Syringe feeding how long?

[Mamich]

Hello again!

I made a previous post regarding my boar struggling with recovery.
I went to the vet and they refused to give me any more pain killers saying it was unnecessary. I called a few other vets to see if I can get a second opinion but they referred me to the one I was currently seeing.
In the end, I used the remaining pain killers.

Guinea pig care in my country is very far behind. I asked my vet how long I should be syringe feed and they said until he feels better (?) As of now he has no follow up appointment.

I have been syringe feeding him for three weeks, albeit less frequently.

His appetite is better so I tried to see if he could go for a day without, but he still lost some weight.

Today, in the morning when I weighed him he was 702g. So I did not syringe feed him (since normally he is lower.) This evening I weighed him again and he had dropped to 684g. So I syringe feed him again.

When is a good sign to stop syringe feeding?

Thank you!

 

[Swissgreys]

Sorry you are struggling to get good vet care, but it really does sound like you are doing everything possible.
The best thing is to only weigh once a day at the same time.
Weight will naturally fluctuate over the day, so best to avoid repeated weighings.
Once you see a few days with him holding his weight (+/-10 grams per day) you can ease off syringe feeding.Maybe try offering a bowl of softened, soaked pellets too.
Some piggies will happily eat these as they are weaning off syringe feedings.

 

[Mamich]

Sorry you are struggling to get good vet care, but it really does sound like you are doing everything possible.
The best thing is to only weigh once a day at the same time.
Weight will naturally fluctuate over the day, so best to avoid repeated weighings.
Once you see a few days with him holding his weight (+/-10 grams per day) you can ease off syringe feeding.Maybe try offering a bowl of softened, soaked pellets too.
Some piggies will happily eat these as they are weaning off syringe feedings.

Thank you! I will give that a try!
I had noticed he seemed to prefer syringe feeding/drinking over regular food. Thank you!

 

[Free Ranger]

I was wondering how your boy was getting on! ❤ I think the last time you were posting about him not recovering very well from his neutering and you were going to see a different vet (your mother's friend?) to check his wound and any swelling in that area. He was limping, laying to one side and squealing when toileting at that time. Have these symptoms improved? And there was a swelling near his neuter wound - has this gone down I wonder? I hope these symptoms are better.

As time goes on it is important he eats some hay to keep his teeth to a good length. If he will not eat hay maybe you can try grass, which they get very excited about. Make sure there is no dog-pee on it though, and do not pick from the side of the road as the residue from car exhausts will be on there. As long as he is able to eat grass or hay you can feel assured that his teeth are a good length for chewing, but if he can't chew it will be a problem. Sometimes the back teeth are OK but the front teeth get so long they cannot close the mouth. This is what happened to my adult sow - but she was not eating anything at all on her own so she was not biting into anything. So after 2 or 3 weeks the front teeth had grown too long and the vet had to trim them down (which was too short, to be honest, and it made me sad to see her gummy with a fat lip where the instrument had bumped her but they quickly started to grow back and she had painkiller again) Afterwards, you could tell her chewing was immediately much faster after the incisor trim. Now my girl's eating had slowed down before she actually stopped and I started to syringe feed, so the incisors were probably starting to overgrow before I noticed anything, but please watch out for this. See if he can close his mouth. Listen to him chew and rest fingers lightly just near ears on the top of his head to feel if there is a steady grinding action. Compare him to your healthy girls. You are in a better position than we were because he is still eating some things on his own! The other thing is that they are programmed to eat together so even if he still has to be kept separate after the neutering do you have an area where they can interact through the bars and eat together here? This might encourage him even more to keep battling. This is a photo of my set-up: I have two pairs
Good luck little George! ❤ ❤ ❤

 

[Mamich]

I was wondering how your boy was getting on! ❤ I think the last time you were posting about him not recovering very well from his neutering and you were going to see a different vet (your mother's friend?) to check his wound and any swelling in that area. He was limping, laying to one side and squealing when toileting at that time. Have these symptoms improved? And there was a swelling near his neuter wound - has this gone down I wonder? I hope these symptoms are better.

As time goes on it is important he eats some hay to keep his teeth to a good length. If he will not eat hay maybe you can try grass, which they get very excited about. Make sure there is no dog-pee on it though, and do not pick from the side of the road as the residue from car exhausts will be on there. As long as he is able to eat grass or hay you can feel assured that his teeth are a good length for chewing, but if he can't chew it will be a problem. Sometimes the back teeth are OK but the front teeth get so long they cannot close the mouth. This is what happened to my adult sow - but she was not eating anything at all on her own so she was not biting into anything. So after 2 or 3 weeks the front teeth had grown too long and the vet had to trim them down (which was too short, to be honest, and it made me sad to see her gummy with a fat lip where the instrument had bumped her but they quickly started to grow back and she had painkiller again) Afterwards, you could tell her chewing was immediately much faster after the incisor trim. Now my girl's eating had slowed down before she actually stopped and I started to syringe feed, so the incisors were probably starting to overgrow before I noticed anything, but please watch out for this. See if he can close his mouth. Listen to him chew and rest fingers lightly just near ears on the top of his head to feel if there is a steady grinding action. Compare him to your healthy girls. You are in a better position than we were because he is still eating some things on his own! The other thing is that they are programmed to eat together so even if he still has to be kept separate after the neutering do you have an area where they can interact through the bars and eat together here? This might encourage him even more to keep battling. This is a photo of my set-up: I have two pairs
View attachment 170234 Good luck little George! ❤ ❤ ❤

Yes! Unfortunately my mothers friend is closed due to some personal issues. So I wasn’t able to get her to see him.

I did put their food together to see if it would improve, and he is eating a bit more!

Unfortunately I noticed he has a weird lump/scab on his side so I’ll have to take him to the vet again. He has a lot of bad luck.

 

[Free Ranger]

Yes, I have just seen your other post on this. He really is a brave little boy. I have no experience with IV or cysts but it is certainly worth asking the vet. If my piggies have ever had an injection it was usually on the top, near the shoulder.

We have had mites before and the symptoms are typically scratching and shedding. They always shed a little anyway, but I noticed especially shedding around the rump area - on the back end around the bottom. When I stroked my piggies head-to-tail I ended up with a hand covered in hair! But I have not seen scabs with the scratching. Bald spots do develop in bad cases - again typically round the rump - but the hair falls out rather than being scratched out so the skin looks smooth. Your picture looks more like a scab near the front leg. However, if it is mites (or lice), the Xeno spot on solution is very effective and my piggies have never had any bad effects. We are prescribed the dose according to piggy body-weight, I spot onto bald patches (mainly behind the ears!), the dose is repeated after 2 weeks, and again after 2 more weeks. This breaks the life cycle of the mite. The life cycle is, I think, about 3 weeks from egg to breeding maturity - Xeno does not kill eggs so you have to repeat the dose to get the ones that hatch later!

Maybe the vet could also check his neuter wound if he still has symptoms, and his front teeth? I hope he continues to improve
You are doing such good work for him!

 

[Mamich]

Yes, I have just seen your other post on this. He really is a brave little boy. I have no experience with IV or cysts but it is certainly worth asking the vet. If my piggies have ever had an injection it was usually on the top, near the shoulder.

We have had mites before and the symptoms are typically scratching and shedding. They always shed a little anyway, but I noticed especially shedding around the rump area - on the back end around the bottom. When I stroked my piggies head-to-tail I ended up with a hand covered in hair! But I have not seen scabs with the scratching. Bald spots do develop in bad cases - again typically round the rump - but the hair falls out rather than being scratched out so the skin looks smooth. Your picture looks more like a scab near the front leg. However, if it is mites (or lice), the Xeno spot on solution is very effective and my piggies have never had any bad effects. We are prescribed the dose according to piggy body-weight, I spot onto bald patches (mainly behind the ears!), the dose is repeated after 2 weeks, and again after 2 more weeks. This breaks the life cycle of the mite. The life cycle is, I think, about 3 weeks from egg to breeding maturity - Xeno does not kill eggs so you have to repeat the dose to get the ones that hatch later!

Maybe the vet could also check his neuter wound if he still has symptoms, and his front teeth? I hope he continues to improve
You are doing such good work for him!

Thank you so much!

I’m hoping I can ask again since there will be a different doctor in. I will be definitely sure to ask for extra for the eggs!