Nibbles Medical Thread

IssaG

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 5:55 pm


A lot has happened with Nibbles in the last month. She is in liver failure, and my guess is the rest of her organs are shutting down. We've been syringe feeding her for a couple weeks, but today she stopped eating, refused to chew or move around. So we know it's the end. We tried to find someone who could put her down today but could find no one. The emergency vet said to come in but it would be a 2-3 hour wait and I don't want her end of days to be in the back of a car. So we will try to find someone tomorrow.

She is on pain killers and we we syringe water and/or ensure into her as often as we can, basically one syringe every hour to half hour. We keep trying to give her veggies and fruits. She'll take a couple bites here or there. But it stresses her and we want to keep here as conformable as we can. Anyone knows of anything else we can do to keep her comfortable until tomorrow?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 6:11 pm


I'm so sorry.

I wouldn't push food on her. As death approaches, the need and desire for food just recedes into nothing. You can leave food by her, and if she eats it, fine. But don't try to make her eat it.

IssaG

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 6:13 pm


Thanks bpatters. Does that that hold true for water as well?

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:01 pm


I'm so sorry to hear this. You said you have been feeding Ensure...did you mean Critical Care?

IssaG

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:08 pm


No Ensure. The vet had us do a 1:1 ensure plus and pumpkin mix to try and keep her weight up. Basically she was bloated with a belly full of fluid. She dropped 400 g after the diuretics despite eating normally at the time. The vet wanted us to give her more calories. So we never got to critical care as she was eating, less than usual but still eating. It's only today that she stopped completely.

IssaG

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:12 pm


And I should add she was diagnosed with liver failure 3 weeks ago. The vet told us this would happen but she was still so perky and happy we kept going to see what she'd do. So this is not a surprise, we just didn't expect it to happen today.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:16 pm


When did you start feeding her this? I can't imagine why your vet would recommend a milk-based food supplement with sugars for an herbivore. Is he or she experienced with exotics? How did they diagnose liver failure? Will Nibble eat Critical Care, pellets, hay or veggies?

IssaG

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:25 pm


Yes she is an experienced guinea pig vet. Liver failure was diagnosed from a blood test. Right now, she won't eat anything, even syringed she won't chew. the vet said guinea pigs can digest sugar, it just makes them obese. Since we wanting more weight gain, it was worth a try. She's been on the Ensure Plus with pumpkin for about a week. It's a long story, but this was a last ditch effort.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:43 pm


I believe your vet is wrong about sugars and dairy. Herbivores generally lack the ability to properly process dairy, and sugars can significantly disrupt the balance of flora in the gut. I understand the need to try to get an ill guinea pig to eat by almost any means possible, but this doesn't seem like a very good recommendation.

At any rate, I'm so sorry you are going through this with Nibbles.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:13 pm


I'm sorry Nibbles is doing so poorly. It may be wisest to take bpatter's advice and not force feed. If she is indeed near the end, her body is likely starting to shut down and force feeding will not help either of you.

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