Barry Jenkins, AKA BJ

[pigjes]

Fingers crossed that the culprit can be found.

[renonvsparky]

BJ's vet is new to the clinic I take him to, but by no means inexperienced with cavies. She only treated guinea pigs at her previous clinic. BJ has pretty normal droppings. Still a little bit mushy, but so is the critical care I'm giving him. He doesn't drink as much water as the rest of the boys, but then again he never has. His urine output is pretty much the same. His weight is down a little, but he's still a solid 3 lbs. I'm going to call them tomorrow and ask about the possibility of renal problems

[Sef]

So no sudden change in the amount that he drinks? And he doesn't seem dehydrated, right? Signs of that would be dull, sunken eyes; crusty eyes; rough-looking coat. With the amount of CC that he's getting, though, I'd think he is being kept fairly well hydrated in the early stages of RF.

It is puzzling. The only other thing I can think of that might fit would be impaction. I've had boars that went completely off their food when they needed to be cleaned out.

And no signs of bumps or lumps anywhere, right?

[janlovingcavies]

Hoping all goes well at the vet. Got paws crossed here from the girls and me!

[renonvsparky]

Not seeing any signs of dehydration. The vet didn't return my call today. They are in for half the day on Saturday, so hopefully they call me in the morning. I noticed that BJ's ears were bright red and very warm to the touch. It's on and off again. I don't know about guinea pigs, but in humans, that would indicate some kind of infection. I have orbax and bactrim left over from Mr Bubbles, but there's no way I'm giving him either one without knowing for sure if he has an infection and what kind.

His bowels are moving. I can hear and feel his stomach gurgling when I feed him. He's getting plenty of critical care because his weight hasn't dropped in the last two days. I tried grating up his veggies into a fine grind to see if he would eat them better. It looks like he did, but it's hard to tell because he spreads them out when he eats. Still not eating enough hay for me, but he's eating pellets.

[janlovingcavies]

You can try putting hay in a new coffee grinder and add to C&C to add the extra fibre to help his tummy. I have always done it with hand feeding ones. Hoping things continue to improve!

Our vet hasn't gotten back to us inregards Jill's cultures. I have had to make appointment to see them.

[renonvsparky]

Well they didn't call me again today. The vet called in sick. I'll have to keep BJ going on critical care until at least Monday. It's ok. We bond when I'm feeding him.

[pigjes]

Hang in there!

[Sef]

Were you able to rule out impaction?

Sending good thoughts!

[renonvsparky]

I don't see any signs of impaction either. He's passing stools. They vary in size depending on how much he gets between the critical care and what little he's eating on his own. His ears are red and very warm sometimes and other times they're normal. He might be fighting some kind of infection. Still seems interested in checking out his food and nibbling at it. He's not lethargic either. He still nibbles at his cage with the rest of the boys and he comes out to socialize with his neighbor Oreo. This is a tough one.

[Sef]

Are both ears red or just one? Ears that go from pink to red and back to pink is fairly normal, as that's how they regulate their body temperature. I'd be a little more concerned if they stayed red, or if you noticed an odor or discharge from one of his ears, but it's certainly worth mentioning to your vet.

Tough one indeed.

[renonvsparky]

The hand feeding didn't go so well today. BJ managed to spit out a lot of the critical care each time I gave him some. He didn't throw it up. He used his front paw to pull it out of his mouth. What a mess that was. Got him an appointment for tomorrow morning. In the meantime, they put him on a different medicine to see if he'll start eating on his own again. Maropitant syrup, which worked very well for Mr Bubbles. Just minutes after the first dose was administered, he ate some pellets.

I'm going to bring up the possibility of compaction and also have them check for an infection and soft tissue damage in his mouth along with anything else they think could be causing this. Fingers crossed. I'll post as soon as I get his results.

[pigjes]

Wow, I have never witnessed that! Poor BJ!

[renonvsparky]

The night feeding went so much better for BJ. I gave him half syringes and he didn't spit it out or try digging it out with his front paw. He does swipe at the left side of his mouth with his front paw quite a bit whether he's being hand fed or not. He also scratches it with his back claws often as well. This is another thing I'm going to bring up. There has to be something wrong there for him to do that as much as he does.

[Sef]

I would say so. I would want to absolutely rule out an abscess, elongated roots or even mild tongue entrapment. These things can sometimes slip by a vet who doesn't deal with rodent dentistry on a very regular basis. Molar issues slipped by mine, and she has become pretty savvy with these guys over the years.

Do you have a copy of the x-rays that were originally taken?