Syringe feeding

[Ijriley0I]

Hi, I have a few questions and I'm in a really strange situation with one of my guinea pigs but I'll try my best to explain.

A few weeks ago I noticed my 8 month old guinea pig limping and lifting up her left leg. So took her to the vets who prescribed pain killers thinking it was just a sprain. Over a week it had gone to totally immobile legs and she was hopping around as if they didn't work. I also noticed a slight weight loss. After another vets trip we began treating her for scurvy (the symptoms matched up perfectly). I found the vets seemed surprised I wanted her treated and not just put down. So I sort out a guinea pig expert who luckly lives really close. She examined our pig and said that her joints are really painful but the paralysis was reversible.

So with the pain killers and care we where giving her she started to get better on her legs and seemed a massive improvement. We also started weighing her every day. Sadly she went from around 630g down to 580g so we called the guinea pig expert again. After watching her for a few days and feeding her critical care (I started the minute I noticed she'd lost weight) I noticed she wasn't eating herself. She was trying to pick up hard pellets but they would just role around in her mouth then drop out.

Another vets trip for which we thought that it would just be a simple grinding down of her teeth had revealed her bottom right molors were growing horizontally. The vet was very honest that there wasn't much we could do for her, she can never eat solids again and recommended putting her to sleep. As she wasn't in any pain anymore and seemed bright and alert I refused to let her be put to sleep without trying soft foods or hand feeding her. For a week or so first anyway. (I believe the vet knew we would use that time to prepare for her to be put to sleep)

A few rough days, and feeding every 3-4 hours in the night (roughly 10ml of food/care) there was no improvements which was really dishearting, we came to the decision if she shows any signs of not being herself then it will be time to let her go.

Fast forward a week, we've seen her eating mushy food out of her bowl, her back legs are working correctly, she's running around with her herd (5 other pigs) again and seems really happy in herself. She also weighs 630-650g at the moment, although she is a small pig anyway, I'd say at full weight she'd be 100g less then a usual guinea pig. So I'm very happy not to have lost her especially being a baby still, but there's still a long road ahead and this is why I'm asking for advice...

At the moment she's eating 30-40ml in one sitting, is this dangerous to give her so much in one sitting? (Every 4ish hours)

If she's still asking for more shall I carry on?

Does anyone have any recipe ideas? (She's having mushy excel pellets at the moment)

Is it safe to leave her for longer periods over night? (6ish hours)

Thank you for reading through and thank you in advance for your replies.

 

[Bill & Ted]

I would feed her before you go to bed and early morning before your normal day starts. Feeding through the night long term is unsustainable for you and you need to be healthy to look after her and your other commitments. Syringe feeding is a rollercoaster ride of ups and down especially with dental piggies.
The best vets with the most experience who deal with around 30 guinea pig dental problem a week is Simon and Kim Maddock at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton. The take referrals and are absolutely marvellous, they do conscious dentals so no risky anaesthetic to deal with. The procedure takes about 10 minutes and in most cases the piggie will be eating again very shortly, if not straight away. I used to travel from Cornwall for regular dentals as my boy Ted had horizontal molar spurs which grew out into his cheek on one side of his mouth. Simon and Kim gave Ted an extra 2.5 years of good quality life and he died of a unrelated illness. I thoroughly recommend them both and so will a lot of members on here too
That’s a good amount of mushed food she is eating, which probably shows she really isn’t eating very much for herself. I’m used to syr8nge feed Ted then half way through other him tiny bits of beetroot stick or other chopped/grated veg etc then continue syringe feeding. Once he was seen regularly for conscious dentals all that stopped and he ate like a normal piggie (slightly less hay than most) but ate very well and his weight was well over 1300 until his last year at nearly 6.
Can you offer her some plain porridge oats and see if she will eat those. can she eat any vegetables cut up into small sticks?
Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic | Northlands Vets

 

[Ijriley0I]

I see a guinea pig professional at Matlock near me, she's great. Her jaw is growing totally horizontally so her bottom molors are in her mouth. We were told there's no way of fixing it because of the angle. But we are going to try to shape the sides of the teeth into molors for grinding in a few weeks. really appreciate the recommendation though.

She's unable to eat hard foods, watermelon is the hardest thing I've seen her crunch up without spitting out and losing interest. I doubt she'll ever be able to eat solids again. She is eating herself although not much at all. Her weight/appetite has shot up over the last two days and we haven't changed anything. I'm mainly concerned we would be feeding her to much.

 

[Wiebke]

I see a guinea pig professional at Matlock near me, she's great. Her jaw is growing totally horizontally so her bottom molors are in her mouth. We were told there's no way of fixing it because of the angle. But we are going to try to shape the sides of the teeth into molors for grinding in a few weeks. really appreciate the recommendation though.

She's unable to eat hard foods, watermelon is the hardest thing I've seen her crunch up without spitting out and losing interest. I doubt she'll ever be able to eat solids again. She is eating herself although not much at all. Her weight/appetite has shot up over the last two days and we haven't changed anything. I'm mainly concerned we would be feeding her to much.

I second that you try to switch to a long term more sustainable feeding pattern. Once your girl is feeling full, she will stop eating.

If the weight is suddenly shooting up 50-100g, then please check firstly whether it could be bloating (distended belly) and secondly feel around the ribs whether she is a good weight for her size or not. If her heft is OK, she is actually getting enough food and can make up what she has lost before. It can take a little while for any extra nutrition from the syringe feed to come through into the body reserves and can at moment result in a sudden weight gain, which would be actually a good sign.
If you can, try feeding a little fresh grass if she can still eat it; it has the silicon she needs for abrading the teeth.

Our Weight guide tells you how you can check at all times and ages/sizes whether your piggy is healthy, over- or underweight; i.e. whether her weight is in the right ballpark or not. Please be aware that the difference between a full and empty tummy and bladder can be as much as 40g.
See the chapter on heft; you will find it very helpful: Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Ijriley0I]

Thank you, we will be eventually but at the moment it's all new and she's really skinny. You can feel her back hips and spine. I personally think if I hadn't have noticed in a few more days she might not have made it. (Lessoned learned and all pigs are weighed now, but it was also bad timing with our holiday. Which is normally the case).

She does try little bits of ready grass/hay but is really struggling to chew them. It's the grinding motion, she has no rough surface to use and she's putting pressure on the side of her teeth. So I think syringe/mushy food is the only options I have for the time being.

She shot up suddenly yesterday morning, about 20 - 30g so I'm really pleased. I'm mainly worried 40ml of liquid food is to much a time to feed her. Unless her appetite has just returned and she's just really hungry.

Thank you for the guide I'll use it from now onwards. And thank you for the information.

 

[Xmolxlie]

I see a guinea pig professional at Matlock near me, she's great. Her jaw is growing totally horizontally so her bottom molors are in her mouth. We were told there's no way of fixing it because of the angle. But we are going to try to shape the sides of the teeth into molors for grinding in a few weeks. really appreciate the recommendation though.

She's unable to eat hard foods, watermelon is the hardest thing I've seen her crunch up without spitting out and losing interest. I doubt she'll ever be able to eat solids again. She is eating herself although not much at all. Her weight/appetite has shot up over the last two days and we haven't changed anything. I'm mainly concerned we would be feeding her to much.

I believe we see the same vet, Ellie right? She’s excellent, and I’m sure she’ll do everything she can to give your piggy the best quality of life possible.

When you factor in how much food a guinea pig would be eating all day every day, with hay and pellets etc I don’t think you’re feeding too much. I’d definitely keep up the daily weighing, and keep an eye out for signs of bloating etc, but as long as your piggy is hungry, and not having issues with runny poo, I don’t think you’re feeding too much? Are you using critical care as well? I’ve found it one of the best. I also mix in pro-c probiotic from pets at home for an extra boost of probiotics and vitamin c in with the food. A water dish or dispensing water dish may also be easier for your piggy than a water bottle at this point. I know it’s not a piggy, but I’ve had a rabbit in the past who managed to live a full and healthy life without his teeth, they kept growing too much, and growing up his nose, and after a few grinding down procedures the vets said the best option was to have them removed, once they had been removed and there was less pain and discomfort he actually managed to eat pellets again, and he loved soft foods like banana etc. it’s going to be a long road of feeding special food etc, but I’m really happy to hear you haven’t given up on your beloved piggy!

 

[Ijriley0I]

I believe we see the same vet, Ellie right? She’s excellent, and I’m sure she’ll do everything she can to give your piggy the best quality of life possible.

When you factor in how much food a guinea pig would be eating all day every day, with hay and pellets etc I don’t think you’re feeding too much. I’d definitely keep up the daily weighing, and keep an eye out for signs of bloating etc, but as long as your piggy is hungry, and not having issues with runny poo, I don’t think you’re feeding too much? Are you using critical care as well? I’ve found it one of the best. I also mix in pro-c probiotic from pets at home for an extra boost of probiotics and vitamin c in with the food. A water dish or dispensing water dish may also be easier for your piggy than a water bottle at this point. I know it’s not a piggy, but I’ve had a rabbit in the past who managed to live a full and healthy life without his teeth, they kept growing too much, and growing up his nose, and after a few grinding down procedures the vets said the best option was to have them removed, once they had been removed and there was less pain and discomfort he actually managed to eat pellets again, and he loved soft foods like banana etc. it’s going to be a long road of feeding special food etc, but I’m really happy to hear you haven’t given up on your beloved piggy!

Yes we see Ellie, she has been great and we really trust her. We've found our regular vet was just more interested in putting her to sleep. It was me that diagnosed her with scurvy (I'm still assuming this was the leg problem by lack of food).

That's great thank you, It just seems such a bit quantity for such a small piggy in about 15 minutes. At the moment I'm using burgess excel pellets (recommended by Ellie for hay content), a nice handful of spinach or Kale, red pepper, a small amount of fruit to sweeten it up (not to much sugar) and finally a nice pinch of ready grass. I blend it all up as thick as the syringe will take with water so she still has to chew a little.

I wish she could have her teeth removed, I did ask but it would leave her top teeth grinding on gums, and removing both sets isn't an option. Ellie is going to try and grind her bottom teeth slightly so they represent molor tops but we're not to hopeful it'll change much.
If she was an older piggy I probably would have considered it but she's responded well to everything we've done, she's happy and alert. Being less than a year old I couldn't consider giving up until we've tried everything. She's also my favorite of the herd but I don't tell them that