Not eating
Because we ran out of food at the same time as the pet store did, we switched food brands from Kaytee to Oxbow abruptly, without any gentle transition. Well, a week or two later, one of our pigs had sour-smelling green liquid on his chin for a couple of days. I figured Milo was just eating and drinking at the same time, making a mess, and the smell was just the new food. (Yeah; it was a warning sign, but there are so many times that I see behaviors and signs that mean nothing at all.)
Well, yesterday that pig didn't eat his lettuce right away; I wasn't sure if he ate it or not, since I had to leave. That evening, I gave the pigs carrots, and Milo wouldn't eat any. I know from guinealynx.com that not eating is deadly dangerous, so I fed him mashed pellets and took him to the vet first thing this morning. The vet gave him some sort of shot to help keep his digestive system moving, and a saline injection to keep him hydrated. And I've fed him more pellets with water twice today (once with a mashed-up pig poop, too, to get some bacteria back in his gut). He has diarrhea, and even though Milo always pees in my lap, he hasn't done it even when I held him for half an hour. I've also given him some water by syringe (no needle, of course).
The vet checked his teeth, but didn't seem to find anything wrong. And Milo doesn't seem to have a respiratory infection. This is almost certainly caused by the abrupt change in food.
So, I've seen some small signs of improvement. When given chard this morning, he had a little bit, and I saw him nibbling on a blade of hay. But otherwise he's just been lying around sleeping, and it's very worrisome.
So, I think I did the obvious things, but what else should I do? I'm sure someone here has an opinion. Thanks in advance for the help.
Well, yesterday that pig didn't eat his lettuce right away; I wasn't sure if he ate it or not, since I had to leave. That evening, I gave the pigs carrots, and Milo wouldn't eat any. I know from guinealynx.com that not eating is deadly dangerous, so I fed him mashed pellets and took him to the vet first thing this morning. The vet gave him some sort of shot to help keep his digestive system moving, and a saline injection to keep him hydrated. And I've fed him more pellets with water twice today (once with a mashed-up pig poop, too, to get some bacteria back in his gut). He has diarrhea, and even though Milo always pees in my lap, he hasn't done it even when I held him for half an hour. I've also given him some water by syringe (no needle, of course).
The vet checked his teeth, but didn't seem to find anything wrong. And Milo doesn't seem to have a respiratory infection. This is almost certainly caused by the abrupt change in food.
So, I've seen some small signs of improvement. When given chard this morning, he had a little bit, and I saw him nibbling on a blade of hay. But otherwise he's just been lying around sleeping, and it's very worrisome.
So, I think I did the obvious things, but what else should I do? I'm sure someone here has an opinion. Thanks in advance for the help.