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Not Eating Scooter's medical thread

Guinea Pig Papa

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I knew you didn't mean it that way, and I'm sorry if I gave you that impression.

This checkup on Monday is BECAUSE he isn't where I feel he should be. He hasn't been back since the surgery and I waited longer than I would have because I know he takes longer to recover. So Monday we will be looking for some answers.
 

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I’m sorry to hear Scooter is still having issues with his teeth. Did he get through the ear infection okay? I would think that could cause pain in his sinuses and teeth and he’d go off his food. I hope you get some answers on Monday.

We THOUGHT we got through the infection ok. He was fine from the beginning of December until the beginning of February, and it was almost 4 months before he needed any teeth work. I'm really hoping this isn't the beginning of a trend. Leo doesn't seem to have become infected at all so there is some comfort in that.
 

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Scooter went for his check, and the vet found one overgrown tooth. Just one. All the rest of his teeth seemed fine. Dr Ker trimmed it off, but he couldnt believe how long and sharp it was.

I've brought him home and hes a little groggy, but hes eaten some orange slice, most of a cucumber slice and a little moistened pellets. He seems to be in a pretty happy mood but we wont know for sure if all is well for a few days at least.
 

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Guinea pig teeth grow 3mm per week. Its three weeks tomorrow since his last procedure, so approx 9mm. I dont think they missed it. I just find it extremely odd that there is only one overgrown tooth. Even his incisors are straight.
 

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Things are not looking good for Scooter.

Woke up to find him having difficulty walking. Took me an hour and a half to get two syringes of food in him, which he seemed to have tremendous difficulty chewing and swallowing. He was contorting his head and backing up, or twisting his neck and stretching out in an effort to chew and swallow.

I am at a loss to explain this. It almost seems neurological in nature. What I do know is that Scooter appears to be suffering. I am going to call the vet at 9 when they get in and see if I can get him in emergency, but I am very afraid of the possibility here that he may not come home.
 

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Seems to be walking ok now. I will see how he is at 9 before calling the vet as he may just have had something caught. Either way I'm not liking this but I'll see how he does.
 

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Giving him his 9am feeding now and although it's a bit slow, hes eating it fine. He may have had something lodged in his throat earlier, I just dont know but right now he is doing much better.
 

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Just finished his feeding. Took two syringes just fine with water. Running around the cage babbling away right now. I'm happy hes feeling better but totally at a loss for how he was this morning.
 

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Any chance it was anesthesia recovery problem?

To be perfectly honest, [MENTION=44083]rosspiggys[/MENTION] , that was the first thing that crossed my mind. He had anesthesia at about 5 o'clock Monday afternoon, and this happened this morning at his first feeding of the day about 5am. It certainly seemed that way to be to perhaps be something neurological.

The more I think about it, the more I believe he may have had some sort of blockage in his throat. He was contorting himself strangely, dragging himself along on his belly and stretching out and kicking his back feet. Also twisting his head around in ways he never has before.

About 830 this morning I tried to get him to eat a cucumber slice. He ate perhaps half of it, all the soft part. He has had several syringe feedings since and all has been normal.

I just don't have an explanation for this, other than a blockage of some sort and he was panicking trying to clear it. He wasn't wheezing or gasping for breath.
 

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How is he today GPP?

He seems to be doing fine. No repeat of yesterday. He took two full syringes of CC this morning and happily ate most of a cucumber slice. I really do wish he'd eat other things like hay or pellets on his own but it seems that he has trouble biting down on things.
 

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I'm so glad to hear that he is doing fine now. From what you described, it does sound like he had something caught in his throat and was trying to clear it. I can only imagine how disturbing it was seeing him distressed like that.

How is the rest of the family doing? I know that you said that both you and your wife were feeling under the weather. I hope both of you are feeling much better now.

[MENTION=17564]Kelsie[/MENTION], I honestly thought I was losing him when that started. Once it stopped I took it very slow with him, and I think he was pretty scared at the time too. I just tried to comfort him and feed him at the same time, very gently.

Thank you for asking. I am feeling a lot better than I was, save for a nagging cough that precludes me from getting a decent nights sleep. My wife is also improving but at a bit slower rate than I am. Leo seems to be the only one without a care in the world! :)
 

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Scooter's eating has slowed down some. I have restarted the antibiotics as a precaution. I did get him to eat most of a cucumber slice with his morning feeding today and he was quite happy about it.

He just seems to have difficulty even taking the critical care. He is booked in to spend the day at the vet again Monday. They're going to do more radiographs at that time and hopefully we'll know more about what we might be up against here.
 

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He seems to be feeling a bit better this morning. Last night and this morning he's been VERY thirsty, taking a fair bit of water by syringe as he of course is back to not using water bottles.

I just got home from a call, and he had just finished his 9am feeding. When I came through the door he came running out of the house he was in and over to the bars and climbed them, something he hasn't done in a few weeks so that's encouraging.
 

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Scooter had his day at the vet yesterday for xrays. He was given SubQ fluids, and checked over thoroughly.

His teeth are all fine. There is no infection showing up on the xrays. For all intents and purposes, they can find nothing out of the ordinary wrong. To say I'm frustrated is an understatement.

I have agree to have his radiographs sent to a radiologist for interpretation. His vet was considering doing a biochem profile if they were able to get any blood from him, to which I replied that at his present weight they would be hard pressed to get blood from him at all.

Over the last few days his demeanor has improved a fair bit. He has been more active, and the last couple of nights he's been out playing with his brother. For the first time in weeks, last night when I went to syringe feed him he ran to the bowl of Critical Care and began to eat it on his own. He has been eating most of cucumber slices, last night he was trying to eat their bedtime salad and this morning he was making a concerted effort to eat his pepper slice on his own.

So there have been some improvements to how he seems to be feeling and how he's eating, but as to what the cause of the problem might be I'm still in the dark.
 

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Update for Scooter:

As of last night, Scooter's demeanor and eating crashed. He was spitting most of his Critical Care out yesterday afternoon, and last night I only got one syringe into him with most of a cucumber slice and it took me two hours to do it.

This morning, Scooter was very lethargic and seemed largely in pain. He would not easily chew and swallow any Critical Care, he would let the vast majority of a mouthful spill out of his mouth. I discovered that he WOULD make a supreme effort to eat a cucumber slice, so even though they aren't the best for him he's had several of them today. Some food is better than no food.

I called the vet who made an emergency appointment for him at 4pm. I will be honest in saying that I did not think he would be coming home. I was fairly certain that with no answers and with his inability to eat almost anything, it would be kinder to let him go as much as that would tear me apart.

The radiographs, as luck would have it, came back from the radiologist just before his appointment. And we have a diagnosis. Poor Scooter has arthritis in his jaw. This is why he seems to have difficulty opening his mouth, and why it hurts to chew.

Dr Ker assures me that this is treatable, and that we have many treatment options. The first problem however is that we must stop the metacam before using any other meds, and that takes a couple of days to clear his system to make sure that we don't mix any meds as it could kill him.

His first try at pain meds will be Children's Advil. We were given a specific type to get, and on the weekend we will start that.


Please keep Scooter in your thoughts, and even though I am not a religious man by any means, keep him in your prayers as well. My baby fella deserves all the help he can get.
 

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Update for Scooter:

We can start the new meds for Scooter Sunday morning. He will get .5ml once a day. Today is his first day without metacam in some time.

He woke up this morning seemingly much brighter and more alert. He didn't want anything to do with cucumber today, but he has had 3 feedings today so far (5am, 9am and 1pm) and at all three he ate very well, and ate the usual 2 full syringes of Critical Care.

Last night I tried again putting down moistened young guinea pig pellets. I've tried before this time around to no avail, and I don't leave them down because pudgy Leo eats them instead of what he's supposed to be eating.

Last night, Scooter went to the bowl and spent about ten minutes eating the moistened pellets. I was so happy I was speechless. This morning after his early morning feeding, he went back to the bowl and spent another few minutes eating a little. Leo has been into them of course, but if Scooter will eat them I'll risk it and they likely won't hurt Leo short term.

Today has been a better day than the last couple. Pair that with the results of the radiographs and treatment options, I'm hoping Scooter begins his road to a more normal and pain free life.
 

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Update for Scooter:

Started the new meds yesterday morning. Within half an hour of having them, he was a much different pig. After eating his Critical Care, and cucumber he went into the cage and ate some of his moistened pellets, which he has not done in some time. After that he proceeded with playtime, where he promptly mounted Leo which he hasn't done in weeks, and then popcorned. He was a playful boy yesterday.

As the day wore on, however, the meds wore off. I'm not sure if ibuprofen has a cumulative effect for the anti inflammatory similar to, say, metacam has. By 5pm yesterday however it was obvious that the pain relief had worn off.

I decided today to split his dosage. Half at 5am, half at 5pm. I could definitely see a difference again the morning, but not as pronounced as yesterday. This is as far as we've gotten.

I can say he's been eating more of other things than he has been, but at this point it's still going to be wait and see.
 

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Every time I've split a 24-hour medicine to give it every 12 hours, I've increased the dosages by 10%. With my vet's blessing, I might add. It's not enough to exceed the maximum daily dose, but it does help to carry them fully through 12 hours.


If that does seem like what he needs after a few days on this medication, I'll definitely discuss that with our vet. I AM worried about the dosing as Scooter's weight is down to a level I'm not comfortable with. Not that it's bad: I'm just not comfortable with it. He was 1005 grams this morning, and he hasn't weighed that since he was 5 months old. It really did seem to help him at .5ml first thing in the morning.
 

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Update for Scooter:

Scooter has gone in for another dental procedure. The new medicine seems to work, but it doesn't seem to work well enough. We will know more in the week or two following this procedure, if they work well enough or if we need to try something else.

After his critical care feedings, he has taken to coming back to the bars to chew and beg for a treat, which he receives and does he best to eat. He can eat most of an orange segment, and does ok with cucumber and apple.

Despite this, his weight has continued to slide downward. I am sad to say that his weight this morning was down to 966 grams, and I am terribly concerned for this surgery.

I have found myself thinking more and more recently, that even though he seems to be happy sometimes, If I'm not keeping him here more for me than for him.
 

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Update for Scooter:

Molar surgery went well. He was a bit groggy when he came home but quite happy to be back in familiar surroundings.

This morning, major difference in how hes eating. He ate two full syringes of Critical Care, no drooling. His chest was dry and clean this morning, and he was drooling a lot after his last procedure.

Biggest change though. He ate an entire cucumber slice this morning, skin and all with no assistance. He's been needing it held for him while eating them and hasn't been able to eat the skin. This morning although a little slower than he would normally eat them, he ate the whole thing on his own. Good to see and hopefully a sign of better things to come.
 
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