Bloating
Bloat in guinea pigs is a very difficult problem to deal
with and the success rate in restoring them to health is not
very good at the time of writing. The most common cause is
intestinal blockage, the other, which is relatively rare but
treated in the same way is caused by a build up of gas in
the gut. I many of the cases that have been investigated with
a P.M., a piece of plastic wrapping of some kind of another
is the cause of the blockages.
This doesn't mean that you will immediately expect to find
bloat after catching a guinea pig nibbling at a cucumber which,
say, has not had the dreaded cling film wrapping removed or
finds a bit of plastic carrier bag to nibble. Many times everything
will pass through with no problem whatsoever, but it only
needs a small piece to stick somewhere inside. For a long
time it may not cause any problem for it can quickly bed down
on one side of the intestine wall or more likely a kink in
it. However, at sometime in the future a piece of food may
not be chewed as well as it should have been and get lodged
when it hits that bit of plastic and then the animal can soon
be in deep trouble.
Golden rule number one, then, is to give about one ml
of liquid paraffin if you catch your guinea pig chewing plastic
of any kind. It is more than likely to flush it out before
it has had time to bed in.
Unfortunately the first symptom you get is of a guinea pig
who look uncomfortable and off it's food. Palpate the stomach
and if there is the slightest kind of tightness flick the
index finger against the side. If there is a hollow resonance
then it is indicative that the problem is air and not fluid.
Be certain to differentiate between the two for the treatment
for fluid is totally different and if the one is used upon
the other it could be fatal. Once you have established that
it is air your are dealing with take the following steps immediately.
If they are taken early there is a far better chance of success.
Give one tablet Rennie Rapize, crushed and in 2.5ml of water
via a syringe. Follow this with one crushed tablet of Buscopan
in about 1.5ml water. Leave for about half an hour and then
gently massage the sides of the guinea pig, resting it on
a towel. Better still if you have access to one of those vibrating
pads that are used for people with artritic or circulation
problems in human beings, a good twenty minutes settled on
it as in photograph should greatly improves the chance of
clearing the blockage.
There are a couple of other products that can help if those
I have mentioned are not available. Baby gripe water, about
three mls, as an alternative to the Rennie, Dentinox collic
drops, 1.5 mls instead of liquid paraffin, However, Buscopan,
a gut relaxant and analgesic is a vital item in any G.P. medicine
cabinet for it can be used with good effect on several other
ailments.
If by the time you discover the problem the guinea pig is
very heavily distended then the prognosis is not at all promising.
If after repeating the doses once and the therapies suggested,
serious thought should be given to euthanasia.
