Saturday, March 28, 2015

A guinea pig has sudden onset bloat - clostridial infections?

This 4-year-old male guinea pig was OK the day before but overnight, became lethargic and would not eat. The owner consulted me. I noted a large abdominal distension, esp. the left side. There was gas inside the bloated stomach. The guinea pig was hypothermic at 36C and the gums were pale and cyanotic. I got the X-rays done and released the gas using a 23G needle and 10ml syringe to suck out. The guinea pig felt better. 

The stomach deflated. SC drips plus baytril antibiotics did not help. Around 2 hours later, he passed away.  Toxins from Clostridial bacteria could have killed him. Gastric volvulus or distension was present. The prognosis was poor.  No more hay for the other guinea pig which was still OK and eating the same hay.

Bubbles in the abdomen indicate that the intestines had lost blood supply and leak gas into the abdomen. The guinea pig died from septicaemic shock as Clostridial bacteria is highly pathogenic. No post-mortem or bacterial culture was done. 







1 comment:

  1. something similar happened to my pig, can i send you the x-rays?

    ReplyDelete

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