Syringe feeding water?

[Strawberry_Calf4]

My girl has a Uti (been to the vet and got medication) and all she wants to do at the moment is lay under her blanket all day which is quite understandable. But she's not really getting up to get water. She's still eating though. Maybe not as much hay as usual but still eating her veggie bowl.

I've been thinking to just give her water with a syringe but how much water should I be giving her?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ensure you switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh a poorly piggy daily. Id her hay intake has dropped then she will need to be topped up with syringe feeding.
If she is eating veggies then she will be getting fluids with them. She will not allow herself to dehydrate. The amount a piggy drinks varies wildly and you cant make one drink either.

You can offer water from a syringe and her lap at it if she wants it. Never squirt the syringe into her mouth though due to the aspiration risk.
There is no actual amount because it all depends on how much fluid she is getting independently (and also if being syringe fed recovery feed then there is water in that also so it can also mean they don’t drink as much from a bottle).

 

[Wiebke]

The need to drink comes before the need to eat, so a guinea pig that is still eating is generally not going to dehydrate as long as the water in the bottle is drinkable and there are fluids in the veg.
Please do not just squirt water into your piggy's mouth on spec. This can very easily go either up the nose or worse into the lungs. If you offer water by syringe, then only as much as they are drinking actively from it.

If the hay intake - which makes over three quarters of what a piggy eats in a day - please switch from weighing once weekly (for life-long health monitoring) to weighing daily first thing in the morning on your normal kitchen scales for best day to day comparison. Step in with offering extra feed in order to replace the missed crucial hay/grass fibre.
Veg, pellets and any treats combined only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have in the original diet that guinea pigs have evolved on. That is about the equivalent of the mid-morning and afternoon snacks. Reduced hay intake means that whole main meals will be missed out on, and that you need to supplement them with extra feeding support. Your scales and the up to date weight loss feedback will help you to tailor how much support they will need.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Be aware that any antibiotics can also affect the 'good' digestive gut bacteria and not just the 'bad' bacteria in the urinary tract. A dampening or even total loss of appetite is not uncommon. Your home care support is as important as the medication. Do not be misled by just watching your piggy eat and drink; they can lose a lot of weight that way before you notice it.

All the best. We are here for any questions you have but would like to ask you to bookmark this thread so you can easily pick it up at all times. It helps both parties if we can keep all information on an ongoing case together. You won't have to explain the backstory each time and we won't repeat the same advice and can personalise our tips and ongoing support much more. Unlike social media we can let a thread run for as long as needed.