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Syringe feeding

Guinnea Shminny

Guinnea Shminny

New Born Pup
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I had to take Ralph to the vets last night as I suspected an upper respiratory infection, he wasnt eating, crusty eye, coughing and a tad wheezy, anyway, upon looking in his mouth the vet suggested trimming his bottom gnashers as they were slightly long, but today hes still not eating so I've blended some veg and syringe fed him 15ml. Now, my question is....can I store this half glass of goodness in the fridge till later on when I will feed him again.
Thank you in advance for any answers
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

He needs to be syringe fed fibre, not veg. Veg won’t keep the gut functioning properly. Hay and grass fibre is 75-80% of the daily food intake (veg only 15%) and it is that which keeps the gut functioning and gets through a crisis when not eating for themselves.
Please use either a recovery feed such as Oxbow Critical Care or mush his normal pellets with hot water until they go mushy. You will need to cut the end off of a 1ml syringe to get pellet mush to go through it.

Please also ensure you switch to weighing him daily so you can be sure he is getting enough syringe feed per day to keep his weight stable. In a piggy who isn’t any eating hay for themselves then you are aiming for in 40-60ml (or more if necessary to keep the weight stable) of syringe feed in each 24 hour period.

You say the vet trimmed the bottom teeth - is that the incisors or the molars?

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
 
Hello piggies&buns....thank you for answering. Re the teeth, it was the bottom two incisors. The vet gave him an anti inflammatory just incase there was something lurking x
 
Guinnea Shminny said:
Hello piggies&buns....thank you for answering. Re the teeth, it was the bottom two incisors. The vet gave him an anti inflammatory just incase there was something lurking x
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Keep an eye on things.
Were the molars looked at?
Did he get anything for a respiratory infection?
Is the vet cavy savvy? it’s just slightly concerning that you went in with URI symptoms and end up having incisors treated. Have you noticed him having any problem with his mouth, eating etc, prior to the URI symptoms?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Keep an eye on things.
Were the molars looked at?
Did he get anything for a respiratory infection?
Is the vet cavy savvy? it’s just slightly concerning that you went in with URI symptoms and end up having incisors treated. Have you noticed him having any problem with his mouth, eating etc, prior to the URI symptoms?
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The vet took Ralph away to another room to trim the teeth, so I'm not sure if he checked the other teeth.
Ralph had stopped eating and I assumed it was all due to him coughing/wheezing having an uri. Sadly in my area there doesnt seem to be an "exotic" vet/ cavy savvy vet and I dont have a car so have to pick and choose the vets carefully
 
Guinnea Shminny said:
He said the anti inflammatory was for anything that was lurking on his chest
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an anti inflammatory is a painkiller, not an antibiotic which kills bacteria. If he does have a respiratory infection, he requires an antibiotic

With the symptoms you describe, I would certainly be thinking URI as well. a uri can stop them from wanting to eat given the need to breathe comes before the need to eat.

obviously the vet may have seen something wrong with the incisors, but a non piggy savvy vet can expect their teeth to be shorter and more like rabbits incisors and trim them unnecessarily, when in fact piggy incisors are quite long naturally.
 
Piggies&buns said:
an anti inflammatory is a painkiller, not an antibiotic which kills bacteria. If he does have a respiratory infection, he requires an antibiotic

With the symptoms you describe, I would certainly be thinking URI as well. a uri can stop them from wanting to eat given the need to breathe comes before the need to eat.

obviously the vet may have seen something wrong with the incisors, but a non piggy savvy vet can expect their teeth to be shorter and more like rabbits incisors and trim them unnecessarily, when in fact piggy incisors are quite long naturally.
Click to expand...
How can I find a vet that is guinea pig knowledgeable in my area please.
And thank you so much for all the information you have given.
 
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