Strange illness!

[Orangelady]

Hello my 2 year old female has been off for over a week now, (please note: she has seen 2 vets) and neither are sure what’s wrong with her.
She is eating and drinking but has completely changed from a cheeky, very active girl to one who just comes out to eat then goes back to her hidy or just lays down in hay box. She seems exhausted and has lost weight, back end is a bit boney. Her fur looks raggy also. The vets checked her mouth, listened to her heart and lungs and all fine. Her tummy is soft but a bit tense when pressed. Her stools are slightly smaller. I feel like she’s slipping away and I don’t know what’s wrong

 

[VickiA]

Has she had any investigations?

 

[VickiA]

Btw welcome to the forum

 

[Claire W]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Is she a single piggy or does she have a friend? If she’s a single piggy, my first thought was perhaps loneliness?

 

[Orangelady]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Is she a single piggy or does she have a friend? If she’s a single piggy, my first thought was perhaps loneliness?

No she had a female friend

 

[Orangelady]

No she had a female friend

Sorry still has a female buddy

Has she had any investigations?

no, do u mean blood tests?

 

[VickiA]

Sorry still has a female buddy

no, do u mean blood tests?

Blood tests, X-rays, scans, urine tests….

 

[Orangelady]

Blood tests, X-rays, scans, urine tests….

No not yet I will take her back in, does any of her symptoms sound familiar tho?

 

[VickiA]

What did the 2 vets who saw her say? Has she had any treatment? Are you weighing daily and stepping in with syringe top up feeding if she’s losing weight?
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre

 

[Orangelady]

They said they don’t know and possible digestive issue, she’s eating plenty of food but it’s just the way she’s acting is so strange

 

[Orangelady]

They said they don’t know and possible digestive issue, she’s eating plenty of food but it’s just the way she’s acting is so strange

And yes I’ve been weighing her everyday since Monday after the vets and weight has stayed the same but I just know there’s something wrong

 

[Hannah_xx]

She possibly has something going on inside that the vets can’t feel and will require and x-ray for.
Personally I would have thought the vet should have put her on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory, did they not offer this? Regardless or not if they couldn’t find what was wrong.
It may be worth looking into a different vets, An exotic vet that specialises in guinea pigs will much better.

For the mean time you should buy some critical care and step in with syringe feeding her.
Really hope you get some answers soon and she gets better.
What’s her name? Do you have a photo of her

 

[Orangelady]

Hi Hannah, my piggie is fudge and her and her sister are rescues. So do u think I should soften up her nuggets and feed with a syringe? The vet prescribed her some pain relief but it’s not really changed the way she’s acting. I will take her back to vets and see what they suggest next step is. I guess I just thought asking on here someone might have had similar symptoms previously with there pigs and could shed some light on what it could possibly be x

 

[fluffysal]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm so sorry your little lady is poorly. What pain relief did she get prescribed? I'm asking because a lot of vets prescribe cat strength when, due to fast metabolism, piggies need dog strength.

 

[Hannah_xx]

Hi Hannah, my piggie is fudge and her and her sister are rescues. So do u think I should soften up her nuggets and feed with a syringe? The vet prescribed her some pain relief but it’s not really changed the way she’s acting. I will take her back to vets and see what they suggest next step is. I guess I just thought asking on here someone might have had similar symptoms previously with there pigs and could shed some light on what it could possibly be x

Aww poor little fudge, really hope it’s nothing serious and you and the vet can get on top of it soon.
Yes you can always soak nuggets into a sloppy feed that you can slowly syringe feed. Critical care is best as it contains extra vitamins, fibre and minerals etc to help get their guts moving and aid with recovery. But soaked pellets will do just fine for now.

Unfortunately when I’ve had piggies with similar (but now exactly the same symptoms) it’s never particularly ended well. But in saying that I’ve had plenty of pigs with nasty UTI’s that have similar symptoms and a course of baytril and metacam have helped clear most of them up. Sometimes a stone or sludge could also be in the bladder which would require an x-ray to find out.
I’ve had a pig who became unwell over a period of time that eventually was found out to be a rare tumour.
Fudge could have an infection that’s taking it toll on her, bloods would be necessary to that out.