[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Hand-feeding advice urgently needed

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

Regular subscribers may remember Red Dandy, the piggie that crossed the  
English Channel last September to live with my daughter, Sarah. To cut long  story 
shorter, he ended up living with my non piggie-savvy sister when Sarah had  
to move into the YMCA, where pets are not allowed, and a month ago she noticed  
he'd stopped eating - she later recalled that he had stopped vocalising a lot 
 earlier than that. The first vet (non piggie savvy) she took him to 
prescribed  Baytril, which had no effect. The second vet, author of a book about 
guinea pig  diseases, anaesthetised him to examine his teeth, said there was 
nothing wrong  with them and it was probably bloat, and gave my sister Critical Care 
and a  syringe (not bothering to tell her the end needed to be cut of the 
syringe nor  how much he should be given). 
 
Next he was taken to a rodentologist, who examined his teeth without an  
aneasthetic, trimmed them, found a sore spot and gave them Calgel for his mouth  
pain plus suggested baby strength Calpol, which was duly obtained and  
administered. She thought he might have bladderstones or cystitis, so they went  to a 
3rd vet, who charged £100 for an X-ray which indicated he didn't have  
bladderstones, and diagnosed cystitis, for which more Baytril was  prescribed. They 
were given Rimadel (sp?) for his pain. My sister continued to  syringe feed 
Critical Care at regular and frequent intervals, aided by my  daughter when she 
could be there (she lives an hour's train journey away), but  he started to 
fight the syringe, and continued to lose weight. I went over  there, and my 
sister very kindly drove us to the Cambridge Cavy Trust. Sadly,  due to heavy 
traffic, we arrived half and hour late for our appointment (it was  a 3.5 hour 
drive) and the next patient was already waiting, so I did feel we  were a bit on 
the "rushed" side. Anyway, Red's mouth was once again examined  without 
anaesthetic, his teeth were again trimmed and that was diagnosed as the  problem, 
with the cystitis being the result of his not drinking enough - he is  given 
water through the syringe as well. We were given a mouthwash to be used  twice a 
day, some treats to be added to the Critical Care to improve the taste,  and 
sent on our way - oh, wax was also cleaned out of his ears, and she advised  us 
to add a cystitis cure for humans to his drinking water, which we have  done.
 
I decided to bring him back home to France with me, and my daughter came  
with me to help with him for a few days. She is much better at syringe feeding  
than me. When I try, he keeps turning his head away and fighting me. She is  
managing to get about 7 mls each of CC and water in, 3 or 4 times a day.  But he 
is still losing weight. Over the past month, he has gone down from 1kg to  
725g. When he is not being fed, he just sits around in a kind of hunched up way  
- not a way I have ever seen any of my guineas sit. At best I think it means 
he  feels uncomfortable, at worse it could mean he is in pain. He is tending 
to sit  in his own urine, so we have him on Vetbed instead of hay, and bath his 
rear end  frequently.
 
Part of me thinks it would be kinder to have him put to sleep. BUT ... when  
he sees "real" food he is very interested. He tries to eat his favourite  
veggies, but they just fall out of his mouth. He can manage to eat grass and hay  
if one strand at a time is pushed straight into his mouth from the front.  
Sometimes he'll manage a small piece of herb leaf, if it is small enough to be  
completely pushed into his mouth. And he will eat bread; this is not something  
we have ever given our piggies, but Sarah had him on her lap when eating a  
sandwich and he got very excited, so she offered him a tiny piece of bread and  
he wolfed it down and looked for more. We were so pleased to see him eat that 
 she gave him as much as he could eat, but I worried about his gut flora. 
Only he  will die anyway if he doesn't eat.
 
I would be really grateful to hear from anyone who has handfed/syringe fed  a 
sick guinea pig. The CCT factsheet says there is a certain point at which a  
weight loss becomes so severe that no amount of hand feeding will save the  
piggie and it will die - if you have a piggie that recovered from being severely 
 anorexic, can you tell me how much weight it lost before it recovered, just 
to  give me some hope? 
 
Sarah and I have watched and watched him eat, and we are convinced that it  
is a mouth problem. But 4 different professionals have looked in his mouth,  3 
of whom trimmed his teeth, so how can he possibly still have a dental problem? 
 We are trying to put Calgel around the inside of his mouth about 10 mins 
before  he is fed, so that if his tongue is injured it will be soothed before he 
is fed.  We are giving him occasional organic vegetable baby food for a 
change, but I  worry that this is not as good nutritionally as the CC. We have given 
him  Tesco's Pineapple & Coconut juice drink, which was recommended by the 
CCT,  also apple juice, and I have cranberry juice on standby, but I worry about 
too  much sugar exacerbating the problem.
 
Sarah has to return to Britain on Thursday, and I will be on my own with  
him. I know I will find the physical act of syringe feeding him difficult, and I  
will also worry about the ethics of it. When does syringe feeding become  
force-feeding? Whilst he is still showing interest in food, I feel I am helping  
him and he still wants to live - does that seem a fair enough supposition? 
What  methods do you all find most effective? The CCT factsheet and websites I've 
 looked at recommend wrapping piggie in a towel and having him on his back at 
a  45 degree angle on ones thighs as one sits on the floor against a sofa. 
Sarah  has him stood on her lap, no towel, just lifts his front legs and opens 
his  mouth - when I try this he turns his head away. What works for you?
 
As always I have been too longwinded - sorry. Red Dandy is only 2 years  
nearly 9 months old, and he is the brother of my dear departed Cherub and  
Cayenne, son of dear departed Poivre. He is very precious to Sarah and to me,  and we 
really do not want to lose him, but neither do we want him to suffer. All  
advice would be very gratefully received as soon as possible.
 
Condolences to all who have recently lost piggies - my heart bleeds each  
time I read your sad tales.
 
Debbie (and her Dolly Mixtures)  

"The animal  shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete 
than ours they  move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the 
senses we have lost or  never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. 
They are not brethren,  they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught 
with ourselves in the  net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour 
and travail of the  earth". 

Henry Beston