Barry Jenkins, AKA BJ

[renonvsparky]

Something is not right with BJ. His food intake has been declining over the last couple of days. He didn't eat anything at all this morning so I started him on critical care. He wasn't lethargic until this morning, which is why I started hand feeding him. He was also drinking water until today. I looked him over and I don't see anything obvious to explain this or as to what the problem is. He's over 5 years old, so it could be that his age is catching up with him.

He's dropped a couple of ounces, but that's to be expected because of his diminished food intake. I managed to get 6 or 7 ml of critical care into him. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. He even liked it. It seemed to pep him up. He went right over to his pellet bowl and started eating them. I'll check on him often and keep giving him critical care every few hours until he starts eating on his own. I'll take him to the vet if I have to. This brings back painful memories.

[Sef]

Oh shoot, how worrying. Can you tell if he's impacted? Other things you can check for would be any signs of bloating or a change in the appearance or amount of poops; any unusual lumps or bumps; incisors that look jagged/uneven or other mouth injury from hay poke or chewing the bars; etc.

Hopefully, though, it's just a passing thing that will quickly resolve on its own. It's a good sign that he did perk up and start eating again after handfeeding. Keep us posted!

[renonvsparky]

I checked and I didn't see any impaction. He's passing stools, although not as frequently. That may be due to eating less. I spent nearly an hour with him on my lap. He's not acting much differently when I hold him. He sniffs around, does a little bit of climbing around on me. He also alternates between curling up with his hind legs kicked out and sitting up. He's also responsive when someone walks by. This is all normal activities for him. When he's in his cage, he's a little more lethargic. When I put him back, he took a couple of spins around the cage nestling through the hay and checking out his bowl before laying back down; though he didn't eat any hay or pellets. I'm continuing to watch him and will be feeding him critical care every 4 to 6 hours.

I don't feel any lumps or anything else and he doesn't seem to have any areas on him that are sensitive to touch or press on. Not seeing any signs of him being in any real pain. He's just reluctant to eat and a bit lethargic. Hopefully it will pass, but I'm prepared to take him to the vet if necessary. I let them know what is going on when I took Mr Bubbles for his nail trim. They're ready to see him if it comes to that. I'm hoping it's something minor that will pass like it did with Mr Bubbles.

[renonvsparky]

I should also mention that when I adopted him from the humane society a year ago, they had no idea how old he was. They estimated his age to be between 3 and 4 years old. At the time of his initial well check right after his adoption, the vet estimated by what she could ascertain that he was at least 4. That being one year ago as of January 7th, he's over 5 now. He could even be close to 6 years old. We don't know exactly.

He didn't have a very good life before joining our family. He wasn't abused or anything like that, but he didn't get the best care. He had a cage mate who was another PEW just like him, who he fought with. He had a moderate case of mites that was starting to create a bald spot. His cage mate had swollen and saggy eye sockets. BJ didn't have that, but he was exposed to whatever it was which caused that; along with whatever other pathogens, parasites or whatever else was in his previous home. That tells me he was somewhat neglected. The fact that he took some time to get used to being picked up confirms that. He's had a 1000% better life since being adopted by us, but things like the constant stress of fighting with his cage mate, mites and neglect of his health may have taken a bigger toll on him than I know.

[Sef]

Lack of good care earlier in life can most definitely catch up with them later on. That happened with our Harold, who was a classroom pig for many years, and is also happening right now with our newly-adopted Albert who is having dental issues (he's the one who was living outside, under the family's house).

Keeping fingers crossed here that he feels better in the morning. If you do take him in, please do let us know what the vet finds.

[janlovingcavies]

Hoping all goes well at the vets if BJ does go. Our Jill is 6 and she didn't look windy/gassy but when X-rays taken there was a lot of it in there. Maybe gentle massage his tummy by hand or toothbrush and maybe a hot pack in a towel might help?

As for teeth is he dribbling or favouring one side when he eats? Healing vibes to BJ and Albert from me and the girls!

[renonvsparky]

I'm not seeing anything to indicate dental problems. No head lean, dribbling, difficulty keeping food in his mouth or chewing when he does eat. My guess is that something isn't sitting well in his digestive system. He hasn't had anything different than what he normally gets, so it's not that. Could have been something in the mountain meadow and timothy hay mixture he gets. Perhaps a weed or something that was growing in the hay and got baled up with it upset his stomach. Hopefully he'll be better tomorrow after a couple more critical care feedings.

[Sef]

CC is high in fiber and does help move the gut along. How's he doing this morning? Is he drinking a normal amount?

[renonvsparky]

No change today. BJ will eat pellets and not much else. He'll also eat baby carrots. Pretty curious. Got about 10ml of critical care down.

[janlovingcavies]

Sounds like what we are going through with Jill. Off her food suddenly, would only eat carrot, grass and pellets. (Grass-Wheat/cat grass). Took to vet put on AB's soft poops, on Flagyl, still soft poops.

Difference being Jill is now hungry but if we give her anything else her poops get softer. Our grass has been depleted over the 2 months when that was all she would eat.

I would try massaging his tummy, Probiotic and maybe a hot pack in a towel/s. See if that helps.

Jill had X-Rays, full of wind and yet she didn't look wind/gassy. Hoping BJ feels better soon!

[Sef]

It is curious. Usually pellets are the first thing an unwell pig stops eating.

We're going through something similar here, where Albert can't or won't eat pellets (no matter what kind I offer him, even if I soften them) but will eat any and all veggies. Dental x-rays didn't really show anything unusual that our vet could see.

Do you think you'll be taking BJ in?

[pigjes]

Somehow, she reminds me of Plucky, Binky and Kooky. In their case, they had some sort of IBS after a AB course. Kooky was helped by a minimal dosage of Bactrim for the rest of her years, Plucky was saved by Oxbow digestive tablets which Sef advised, and Binky by a probiotic mix of many gut bacteria, as he hated the tablets. 

[renonvsparky]

The vet doesn't have any appointments for the rest of the week, so I'll be taking him in as a walk in tomorrow. It really sucks having to go that route because I have to drop him off at 0730 and wait until they see him. That could take all day. Plus it's their excuse to tack on an additional $75 charge. I am out of ideas as to what's wrong with BJ. Hopefully they can figure out what the problem is. His droppings are pretty soft, but that could be because of the consistency of the critical care. I've been making it more runny than usual because he isn't drinking much water.

I'm starting to wonder if it could be a dental issue and the steel nozzle on the water bottle hurts him. Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow.

[pigjes]

Fingers crossed for a diagnosis soon!

[Sef]

They charge you a boarding fee for having to drop him off and squeeze him in? Geez.

Well, here's hoping they can see him early vs. later. I had to do that with Albert with his visit the other day, and they called me 2 1/2 hours after dropping him off to say that they had seen him and he was ready to come home. I hope that is the case for BJ as well.

Do keep us posted, okay? I hope the vet is able to figure out what's going on with the little guy, and that it's something easy to fix.