Conditions How long doe it usually take for piggies to react to Relgan/Metoclopramide?

[oshixx]

Female piggy, about 5.5 years old.

Long story short, one of my guinea pig was not eating as much as before last night and didn't want to eat her Oxbow Vitamin C tab, so I started monitoring her this morning.

I isolated her from the other pig so I can better monitor her food intake and output. In the last 8 hours, I noticed that she's still eating but not as much as she normally would, no pooping, but she did urinate about three times, urine looks yellow and doesn't look abnormal. She is not as active as usual but is still energetic, and would try to kick me and bite me when I was holding her for an extended period of time (her normal behavior)

I did give her some Relgan/Metoclopramide from a previous vet visit, the medication is still good and does not expire till July 2015.

It's been a few hours since I give her Relgan and it does not look like she's started pooping yet, but no noticeable change in her behavior, and she is still eating some food (not that much, but she is eating on her own)


I will be bringing her to the vet tomorrow but just wanted to know how long it usually take for guinea pigs to react to Relgan/Metoclopramide...

 

[pinky]

She hasn't been diagnosed with anything so Reglan might not be what she needs. She might have tooth issues, bloat, a blockage or something else. I think it's a good thing you're taking her in tomorrow.

 

[bpatters]

Ditto pinky. And I wouldn't separate her. The other pig has been thoroughly exposed to anything she might have if it's infectious, and she may be stressed out by being away from her cagemate.

 

[oshixx]

She hasn't been diagnosed with anything so Reglan might not be what she needs. She might have tooth issues, bloat, a blockage or something else. I think it's a good thing you're taking her in tomorrow.

The way she acts is similar to how the other piggy acted when she had some GI issues, that's why I tried to give her some Relgan and see if it helps. I do suspect that she might have some tooth issues tho, since the chewing sound she makes feel a little different compared to before.

Ditto pinky. And I wouldn't separate her. The other pig has been thoroughly exposed to anything she might have if it's infectious, and she may be stressed out by being away from her cagemate.

I only isolated her so I can monitor her pooping....what worries me is that she is usually a super pooping machine, and going about 8 hours without pooping is differently abnormal for her, and if I leave her in the cage with her cagemate (who is eating normally) it will be very hard to monitor her output...

 

[Lewis3265]

Maybe she is constipated. I have had guinea pigs in the past that had been, and every often they still pooped pellet looking stool. Gently push around her butt to see if it feels hard.

 

[oshixx]

Maybe she is constipated. I have had guinea pigs in the past that had been, and every often they still pooped pellet looking stool. Gently push around her butt to see if it feels hard.

Good news, she just pooped a little. Her poop looks pretty dried out and smaller than usual, but at least she pooped. Based on how her poop looks like I think she may be constipated like you said..

 

[oshixx]

Last update of the night.

She only dropped another few counts of poops after my last post, but she is urinating normally and for now it looks like she's still pretty alert although not very active. I picked up some of the poops and will show them to the vet tomorrow.

I put her back to her cage so she can stay with her cagemate before I take her to the vet tomorrow, I did notice that she is eating at a much slower rate compared to her cagemate, and easily give up on food, which led me to believe there is something going on with her jaw or tooth. I will ask the vet to check for GI, constpation, and tooth issues tomorrow.

 

[oshixx]

Took her to the vet this morning.

Did a x-ray and looks like she does have some food in the stomach that's not going out, and a little bit of gas, but according to the vet it's not a dangerous amount yet and should not be lifethreatening.

Vet said her tooth, heart, and hair looks great for her age (5.5yrs). The vet did find a little bit of blood inside her mouth combined with the bacteria distrubution, the vet believe there is some kind of infection going on around her gum which is causing her pain while she eats (The vet did say the name of the infection but I forgot what it was).

Antibiotic was given (Equisul-SDT, she said it's a horse dewormer but works well on guinea pigs and dosage was very small), along with metacam pain relief, and metoclopramide.


She is eating more on her own today compared to yesterday, and pooping a little more as well.

 

[Lewis3265]

That is good you took her to the vet. I am glad she is doing fine.

May I ask what they charge for an Xray for a piggy in case I may need to give mine one some day?

 

[oshixx]

That is good you took her to the vet. I am glad she is doing fine.

May I ask what they charge for an Xray for a piggy in case I may need to give mine one some day?

They charged me about $105-110 for the X-Ray alone, you can also opt for an expert review of the X-ray for another $70 or so.

This is a VCA Animal Hospital location in Houston, Texas area, so it may be different in your region. I have only been to two vet clinics so I don't know if the price there is reasonable or not but I don't think it's through the roof, plus the medical director there is well experienced with exotics (she have seen my two guinea pigs, one chinchilla, and one dove) and I trust her opinion.

 

[Lewis3265]

They charged me about $105-110 for the X-Ray alone, you can also opt for an expert review of the X-ray for another $70 or so.

This is a VCA Animal Hospital location in Houston, Texas area, so it may be different in your region. I have only been to two vet clinics so I don't know if the price there is reasonable or not but I don't think it's through the roof, plus the medical director there is well experienced with exotics (she have seen my two guinea pigs, one chinchilla, and one dove) and I trust her opinion.

That sounds about right for an xray here too. I was charged 150 for blood work.