Ellie is having trouble eating

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Elliemay

Post   » Sun Jun 21, 2020 8:47 pm


Last Sunday, I noticed that my 4 year old pig stopped eating as much. She would pick a little bit at lettuce and a tiny bit of hay, but was not eating pellets. This is very different behavior for her, plus she had been hiding in her house a lot. I called the vet who urged me to bring her to the ER which I did. But we are still in Covid restrictions and were not allowed to go in the exam room. They called me on the phone and said that they could not see anything wrong with her and sent me home with Critical care. This was on Tuesday the 16th of June.

So I have been watching her and had not seen a lot of improvement. On Thursday I weighed her and she was 1074 grams, today she is 1018. She has always been heavy and I am used to her weighing closer to 1100 grams. Yesterday we decided to isolate Ellie from her other cage mate to be able to monitor how much she is eating, drinking and pooping. Although this morning she did eat some lettuce and the fleshy part of a cucumber, she still refuses to eat hay or pellets. She is also not pooping much and the poop that I did see today was either small, shriveled and very dry or lumpy and wet. I am not sure I trust the Vets. It is an exotic and small animal specialist, but honestly I feel like they know very little and it ends up costing hundreds of dollars for them to tell me they do not see anything.

So I am looking for some advice. I have felt her tummy and it does not seem bloated. When I press around her jaw she does not show any signs of pain and I tried my best to look in her mouth, but see nothing occluding her tongue. I have started to try to force her to eat the critical care, but she resists it like a demon. Please pass on some advice. Thanks!

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:10 pm


A cursory glance in her mouth is not going to tell a vet much other than if there are obvious dental issues. In order to diagnose things like elongated roots or something else going on with molars, the vet will need to sedate Ellie for a more thorough exam along with x-rays of her head. See:
https://www.guinealynx.info/teeth.html

Not all "exotics" vets are good, same as there are good and bad doctors for people. As I'm fond of telling my husband, "Somebody had to graduate at the bottom of their class." Not that this may be the case with yours, but it sounds like he/she is not as thorough as they should be.

I'd get a second opinion from another clinic. It sounds like she is not only having trouble eating, but may also be in pain (hiding or sitting hunched/fluffed up in a corner are symptomatic of this). Were you given any pain meds?

In the meantime, do read:
https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
You MUST keep food moving through her system. She may not feel like eating much right now, but it can literally mean the difference between life and death for ill pigs. It is called "force feeding" for a reason: you must gently but firmly get food into her. Do follow the directions and ask if you have any questions.

Also, we ask members to keep all medical issues for the same pig in one topic so that we can track the pig's medical history. Some issues that may seem unrelated may actually be connected or show a pattern over time. It looks like you already have a topic for Ellie from a couple of years ago:
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewt ... 2#p2270392
Are you noticing any blood in her urine now? Difficulty urinating or straining/crying when she eliminates?

Elliemay

Post   » Sun Jun 21, 2020 11:04 pm


Thanks, I was not sure if I should add it to the old post. I will make sure to do that going forward. There is no blood and I’m terms of pain meds, they offered but she did not seem in visible pain to me so I did not want to give it unnecessarily. I will call another vet tomorrow and get a second opinion. Thank you.

Elliemay

Post   » Tue Jun 23, 2020 5:54 pm


Update on Ellie: I had to call the vet ER line and make a stink to get the Dr. to call me back. She is back in the ER and I came with notes, her weight log and included pictures. They seem more thorough this time and will have to keep her over night. Her temp is a bit high and she is showing signs of gut pain when the do palpitations. They said they will need to rule out malocclusion and gut infection. They will be touching base in a few with a full plan. So glad I made a stink to stand up for her! Poor girl!

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Tue Jun 23, 2020 6:59 pm


Good for you! I hope you get some answers. Do keep us posted.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:42 pm


I hope you get some answers too!

Elliemay

Post   » Fri Jun 26, 2020 12:36 pm


So Ellie has been in the hospital for 2 nights and will be there again tonight. She has a lot of gas in her belly so they think it may be a gut infection. She is on antibiotics and meds to pass the gas, but she is still not pooping very much and is not interested in eating on her own. Hoping she improves with one more night.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Jun 26, 2020 1:09 pm


Do they have her on a motility drug? Have they done any xrays to check for possible bloat or bowel obstruction?

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