I’m at the vet with Teddy. He has been fretting, drinking more,and has a tender bloated abdomen. I should do research but I’m at the vet and nervous and emotional.
Vet is doing an x-ray and recommended blood work. Vet also is giving sq fluids, pain reliever. No impaction. Poops look wet.
Vet said give critical care, simethecone, probiotic and pain meds at home. Teddy is about 5 1/2 or so years old (rescue). He has been lower energy since his uri two weeks ago.
X-ray and blood work are to investigate cause of bloats and lower energy. X ray showed only food and gas. No other problems. Vet understands my wanting him to be healthy and comfortable.
Thoughts? Suggestions?Reassurance?
Teddy's Medical Topic - Bloat pain
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Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
I'm going to rename this topic so it is Teddy's topic. You can post all your medical questions about him here.
It sounds like your vet is going in the right direction. I hope he improves. You may find more information here when you return.
www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html#bloat
It sounds like your vet is going in the right direction. I hope he improves. You may find more information here when you return.
www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html#bloat
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TeddyGram
- Supporter
Thanks! Teddy is home now. He is very quiet. That makes me worry. A lap piggie.
The x-ray showed bloat (stasis) and nothing else. The vet was able to get blood to send out to a lab.
The vet wrote down directions for critical care and simethecone dosing and I put it in my Teddy notebook. We’re having super gusty wind in upstate NY today. No note when I got home. The note must have blown out of my notebook. The office is closed now.
I have been all over the medical references guides. I’m still puzzled by how much critical care? He has had 3 cc in two hours. How much in a day? Also, he is eating his Timothy hay-is this okay? I haven’t given him any green leaf lettuce which he usually eats every day. Should I give it to him? I am syringe feeding water. 35 ml in the last hour. How much in a day? His normal weight is about 1330 g but today to 1280 g.
He has enough metcam (spelling?) for pain for six days.
Sorry about so many questions.
The x-ray showed bloat (stasis) and nothing else. The vet was able to get blood to send out to a lab.
The vet wrote down directions for critical care and simethecone dosing and I put it in my Teddy notebook. We’re having super gusty wind in upstate NY today. No note when I got home. The note must have blown out of my notebook. The office is closed now.
I have been all over the medical references guides. I’m still puzzled by how much critical care? He has had 3 cc in two hours. How much in a day? Also, he is eating his Timothy hay-is this okay? I haven’t given him any green leaf lettuce which he usually eats every day. Should I give it to him? I am syringe feeding water. 35 ml in the last hour. How much in a day? His normal weight is about 1330 g but today to 1280 g.
He has enough metcam (spelling?) for pain for six days.
Sorry about so many questions.
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TeddyGram
- Supporter
Thanks! Teddy is home now. He is very quiet. That makes me worry. A lap piggie.
The x-ray showed bloat (stasis) and nothing else. The vet was able to get blood to send out to a lab.
The vet wrote down directions for critical care and simethecone dosing and I put it in my Teddy notebook. We’re having super gusty wind in upstate NY today. No note when I got home. The note must have blown out of my notebook. The office is closed now.
I have been all over the medical references guides. I’m still puzzled by how much critical care? He has had 3 cc in two hours. How much in a day? Also, he is eating his Timothy hay-is this okay? I haven’t given him any green leaf lettuce which he usually eats every day. Should I give it to him? I am syringe feeding water. 35 ml in the last hour. How much in a day? His normal weight is about 1330 g but today to 1280 g.
He has enough metcam (spelling?) for pain for six days.
Sorry about so many questions.
The x-ray showed bloat (stasis) and nothing else. The vet was able to get blood to send out to a lab.
The vet wrote down directions for critical care and simethecone dosing and I put it in my Teddy notebook. We’re having super gusty wind in upstate NY today. No note when I got home. The note must have blown out of my notebook. The office is closed now.
I have been all over the medical references guides. I’m still puzzled by how much critical care? He has had 3 cc in two hours. How much in a day? Also, he is eating his Timothy hay-is this okay? I haven’t given him any green leaf lettuce which he usually eats every day. Should I give it to him? I am syringe feeding water. 35 ml in the last hour. How much in a day? His normal weight is about 1330 g but today to 1280 g.
He has enough metcam (spelling?) for pain for six days.
Sorry about so many questions.
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bpatters
- And got the T-shirt
The rule of thumb for hand-feeding a pig that is eating nothing else is to give 100+ cc. of Critical Care for every kilogram the pig weighs, every day, split into 6-8 feedings around the clock. Adjust up or down according to the weight of the pig, and adjust down for whatever the pig is eating on its own.
You're doing right to omit most veggies -- just feed hay and pellets and maybe enough lettuce to tempt him to eat some on his own. If you're lucky, he might eat the Critical Care if you just put a blob of it on his plate.
Do syringe some water, but 35 ml in a hour is way too much, IMO. My healthy pigs haven't drunk 35 ml. in a day, most days. I usually give about 5 ml. twice during a hand-feeding session, more if the pig seems thirsty. But I'd consider 60-70 ml. over 24 hours to be a success unless you know the pig has been severely dehydrated for some reason.
For simethicone, give 1/8 to 1/4 of an infant's dose every 4-6 hours.
You're doing right to omit most veggies -- just feed hay and pellets and maybe enough lettuce to tempt him to eat some on his own. If you're lucky, he might eat the Critical Care if you just put a blob of it on his plate.
Do syringe some water, but 35 ml in a hour is way too much, IMO. My healthy pigs haven't drunk 35 ml. in a day, most days. I usually give about 5 ml. twice during a hand-feeding session, more if the pig seems thirsty. But I'd consider 60-70 ml. over 24 hours to be a success unless you know the pig has been severely dehydrated for some reason.
For simethicone, give 1/8 to 1/4 of an infant's dose every 4-6 hours.
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TeddyGram
- Supporter
Thank you, bpatters! I got confused because the handfeeding link uses grams. This what I pasted below. You mention using kg. Kg in the formula makes what seems like logical quantities for a critter that weights about 1300 grams or 1.3 kg. But-I am a reading teacher, not a math teacher, and with good reason!
“6 grams dry feed/100 grams of body weight
10 to 40 ml water per 100 grams of body weight ( will vary with temperature, humidity, etc.)”
Teddy is eating some Timothy hay and some of his kibble (pellet?) on his own. Maybe half. Hard to tell exactly with the hay. In 7 hours he has eaten 23 cc of critical care. He’s not liking it enough to eat it voluntarily but handfeeding is working. He’s not happy but when we’re finished, he still wants to snuggle.
I’m setting an alarm for 4 hours so I can check on him and feed him some more.
How and when does bloat resolve? It’s like he has a water balloon on each side. Tender to the touch. I’ve tried some cozy floor time to get him to walk a bit to get it moving. He walked when coaxed with some fresh Timothy buds but not for long. He’s uncomfortable. I guess I don’t understand how he can still be pooping yet be so distended.
“6 grams dry feed/100 grams of body weight
10 to 40 ml water per 100 grams of body weight ( will vary with temperature, humidity, etc.)”
Teddy is eating some Timothy hay and some of his kibble (pellet?) on his own. Maybe half. Hard to tell exactly with the hay. In 7 hours he has eaten 23 cc of critical care. He’s not liking it enough to eat it voluntarily but handfeeding is working. He’s not happy but when we’re finished, he still wants to snuggle.
I’m setting an alarm for 4 hours so I can check on him and feed him some more.
How and when does bloat resolve? It’s like he has a water balloon on each side. Tender to the touch. I’ve tried some cozy floor time to get him to walk a bit to get it moving. He walked when coaxed with some fresh Timothy buds but not for long. He’s uncomfortable. I guess I don’t understand how he can still be pooping yet be so distended.
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bpatters
- And got the T-shirt
Do you have a vibrating pillow you can put him on? Or does your clothes dryer vibrate? If so, you can put him in a box on top of the dryer for a few minutes and see if that will help. You can also VERY gently massage his abdomen a little. Any of those things may help resolve it.
It may go as quickly as it came, but having had one episode of bloat makes it more likely that he'll have another.
I do question whether he has actual bloat or just gas. If he's eating and pooping, it's unlikely that he's truly bloated, IMO. A bloated pig will be very obviously ill and in pain. A gassy pig may have gas in the abdomen, but otherwise be functioning OK.
It may go as quickly as it came, but having had one episode of bloat makes it more likely that he'll have another.
I do question whether he has actual bloat or just gas. If he's eating and pooping, it's unlikely that he's truly bloated, IMO. A bloated pig will be very obviously ill and in pain. A gassy pig may have gas in the abdomen, but otherwise be functioning OK.
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TeddyGram
- Supporter
It would be great if it were gas. I took Teddy to the vet because he wasn’t acting well at all. Abdomen distended and hard on both sides. Pooping once in three hours. Not drinking from his water bottles. Sitting without moving on my lap or in his cage for hours. Crying in pain when I have to move him. Losing weight. Whimpering.
The vet looked at the x-ray and called it stasis and bloat interchangeably when talking to me. She said she saw gas and food but no blockage or tumors.
After reading so many posts,I’m wondering why the vet didn’t give him something to increase his motility. He doesn’t any seem better or worse tonight.
Am I waiting for Guinea pig flatulance tonight?
The vet looked at the x-ray and called it stasis and bloat interchangeably when talking to me. She said she saw gas and food but no blockage or tumors.
After reading so many posts,I’m wondering why the vet didn’t give him something to increase his motility. He doesn’t any seem better or worse tonight.
Am I waiting for Guinea pig flatulance tonight?
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TeddyGram
- Supporter
Bpatters-I think I sound cranky and I apologize. I feel incompetent and I keep reading how piggies die from this. My helper and I misread the ml on the liquid syringe. It wasn’t 35 ml of water in an hour. It was about 5 ml between 3pm and 11 pm last night. The syringe for critical care holds 3 cc and we weren’t careful about reading the other syringe (in spite of it’s obviously smaller size).
I fed him at 11 pm last night so his total critical care between 3-11 pm was 25 cc. He ate hay during the night. At 6 am I gave him his metcam, simethicone, 10 cc critical care and 2 ml water.
Waited to see him poop and he just did 4 good sized and shape but dry ones so I’ll continue feeding him. And giving water. It seemed like pooping was quite painful. Teeth chattering and squeaking distress while doing it. He seems to want to stay sitting on me and that’s fine with me.
I will see if I can get him to walk a bit more after this next eating. His lower sides are still Ike water balloons and tender. He was able to tolerate a bit of massage just now.
I fed him at 11 pm last night so his total critical care between 3-11 pm was 25 cc. He ate hay during the night. At 6 am I gave him his metcam, simethicone, 10 cc critical care and 2 ml water.
Waited to see him poop and he just did 4 good sized and shape but dry ones so I’ll continue feeding him. And giving water. It seemed like pooping was quite painful. Teeth chattering and squeaking distress while doing it. He seems to want to stay sitting on me and that’s fine with me.
I will see if I can get him to walk a bit more after this next eating. His lower sides are still Ike water balloons and tender. He was able to tolerate a bit of massage just now.
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Sef
- I dissent.
**In my experience only**, Simethicone tended to make the discomfort worse. It acts by combining multiple air pockets into a single, larger gas bubble that, in theory, can be more easily passed. I'm just not convinced that it works quite that way with a guinea pig gut, but hopefully others will chime in on it.
I just wanted to add that warmth and massage have worked wonders for all of our bloat pigs over the years.
I just wanted to add that warmth and massage have worked wonders for all of our bloat pigs over the years.
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TeddyGram
- Supporter
Nov. 1 Teddy’s weight: 1335. Nov 7 Teddys weight was 1292, Nov 9: 1286 Nov 10: 1139. Nov 11 at 6 am 1109.
Vet visit: nov 10
Now 3 hours later with his metcam, simethicone, 18 cc critical care and 13 ml water: weight 1124 g.
After a painful defecation of several poops, He has eaten two what I think/hope are two cecal poops (smaller, greener, softer). I put a few of all the poops in front of him and he picked out the ones I think are cecal ones and ate them.
Hope this is all good? He’s still fretting.
Vet visit: nov 10
Now 3 hours later with his metcam, simethicone, 18 cc critical care and 13 ml water: weight 1124 g.
After a painful defecation of several poops, He has eaten two what I think/hope are two cecal poops (smaller, greener, softer). I put a few of all the poops in front of him and he picked out the ones I think are cecal ones and ate them.
Hope this is all good? He’s still fretting.
SHOP AMAZON