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Not Eating Scooter's medical thread

Guinea Pig Papa

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As many of you know, Punkin has an incisor infection.

Scooter was now diagnosed with an URI on Friday of last week, as over a few days he gradually went off his food. He was wheezing at the vets, and he was given a needle of Baytril then and by Friday evening seemed to be improving. He was prescribed .2 ml of Baytril every 12 hours, which began Saturday morning.

His weight continued to drop, and round the clock force feedings were begun Sunday. With each feeding, the difficulty level has increased dramatically. He is taking in little food at all. Rest assured, trying is not the case. He is syringed the food to the back of his mouth, and he simply chews very slowly until the vast majority of it comes out of his mouth.

He must have gotten some in yesterday because his weight went up slightly, from 1338 to 1352 this morning. But I couldn't even get half a 12CC syringe into him this morning. Mixing the CC thin or thick doesn't matter. I syringe him water and he lets half of that run out of his mouth.

I'm thinking that this is likely intolerance to Baytril but I've not run across it at this level before. Can anyone offer me any advice on what to do? I have Sulfatrim on hand but don't know what dose to adminster it. I'm going to call the vet this morning and see what I can do, but he leaves for vacation for 10 days after tomorrow afternoon.

Badly scared for Scooter at this point.
 

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He is getting probiotics yes. His vet is in at 9:30, I am waiting for him to call me back but I agree he won't be getting any more Baytril.
 

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Scooter is now off all antibiotics for 24 hours to see if he improves. He is being switched to the sulfatrim, and hopefully this will do the trick. My wife told me that when she attempted to feed him at 10 a.m. this morning, he would not even chew the Critical Care put in his mouth, he would just sit there and let it run out.
 

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Scooter has now been rushed to the vet. I arrived home at 2pm to find him barely able to walk. He leaned back to wash his face and fell forward. He is cold and trembling.

Dr Ker says his gut sounds are normal. Heart and lungs sound normal. Tried to check his mouth, was still full of Critical Care.
 

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Scooter is at home, resting. He was given Sub Q fluids, and he will be spending the day at the vets again tomorrow. He is still very tired and weak but doesn't seem as in distress as he was earlier. We are NOT to syringe him anything. We are to offer him all his favourite foods and pellets and water but not to force anything. They suspect some sort of toxicity to the Baytril and want to flush his system. Since he came home he has pooped a couple of times, so his guts are still moving. Wait and see for the night.
 

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He's been lying in the fluffy bed since he got home. Hasn't moved out of it. Picked him up for snuggles and found several poops. Cuddled him for awhile and he seems alert but very, very weak. I suspect there may also have been some stasis as he hasnt pooped much over the last day or so, and he now seems to be pooping steadily. Probably 15 or so in the last little while. I put him down on the floor in the cage, and he stood there for a few minutes and when he walked he was hunched up and moved very slowly. He also had some trouble climbing up into the bed but he made it. Have the feeling it's going to be a restless night but I have some hope now. I honestly believed, the way he was when I got home, that if he even survived the trip to the vet he wouldn't survive the day. Breathing a little easier right now.
 

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Morning update:

I did not weight Scooter this morning, as I know he will just have gone down so it isn't a surprise. He seems much brighter and more alert this morning. There was quite a lot of poop in his hospital cage this morning, and it seems that he may have eaten some of his pellets and veggies last night. He is walking around better, albeit still slowly.

Offered him more fresh veggies this morning, and he selected half a cucumber slice and is currently eating that on his own. Little steps, but progress being made. He will be spending the day at the vets again today for observation.
 

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Update for Scooter:

Scooter has spent both today, and yesterday at the vets. He has been given Sub Q fluids, and been both allowed to try and eat on his own plus been fed Critical Care. It has been determined that he suffered a bad reaction to the Baytril and he needed to be adminstered fluids and monitored as much as possible. His stomach had stopped moving on Tuesday, and it was moving again by Tuesday night with the fluids he was given.

He has been prescribed a new antibiotic, and will return to the vet briefly one more time tomorrow for another treatment of Sub Q fluids. He was brighter and more alert at the vets office today, and was eating a little hay and greens on his own. His heartbeat is strong and steady, his lungs sound good and his stomach is making all the right noises, although not as much because his appetite has been decreased.

Hoping for some more turnaround here in the coming few days. Scooter is looking better but has a little ways to go.
 

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Update for Scooter:

Scooter is still not a well piggie. His weight has now dropped to around the 1270 gram mark, and we have managed to hold it there for a couple of days.

I believe he is intolerant to antibiotics, but the Sulfatrim much less so than the Baytril. He sleeps in whatever cozy or pigloo he decides to migrate to periodically throughout the day, and is brought out for a feeding every four hours.

The last two days have brought small improvements. There is a LITTLE more activity from him, his grooming habits are more normal, and he seems to be a little brighter. He's still eating little on his own, but is now interested in veggies and making an effort. He was in the hay pile on his own this morning, before his 6am feeding and for the first time in 3 weeks, came out and wheeked and climbed the bars for a treat he thought I had.

He still has four more days or so of antibiotics to take. Hopefully I will be able to relate some more improvements.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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It sounds as though Scooter is making progress, albeit in small increments. I suspect that once he is off antibiotics, his interest in food will return.

You must be an 'expert' at Critical Care feedings by now! It can't be easy with having both boys to feed and the way it probably disrupts your wake/sleep cycle. Hang in there and keep us posted.

Expert? It's unbelievably hard. So glad there are two of us to do it. It takes roughly 60-90 minutes to feed both pigs, depending on how well they take the CC. Every four hours. My wife takes the 2am feedings because I can't drive on too little sleep, and I take the 10pm feeding and 6am feeding. So I get roughly 6 hours of sleep a night and I rarely sleep through. The feedings during the day either of us will do depending on whether or not I'm busy on calls. This week I have been.

All I want is my boys to be well and happy again, and I'll do everything I can to make it happen :D
 

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@Guinea Pig Papa I am so sorry to hear how much your little guy has been going through. I have been keeping him in my thoughts and prayers. You are such an amazing pet owner and Scooter is so lucky that he has someone who cares so much for him.

Keep that fighting spirit Scooter and feel the good wishes that are coming to you from all of the forum members throughout the world.

Thank you [MENTION=17564]Kelsie[/MENTION], we will take all the help we can get.

They're both just such amazing little guys. They deserve no less than everything I can do.

Scooter has since come out AGAIN begging for a treat this morning. The third time I came back upstairs, I brought a cucumber slice and he came to the bars again. Handed him the cucumber slice which was cut in half, and he sniffed and sniffed, but seemed unable to try it out. He looked at me, turned around and went back to bed. Heartbreaking.

I just hope coming off the antibiotics in a few days will change things for the better.
 

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Update for Scooter:

I thought Scooter was improving. I really did. His demeanor has improved tremendously over the last few days.

He's finished his antibiotics yesterday, and also had his last dose of metacam. Today I went to syringe him water and Critical Care as he still isn't eating enough on his own........

And he started ok with the Critical Care. He never really took it well so no surprise when he spits some out. A few mouthfuls went well and gave him some water.....and all of a sudden he started twisting his head violently to the left, and walking in circles. Just a little the first time, then I tried to give him some food and he went berserk. Twisting to the left, going in circles and the more I tried to calm him the louder he cried, as if he was in pain and terrified. I stopped with the food and just tried to give him little bits of water, but hes not really come around.

I put him back in his cage, and he ran straight to the cozy and stayed there. What the hell happened? Anyone have ANY idea?

I am completely lost, and very scared for him right now.
 

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Thank you, [MENTION=19714]spy9doc[/MENTION].

I did video record it and showed it to the vet tech when I dropped him off this morning. It wasn't a seizure, he was reacting to the food being put in his mouth. The first couple mouthfuls went okay, but when is mouth started to get full something inside his mouth caused him pain. I gave him some metacam, and tried to feed him again about an hour and a half later. He was quite a bit better, but still turning his head down and to the left and now waving his paws in front of his face again.

I'm positive now that whatever problem he has is in his mouth, and they just haven't found it
 

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Well, so much for an educated guess! I should have listened to my instincts in that when they have a seizure, they may lose body tone and then be more groggy and sleepy afterward vs. the increased agitation that he presented with. Hopefully, he will be accurately diagnosed and treated appropriately.......soon.

[MENTION=19714]spy9doc[/MENTION] , I always, ALWAYS value your opinion. In reading back I wasn't very clear about why he did what he did. He was just fine until I squirted the water in, and he acted like I shoved a lit match in his mouth. It was the same with the food.

He was better after he had metacam, but still a similar reaction. Something hit a nerve there.
 

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Update for Scooter:

After a day at the vets, we have some answers!

Initially upon looking in Scooter's mouth, Dr Ker couldn't see any problems with his molars, or anything else. Fast forward to this afternoon while prepping him for xrays, and Dr Ker decided to take a closer look while he was out.

Bingo! Molars were overgrown, enough that they were causing him pain. Little spikes stabbing his tongue, likely from eating almost nothing but Critical Care for the last month. They've been trimmed down and even tonight syringing him water, I can tell his mouth is more clear and much more obstacle free than it was.

Problem number 2

Scooter has some sort of mass or inflammation in his left ear canal. Down deep in where it can't be seen, and it can't even be felt from the outside because Scooter is so, well, thick. We have been ordered special drops for this that should do the trick and they should be here Friday.

Going to include the radiograph here from Scooter, which shows his left ear canal. I can't read xrays worth a damn and even I can see something going on there.





The lump is PRECISELY where he was turning his head this morning, down and to the left. I obviously did something to aggravate it and hurt my poor little man.
 

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After a few days of improvements, there is a new development tonight.

We were told by the vet to stop the antibiotics for both pigs. Scooter had his last dose of Sulfatrim Friday morning at 6am. The drops for his ear came in, they are Baytril mixed with silver somethingorother and he got his first drops this morning.

Scooter was only fed two syringe feedings of Critical Care yesterday, and he has never had the original anise Critical care before, yesterday being the first time. Dr Ker wanted both pigs fed little Critical Care to see if their appetites would return being off the antibiotics. Both Scooter and Punkin enjoyed their nighttime veggies last night for the first time in awhile.

Fast forward to today. Scooters weight remained unchanged from yesterday morning, so I took this as a good sign. He has been brighter and more active today, and even begging and wheeking for treats, a most welcome change. Not eating much in the way of pellets or hay, but a little.

Tonight, about 8 o'clock I picked him up to check on him. I found liquid diarrhea on his bedding, and all down the front of my shirt. I put him down on a towel, gave him some probiotics and gave him a syringe and half full of apple banana critical care which he ate amazingly well. He had more liquid diarrhea on the towel, and again on my shirt. It stunk badly.

After feeding, we gave him a butt bath and cleaned him all up as best we could. I separated him from his brother which they were NOT happy about. I have given him hay, water and pellets which he ate a little of. Since the butt bath, no further diarrhea but also no poop.

This is a new one on me, and everything I have read says this is critical. I have nowhere to take him until Tuesday. Does anyone have any advice other than what I've done already? He is not lethargic, and does not even seem ill other than the diarrhea. For a bit there, I thought he was going to try and hurdle the 14 inch high grid to go back with his brother.
 

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By midnight, no more diarrhea had presented. I tried to go to bed and sleep a bit. Checked him at 130, no poop. Checked him again at 4am, and he had pooped and it was large and misshapen, but mostly solid. At 6am, poops are firm and almost.completely normal looking.
 

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Update for Scooter:

After Saturday nights diarrhea scare, Scooter has been settling down. He was syringe fed a few times yesterday and was observed eating a little on his own. Didn't poop all day at all, other than the almost normal ones at 6am.

He is on Baytril Otic drops in his left ear, to combat whatever that mass in his ear canal might be. Putting the drops in his ear is a two person job. I tried it twice myself, and he went ballistic. Loses his ever loving mind. I hold him now, and my wife puts the drops in. He's perfectly complacent with that.

Fast forward to today, and after several days of decline his weight has gone up 15 grams this morning. Small amount I know, but its up instead of down and I'll take that as a victory. He is now pooping and they are small and soft, but consistent.

He got no pain meds this morning. I understand that one of the side effects of metacam is upset stomach and since he didn't appear to need it this morning he got none. For the first time in weeks, I offered him a cucumber slice and he ate the entire thing. I was elated. I also offered him a baby carrot yesterday and was surprised to see him eat it all. I have also seen him eating hay and pellets today. The only syringing I have done with him today is probiotics and vitamin C. I've seen him a few times at the water bottle and he looks like he wants to drink, but he has yet to drink from it that I've seen. I'm kind of expecting that to change today.
 

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Scooter is now pooping plentiful, and normally. He is also eating more and more, and I've caught him in the hay pile several times in the last 48 hours. He IS, however, gradually still losing weight. He is not at all being supplemented with Critical Care. He is getting a daily dose of vitamin C. He is still on the Baytril Otic ear drops until next Sunday.

Two small caveats. Scooter hasn't been drinking much water at all. In fact, I have to syringe both pigs water daily in order to know they're getting any at all. I change their bottles daily and yet the level in neither one drops at all.

I did see Punkin one day last week stand at the bottle and guzzle water for almost ten minutes. Other than a couple of nose bumps I've not seen him do it since.

I have also realized that even though Scooter is now 10 days past his molar planing and yet, he still eats far better when given .25ml per day of Metacam. I would think he'd be past needing pain meds and yet this is the case and I am unsure as to why.

Other than the weight losses, he seems very much back to his old normal self.

Edit: I forgot to add that I discovered a lump between his shoulder blades this morning. It moves around when you palpate it, so it's under the skin and not on it. I did some pretty major poking at it this morning, but it didn't seem to faze him at all.

Edit 2: Scooter used to hate being picked up. He would run like you were going to eat him if you tried. Now, quite the opposite. He might dodge left or right, but once you get a hand near him or under him he goes limp. Resigns himself to the fact that he's being picked up. Not sure if its illness, or if he's just gotten used to constant handling over the last 6 weeks or just doesn't care any more.
 

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Metacam is NOT a pain medication. It is an anti-inflammatory much like our ibuprofen or naprosyn. Yes, it relieves pain due to inflammation, but it isn't a true pain medication. That would most likely be Tramodol if needed.

(broken link removed) = The lump between his scapulae is most likely a fatty lipoma if it is moveable. No real need for concern unless it causes a problem for him. If it were hard and not moveable--meaning affixed to the underlying tissue--then I would be concerned.


I did know Metacam is an anti inflammatory, and yet I still refer to it as pain meds. Why, I don't know. I do know that he seems better equipped to eat when he's had it, as when he hasn't. And I haven't a clue why.

The term "fatty lipoma" actually did cross my mind when I found it, and I remember someone saying the same thing when it appeared that Sly had one on his chest. It may very well even have been you. I wasn't going to rush him in for it, but I was certainly going to have Dr Ker have a peek at it to ease my concerns :) I have enough of those right now!

Funny that you mention "Snuggle Bug". Scooter has become much more snuggly since his illness, and he has even begun to lick. He'll climb up on my knee for his veggies, or lick my knee and more recently my arm when I was holding him.

His tastes have also changed. He used to go bonkers for apple slice and would beg incessantly for it several times a day. He now couldn't care in the slightest for them. His attention has turned to orange segments, and while he isn't anywhere near as voracious for them he really likes them where he didn't before.
 
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