HELP! We are rubbish at syringe feeding

[josiejo]

Any advice would be gratefull received!

Roger has been off his food for the last couple of days and not himself for the last 3/4 days, he just wanted to sit there and looks bloated.

So, we took him to the vet yesterday and they think he may have a tummy infection. They've given us anti-bios, a special recovery food and a white powder to put in his water.

We were told that if he doesnt eat/drink himself within 3/5 hours then we should syringe feed him.

We did and he hated it and us! He was shaking afterwards and just wanted to hide... we felt so bad. Honestly we was very gentle with him, we wasnt forceful and made sure that we didnt hurt him.

We've fed him again this morning but it doesnt seem to be working and we are not doing the best job with the syringes.

Any tips that you can give us???

If he is not better by tomorrow morning, I'm going to take him back to the vet (as I have the day off) BUT I'll have to go on my own and I'm really worried.

I only ever went to the vet with my dad (when I was younger) with the dogs. Roger (and sanchez) are my first 'own' pets and I'm scared that the vet will want to keep him in or give me bad news and I'm going to cry!

Roger is nearly two years old.... do you think he'll be strong and okay?

I know that its hard to make any comments but would should I expect from the vet?

Many thanks a very worried Josie xx

[luvcats22]

if you cant do it,and the vet can then it would be good for the vet to keep him in,
heres a link to a website that helped me greatly when i had to syringe feed one of my piggies last year, the most important thing is to make sure it doesnt go into his lungs,as this will choke him, so doing it slowly is better.
www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

[Kayleigh]

Its not the easiest thing to do, especially once they realise what it is your doing. The only advice i can give is hold his head and put the syringe in the corner of his mouth. hold his head securely and just give him the medicine slowly.

[josiejo]

Hiya,
Just to let you know that we are slowly getting better with the syringe feeding.
I've relaxed with it and we are managing to get some food and water into him.

He hasnt changed though, he has taken a few leaves off me and nibbled on a green bean this morning - normally he'll eat as many as we give him. But he isnt drinking any water on his own yet.

Still no change with him wanting to just sit and a ball.

I took him back to the vet and they said that if we do need to take him back, they'd need to x-ray him and see what is going on BUT said that it was a risky procedure as they need to give him an anesthetic.....

Should we do that?
I'm so worried that I'm going to loose him.
I keep crying, which is not helping at all and I'm just stumped.

Should we carry on syringe feeding him and offering veg/etc or take him to the vet for the x-ray?

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks Josie xx

[abby]

You mentioned he appeared bloated, could it be bloat? Read this: www.oginet.com/pgurney/bloat.htm

I'd be very wary of allowing the to anesthetise him, in an unwell guinea that could tip him over the edge, cause him to give up and he might not wake up. Can't they use little sandbag weights to keep him still for the few seconds it takes to xray? That's what i'd ask, i used to work in a surgery and rather than put them under every time they used sandbags to weigh the animal down sometimes.

It could also be a problem with his teeth in the back of his mouth that you can't see. A rodentologist would be most helpful there as they have an instrument called a buccal pad separator to open the cheek pads and see the back teeth. Peter Gurney's advice on teeth is here:
www.oginet.com/pgurney/dentalproblems.htm
I hope he gets better soon. Keep up the good work. I know how stressful it is when they are all your responsibility and you can't explain to them that you're trying to help.

[honey]

My Blossom earlier this year had a nasty infection that caused her to stop eating, so I had to syringe feed her 30ml of critical care each day mixed with water, it took me 3 hours a day, as it takes ages, you dont need to offer them water as well as the water is mixed in with the food, it took a total of 3 weeks of syringing before she started to eat on her own, and it was well worth all the hard work, so my advice is dont give up.

she also had to have an xray (yes there is risks with anesthetic) when she was very poorly, but she was young, so she did well and I had to have one to rule out other things that it could be, also a blood test was done too, the xray was fine and her stomach was still working fine, but the blood test found that she had an infection which stopped her from eating and made her feel very poorly. So it was a matter of clearing up the infection as we new that her stomach was working fine so she would eventually get better.

I am pleased to say that that was back in April and she has made a full recovery