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Urgent advice required about pregnancy toxaemia treatment

Guineatte

Guineatte

New Born Pup
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To my dismay I found out today that I got a 14 month old girl that is pregnant. We brought her to the vet because she was unusually quiet and nearly completely off food since yesterday. She only nibbles occasionally on some hay or dry food while. We suspect it is pregnancy toxaemia. Maybe from the stress of her companion dying from an enlarged heart just 2 weeks ago. It’s all such a nightmare. I feel so horrible for the poor girl.

But we try our best to help her. Only our vet has no experience with toxaemia in guinea pigs.

We feed her with Critical Care mixed with a teaspoon of sugar but is there anything else we can do to get her through this. We have another vet appointment tomorrow morning and I hope to be able to discuss some more ways to treat her.
 
Hi and welcome

Please step in with round the clock syringe feeding support; hay is making over three quarters of the daily hay intake.
Please follow the advice in our very comprehensive practical syringe feeding guide, which looks at all aspects and offers plenty of how to tips: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Our comprehensive practical crisis and emergency care information collection: Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Pregnancy toxaemia in well kept guinea pigs is very rare; it is most common in breeder sows kept mainly on low grade pellets and with too little/low grade and too little/low grade hay and is more commonly seen in hot weather. The onset is generally sudden and progress rather quicker than you are reporting. A cure is sadly generally possible only in the very early stages.
Can I please ask about the background of your piggy and how they are kept? How long have you had your sow and how far along is she supposed to be?

Does your sow have the tell-tale smell found in some nail varnish removers (i.e. ketones) on her breath when you smell around the mouth, which is usually a giveaway for a well developed toxaemia? Has your vet considered other causes for the loss of appetite?

Here is a link to medical information about pregnancy toxaemia: Pregnancy Toxemia in Guinea Pigs | PetMD

Here is a link to our list of recommended vets on the top bar: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

Fingers very firmly crossed!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Please step in with round the clock syringe feeding support; hay is making over three quarters of the daily hay intake.
Please follow the advice in our very comprehensive practical syringe feeding guide, which looks at all aspects and offers plenty of how to tips: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Our comprehensive practical crisis and emergency care information collection: Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Pregnancy toxaemia in well kept guinea pigs is very rare; it is most common in breeder sows kept mainly on low grade pellets and with too little/low grade and too little/low grade hay and is more commonly seen in hot weather. The onset is generally sudden and progress rather quicker than you are reporting. A cure is sadly generally possible only in the very early stages.
Can I please ask about the background of your piggy and how they are kept? How long have you had your sow and how far along is she supposed to be?

Does your sow have the tell-tale smell found in some nail varnish removers (i.e. ketones) on her breath when you smell around the mouth, which is usually a giveaway for a well developed toxaemia? Has your vet considered other causes for the loss of appetite?

Here is a link to medical information about pregnancy toxaemia: Pregnancy Toxemia in Guinea Pigs | PetMD

Here is a link to our list of recommended vets on the top bar: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

Fingers very firmly crossed
Click to expand...
Thank so much for your reply. We just had another feeding session with Kiku. She fights and pushes and is upset. She is still a strong girl.
My guinea pigs are kept in a large cage in our front room and fed with a mixture of Meadow hay, timothy hay, Protexin pro fibre pellets and Marriage guinea pig pellets and mixed vegetables morning and evening. We have guinea pigs for about 20 years now but never before an unwanted pregnancy.

This happened because I got ovarian cancer earlier this year and with the constant chemotherapy and a large surgery just a few weeks ago I was not able to look after them while my husband had to take over their care completely. Just before we got a little boar who is the culprit as he has not been neutered yet and had an opportunity. It must have happened about 2 months ago.

I feel terrible about the whole situation.
You think it could be a different problem than toxaemia? What could it be? She has no raised temperature and seems to have 2 or 3 foetuses.
We went with our vet through quite a few guinea pig troubles but there don’t seem to be many guinea pig owners going to the vet apart from us. So a lot of his experience comes from our guineas.
 
I’m so sorry, it sounds like you’ve been having a nightmare of a time recently, sending you massive hugs. I’m very sorry for your loss of your other piggy too. Try not to feel bad, you’ve done nothing wrong and are doing everything you can for your little one.
I don’t have any advice but sending lots of healing vibes to your little girl and really hope she’s feeling better soon x
 
Guineatte said:
Thank so much for your reply. We just had another feeding session with Kiku. She fights and pushes and is upset. She is still a strong girl.
My guinea pigs are kept in a large cage in our front room and fed with a mixture of Meadow hay, timothy hay, Protexin pro fibre pellets and Marriage guinea pig pellets and mixed vegetables morning and evening. We have guinea pigs for about 20 years now but never before an unwanted pregnancy.

This happened because I got ovarian cancer earlier this year and with the constant chemotherapy and a large surgery just a few weeks ago I was not able to look after them while my husband had to take over their care completely. Just before we got a little boar who is the culprit as he has not been neutered yet and had an opportunity. It must have happened about 2 months ago.

I feel terrible about the whole situation.
You think it could be a different problem than toxaemia? What could it be? She has no raised temperature and seems to have 2 or 3 foetuses.
We went with our vet through quite a few guinea pig troubles but there don’t seem to be many guinea pig owners going to the vet apart from us. So a lot of his experience comes from our guineas.
Click to expand...

Hi

Thank your for your background. It may need a check by a more experienced vet and possibly a scan. In nearly 15 years in which we have run our courtesy unplanned pregnancies section, we have only ever come across a couple of cases of pregnancy toxaemia in summer and in hutches/not on optimal care. Which means that we mostly lack practical experience with this issue. The link is the best information I could find for you.
There is unfortunately quite a lot that can go wrong in the later stages of a pregnancy. Even with the best of care about every fifth pregnancy ends with fatalities of pups and/or the mother; in other situations the rate is even worse. The shock of her recent loss will not have helped if there was already an underlying/developing problem. :(

It is very easy to underestimate a determined boar when a sow is coming into season; they can be surprisingly athletic and wily. Please try not to beat yourself up too badly; it is one of these things that you cannot necessarily foresee and therefore prevent when you have never come across it before. We all come up against it sooner or later. It doesn't mean that you are a bad owner - it's just one of these blind angle situations that life throws at us. Unfortunately, nightmares have a habit of coming in multipack and happen at the worst of times, as I know myself.
The fact that she is fighting the food is however somewhat concerning as it comes at a time when a mother-to-be is usually ravenous. It could well mean that she is no longer able to process the nutrition. Could you contact an out-of-hours vet clinic?
How to contact a vet out of hours

Here is the access link to our pregnancy, birth, mother and baby care information collection: Pregnancy, Mother & Baby Care Guides
 
Thank you all for your thoughts and advice.
This evening Kiku gave birth to three still born babies. They were beautiful little angels, all three looking just like their dad. Kiku is a strong little lady but it looks like the pups would have needed some 3 or so more days to be ready for this world. The vet checked that none stayed behind inside and gave her some hormone injection to make sure all 3 placentas come out which they now have.

Now we still have to get her back to eat. She still hasn’t started to eat on her own apart from nibbling on a slice of cucumber and a tiny piece of salad this morning.

This morning she got a glucose and a calcium injection and fluids from the vet. We also now have liquid dextrose to give her orally 1ml 3 times a day.

I still don’t smell acetone on her. Why doesn’t she start to eat. I am worried she will get weaker, especially as she is still a bit bleeding. We keep feeding her to get about 60ml of Critical Care into her but it’s still a struggle. But I am dreading when she stops to struggle because she start to get weak.
 
Guineatte said:
Thank you all for your thoughts and advice.
This evening Kiku gave birth to three still born babies. They were beautiful little angels, all three looking just like their dad. Kiku is a strong little lady but it looks like the pups would have needed some 3 or so more days to be ready for this world. The vet checked that none stayed behind inside and gave her some hormone injection to make sure all 3 placentas come out which they now have.

Now we still have to get her back to eat. She still hasn’t started to eat on her own apart from nibbling on a slice of cucumber and a tiny piece of salad this morning.

This morning she got a glucose and a calcium injection and fluids from the vet. We also now have liquid dextrose to give her orally 1ml 3 times a day.

I still don’t smell acetone on her. Why doesn’t she start to eat. I am worried she will get weaker, especially as she is still a bit bleeding. We keep feeding her to get about 60ml of Critical Care into her but it’s still a struggle. But I am dreading when she stops to struggle because she start to get weak.
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BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry that is all going so badly pear-shaped and that you are having such a horrible nightmare. All you can you do is hang in there and to try your best. Unfortunately, you cannot just fast-forward in these kind of situations even if your soul is in agony and is crying out of an end to the pain; you have to go through them step by step even if it feels like a car crash in slow motion. :(

At least Kiku is still nibbling and not totally refusing food.
 
Holding you in my heart. Hoping that Kiku starts to recover soon. ❤️
 
Poor baby 😢 you did all that you could.
We picked a pig up with the rescue, heavily pregnant, the owner thought she had heatstroke so bathed her!
She, was wet and cold but something was obviously very wrong. She couldn't stand, had nystagmus, her little face was so confused 😢
She had been given baytril (a no no for pregnant piggies) on advice from her previous owner (who sold her pregnant and the new owner knew this!) as they thought she had a respiratory infection.
Immediate thoughts were pregnancy toxaemia, which was confirmed by the vet as we rushed her straight there.
It was too late to save her and we did the last kind thing we could for her and let her rest. She, was around 8.5 weeks, pregnant 😢
She had no name. As we left the vets, a giant rainbow appeared. So she was named Rainbow 🌈
Honestly it broke me. We only knew her for half an hour or so but it still haunts, me, the look on her face. RIP sweet Rainbow ❤️

If this, is pregnancy toxaemia and you've caught it really early, there's a good chance your girl will recover!
So sorry she lost her babies 💔
Give her lots of love and cuddles x
 
Good luck Kiku. I’m so sorry the pups didn’t make it.
 
Since 4 am Kiku seems to have picked up a little and now she took a step back again. She ate a few bites of salad, a mouthful of cucumber and some nibbles of pak choi. Not a lot but this is the most she showed interest in food since this all started 4 days ago.
But after a while she has an odd way to chew and drops her food as if her jaw/teeth are too weak.
We went to the vet again yesterday. Unfortunately our usual vets, who know most about guinea pigs, were both on holiday but the one we saw seemed knowledgeable enough. She noticed that Kiku runs a temperature, probably from the birth the day before, and we give her now antibiotics (Sulfatrim 0.25ml twice a day). This gave her diarrhoea that cleared again by this afternoon with the help of Protexin probiotics and asap powder.
Unfortunately she still struggles like mad and squirms her whole body. She dives with her mouth into the syringe and karate chops it away from her. We are even not able to properly burrito wrap her. I am so afraid to give her to much in one go or to hurt her. The poor girl is so stressed.
Which is our new problem. I never heard her choking during the feeding but now she is making odd wet sounds that seem to come more from her mouth/throat than her chest, especially when we give her anything. I am afraid she will choke. Could I have hurt her gum maybe when she squirmed during the critical care feeding? This situation is such a horrible up and down. So many things going wrong.
We decided to stop feeding her for tonight and try again at 4 in the morning. She had over 50ml critical care today and all her medication.
 
🤞Sending huge hugs to you and lots of healing vibes to your poor little lady x
 
Guineatte said:
Since 4 am Kiku seems to have picked up a little and now she took a step back again. She ate a few bites of salad, a mouthful of cucumber and some nibbles of pak choi. Not a lot but this is the most she showed interest in food since this all started 4 days ago.
But after a while she has an odd way to chew and drops her food as if her jaw/teeth are too weak.
We went to the vet again yesterday. Unfortunately our usual vets, who know most about guinea pigs, were both on holiday but the one we saw seemed knowledgeable enough. She noticed that Kiku runs a temperature, probably from the birth the day before, and we give her now antibiotics (Sulfatrim 0.25ml twice a day). This gave her diarrhoea that cleared again by this afternoon with the help of Protexin probiotics and asap powder.
Unfortunately she still struggles like mad and squirms her whole body. She dives with her mouth into the syringe and karate chops it away from her. We are even not able to properly burrito wrap her. I am so afraid to give her to much in one go or to hurt her. The poor girl is so stressed.
Which is our new problem. I never heard her choking during the feeding but now she is making odd wet sounds that seem to come more from her mouth/throat than her chest, especially when we give her anything. I am afraid she will choke. Could I have hurt her gum maybe when she squirmed during the critical care feeding? This situation is such a horrible up and down. So many things going wrong.
We decided to stop feeding her for tonight and try again at 4 in the morning. She had over 50ml critical care today and all her medication.
Click to expand...

Hi

HUGS

It sounds like a bit of feed has gone down the wrong way. Please just give her very little at once (between 0.1 - 0.2 ml) and wait until that has gone down as she seems to have swallowing issues.

I am very sorry that she is now also fighting an infection. :(

I am keeping my fingers very firmly crossed for Kiku.
 
My thoughts and prayers are with you and Kiku. At least she's had her meds and a fair amount of critical care.
Poor baby she's been through much, and so have you!
I hope for good news today x ❤️
 
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