Sick Medical: Wilbur- Disoriented/cold

[SharkStars]

Old thread would not let me add to it https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...edical-Thread-Soft-clustered-poops?highlight=

Got home from work today and Wilbur is disoriented and stumbling but still reactive - excited when her heard the food bag and eating readily on pellets and critical care but I havnt seen him drink yet which is unusual as he's a water hog and I figured he'd be thirsty if he's been stuck out of the kitchen area for any amount of time.

He feels colder than he should, he's a skinny pig and he's normally pretty warm to the touch

He penis seemed to be stuck out/had poop or something dried on it so I gently cleaned his bottom and it did go back in

I left a message for the vet for the morning and he's been separated from other pigs.
he's has easy to reach food and water and a heat lamp over a cuddle cup.

he had lost a little weigh recently but it started coming back on easily when I made sure he was getting extra food/veggies and some critical care every few days, I thought his roommate was just hogging food because he's starting to become more dominant.

any thoughts on what might have happened or advice to keep him comfortable for the night are most welcome.
He seemed absolutely normal when I left for work this morning

 

[SharkStars]

Update: He is suddenly doing much better. He hopped out of his bed because the hay I put in there for him was not as good as the hay outside of the bed. He is also warmer to the touch and walking with much more confidence! Still going to the vet in the morning but happy to say that he seems stable for the moment!
I'm wondering if he may have had a heart attack?

 

[SharkStars]

Further update: Wilbur is fine but going into his normal vet as soon as they can squeeze him in. My other Skinny that lives apart from him suffered more sever symptoms and passed away today. Was fine before I went out for breakfast, cold and unresponsive when I returned. This one though would not take food, emergency vet recommend putting him down, I opted to take him home as I couldnt bear the thought of killing him if he might bounce back like Wilbur did. Unfortunately he did not recover.
I will update again after wilburs appointment

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I'm sorry you lost your little fella, @SharkStars. I have no idea what could have happened to either one of them, so I didn't really want to comment or speculate. I'm glad you were able to get him into the vet but I am sorry that it didn't work out for him, or for you.

Please do let us know how you make out with Wilbur, and what the vet says may have happened. At the very least, perhaps that information can save Wilbur again in the future, or another little pig with a similar circumstance.

 

[SharkStars]

Wilbur went to the vet on monday and everything about him physically looks great and sounds great.
He had a little blood drawn (apparently this is very difficult!) the results of which I got back today which showed slightly elevated kidney levels and dehydration.
Urine test is next if I can manage to catch some pee because Wilbur drinks so much water I cant fathom how he could be dehydrated. He may have just been stressed at the time and not drank enough that day? I don't know but we'll see if the Urine test reveals anything.
If that comes up clean I probably wont subject him to anymore testing for now.
He seems to be feeling perfectly back to normal so I don't know what else to do but keep him happy and keep an eye on him.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I'm really glad to hear that everything seems normal with Wilbur. If they find nothing else, you're absolutely right. Keep him happy and keep an eye on him.

As far as hydration, try syringing him some unflavoured Pedialyte. I understand that some pigs really like it.

Again, very happy that Wilbur is feeling better. Love those little house hippos!

 

[bpatters]

Did they tell you how to catch the urine so it's as clean as possible?

I have a small flat pan with sides about an inch high, the pan is about 8x12, or a little smaller. I put it upside-down in a plastic bin that's slightly larger than it is, prop one edge up on something so it's tilted, put the pig and some treats on top of the pan, and wait til the pig pees. It doesn't qualify as a "clean catch" sample, but it keeps all the cage junk, and the pig feet/hair out of it, so it's clean enough for them to do testing on.

 

[SharkStars]

Thank you! He's very polite and will never pee while I'm holding him so I wasn't sure how I was going to go about that!

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Just went back in the threads, and I was just curious how Wilbur is doing?

 

[SharkStars]

Sorry I hadn't updated this is so ling, it's been very busy here!
Wilbur did have one incident of gastric stasis but because I've been on high alert with him I started critical care immediately and he bounced back. He had tucked himself into one of those alligator beds and refused to come out, i guess not even to eat! I've since taken that bed away from him.
I have yet to secure a pee from Wilbur he refuses to pee in my presence and I haven't had a day home that I could hold him for long .

But currently he's doing really well.

I was worried about dehydration coming up on his blood test because he literally empties a bottle a day where as my teddy gets three days out of the same size.
But most of the water he "drinks" hits the ground because he so violent with his water bottles. (he's broken maybe 5 in the past year)
so I've been teaching him to drink out of a bowl. This is more work for me having to change the soiled water frequently but the water is
definitely going into him instead of on the floor and I've noticed his body condition over all looks better since starting this. It's also stopped him licking the wet little under his water bottle which I suspect may have cause some of his stomach upset issues.

He's also enjoying a heat lamp for these cold weather months and seems to be much happier with out his roommate Chauncey whom he tolerated but wasn't at all social with. Chauncey seems perfectly happy without him but we'll be looking into adopting him a new friend once things have settled down here.

 

[SharkStars]

a poor image because he sleeps lightly, but he loves his heat lamp and it's the only time he'll sleep on his side.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Glad to hear Wilbur is doing better. That pic under the heat lamp is adorable, he looks very content!