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What happened to my mommy guineapig?

Sintheya

Sintheya

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Hey guys. My guineapig gave birth on 28 May. She was doing well . But form last 2 days I'm noticing she's not eating well. She's just sniffing the food eating a very little amount and then sleeps. After I tried to check her mouth are(outside) I saw then her lips and hair beneath lips are always wet. Is it normal for a guineapig to always drool ? My other babies don't drool . I don't know what's bothering her. But I'm helpless at the moment as my exam is going on and I tried to consult a vet he says nothing is wrong. What do I do ?
 
I'm sorry to hear this. I’m afraid this isn’t normal.
Drooling is a sign that something is preventing her from swallowing properly and is a serious issue. This kind of symptom always requires an urgent vet check by a knowledgable vet, I appreciate it’s not easy for you to find a knowledgeable vet.

When a piggy isn’t eating they need to be syringe fed to replace that hay intake. However if she isn’t able to swallow anything then I’m afraid she is very poorly.

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
 
Sintheya said:
Hey guys. My guineapig gave birth on 28 May. She was doing well . But form last 2 days I'm noticing she's not eating well. She's just sniffing the food eating a very little amount and then sleeps. After I tried to check her mouth are(outside) I saw then her lips and hair beneath lips are always wet. Is it normal for a guineapig to always drool ? My other babies don't drool . I don't know what's bothering her. But I'm helpless at the moment as my exam is going on and I tried to consult a vet he says nothing is wrong. What do I do ?
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Hi

Please see a vet as soon as possible. One possible explanation is pregnancy toxaemia, which can happen in the weeks before or after giving birth, especially in hotter weather and on a less than ideal diet. Pregnancy toxaemia is a metabolic disorder that can be easily treated in the early stages but that is fatal in later ones. Its onset is however very sudden and it tends to develop quickly.
Salivating is usually a sign that your piggy is struggling or unable to swallow for some reason, whether that is dental overgrowth of the usually invisible back teeth trapping the tongue, an illness like pregnancy toxaemia or oral thrush (a fungal mouth infection) or whether there is a blockage somewhere at the back of the mouth, the throat or in the gut.
Please switch to weighing your mother on your kitchen scales first thing in the morning for best day-to-day comparison and step in with feeding support if she is losing more than 50g.

You can find all the practical how-to care tips in these step by step guide links that we cannot type out in full in every post:
Weight - Monitoring and Management
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

The good news is that the pups are now in the second week of their lives when they increasingly switch from mainly drinking milk to mainly eating an adult diet from now on. The natural weaning process happens gradually in the thrid and fourth week of life.

PS: Have you been able to sex your pups yet? You will need to separate any males by 3 weeks or 250g - whichever comes sooner. Boar babies under 200g can stay on safely for another week or until they hit 250g - whichever happens first. By 4 weeks, their sisters will start having their season and their mother will also come into season again.
Here are the links to our sexing guide, which includes reference pictures for newborns and 2 weeks old; both of the outside and more crucially of the inside of the slits, which is much more gender divisive. The guide also tells you where exactly to feel for the presence or absence of a tiny penis shaft under the skin.
I have also added a link to our comprehensive surprise babies information bundle:
Illustrated Sexing Guide
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...on-collection-incl-help-with-any-dads.191229/

I am very sorry about the unfortunate timing. Fingers crossed for your poorly mother! I hope that you and your vet can get to the bottom of it.
 
My mom is taking her to vet tomorrow. But as she is eating nothing I tried to syringe feed her. She's not taking anything. If I put it in her mouth she is spitting it out. What should I do . She has gotten very weak. I am literally so devastated right now.
 
Sintheya said:
My mom is taking her to vet tomorrow. But as she is eating nothing I tried to syringe feed her. She's not taking anything. If I put it in her mouth she is spitting it out. What should I do . She has gotten very weak. I am literally so devastated right now.
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BIG HUGS

I am extremely sorry having to give you the worst possible news but your mommy piggy is unfortunately dying. She is no longer able to swallow and to process food. I wish from the bottom of my heart that there was something you could do but there sadly isn't. Once you get to that stage, it is too late.

Please concentrate on making her as comfortable as possible with her babies.
You can find practical advice about the dying process and what you can do for her during that time in the link below. It is probably too late in the day for you in India to ask for emergency euthanasia now but please consider it if she is still around tomorrow in order to spare her any unnecessary suffering. Make sure that you rub her gently with a soft fabric that you can leave in the cage for her pups to snuggle into in the coming days and to leave it in the cage for several days even if it gets rather smelly and dirty until her scent has faded away. Then wash the rag and put it back for the babies as they still need that comfort and reassurance for another 2-3 weeks.
The babies are now old enough to survive without mother's milk but concentrate on a good hay based adult diet for them. Introduce any new foods carefully in a small quantity and as part of a mix as the babies no longer have the benefit of having their gut microbiome accustomed by traces of the food their mother is eating via her milk; this will help to avoid diarrhea or bloating from new fresh food.
You can offer a little kitten or recovery formula for another 2 weeks if you wish to as your babies have likely not had enough to drink and eat in the last few days and the milk supply has likely dried up while your mother was increasingly unable to eat enough to produce milk. But your babies are practically already weaned and you have to treat them like that.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...pport-feeding-orphans-and-tiny-babies.159468/

We will help you with the sexing and with bringing up your pups over the coming weeks.
Please bookmark this thread and use it for any further questions and updates so we have the whole story together and support you in your special situation to ensure that the pups have the best chance of growing up well.

My thoughts are with you and your poorly mummy. Try to focus on rearing her babies well for her as the biggest gift you can make her.
 
So I took her to the vet and vet prescribed dextrose 25 . He told to give that 30 ml two times a day . Her heartbeat is faster and for the first ime in two days she pooped a bit. But the poop was very dark like it was almost black in colour. Should I give her the medicine ?
 
Sintheya said:
So I took her to the vet and vet prescribed dextrose 25 . He told to give that 30 ml two times a day . Her heartbeat is faster and for the first ime in two days she pooped a bit. But the poop was very dark like it was almost black in colour. Should I give her the medicine ?
Click to expand...

Please try give her the medicine and please step in with syringe feeding support if she is able to swallow again; if she cannot swallow, then the dextrose won't go in either. Guinea pigs cannot fast for long and the dextrose on its own won't be enough to pull her through, the gut needs fibre (ideally grass/hay based) to keep working .

At least the gut is still moving or moving again but what you are seeing is what has happened at least a day or several days before. Think of the gut as a huge conveyor belt. Food goes in at one end and comes out as poop as the other 1-2 days later. And it reflects what has gone in - very few misshapen poos mean that very little food has gone in.

All the best.
 
BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry. Unfortunately, in my own experience once you get to the salivation stage it is generally too late because you have already run out of time. I once lost three of my own piggies to this symptom in just one month; thankfully to three different causes. It was tough and I started to really doubt myself.

Please be sad and take the time to grieve. Be kind to yourself. Strong feelings of guilt are typical for the onset of the grieving process, even more so in traumatic circumstances. They are not an expression that you have actually done anything wrong but that you love and care deeply because we humans are wired to reflect everything back onto ourselves, whether it is justified or not. If you didn't care, you wouldn't experience this.

Concentrate on trying to keep your babies alive. It could be a bit of a battle if your mum was ill for longer and they didn't get as much food.
 
I'm so sorry you mummy pig has crossed the rainbow bridge. I hope her babies are ok. Take care ❤️
 
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