• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Urgent please help

C

Cocobabyxxxoxxo

New Born Pup
Joined
Apr 2, 2025
Messages
7
Reaction score
12
Points
55
Location
Melbourne
Hi, my Guinea pig coco (around 1.5 y/o) has an extremely hard tube in her belly, assumably an intestine, and it is currently 1 am. She has an appointment at 5pm however I’m not sure what to do in the meantime to ensure her survival, she has sunken crusty eyes, her stomach is flat like a pancake and she is incredibly fatigued, she also has a very unkept coat, and her weight has gone from 1600g to 900g within a month. I went to the vet on Monday and received a prescription for 0.2 baytril given to her daily, I have given her this treatment. Please help.
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

I’m not quite sure about the description of a hard tube and what that may mean in terms of a diagnosis.

However I can give you our emergency advice.

Have you been syringe feeding her a recovery feed? If not (if she is still able to swallow) please urgently step in with syringe feeding. When a piggy loses 50g of weight it means their hay intake has dropped and you must step in to syringe feed a recovery feed or mushed pellets as an emergency alternative. Given her huge amount of weight loss, it’s essential she doesn’t lose any more weight. She needs fibre constantly going through her system to keep the gut functioning properly.
Ensure you weigh her every morning so you can monitor food intake very closely

Has she been pooping normally?

Baytril is an antibiotic. I assume she isn’t on any pain medication? If not then it is essential the vet gives you some pain meds for her.

Please do read our emergency guides below and step in feeding her.

I hope she is ok

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
 
Hello, thank you so much for your kind advice and response-but just in case this changes anything I would like to further describe the tube, its like a solid, longish object that I can easily feel in her side stomach, it’s movable however goes back to its original place and has no squishiness whatsoever. It feels like a sort of rib shape, if that makes sense. Once again thank you for the provided information and advice, it is very helpful :)
 
And to furthermore answer the questions, her pooping is very unstable. She seems to just not poop at all, and on the rare occasion she does it is very solid and dry, often clumped up. I have attempted to syringe feed her but whenever I do her stomach makes LARGE growling sounds, and she seems to be discomforted, her chewing is also very slow and odd. This generally lead me to stop syringe feeding her-as I’m worried it may make her stomach rupture, since I’m under the belief this is a bloat problem.
 
I did wonder if it is bloat which you are describing - the vet needs to make a diagnosis.

No poop being produced means she isn’t getting enough food. This is a major problem.
It is essential and life saving that you must syringe feed her. Her stomach will not rupture from being syringe fed and syringe feeding does not cause bloat; she is more likely to sadly die if you don’t feed her. Piggies simply must have fibre constantly going through their gut and without it their gut shuts down and that can then be fatal.

If she is still able to swallow then please do syringe feed her urgently. She needs at minimum of 40ml of syringe feed per day but ideally aiming for 60ml per day.
If she is no longer able to swallow and food simply spills out her mouth, then unfortunately that can mean the system is shutting down.

I’ve added some more guides below

Wiebke's Guide to Tummy Trouble
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
 
Sorry to hear this. Hoping the vet will be able to help, in the meantime you are doing everything you can. Sending healing vibes and thoughts with you and your piggy.
 
Okay, thank you for the advice, it has been very useful.
Piggies&buns said:
I did wonder if it is bloat which you are describing - the vet needs to make a diagnosis.

No poop being produced means she isn’t getting enough food. This is a major problem.
It is essential and life saving that you must syringe feed her. Her stomach will not rupture from being syringe fed and syringe feeding does not cause bloat; she is more likely to sadly die if you don’t feed her. Piggies simply must have fibre constantly going through their gut and without it their gut shuts down and that can then be fatal.

If she is still able to swallow then please do syringe feed her urgently. She needs at minimum of 40ml of syringe feed per day but ideally aiming for 60ml per day.
If she is no longer able to swallow and food simply spills out her mouth, then unfortunately that can mean the system is shutting down.

I’ve added some more guides below

Wiebke's Guide to Tummy Trouble
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
Click to expand...
thank you for the guides and advice, they are very helpful.
 
CTWC said:
Holding you both in our thoughts and prayers could you call the vet and explain how serious it is and get seen sooner as an emergency?
Click to expand...
UPDATE: This morning at around 8am I called the vet and managed to get Cocos vet appointment moved to 10am, and the vet addressed the tube in her stomach as stool, she has been prescribed laxatives and we are restarting her critical care, however if we don’t see any signs of recovery the vet recommended to get an x-ray. But as of right now coco is on the journey of healing, and will hopefully be able to fully recover. :)
 
Piggies&buns said:
How is she today?
Click to expand...
She’s certainly acting better, we are providing her with one tbsp of critical care daily and continuing her baytril treatment, she is also now having her digestion tablets. She is beginning to act more lively, and the bump in her stomach is protruding less, she is also pooping and eating normally now :)
 
Cocobabyxxxoxxo said:
She’s certainly acting better, we are providing her with one tbsp of critical care daily and continuing her baytril treatment, she is also now having her digestion tablets. She is beginning to act more lively, and the bump in her stomach is protruding less, she is also pooping and eating normally now :)
Click to expand...

That’s good
Make sure you are weighing her every morning so that you know she is getting enough food to keep her weight stable every day
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top