Not Eating Stopped eating and lethargic

[kevstan062019]

My male guinea pig Stanley who’s just over a year old hasn’t been acting right. One day he was acting completely fine and normal and the next he’s not eating and is very lethargic. He has pretty much been hiding out in his tunnel and hut all day which is very unlike him. He’s shown very little interest in his hay and pellets and hasn’t been drinking much water either. The only thing he’s shown interest in is some red leaf lettuce and carrots. I ended up giving him more lettuce than normal just so he would eat something. He’s normally roaming around his cage munching on food and playing most of the day so this is very uncharacteristic.

i’m thinking it might be GI stasis, but I’m very careful about what I feed them and they always have access to orchard grass hay. Their diet hasn’t changed recently and he’s never had this issue before so I’m not sure what would cause it. Does this sound like something I could treat myself or do I need to make a trip to the vet and what could be some other possible causes?

p.s. I should also mention he doesn’t appear to be bloated right now, but it’s hard to tell since his fur is a little scraggly. I also haven’t seen him poop much today, but that’s also hard to be sure of since I don’t have my eye on him 24/7 and he shares his cage. I did see him poop once but it appeared mushier and smaller than normal.

 

[ItsaZoo]

Unless he comes around overnight, it sounds like a trip to the vet. Guinea pigs need to have food moving through the digestive system, and hay is the most important because they need the fiber. His poops are smaller because he's not eating enough, and mushy due to the extra veggies. If you have Critical Care food mix, you might have to supplement his feeding with that so he gets enough fiber and nutrients.

 

[peanny77]

If you don’t have Critical Care right now,mash some pellets with warm water to make a slurry.That’s what I did for a very weak pup that wasn’t eating,nursing and couldn’t move.It works really well,but CC is still the best thing you can feed him.You should go to the vet asap.

 

[kevstan062019]

Thank you guys for the quick response! I was planning on making an appointment with the vet first thing this morning, but he appears to be feeling a lot better. He ate some vitamin c which he didn’t do yesterday, and is now munching down on some hay. He also seems to be much more active as well. I’ve seen him poop a couple of times and they are bigger than normal, but they’re much better than yesterday when he was only pooping out a couple extra mushy ones. It kind of just seems like he was having a bad day yesterday? I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on him and if his poops don’t go back to normal within the next couple of days I’ll be taking him to the vet, but it doesn’t look like there’s a reason to take him now. Let me know if you have any more advice or theories!

 

[peanny77]

I’m glad to hear that he has improved.Did you feed him Critical Care or mashed up pellets?If he has enough fiber,he will poop bigger and less mushy poops,and if he has enough nutrients,he will have more energy.If you are giving him extra feedings,then keep doing so,but less often to provide him with more fiber and energy so that he can recover completely without having to go to the vet.However,if this gets worse,go to the vet;or if you can’t do that at the moment,call the vet for advice.I hope my post helped you,I’m just a newbie;and good luck!

 

[kevstan062019]

I don’t have any critical care so I tried mashing up pellets and water to give him last night, but he had no interest in that. He’s ate some of his pellets this morning like normal and he has even hopped around a bit from excitement so his energy is improving. I’m still not sure what caused him to be so down yesterday, but whatever it was seemed to have passed and hopefully it stays that way.