Guinea Pig won't eat or drink by herself after surgery!!

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ShellVixen

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:33 am


Hello fellow owners,

I really wanted to ask some advice for my guinea pig Aiko.
She is 4 years old now. She had surgery to remove a cyste and her teeth are also treated because they were too long after refusing to eat hay. She refuses to eat and drink herself. I'm feeding her for almost a week now after the surgery. The vet gave me the advice to feed her with baby food. He also got me OX BOW Critical Care. I need to treat her with Emeprid 1mg/ml and Rodikolan 15ml 3-times a day. Also for the pain he prescribed Metacam only once a day.
I sometimes even try to give her small apple pieces to see if she would chew again, but she spits it out. I keep her weight numbers in my little book.

I am so worried! I try to feed her every hour and she keeps losing weight.. She simply doesn't want to eat.. I'm probably gonna go back to the vet as soon as i can. I really don't understand why she won't eat and drink...

HELP!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:01 am


If you haven't read this page, it may help you. Ideally you would feed more, fewer times a day. Baby food alone does not work.
handfeeding.html

Unless the cyst was major surgery, it is most likely the teeth are the problem. A good veterinary dentist can trim them properly.

I do not know what these products are:
Emeprid 1mg/ml and Rodikolan 15ml 3-times a day

I am sorry she is having such a difficult time.

Read also:
malocclusion.html

ShellVixen

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:09 am


Her teeth have been trimmed. The products are antibiotics. She now seems to try to eat hard foods but she still can't figure how to chew properly. Handfeeding goes well she does eat. But she loses weight and i am afraid of losing her..

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:15 am


Teeth issues are complicated. A good veterinary dentist will take xrays to evaluate the roots also. Be sure to read the malocclusion link.

What are the active ingredients in emeprid and rodikolan?

ShellVixen

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:33 am


It helps with the digestion of the animal.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:00 am


So they are motility drugs rather than antibiotics then?

ShellVixen

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:11 am


Should i stop giving that?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:19 am


Emeprid is what we know as Reglan. Rodikolan is a homeopathic remedy that "regulates" digestion, according to Google trranslate. I'd only give the Emeprid, if it were me. Homeopathic medicines aren't tested to see if they're the right concentrations, so you don't know if you're giving too little or too much.

It's possible that her molars were planed too short and that she can't chew properly. I'd continue handfeeding her for a while longer. Guinea pig teeth grow very rapidly, and if the problem is that the vet was a little over-enthusiastic with the grinder, she may be able to eat fairly shortly.

Also, split the dose of Metacam in half, increase it by just a bit, and give it twice a day. The literature with it must recommend dosage once every 24 hours, but it just does NOT last that long. My vet said he figured out long ago that once daily Metacam is insufficient for guinea pigs, probably because of their fast metabolism, and that twice a day dosing works better.

ShellVixen

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:40 am


Thank you sooo much for the advice!!!

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daisymay
Supporter 2016-2021

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:35 pm


I am so sorry your having trouble with your piggy Aiko after her procedures were done. A guinea pigs mouth is a teeny one and for a vet to work in there is a very hard job. So I would think Aiko pay be in pain and this is why she's not eating. It could also be the aesthetic drugs could have hit the little mite badly. They did with our Jasmine.

Continue to handfeed, as long as the weight lost is small I would keep an eye on it. It is hard to get a hand fed piggy to put on weight and 9 times out of 10 a sick piggy never puts back the weight they lost.

You're doing a great job, forget the baby food and feed the Critical Care, you might want to put some of her favourite foods into a blender and add to the mix just for a bit of goodness and a different taste for her.

Wishing you and Aiko all the best and hoping she improves real soon! A good piggy vet would only use gas to knock out and file teeth. Hoping you find a good dental vet for your piggy!

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Kimera

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:08 pm


Rodikolan is not a homeopatic remedy, but rather herbal medication. It contains extracts of various herbs, like chamomile, turmeric, mint, artichoke, milkthistle, caroway, also yeast (as a probiotic) and a mixture of plant oils - linseed, rape, soy and sunflower.
Homeopathic remedies are harmless, but in my opinion, also totally useless :).

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:38 pm


Thanks, Kimera. I sort of lump them both together, but that's obvious inaccurate.

In my defense :-), I was reading a page that Google translated and made pretty much a hash of, so it was hard to tell what was what.

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