Hello everyone,
Back in January, I posted about one of my piggies who had bloat and sadly passed away. Then, two weeks ago, another one of mine started showing signs of passing fewer droppings, though he was still eating normally. Despite that, I decided to take him to the vet for peace of mind, and it turned out he had quite severe bloat (though not as bad as the one who passed away). The vet prescribed medication and told me to monitor and care for him at home.
For the first four days, he showed significant improvement after taking the medication. On the first day, he only passed 30 droppings, but by the fourth day, that number had increased to 150. Seeing his improvement, I let him stay in the same cage with another guinea pig to keep him happy. However, after just one day of being housed together, he started passing fewer droppings again—only 37 in a day, and they were much shorter and smaller than usual.
I continued giving him his medication as prescribed and syringe-fed him Critical Care every 2–3 hours, but his condition didn’t improve much. So I decided to have him hospitalized so the vet could monitor and take care of him. However, after a week of hospitalization, there was still not much improvement. He continued to pass droppings—his droppings were consistent and well-formed—but he ate all of them. Occasionally, he would eat a few strands of timothy hay and some pellets, but most of the time, the vet had to hand-feed him. Over the past week, he has lost around 30 grams (there was one day he gained weight, but the next day he lost it again).
Today, when I visited him, I noticed he seemed lethargic. He tried to chew on a strand of hay but couldn’t swallow it and appeared to struggle while eating. His left eye was red around the edges (possibly due to a corneal scratch from hay dust), while his right eye looked normal, though he occasionally squinted. I stayed with him for an hour, and during that time, he passed 17 droppings—all of which he ate again.
I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m exhausted and unsure how much longer he can hold on or if he will recover. I’m terrified that he will leave me just like my previous guinea pig did… and I’ll be left behind all over again. Please, if anyone has knowledge or experience, kindly give me some advice. Should I change to a different vet? In my country and city, there aren’t many vets specialized in piggies. Also, someone I know had a guinea pig with severe bloat just like mine, and she was successfully treated at this clinic. But why is my guinea pig struggling to recover?
Back in January, I posted about one of my piggies who had bloat and sadly passed away. Then, two weeks ago, another one of mine started showing signs of passing fewer droppings, though he was still eating normally. Despite that, I decided to take him to the vet for peace of mind, and it turned out he had quite severe bloat (though not as bad as the one who passed away). The vet prescribed medication and told me to monitor and care for him at home.
For the first four days, he showed significant improvement after taking the medication. On the first day, he only passed 30 droppings, but by the fourth day, that number had increased to 150. Seeing his improvement, I let him stay in the same cage with another guinea pig to keep him happy. However, after just one day of being housed together, he started passing fewer droppings again—only 37 in a day, and they were much shorter and smaller than usual.
I continued giving him his medication as prescribed and syringe-fed him Critical Care every 2–3 hours, but his condition didn’t improve much. So I decided to have him hospitalized so the vet could monitor and take care of him. However, after a week of hospitalization, there was still not much improvement. He continued to pass droppings—his droppings were consistent and well-formed—but he ate all of them. Occasionally, he would eat a few strands of timothy hay and some pellets, but most of the time, the vet had to hand-feed him. Over the past week, he has lost around 30 grams (there was one day he gained weight, but the next day he lost it again).
Today, when I visited him, I noticed he seemed lethargic. He tried to chew on a strand of hay but couldn’t swallow it and appeared to struggle while eating. His left eye was red around the edges (possibly due to a corneal scratch from hay dust), while his right eye looked normal, though he occasionally squinted. I stayed with him for an hour, and during that time, he passed 17 droppings—all of which he ate again.
I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m exhausted and unsure how much longer he can hold on or if he will recover. I’m terrified that he will leave me just like my previous guinea pig did… and I’ll be left behind all over again. Please, if anyone has knowledge or experience, kindly give me some advice. Should I change to a different vet? In my country and city, there aren’t many vets specialized in piggies. Also, someone I know had a guinea pig with severe bloat just like mine, and she was successfully treated at this clinic. But why is my guinea pig struggling to recover?
