Misko's Medical Thread

[Mike221]

Hi all,

one of our guinea pigs had a surgery recently and after being on Baytril he developed diarrhea and is refusing to eat anything.
Currently we have him on Critical Care every few hours, and his poops started to get shape, although still very soft.
He is not on antibiotics anymore.

We won't have Bene-Bac for at least few days, so we are giving him fresh dropping of our healthy guinea pig dissolved in water and some acidophilus powder mixed in his critical care.

My question is, how often and how much of dropping can we give him and do these dropping really work good as a probiotic?
Probably we can't give him too much, just want to make sure if somebody has any experience.

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Hi, @Mike221. So far you seem to be doing all the right things.

When I was using "poop soup" for Scooter when he was ill, I would use it two to three times a day. Definitely first thing in the morning and at bedtime, and sometimes one in the middle of the day if he was particularly poorly.


Since it IS just poop from a healthy pig and it's something that they ingest anyway, I wouldn't imagine you could give him too much. Two or three times a day seemed to be good enough for my little guy.

[bpatters]

Ditto @Guinea Pig Papa. But it's even better if you can retrieve some of the soft green poop from the anal sac of the healthy pig -- it's got much more of the stuff that's needed than a regular bean does.

[Mike221]

Thank you both for a reply.
Little one is not doing too good, so we took him back to see his vet.
Looks like he has problems with his tummy and he is quite bloated, so that might be the major problem right now.
Both his incisions look good, we were removing 2 large lumps on him back and neck.
He is almost not eating at all by himself, Critical Care opens his appetite a bit but soon he cramps up again.
It all might be caused by Baytril after his surgery.

So now he is on Simethicone 3xday, he got 1g Bene-Bac and will still get on Friday and Monday, his Metacam dose was increased, healthy guinea pig poops few times a day, we are forcing Critical Care and lots of water.

Do you have any other advice if we are dealing with trapped gas and bloat?
Little guy is crying when pushing poops out and is very soft.

Thanks

[Guinea Pig Papa]

If he has bloat, it will be painful for him. Likely why he's crying when he poops.

Tummy rubs will help him pass gas, and I've also wrapped my pig in a towel and sat them for 10-15 mins at a time on top of a vibrating toothbrush (Or a power Gilette razor with the razor removed).

Lying the little guy in your lap or on your leg and rubbing his tummy is one of the things recommended by our vet. Scooter went through a couple episodes of bloat earlier this year, and simethicone, the razor and tummy rubs helped him.

[Mike221]

Thanks.
I will try doing massage.
I just downloaded an vibration app on my phone, will try folding the phone in the towel and placing little guy on it.
That's the only vibration thingy I have atm.
He is absolutely not touching any food for few days now, we are completely exhausted from feeding critical care.

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Thanks.
I will try doing massage.
I just downloaded an vibration app on my phone, will try folding the phone in the towel and placing little guy on it.
That's the only vibration thingy I have atm.
He is absolutely not touching any food for few days now, we are completely exhausted from feeding critical care.

I know the feeling, @Mike221. It IS exhausting. But you can do this, for his sake.

When Punkin AND Scooter were sick at the same time last year, it took about 60-90 mins PER PIG for critical care. That was every four hours, around the clock. And at one point we did that for a solid month. So that was 2-3 hours to feed both pigs, an hour so break and then back at it again.

We were also doing that with Scooter when he became ill the second time earlier this year. Believe me, I know how tough it is. But when he recovers it's well worth the effort.

[Mike221]

I know the feeling, @Mike221. It IS exhausting. But you can do this, for his sake.

When Punkin AND Scooter were sick at the same time last year, it took about 60-90 mins PER PIG for critical care. That was every four hours, around the clock. And at one point we did that for a solid month. So that was 2-3 hours to feed both pigs, an hour so break and then back at it again.

We were also doing that with Scooter when he became ill the second time earlier this year. Believe me, I know how tough it is. But when he recovers it's well worth the effort.

Thanks for your support.
It is so hard watching him not moving, eating and depressed.
He is just ready to die.
Antibiotic just hit him really hard after the last dose, he got diarrhea instantly and since then he refuses to eat.
I hope his digestion will recover and probiotics + critical care will/can help.
Both myself and my wife have to go to work tomorrow, I have no idea how we will manage feeding him.
For 5 days we are feeding him around the clock, and no improvements

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I had a similar issue with Simon following his last dose of azithromycin in September. He didn't require critical care feedings, but for about 10 days his tummy was pretty messed up.

My fingers are crossed for you and your little guy. I very much hope he turns around for the better, and quickly. I also hope you manage to figure out tomorrow. It's so hard with a sick pet, especially one that literally depends on you for everything.

Please keep us posted. You are in my thoughts.

[bpatters]

You did stop the antibiotic, didn't you?

[Guinea Pig Papa]

He did state earlier that the Baytril had been stopped prior to his first post. The problems began after that.

[Mike221]

Yes we stopped the antibiotic on Sunday.
Today is Thursday and he is not eating any food :(
He started to eat a bit yesterday after Metacam dose, but today again nothing.

I will be calling his vet again

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Keep us posted. Very much hoping he turns around fast.

[Smileandnod]

When one of mine had really bad diarrhea (the worst I had ever seen) after using Baytril, my vet avoided using Metacam because she said it can be rough on an already delicate stomach.

It took a week of Critical Care, Benebac and a variety of hays (we found oat hay seems to help) when she finally was eating more on her own. Six months later and she still needs oat hay after veggies to prevent mushy poop and loose stools.

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Wondering how your little guy is doing, and hoping he's improved.

[Mike221]

Sorry for a late reply.
Honestly I was just too tired to even start up my laptop.
Our other guinea pig got sick as well, so we had to force feed both of them.

Misko is finally doing a bit better.
For a few days, we were getting nowhere so we called his vet. He was given injection of motility drug Reglan and some fluids.
That restarted his digestion so he had diarrhea every 15 minutes, but he started eating a bit on his own.
Next day he was plugged up again, so we went for 1 more injection + fluids and we got Reglan to give him orally at home. Tonight will be his last dose.
Since then he recovered quite a bit and currently is eating hay by himself but still not enough so we supplement with critical care.
His poops are sometimes very soft, sometimes small and misshaped and poor guy often cries when pushing poops out.
His tummy is still very upset and he often gets spasms. So we massage / force him to move around. He is quite bloated.
Still a long way to full recovery, but I think and hope we've gone through the worst.

Cupko, our other piggy got sick probably because of my mistake.
When Misko started eating a bit of hay, I got Oxbow Orchard and Oxbow Botanical hay, in addition to timothy. To try and stimulate Misko to eat on his own.
It worked, as Misko still eats mostly Orchard hay. But Cupko got obsessed with all the new hays and was eating non stop for 2 days. I've never seen him eat / poop that much.
Then next morning I found him lying on his side with his leg up and crying. So I rushed him to our vet, as we suspected an injury, but he was very gassy and bloated.
So he ended up on same medicine as Misko and was refusing to eat. Luckily he recovered quickly. For a whole day he pooped droppings filled with air pockets. I've never seen something like that.

So yea, last week was one of the longest for us, but we are still around and kicking :)

[Guinea Pig Papa]

@Mike221, I am so relieved to hear that. I was terribly worried about Misko, your last message left it very much up in the air. I hope both of your boys are up and well in no time! Keep us posted!

[Mike221]

Thanks will do

[Mike221]

Admin, can this thread please be renamed to Misko's Medical Thread?

I will provide update, as lots of things happened and we almost lost Misko.
After my last post a week ago, his condition changed and he again completely refused to eat / drink.
He almost didn't poop at all.
He became very weak and couldn't even chew or swallow critical care as he should.
So vet did x-ray and it showed there is lots of gas in his stomach, intestines. And lots of poops or undigested food.
Pretty much we are dealing with GI stasis and severe bloat caused by Baytril.
He is now on bunch of different motility drugs and much higher dose of Metacam. For a while he was on Buprenorphine as well, but that made him too lethargic.
We are force feeding every 4 hours and massaging his tummy for the last week and slowly his digestion is getting better.
Also we give him Bene-bac and healthy pig poops.
His poops are still small, but firm and every day look a bit better. As of yesterday he started to poop much more than previous days.
When massaging his belly, it is very painful for him and lots of cracking sounds. And then he farts a lot or he has to poop.

Biggest problem right now is that he is not too interested in eating hay on his own.
Sometimes he eats a bit, but usually just throws it up in the air.

He is interested in veggies, but we don't give him too much as I've read it can cause even more gas.
What is your opinion on gas and veggies?
Any advice how to get him to start eating more by himself?
Is it safe to give Bene-Bac daily for a while or is there too much sugar?

Thanks

[bpatters]

It's renamed, but the title on the old posts won't change.

I wouldn't give him any veggies at all until you get the digestive problem cleared up and his poops have been normal for at least a couple of days.

You'll just have to keep feeding him critical care until this episode is over. Once he feels better, he'll start eating again.

Bene-Bac is safe to give, and you really should give a dose 60-90 minutes after every dose of antibiotics.

If you have a vibrator of some kind, even an electric toothbrush, you can cover it with a thin pad and put him on it. That may be more comfortable for him than a massage.