Not Eating Pig seems to have trouble eating

[Smileandnod]

Thank you for the update!

I hope it continues to heal over the next several weeks. Those abscesses can be nasty for sure. So glad you got him to a vet and are getting it treated properly.

Let us know how he progresses. Sending lots of well wishes!

 

[onefutui2e]

We had a follow-up yesterday. The vet said the wound was healing well and we just need to keep giving Pigsilver antibiotics (sulfatrim) and use a disinfectant rinse for a few weeks to let it close up.

His weight is still up and down; we're pumping him with about 80-100cc a day now. If we go below 40 his weight drops a lot, so it's not clear that he can fully maintain himself at the moment. He's still eating hay and veggies, though it's a bit labored at this point (Spiderpig eats about 3x as fast now). Otherwise, for the most part he seems to be behaving normally; he's still down 10 ounces since the start of all this so he's lost some of his pudginess, but still very alert and aware.

 

[onefutui2e]

Figured I'll give another update here since it's been a few weeks.

Pigsilver's abscess has closed at this point; until yesterday we were flushing it once a day. The fur around his chin is growing back and he no longer looks like he's missing his neck. We had a follow-up vet appointment and were told that everything's healing very well. We've tapered his Critical Care down to about 60cc a day. Over the next month we'll get him down to 40 and hopefully 30 or so. His weight is still between 43 to 44 oz. and while he's not putting back on the weight that I'd want him to, the fact that he's able to maintain it without as much Critical Care is nice (we were giving him 120cc a day at peak). He's eating his hay just fine, but still struggles with vegetables and fruits; we have to cut and tear them up into pieces for him. He seems more energetic and lively now, vocalizing his displeasure whenever I pick him up.

We put him back in the cage with his roommate after we got the okay from the vet and they're back to living together. They're back to their old relationship. Spiderpig is also off his peak weight, hanging around 40-41 oz, but I'm not as worried about that.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Thank you so much for the update. I'm very happy to hear that your boys are healing well, and getting back to the business of being guinea pigs. If they are maintaining their weight for the most part on their own, that's almost best case scenario.

 

[onefutui2e]

It's definitely been a journey for the past month or so. We probably spent way more than we ever thought possible for a guinea pig, but it was a learning experience. Our two other previous pigs passed away because we weren't sure what to do, so helping this one pull through was a sort of catharsis for us.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I know exactly what you mean. Between Sly's two year dental journey, and both Punkin and Scooters tandem illnesses, I spent well over $10K . Money well spent as far as I'm concerned. I do wish it had saved Punkin and Scooter.

You WILL need to monitor Spiderpig. I am very, very hopeful that his dental issue was a "one and done" but sometimes that's not the case. It's possible that he will require repeated procedures throughout his life, which will increase with frequency.

Sly had his first procedure, and it was 5 months before he required a second. Sadly, by the time he reached the point where he just couldn't take any more, he was requiring them about every 4-6 weeks. He WAS close to 7 years old when we lost him, and those procedures gave us another 19 months with him.

 

[onefutui2e]

It's been several months, but I figure I'd share some positive news!

Pigsilver's weight has stabilized in the 41.5 to 43 oz. range. We've gotten his critical care feedings down to 30cc a day. We're going get him down to 20cc starting Sunday and we'll likely keep him there. He's eating more and taking bigger and bigger chunks of vegetables. Earlier on we had to slice them really thin and feed one end to him at a time for him to eat. Over time he has been able to eat more on his own and he's at the point where we can give him pencil-thick slices of vegetables or vegetables and he'll be able to chow down on it. His bite in general seems to have gotten stronger based on how he nibbles me compared to a few months ago.

We're going to schedule a follow-up with his vet sometime around Thanksgiving to make sure everything's okay.

 

[ItsaZoo]

Thank you for the update, I'm glad Pigsilver seems to be improving. Good luck with the vet visit - I hope he's feeling even better by then.