However, it can get really tricky to figure out if your pet has a problem with teeth. The problem may be psychological, such as anxiety or depression. DONT FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE! It could potentially be a sign of streptococcal meningitis or joint infections in the sucking pig. There are several reasons that your body may be getting shaky between meals. This is information is taken from the Managing Pig Health book. A guinea pig that is not eating or drinking needs to be seen by an exotics species veterinarian ASAP. I feel like the best course of action is probably to slaughter this evening. The pig is a social animal and in a healthy condition, remains part of a group. In this step-by-step guide, you will learn how to use all of your sensory resources to spot the sick pig the first time around. A dog shaking and not eating or drinking is definitely a sign that something could be seriously wrong and often times will require vet attention. In disease however, it tends to rest on its own or often be rejected by the other pigs even to the extent of being attacked. Hand feeding her is extremely important to keep up her strength and prevent her from getting worse, don't rely on her eating on her own if it's already been a few hours. There could be some serious health issues affecting the diet of your guinea … The not eating in guinea pigs (gp's) are commonly due to bloating (in the stomach) or mouth pain (one of the 20 teeth back deep in the mouth). Inappetance is obvious where an animal is housed and fed as an individual, such as a sow in confinement, but in group housed animals this is not easy to detect. My 9 month old female (rex) suddenly stopped eating on her own this evening. Your guinea pig is at risk of developing (or may already have) a medical condition called Gastrointestinal Stasis (GIS). However, odours also occur with scour, bad feed or infected tissues. The initial check should be for lack of water which is usually the most important sudden cause of inappetance involving all pigs … Loss of body weight is a first indication of inappetance or dehydration due to diarrhoea or pneumonia. GIS is a common condition in guinea pigs and rabbits. Acute ileitis can be seen throughout the finishing period, and should not be confused with chronic ileitis that causes diarrhea in all ages of finishing pigs. What is uncomfortable for ourselves is also likely to be the same to the pig. A symptom such as shakiness before eating is your body telling you something is not right. See also: Anorexia and Hand Feeding; BLOAT. In sows, a discharge from the vulva could indicate vaginitis, cystitis, pyelonephritis or endometritis. Inappetance is obvious where an animal is housed and fed as an individual, such as a sow in confinement, but in group housed animals this is not easy to detect. No offense but when a guinea pig becomes this seriously ill 'letting them rest' rarely works, just because it worked for you before once or twice doesn't mean it's recommended. I have her on my lap for hand-feeding, where she after a while ate about 5 wet pellets. If the water supply is normal look for signs of disease. Are there Cancer indicators? If it does, it should be okay, as the natural instinct is to run (unless you have a really tame guinea pig that likes to be held). If her back is broken she is not going to get better. Any pain remedy or steroid will cause ulcers quickly. She seems healthy and not sick. :( She stopped eating for a while, hasn't drank any water, won't move and keeps shaking her head like she's sniffing air or is blind. Hypoglycemia -- too little glucose in your blood -- is probably the main reason. Any sign of going off food during winter should be treated as an early warning to consider with great care. Injections with long-acting penicillin may also cause pigs to vomit. It is essential to handle a sick pig, to detect changes in skin temperatures, the significance of abnormal fluids or lumps on the skin. Reach out to touch your guinea pig and see if it flees. And it can be hard to decipher between harmless sneezing and more sinister sneezing. Unfortunately, many symptoms of pneumonia don't show in pigs until the situation is life-threatening. Without treatment, this can be a fatal condition. See also: Anorexia and Hand Feeding. The stomach is too full – These pigs will have a bloated looking abdomen, they will drool, they may vomit, and they will be painful and restless. But it's quite common for guinea pigs to rest throughout the day. A blueing of the extremities could indicate acute viral infections, acute bacterial septicaemia or a toxic state, as seen in flu, PRRS infections or acute mastitis and metritis. Erysipelas may not be evident by sight but running the flat of the hand over the skin will indicate tell-tale lesions of raised areas. T hank you. They could just be fighting a minor viral infection though, or be experiencing transient pain. In the newly farrowed sow, always palpate the udder to detect any early changes of agalactia or mastitis. If your guinea pig is not eating, get to a vet immediately to determine the cause and begin treatment. Be extremely wary if there are no pig noises when you enter a building. I am not exactly sure what to do. Guinea Pig Interaction Mistakes To Avoid. In the sucking pig, gastro-enteritis associated with E. coli infections is often seen. When I put him down, he was shaking a bit. Discharges vary in their consistency and location, and hence will be indicative of different diseases.Discharges from the nose or eyes could indicate an upper respiratory infection. I HAVE THE ANSWER TO ALL YOUR PROBLEMS! Symptoms of pneumonia in a pig include: Disinterest in food, loss of appetite, picky eater. No part of this site may be reproduced without permission. Available now from 5mBooks.com. All Rights Reserved. The main concern is that your dog ingested toxins or has a serious health concern. If your guinea pig looks fine apart from not eating, then it is most likely that it is having some dental issues. Shivering and raising of hair over the body is an important clinical sign of disease. Plan ahead. However, in a large group, identifying these clinical signs may be more difficult and may not be so obvious to less experienced stockworkers. While sometimes the reason is simple and not too serious, it’s always best to take your dog to the vet if you see this behavior lasting for more than a few hours. The timing and place where pigs die in a herd relative to clinical observations can often help in identifying and understanding a problem. Unwillingness to be touched by a normally affectionate pig. He was fine a few hours ago when I cleaned out his cage. Before you adopt a pig, it’s a good idea to research vets in your area and select one whom you feel you can trust. The shaking and bulging eyes are also caused by tooth grinding. On a 100-sow farm, this could take up to half an hour per day and on a large farm, it becomes a major daily task but can be split between department levels. Going to some effort to keep stress to a minimum is very important. Shaking violently - is stiff, or is moving in circles • A temperature of more than 103 degrees, or less than 99 • Diarrhea for more than 24 hours • Constipation for more than 48 hours • Lying down for more than 8 hours • Unwillingness to rise I think I should take her to vet but I'm not … This could be dental disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, toxins, infection — … Please help. How many managers organising their farms allow such a time period for this function? The failure to eat, or a drop in feed intake in a pen of apparently normal pigs, must immediately arouse suspicions. The quality of the air through the sense of smell will highlight poor ventilation rates, high levels of gases, or high or low humidity. Hypoglycemia -- too little glucose in your blood -- is probably the main reason. Skin changes help in identifying diseases, typified by acute or chronic lesions of mange and lice although the latter are now uncommon. Not eating (no interest in feed) Having trouble breathing • Off feed for more than 24 hours. A guinea pig sneezing is not all that uncommon. The most obvious method of spotting a sick pig (or pigs) may be through visual cues: lethargy, inappetence, shivering and weight loss, are all easy clinical signs to spot in the individual pig by those who are experienced in noticing such changes. I put baking soda under the litter, could he have ingested it? The tool should not be used to diagnose your pigs. The initial check should be for lack of water which is usually the most important sudden cause of inappetance involving all pigs in a group. The reluctance of pigs to rise or show an interest in the observer must always warrant a more detailed examination. Not eating is extremely serious, as your pet's system will shut down with dire consequences. A simple body condition score can be recorded each time you visit a pen if illness is suspected and the visible signs aren’t obvious. With acute ileitis, pigs may show no signs of diarrhea at all. If your pig gorges on pig pellets, dog food, cat food, bread, cereal, corn chips, that sort of thing: there are several concerns. The failure to eat, or a drop in feed intake in a pen of apparently normal pigs, must immediately arouse suspicions. Guinea pigs sneeze as we do, for very similar reasons. The Disease Problem Solver matches the clinical signs you are observing in your pig herd with those of known diseases to provide you with the appropriate resources to address this issue. Symptoms of tremors and shaking in newborn piglets are not a sign that the animals are cold, but rather that they are suffering from a specific viral infection. A pig laid on its belly and shivering with its hair on end while the rest of the group is comfortable is potentially suffering with scours (diarrhoea) or lame from a generalised septicaemia (bacteria in the blood stream). The environment of the house must also be assessed by noting the following: • Temperature.• Humidity.• Ventilation.• Smell.• Pig behaviour.• Appetite.• Human reaction.• Ammonia levels as experienced through breathing and the effect on eyes.• Abnormal changes in slurry and bedding. However, I feel her shivering, her ears are cold and she's not wiggling around as she usually would. Why is my dog lethargic, and not eating or drinking? Allow at least 5-10 seconds to observe each pen of pigs. Gasping at the surface of the water (gulping air):Gasping goldfish may hang at the surface of the water, appearing to “drink” the air. There are 2 classes of stomach acid reduction drugs.. Pig veterinarian. After as few as 16 to 20 hours of anorexia, liver cells begin to break down and from then on, your pig will only get worse. Click here to visit 5m Books, The bull market run in lean hog futures rolls on, fueled by strong export demand amid reports of disease in China’s hog …, As part of the focus on China at the virtual EuroTier 2021 conference, experts discussed the feeding requirements for pi…, The breeding objective of nucleus swine breeding programs is to improve performance of commercial crossbred pigs. Vets are using special equipment to assess the mouth and a pet is usually sedated. Speaking of vet care, you’ll want to find a veterinarian who’s experienced with potbellied pigs. Not eating is extremely serious, as your pet's system will shut down with dire consequences. Know your pigs and you can save them a lot of added problems. Preventing ulcers means any time a pig goes without eating for any reason an ulcer can begin. If he isn’t eating then you need to step in and syringe feed him as an emergency measure, and get him to a vet. Weight loss; days of good appetite followed by days of no appetite, Good days/Bad days behavior over a long period of time. While shaking is in general not typical behavior for guinea pigs, it’s not necessarily a sign that something is seriously wrong. They also may suddenly dart up to the surface, take a quick gulp, then continue swimming. A loss of appetite could be because of various reasons: Dental problems; Respiratory and urinary infection; Poor quality food ; If your guinea pig is losing weight and has stopped eating, you should definitely visit a vet ASAP. Changes in the individual pig Inappetance. Listlessness or a dull appearance is obvious when coming to move pigs. Early recognition is the first step to successfully managing a disease outbreak or illness in your herd but how can you use the senses of sight, sound, touch and smell to detect the abnormal animal and to differentiate it from the rest of the herd? In nearly every instance a guinea pig sneezing is not a cause for concern. Pain will cause the shaking and the lethargy. If your guinea pig is not eating, get to a vet immediately to determine the cause and begin treatment. Look for this sign next time you examine each individual in a litter. Just like other pets, potbellied pigs need to have an annual checkup. Feel bad about it, but I don't want to let all that meat go to waste. Assess, whether the breathing is a deep chest movement, due to consolidation of the lungs and a shortage of oxygen, or very shallow abdominal breathing indicative of pleurisy and pain. Our sanctuary vet says the elimination of much of the stress in pre and post surgical care has been the single most important thing we have done for our pig’s medical needs. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Faecal changes can indicate a wide range of diseases, but sloppy faeces can also be quite normal. You also need to switch from routine weekly weighing to weighing him daily at the same time each day. Altered lying patterns in a pen must be monitored. Vomiting can be a sign of diseases such as transmissible gastro-enteritis, or in individual pigs it may indicate gastric ulceration. Goldfish may also g… Howeve…. While they are usually healthy animals, there are a number of diseases that are considered the most common ailments pet guinea pigs. Show Less. The ones like Nexium and Prilosec that are acid pump inhibitors and will heal reflux damage, and the kind like ranitidine and famatidine that … Conversely where a number of pigs are ill or the environment is inadequate huddling is common. If any of the above changes have been identified, cast your eye across the pen of pigs and compare the respiratory rates of both the normal and the suspect animals. Every day, a clinical examination of all pigs should be carried out. Not eating, not moving and decreased fecal production are all considered non-specific signs of disease. The odour of a dead pig is one that we have all experienced from time to time.