Why are my piggies getting sick?

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:05 pm


Thanks you guys. Mr Bubbles didn't eat any more than about 3/4ths of the lettuce leaf. He's not eating hay either. The pile I put in for him was untouched.

I got a good deal of critical care cocktail into him. It was at least 10 syringes full, so I'm giving him a break for a while and I'll feed him again. He still has diminished fecal output too. They're not as worried about the urine as they are his fecal output. Lack of eating right caused it to diminish and I've gotten the amount back up with the critical care, but what causes fibrous matter linking them together? The infection they're worried about is in his digestive system. I'll keep my eye on him today and keep up the dietary treatment. I'm going to get him the pure Timothy hay and give him that in place of the mountain meadow/timothy mixture as well.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 12:53 am


Today wasn't too bad for Mr Bubbles. I took all of the mixed hay out of his cage and put the pure timothy hay in its place. He seems to like it better. Still not eating as much as he should, but at least he's eating more than he did of the mixture. He seems to favor the seed tops, but he's eating some of the stalks too. He mostly lays in his house, but he has come out to greet me every time I've entered the room. He's still drinking water too. He got excited when I came to give veggies. He got lettuce, parsley and a baby carrot. He was eating the carrot when I left. I try to get the veggies in and get out so as not to disturb him when he's eating. If I stay too long, he goes back to his house because he thinks he's getting the syringe.

I was going back through his paperwork from the vet and saw that they gave him metoclopramide. The dosage was .25 ml of 5 mg per mL. Apparently they believe that his digestive system is the problem, not his renal. That would explain why they prescribed orbax instead of SMZ/TMP since that's what they gave Scruffy for his digestive infection. I believe the vet might have mentioned that, but my brain gets scrambled when my babies get sick, so I probably missed it. It also makes sense why his droppings are more frequent. I'm giving him some time to eat the veggies he wants and then he'll get some critical care to make up for any shortages in food intake.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 1:19 am


I hope you continue to see improvement with Mr. Bubbles. You are right about having all that experience and knowing how to syringe and what to watch for - that's a definite advantage.

The dark urine could be dehydration, and I've noticed orange urine with Lacey when she gets any dark green leafy foods like cilantro, dandelion, or celery tops. I don't know which nutrient sets it off, but I was scared a few times until I figured out what was causing it.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 2:27 am


Yes. I believe the urine is a non issue at this time. As I said before, he's had a few things that he's never had before that can explain the color of his urine as well as possible dehydration. I'd rule that out at this point because not only is he drinking water on his own, he's been getting quite a bit with the critical care cocktail I've been giving him. I'm not seeing dark urine stains anymore either.

When I feed him, I keep a bowl of water along with the bowl of critical care. Each time, I draw about.8 mL of the critical care and the rest of the 1 mL syringe with water. That serves two purposes. It gets the CC off of the outside of it and prevents it from getting all over the both of us. It also makes it a little more appealing to him because he gets the water on his lips first, which allows me to get it into his mouth easier. The bonus is the extra water he gets from doing it that way.

He is less active, but still responsive and not totally turned off by his regular food. The problem is me. I get very anxious and edgy when my little ones get sick. I was a total mess with Scruffy. I've been a little better this time with Mr Bubbles, but it's still hard. I get so worried about him that my IBS and acid reflux disease gets really bad. It's a very big help to have people who understand what is going on and how much it effects us when we go through this. I remain very appreciative of everyone's support!

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 1:40 pm


Ditto: it's very stressful when a pig is sick & the advice & moral support here at GL really helps.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 5:01 pm


So Mr Bubbles is still about the same. Very slowly eats his lettuce and nibbles on the rest without finishing them. He forages through his hay and eats the parts he likes, although he's still not eating as much as normal. He actually tricked me. I always look under his house where he lays to check on his droppings and clear them out of there, but I saw very little new ones. A further check of his cage and I saw quite a few of them on the edge of his hay pile. They were closer to normal size, but they were still coming out in a chain of 2-3. I started his antibiotic and since it's a pretty aggressive one, I'll be paying even closer attention to his food intake and giving him extra critical care.

Here we go again. Orbax really scares me. I don't know why but it just does. Maybe because I read a lot about baytril and bactrim being used for guinea pigs, but not as much about orbax. It worked well for Scruffy, so you'd think that I would be less apprehensive. Anyway, I'm giving it to him with plenty of critical care and following up with benebac probiotic, so I have reason to hope it'll be ok. It's cage day today so he'll get a chance to get out and eat some fresh grass. He usually likes that.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 8:19 pm


Orbax is very similar to Baytril. Both are -floxacins, or fluoroquinolones. Orbax is the newest in the class.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 10:07 pm


The name sounds intimidating LOL. Like I told you guys, I'm extremely sensitive about my babies. Mr Bubbles especially. He's actually sitting with me eating freshly picked grass while I'm typing this. He's got a follow-up tomorrow. I lifted his house to look for droppings and there were plenty of them. None were strung together, but they're still a little smaller than normal. You can see the effects of the critical care on them. I need to get him a little more water as they're getting a little bit dry. He isn't having trouble passing them, so he'll be fine with increased water intake.

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 10:33 pm


Pretty good news on the poop front. Sounds like some improvement.

We all understand being sensitive about our babies. :-)

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:32 pm


Sounds like good news that he's pooping better. I never realized how difficult it is to care for a sick guinea pig until I had to syringe feed and try to coax Lacey to eat when she was ill last year. I have a huge amount of respect for you if you get through the daily feedings and meds without having anxiety attacks yourself. I was a wreck.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:52 am


I was a complete wreck with Scruffy. You can probably tell by my rambling posts if you read them lol. This time with Mr Bubbles, a couple of things are different. Scruffy ate zero and was basically bleeding from his anus by the time I could get him to a vet. I also noticed Scruffy's illness on the weekend and had to wait almost 2 days to see a vet. Mr Bubbles stopped eating veggies, but he at least nibbled on hay and had no bleeding. Mr Bubbles got to see the vet only hours after I realized that he was in trouble.

The biggest and probably the most important difference is that with Scruffy I had absolutely no idea what to look for or what to do when it comes to a sick guinea pig. Now because of him I knew exactly what to do with Mr Bubbles. Since Scruffy, I always keep a supply of critical care and probiotic on hand and I knew to start Mr Bubbles on it immediately. I knew how to mix it up and how to feed him without hurting him. I guess you can say that Scruffy kind of saved Mr Bubbles a lot of pain and may well have saved his life. The ease of this stops there. No amount of experience can make it easier to cope with your babies getting sick.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Mon Oct 12, 2020 6:50 pm


Bit of a setback today. Mr Bubbles didn't eat but a couple of bites of his lettuce. Didn't notice a lot missing from his hay pile either. Mostly uninterested in food now. This is something I expected and am prepared for because of the antibiotic he's on. I even ordered more critical care the minute I found out he was going to be getting orbax. Changing his feedings to every 2-3 hours until such time as he starts eating more. I did get him outside for some fresh air and natural daylight. It's really nice out and he did enjoy it. Even ate a little bit of grass.

His follow up is tomorrow. The critical care should be here too. The bag of the fine grind should last plenty long enough until then. I have 2 packages of the apple and banana flavor, but he hates that kind. It works just as good, but I'd rather give him the kind he likes. I'm torturing him enough as it is, so no need to make it any worse by forcing him to eat something that he hates.

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