hay and water first and only start feeding fresh food a few hours later on once they have lined their belly with plenty of hay, which should avoid any tummy upsets. As long as they have had access to water during that time and it was not too hot (as you are in Australia, you are still in winter anyway), they should be fine and should survive their ordeal without any problems. ;)

Leave a big heap of hay in the cage in the future (if necessary in a walk-in cardboard box with two exits) and instead of a long list of instructions, leave veg prepared in labelled fridge boxes, as well as pellets already measured out and extra hay by the cage (just far enough that your piggies cannot get at the plastic through the bars), together with a simple tick list on the inside of the main door or pegged to the cage to remind your mother to check all food groups before she leaves your accommodation and if needed check on her with a chatty phone call.
Tips For Organising Your Holiday Absence
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your help! I'm happy to report that the girls are so far behaving normally, and hoping they continue that way 🤞
I'm in Wales UK, so it's summertime, but I checked the weather wouldn't be too hot over the weekend for them, otherwise probably wouldn't have gone away at this time.
Your advice of what to leave if my mum helps again is very sensible, thank you. I thought I'd already made it foolproof by bagging up hay into bags labelled for both days, and boxing up veg and pellets and labelling those too, along with a bullet-pointed list. The idea of a checklist and a phone call could really help though. I didn't think of asking her to leave a large pile of hay in their run and just adding to it each day, rather than removing it all and replacing with fresh. That would've been such a good idea!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate it! 😊🙏
 
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