Unhappy piggy

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REECE

Hi I am new to the forum and to owning guinea pigs.Got 2 guinea pigs in december and on Wedensday one of them died from respiratory infection.I did take her to the VET and he said she would be fine and put her on antibiotics....however after she died I read that sick piggies should be hand fed, would have been nice to have known that before I lost her.I am getting another piggy for my remaining piggy 2mrw but am worried.She has been acting not her self.She wont eat and I have been giving her water by syringe.The breeder I got them from suggested I give her the meds that the other was suppose to have so did so, assume she is not ill due to this.I tried grinding up her pellet food but couldnt get it smooth enough for syringe feeding.managed to get her to eat a little hay and a little bit of parsley (she really likes it) but now she wont even take that from me.When I am holding her and stroking her she doesnt seem to bad but when in the cage she will not come out her little house.Is she just depressed, once she gets a new freind will she be happier?
 
you could try baby food, thats what I have done in the past for mine. Where abouts are you? I have some critacal care at home but some one might be nearer you?
 
I live in South Africa and it does seem that not many peeps know much bout guinea pigs here.We have a cearel or porridge kinda of breakfast here that I considered feeding her as it can be made quiet runny.A very healthy cearel in SA but not keen to give her anything that I am not sure of
 
Do oyu think she is just depressed? will she be better once she has a new friend?
 
She may well be depressed, and I can't stress enough how serious that can be. I know many will claim no healthy piggie will starve themselves, and that includes one that's "just low", but I've seen it myself. They miss their friend and simply go off their food and lose their zest for life.

She needs to be eating and drinking at least something just to keep her system going till the new friend arrives, and if she's not taking for herself then you have to persevere with the syringe. I tend to blitz pellets with a blender to get them fine enough to syringe, and anything is better than nothing so if you have to add a fair amount of water to get it sloppy enough then so be it. Won't hurt in terms of keeping her fluids up anyway.

It'll be nearly a week she'll have been on her own come tomorrow, so that may well explain why she's like this. Chances are she'll pick up quickly when there's another mouth trying to steal her food, and another piggie to either chat to or be her minion (some piggies seem to need company purely to have someone to boss around!).
 
I did put her outside for a bit today and she was nibbling at the grass however I was a little worried about it as my dog well clearly goes outside to wee.Read not to let them eat grass in these areas.It was on the edge of the grass area and closs to the paving so dont think my dog really goes there much but was kind of just happy to see her eating.How bad is it if they eat grass in an area like that? I also have cats next door that come into my garden so will be difficult to keep an area that will be untouched
 
REECE said:
I did put her outside for a bit today and she was nibbling at the grass however I was a little worried about it as my dog well clearly goes outside to wee.Read not to let them eat grass in these areas.It was on the edge of the grass area and closs to the paving so dont think my dog really goes there much but was kind of just happy to see her eating.How bad is it if they eat grass in an area like that? I also have cats next door that come into my garden so will be difficult to keep an area that will be untouched
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When I had a dog I always left my run out on the lawn, covered, so although the piggies were always in the same space, I knew it was an area where the dog had never been. Cats usually don't wee on lawns, as they like to dig and bury it, so probably not much of a risk there. xx
 
I dont have a run yet but ordered a large (havent seen it yet) animal playpen.Something I could put outside and inside so they could run around with out us watching over them all the time(obviously outside we would have to be there as nothing on the top) .Most people here think of Guinea pigs as larger hamsters so we are not all very clued up.Also pet shops here dont have anything to buy for them and what they suggest I read shouldnt be done so not much help them lot.Considered trying to make a run myself but wasnt to sure how to go about it.Not genrally into wood work so something else I would have to learn lol.I now go on the net all the time learning about piggies so that I can be more aware.Glad I decided to look for a forum to join, will help alot I think
 
She may just be depressed, I had two boars that had fallen out and so had to be kept seperately, and they had been living next to each other for 2 years and one of them died. The boar that was left was quite distressed even though they didn;t live together and he went off his pellets and squeaked for the other one. I just tried to take to take his mind off the other ones death I bought him some new toys cleaned everything so that nothing smelt of the other boar and spent lots of extra time with him and he began eating again. He lived on his own for two months until I found a suitable baby boar to bond him with and now he's as happy as can be.

I think piggies need to grieve like humans do, try feeding her her favourite veggies, you said she seems better when she's on you maybe try feeding her then. She should get happier once her new friend arrives and she has another pig to take her mind off things :)
 
To be honest the not eating is probably down to her being unwell, pigsl ove food it would take a lot for them to stop eating.

If she isn't eating I would continue to syringe or spoon feed her mashed pellets or her favourite veg blended up and see if you can find a vet who can deal with guinea pigs. :)
 
Found a vet and when i took the other piggy there when she was sick I also took Blue-bell and he said she was fine an very healthy.Although he also told me jasmine (deceased piggy) would be fine so I dont know.I was told to give her jasmines anti-biotics just in-case cause it wouldnt hurt (by the breeder who sold me both) and did that so would think she wouldnt be sick.will see what happens when I get the new piggy, getting her today.I am hoping it will help with blue-bell......when I am handling her she seems happy and in the begining she would eat hay while I held her, although now I battle to get her to eat anything even when holding her.Hope all is ok, will try syringe feeding her this pronutro cereal we have here, or maybe the baby food suggestion if she doesnt improve when her new freind arrives.

They are like having children arent they, but worth the effort.
 
I dont know enough to comment, (hope BBs feeling better soon) but does anyone think its to do with the anti-biotics that were prescribed for the other guinea? or as the breeder says would they not no any harm? as i said i dont know, it was just a thought x
 
I also thought something like that to rainbow, but was so worried and thought the breeder would probably know more then me so just went with what she said.Atleast now having a forum like this I can ask these kinds of questions and see what peeps say, better then going it blind which is how I feel at the moment
 
OMW have to share this.Brought blue'y to work with me cause taking her with to pick her friend.As I am sitting here she has ventured out her home and is nibbling on her veggies.....I am so happy watching her eat is such a relief....maybe she senses she is getting a friend or somthing lol
 
Have you tried soaking the pellet food in boiled water for 15 min or so then mashing them? Some go all soggy and can be fed easily once cool... Some mixes just don't go soggy. Just a suggestion. Hope you piggy is feeling better soon x
 
Bluebell is quite young, isn't she? It is pretty devastating for a piggy when they are alone for the first time in their life. Some go completely off food for a time while they mourn.

Having your company is the best thing you can do, and once she has a new friend, you might find that suddenly her fur goes all shiny again and she's eating - even though there will be probably quite a bit of squabbling and squeaking!

Best of luck!
 
Just went and um well got two little friends for her, so we will see how she goes.She seemed well excited when we put her with them so I think she will be alot happier now.
 
Thats brilliant! Who are her new friends, are they babies, do they have names yet?
 
they are six weeks old so quiet a bit smaller then blue-bell.we have named the absynian (sp?) scruffy and the american same colouring dash.They are so fast cant believe it.To add Blue-bell is doing 100 times better.Eating her pellets, veggies and her hay and even drank water herself today.She is coming out of her pigloo and even giving the little ones a run for their money every now and then, just reminding them who the queen bee is I suspect.Dash tried to eat food while she was eating and Blue'y just wasnt having it so told her off.Its really fun watching the three of them and I think the young ones are going to give blue-bell some excersise hehhehe. So glad for Blue-bell so good to see her happy.
 
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