Not Eating Not Eating Hay or Water?

[Nekochen]

I'm really worried about my piggy. She will be a year old on the 10th but a couple days ago I noticed she stopped eating her hay. On top of that she hasn't been drinking water and it looks like she has been eating her pellets but not nearly as much as she used to. I also noticed she is still pooping and peeing but her poops have gotten smaller. I'm not sure what the problem might be she was fine then one day she just stopped. Any advice?

On a side not she isn't acting any different. She is still active and purrs when I pet her and I haven't noticed anything strange behavior wise.

 

[bpatters]

Is she able to keep food in her mouth? Is she drooling? When she does eat, does it look like she's chewing funny? Are her front teeth slanted?

Failure to eat is a very serious matter for a guinea pig. They MUST have food moving through their guts at all times, or they'll develop GI stasis and/or bloat, and either can be fatal. As long as she's not eating normally, you should be hand-feeding her a slurry made of ground up pellets and water, or Critical Care. See https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for information on how to do that.

 

[BaconAndEggs]

Great information from bpatters!

But may I also add that a visit to the vet may be in order, incase she has overgrown teeth or something, which would need filing down. Has she been eating her veggies? Most of the time they won't start acting ill until it is too late. Give the vet a call if you need to.

I hope she gets better soon!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Definitely start hand feeding, and get a vet appointment asap. This is an emergency situation in my opinion.

When she recovers, it's a good idea to weigh her weekly and record the weights.

 

[Nekochen]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm going to try and force feed her today and see about going to the vet later. I'm really worried now because her eyes have started to get crusty now too despite her sounding happy so I'm hoping it's not too late.

 

[Nekochen]

But I do know she wasn't drinking water. It hadn't moved at all from the spot in her bottle because I kept checking it. I made her drink some water this morning and she perked up a lot after that so I been giving her more every once in a while. I massed up some pellets as well for her. She ate some of the paste but she is loosing interest fast so I'm just trying to get her to eat some of it. After giving her water though her eyes got better though. Looking at her teeth she might be too long but it's hard to tell. She hardly let's me look at them without trying to bite me.

 

[bpatters]

Did you read that GL hand-feeding link I gave you? It's called force feeding for a reason -- they'll hate it, and you'll have problems doing it, but they're not eating, it's necessary to save their lives.

If her teeth are not unevenly worn, they probably do NOT need to be trimmed. Most pigs never need a tooth trimming unless they have an abscess, elongated roots, or jaw problems such as an injury. Most vets who know little or nothing about guinea pigs will try to trim their front teeth, but if the molars are working properly, the front teeth don't need trimming.

 

[Nekochen]

I actually wasn't sure if we had a syringe but I double checked and we did but she is still being a pain but I'm still trying. Hopefully she will have something down before I go to vet. Her teeth aren't uneven though from what I saw just even. The vet I'm going to does do guinea pigs so they should know more about them then the average vet.

 

[bpatters]

You'll have to firmly hold her, force the syringe into her mouth, and feed her. You can't let her determine whether or not she's going to eat, or she'll die. It may take two of you to feed her, and you may have to wrap her like a burrito to keep her from getting away.

You need the small syringes with the point cut off and the ends smoothed, and you need a larger syringe to fill the small syringes with. Mix the stuff with enough water so that it's easy to load the syringes and feed her with.

A pig that is eating nothing else needs at least 60 cc of Critical Care per kg (2.2 pounds) of body weight, divided into 5-6 feedings during the day and night. It may take you 45 minutes to complete each feeding, and it needs to be done around the clock.

 

[Nekochen]

So I have some good news! She is drinking water again which makes me really happy. The vet said overall she is pretty good physical wise but it's hard to tell if she ate anything last night. It looks like she might have ate a little hay. I changed hay racks so it would be easier for her and she was interested. I asked the vet about the critical care and she was able to order me some so I can go pick it up Monday a lot cheaper then on amazon so I was happy about that. The vet also gave a couple different syringe so I'm going to get some other food today to see if she will eat it easier then what I had been doing but overall today she seems a lot better then yesterday. I'll see how she does later today c: