Critical Care and an Upset Stomach - Guinea Pig

[Courbette]

Hi, has anybody else given their guinea pigs critical care and noticed an upset stomach? My lovely guinea pig is 6 years old and has been having an intermittent issue with soft droppings. I'm not sure if I have been a bit heavy handed on her veg, if it is the critical care (she has a small dose twice daily to maintain her weight) or her digestive system is slowing down with age.

She has been seen by a vet and although obviously elderly there were no issues found with a visual inspection. She had a particularly nasty episode last night and I cut all veg and CC from her diet and she seemed to be on the mend this morning but I'm wondering if the critical care is the culprit. She has been on it since Jan.

 

[splashgirl45]

didnt want to read and run but have never heard of critical care, is this something from the vet? 6 is a really good age and it may be she is just slowing down....i used to have piggies and none of them lived as long as yours. one of my sisters reached 7 though

 

[Stiff Knees]

Ive used critical care for many older pigs with teeth problems, never had it cause an upset tummy though, are you feeding quite sloppy through a syringe or is she taking it herself? Might be it's just a bit too sloppy? I've had pigs reach the age of 7, but sadly never older 😔 A digestive system that is slowing down would result in constipation, not sloppy poos.

 

[Courbette]

didnt want to read and run but have never heard of critical care, is this something from the vet? 6 is a really good age and it may be she is just slowing down....i used to have piggies and none of them lived as long as yours. one of my sisters reached 7 though

Critical care is post surgery food. It is really handy to have and is a powder mixed with water. I have fed it to pigs that have stopped eating to help prevent gut stasis.

It is a complete food and as my girl lost weight I use it to supliment her diet alongside her usual food to try and boost her weight.

My oldest pig prior to this one died a month short of what we believed to be his 6th birthday. My current girl I have owned for 6 years and we were told she was 2 1/2 when we rehomed her from a breeder. I don’t believe she was 2 1/2 but she wasn’t a baby either so we aren’t really sure how old she is but she is def into her 6th year, maybe more 😳

 

[Courbette]

Ive used critical care for many older pigs with teeth problems, never had it cause an upset tummy though, are you feeding quite sloppy through a syringe or is she taking it herself? Might be it's just a bit too sloppy? I've had pigs reach the age of 7, but sadly never older 😔 A digestive system that is slowing down would result in constipation, not sloppy poos.

7 is a great age 😊 they are such lovely little characters, I wish they could stay longer. My 2nd oldest was either 6 or just short of his 6th birthday although this one has now has the record. We’ve been prepared to say goodbye to her for over 12 months and she keeps surprising us which is lovely.

She does like her critical care very thick. I had been syringing it but I don’t need to lift her from her hutch to do this as she loves the taste. Our final syringe broke tho so for the past week or so she was eating it of my finger. I may have given her too much veg although I have already cut her portions down.

I’ll have a play around with adjusting her rations. She doesn’t seem in any discomfort and has already improved on just pellets and hay but I’d like to keep giving her the CC for her weight.

 

[Stiff Knees]

It sounds to me as though you know what you're doing Courbette. So nice to hear that she has such a dedicated mum looking after her in her twilight years 😍 My last Guinea was 7 years and 3 months when she died, Poppy had issues with her teeth for the final 6 months and it was thanks to critical care that I was able to keep her happy and well fed during that time. Very labour intensive though, keeping her going with syringe feeds every 3 hours including overnight. We finally lost the battle with keeping the weight on and we let her go. We developed a real bond through that time though with all that hand feeding and counting poops!
This has just reminded me that when her Sister, Daisy, died it was our Labrador, Spot who woke me to let me know something was wrong. Daisy was sleeping in a box in the kitchen, she had developed pneumonia and seemed to be improving when at 3am one morning Spot woke me and almost dragged me downstairs, then stood in front of the box, I reached in and could see that her breathing had changed, I picked her up and less than a minute later she died in my arms. Spot must have known. I had only been up an hour before for a syringe feed and she had seemed bright enough then and the antibiotics seemed to be working, but then all of a sudden she was gone. They're so helpless without you, that it hurts even more when you lose them. 💔

 

[Courbette]

Poppy sounds a real star and you too keeping her going. Syringe feeding is so hard. I'm lucky that I just use critical care as a top up so it is once a day. I did round the clock care last Christmas for a piggy we sadly lost and it was so hard getting up through the night.

Animals are amazing, I could do with a dog like Spot. People should give them more credit as they are aware of so much more than some people seem to realize. I've had a Daisy too

 

[Mynstrel]

Try soaking pellets instead if you think it might be the critical care, with enough water and stirring they go to the same consistency so you can keep gettijg food down her (vet's advice late one Friday night for a non-eating pig). Also, I've used flaked barley or porridge in the past for helping to keep weight on elderly pigs.

 

[Stiff Knees]

Poppy sounds a real star and you too keeping her going. Syringe feeding is so hard. I'm lucky that I just use critical care as a top up so it is once a day. I did round the clock care last Christmas for a piggy we sadly lost and it was so hard getting up through the night.

Animals are amazing, I could do with a dog like Spot. People should give them more credit as they are aware of so much more than some people seem to realize. I've had a Daisy too

I syringe fed for 11 weeks, I was very sleep deprived but it was worth every lost moment of sleep. For weeks afterwards my body clock was very messed up and I woke up at 2am and 5am without even seeing my alarm! A close friend of my OH credited Spot with diagnosing his prostate cancer. Whenever she saw him she'd stick her nose in his crotch, jokingly someone said "that dog is trying to tell you something". He went to his gp and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He bought her a jumbone as a thank you 😂

 

[Courbette]

I syringe fed for 11 weeks, I was very sleep deprived but it was worth every lost moment of sleep. For weeks afterwards my body clock was very messed up and I woke up at 2am and 5am without even seeing my alarm! A close friend of my OH credited Spot with diagnosing his prostate cancer. Whenever she saw him she'd stick her nose in his crotch, jokingly someone said "that dog is trying to tell you something". He went to his gp and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He bought her a jumbone as a thank you 😂

Thats incredible! Best deserved jumbone ever!

 

[Chinchilla]

If cc is going into piggy soft/sloppy their droppings will come out soft and sloppy!
Not anything to worry about unless it happens at other times than CC feedings. Poo tea or a tiny piece of charred (literally black) toast (definitely not white bread though) is my go to for firming small animals up. Equally rolled oats can be given in small amounts to maintain weight and won't cause the runs (you actually have to watch for the opposite issue if feeding them, although never give very many; with my oldies I'd sprinkle it over their usual pellets in a bowl.)
Agree syringe feeding is hell - but hand raising is worse
Would love piggie pics though, I don't keep them anymore since my last two old boars passed but really miss their wheeking sometimes.

 

[Courbette]

If cc is going into piggy soft/sloppy their droppings will come out soft and sloppy!
Not anything to worry about unless it happens at other times than CC feedings. Poo tea or a tiny piece of charred (literally black) toast (definitely not white bread though) is my go to for firming small animals up. Equally rolled oats can be given in small amounts to maintain weight and won't cause the runs (you actually have to watch for the opposite issue if feeding them, although never give very many; with my oldies I'd sprinkle it over their usual pellets in a bowl.)
Agree syringe feeding is hell - but hand raising is worse
Would love piggie pics though, I don't keep them anymore since my last two old boars passed but really miss their wheeking sometimes.

Ahhh thats great advice thank you She is back to her normal self now but it was quite severe and I was anticipating a vets trip but luckily after I cut her green's and CC she had improved by morning. They are lovely animals. I've attached 2 pics of my girl, the one where she is under her tent is from this week aged 6. She is about 2/3 in the other. We suspect she is deaf so her wheeking has changed. She doesn't put as much effort in now as she can't hear the fridge but then wheeks at odd times on the off chance. This usually gets rewarded with a very small snack if we hear her

ETA just realized my black roan sow is also hiding in the second picture. She also lived with a lilac lunky who had THE best hair ever!

 

[splashgirl45]

how very cute, my 2 from years ago, smartie and fudge, sadly no longer here..

 

[Rosemary28]

I love guinea pigs, we always had them growing up. My mum and dad still have two (called Liam and Noel)

 

[FinnBobs]

Lovely piggy! I'm glad she's feeling better again

 

[ester]

I've been following but couldn't help with the query so glad she has perked up .

 

[Chinchilla]

Wonderful piggy pics 😍😍😍

 

[Courbette]

Love everybody else's piggy pics. Got to admit I love all the animals I have owned over the years but pigs are especially ace. I'm hoping to possibly foster piggies in the future when I have a home with more room.