Sick Help! Suddenly not eating, lethargic, shivering

[butters]

Please help. My 9 month old female (rex) suddenly stopped eating on her own this evening. She (seemed) fine all day, but suddenly hid in her shelter. I have her on my lap for hand-feeding, where she after a while ate about 5 wet pellets. However, I feel her shivering, her ears are cold and she's not wiggling around as she usually would.

No laboured breathing or other symptoms that I can tell. Her stomach does not seem bloated and she has not lost weight. Any ideas? Emergency vet unfortunately isn't an option, I will be taking her in to the SUnday vet in the morning.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Caren

 

[bpatters]

If she's pooping, then hand feed her a pellet mash -- see http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for directions.

If she's not pooping, then does her stomach seem tight? and hollow, like a balloon? If so, get some baby simethicone and give her a quarter dose. Put her on something that vibrates -- a vibrating pillow, an electric toothbrush, a spinning washing machine (hold her so she doesn't jump). She may have gas, which leads to bloat, which is a very serious and painful condition.

If her stomach isn't distended with gas and she's not pooping, she may have a blockage, and that's a very serious emergency.

Let us know what's going on.

 

[butters]

Thanks for your answer I really appreciate it. I think she's not/hardly pooping. I can't really tell between her to her cage mate, but there were no poops on the towel when i held her. She doesn't seem to have a stretched belly but I could feel some bubbling so it could be possible that she has gas. The poor girl.

I'm letting her have a rest now for an hour-ish because she gets quite scared being handled, so after an hour I will have the toothbrush charged and put it under her towel.

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted. Really cant wait for the vet to open tomorrow...

 

[butters]

little update from here. still no poops but shes eager to eat any pellet mash i give her. im being careful not to give too many sothat it doesnt build up. we have a back massage machine that i can put under the towel when i hold her.
For positive news, she has a lot more life in her now, wiggles around instead of being flat, and she does eat when prompted. Three hours to go until the vets open. Fingers crossed.

 

[Cavylier]

Remember to syringe her some water.

My piggy was also in a similar condition due to antibiotic intolerance just yesterday and the first thing they do is to stop drinking water because of the effort of getting it from the bottle. Dehydration can lead to trouble with pooping. I kept hydrating my piggy and massage her tummy and she made it through the night till we could get her to the vet the next day. A couple of ml of water every few hours helped her poop almost immediately after we massaged her.

Water might help your piggy with the pooping. Best of luck!

 

[butters]

Whoooo she just pooped! All the 'vibrations' and massages worked. Indeed water is a big issue. She's only allowed hay until her appointment but she despises the syringe so im fighting to get some water in her for the lastfew hours (pellet mash was so watery she's luckily been well hydrated throughout the night).

Im very happy she's made it through the night and is somehow I can carefully say she's improved a lot this morning. Nevertheless, vet appointment at 12 to get a full check up. Can't believe how well the vibrations and massages helped us so far, let's hope it stays on the improvement side!