My guinea pig is really sick. Won't eat Critical Care food from the vet.?

Question

My guinea pig was really sick, so we took him to the vet. He won't eat anything, so he gave us a bag of Critical Care food. When we try to feed it to him, he spits it out or keeps it in his mouth and spits it out after we finish feeding him. Please Help! We love our guinea pig and don't want him gone.

Answer 1

Do not feed him anything else and once he get hungry enough he will most likely eat the stuff. It will not let itself starve unless he is in pain when he eats. You could also try giving him carrots or nuts to get him to start eating again.

Answer 2

There are a few things that you can try.  You can mix the critical care with some canned pumpkin (the plain stuff, not pie filling) or vegetable or fruit only baby food.  Just small amounts of this, because you want him to be eating mostly critical care.

I find that the best way to feed is to use a 1cc syringe with the end cut off.  That way you can get the syringe all the way back to the molars.  Once the syringe is back near the molars he should start to chew and then you can slowly syringe in the medication.

Just remember that you need to be firm.  This is not something he has to like, but it is something that he has to have done.  I'm not saying to stress the little guy, just saying that I have to get myself in a certain frame of mind for force feeding to go well.  It gets easier with practice, but hopefully you won't need to practice very much!

This link will give a much better description and some good info on any illnesses he may have.  Navigate around the site itself and you'll find tons of stuff.

http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.h...

Good luck

Answer 3

He needs to go back to the vet. If you cannot get him there (because of the holiday) until Monday, then you are going to have to keep working with the Critical Care. If he does not get food moving through his gut, he will die for sure. Try mixing the CC with unsweetened cranberry juice. It may be a taste thing. You should also consider syringe feeding some Pedialyte to keep him hydrated. He can have some vegetable only baby food in addition to the CC. Good luck. Get him back to the vet ASAP.

Answer 4

Take him to the vet. He probably needs some antibiotics. Given that the guinea pig isn't eating, he's probably really ill. They eat to survive and because they're predated animals, they only show signs of illness when they're REALLY ill!

Try giving him 'treat' food.

It could also be a dental problem. Have you checked his teeth?  He could have ulcers or anything. I urge you to take him to the vet.

There could be more reasons: poisoning, digestive problems, stress, ANYTHING! Make sure when you're trying to feed him, only one of you be there. Two MASSIVE people trying to force-feed him will be stressful! Also, make sure you put vitamin C in his water.

Another thing to do, just for tonight, would be to set up a webcam pointing at his hutch. His behaviour may give some clues about what it could be. Any problems, IM me.

Answer 5

carrot or grapes may start his eatin again,make sure its safe to feed this stuff to him.