Until recently I had two guinea pig extremely bonded boars housed together, though last weekend one of them suddenly fell ill. He lost a lot of weight very quickly, was hot to touch, making pained noises, and occasionally gasping in pain.
We rushed him to the vet, and were given an extensive course of antibiotics and pain relief, as well as instructions to feed him critical care every 2-3 hours. The vet believed he had some sort of viral infection that caused an abscesses on his tongue and throat (as his molars weren't overgrown), and said that while she usually sees it in cats and dogs, guinea pigs and other small furries can develop it too. Sadly, despite everyone's best efforts, he had what appeared to be a seizure the day after his last vet appointment, and died in my arms.
I deep cleaned their cage and took the surviving pig to the vet the next day to check for symptoms, but the vet gave him the all clear. We brought him home and noticed he wasn't eating/playing/doing much of anything, so we rang the vet again. She suggested he was lonely and depressed, so told us to supplement him with critical care until he starts to recover from his cagemates death. Luckily, he enjoys critical care, so feedings have been going well. We were planning on getting him another cagemate after a quarantine period (and at least one more check up).
This morning I woke up and he seems to have diarrhea. It's not watery, but it's like a mushy paste stuck to his bum. Almost like a dropping that wasn't formed properly. It's also fairly smelly. I've cleaned him up and checked the rest of his cage (thankfully ALL of his other poops are solid and normal, and there was no evidence of soft poop or diarrhea in his cage). I've made a vet appointment, but I live in a village with only one exotic/small furry vet (as you can imagine most country vets deal with horses and livestock) and she's not in again till Wednesday morning due to a personal emergency. I was advised to keep an eye on him, keep him hydrated, abstain from veggies, and make pellet smoothies/critical care for him to eat.
My question is, could the critical care cause soft poops? He likes it quite watery, rather than thick and pastelike. Or could his upset stomach be a symptom of grief? His cagemate did die just a week ago today, and they've been together since they were babies.
I've checked his mouth and he doesn't have any visible abscesses, and he doesn't appear to have lost any weight. He doesn't have any of the symptoms my other pig had before he died, but I'm terrified I'm going to lose two pigs in less than two weeks.
For reference they are indoor exclusive, fed a diet of oxbow pellets, Timothy hay, and fresh veggies. The surviving pig is three, and hasn't had any other illnesses aside from a mild case of ringworm shortly after we first brought him home.
We rushed him to the vet, and were given an extensive course of antibiotics and pain relief, as well as instructions to feed him critical care every 2-3 hours. The vet believed he had some sort of viral infection that caused an abscesses on his tongue and throat (as his molars weren't overgrown), and said that while she usually sees it in cats and dogs, guinea pigs and other small furries can develop it too. Sadly, despite everyone's best efforts, he had what appeared to be a seizure the day after his last vet appointment, and died in my arms.
I deep cleaned their cage and took the surviving pig to the vet the next day to check for symptoms, but the vet gave him the all clear. We brought him home and noticed he wasn't eating/playing/doing much of anything, so we rang the vet again. She suggested he was lonely and depressed, so told us to supplement him with critical care until he starts to recover from his cagemates death. Luckily, he enjoys critical care, so feedings have been going well. We were planning on getting him another cagemate after a quarantine period (and at least one more check up).
This morning I woke up and he seems to have diarrhea. It's not watery, but it's like a mushy paste stuck to his bum. Almost like a dropping that wasn't formed properly. It's also fairly smelly. I've cleaned him up and checked the rest of his cage (thankfully ALL of his other poops are solid and normal, and there was no evidence of soft poop or diarrhea in his cage). I've made a vet appointment, but I live in a village with only one exotic/small furry vet (as you can imagine most country vets deal with horses and livestock) and she's not in again till Wednesday morning due to a personal emergency. I was advised to keep an eye on him, keep him hydrated, abstain from veggies, and make pellet smoothies/critical care for him to eat.
My question is, could the critical care cause soft poops? He likes it quite watery, rather than thick and pastelike. Or could his upset stomach be a symptom of grief? His cagemate did die just a week ago today, and they've been together since they were babies.
I've checked his mouth and he doesn't have any visible abscesses, and he doesn't appear to have lost any weight. He doesn't have any of the symptoms my other pig had before he died, but I'm terrified I'm going to lose two pigs in less than two weeks.
For reference they are indoor exclusive, fed a diet of oxbow pellets, Timothy hay, and fresh veggies. The surviving pig is three, and hasn't had any other illnesses aside from a mild case of ringworm shortly after we first brought him home.
