Vet Costs Sick piggy, vet costs getting too high..

[katherine766]

My pig has a blockage in his stomach and he's been with the vet for 2 days now, so with boarding and all the stuff they had to do, x ray, blehbleh, we've spent...a lot.
Plus, a few weeks ago he had pneumonia, which is around $170.
I wouldn't put a price of him, but I'm 14, and my mom can't afford it much longer. :/
Just need advice?
The vet said he's hasn't had much recovery..

 

[bpatters]

What do they think the blockage is? Is he pooping at all? How much is he eating? And is his weight holding steady?

Many owners don't like leaving their pets with the vet overnight, because there's usually no one in the clinic at night, and the pigs get better care at home. Not to mention that it's much cheaper that way.

Is your vet certified in exotics?

 

[katherine766]

It's the best exotic vet around here.
He wasn't pooping or eating at all when he was here,
they wanted to keep him because they want to run fluids into his system,
it was really bad I guess.
The blockage was from food because the pneumonia dried up his stomach.

 

[bpatters]

The blockage was from food because the pneumonia dried up his stomach.

Umm, no. Pneumonia doesn't dry out the stomach, and the antibiotics they would have given for pneumonia were much more likely to give him diarrhea, maybe severe diarrhea, than to have blocked his stomach.

It sounds like he may be severely dehydrated, which could cause a blockage, and which could require fluids to be given.

For future reference, when a pig is treated for pneumonia, it's very often necessary to hand feed, and to syringe water to the pig to keep it from becoming dehydrated. Antibiotics almost always affect a pig's appetite, resulting in them eating and/or drinking less, or not at all. Pigs don't tolerate antibiotics well, and while it's sometimes necessary to give them A/Bs, you should always be ready to supplement food and water.

 

[katherine766]

Umm, actually I did hand feed 3x's a day.
I'm just saying what the vet has said.
Guinea pigs' digestive system is weird, it has to be moist, which it wasn't.
This happened about a week after the pneumonia was treated.

 

[bpatters]

I hope you just misunderstood the vet. Because if I had a vet tell me that pneumonia caused my pig's stomach to dry out, I'd be out of that office and on my way to another vet so fast it would make his head swim.