Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This may be a little lengthy, but I'm hoping another stressed out mom may benefit. So, we thoroughly cleaned and rearranged my daughter's guinea pig's cage about a week before my daughter came to me and told me he was really skinny and his eyes looked funny. I had bleached the cage, and gotten a new food bowl-- one that hooked to the side of the cage, instead of sitting on the platform at the top. Skinny was an understatement. He was skin and bones and his eyes were completely sunken in. He wasn't moving at all. He was on death's door and I didn't think he'd make it through the night. He did, but looked like death warmed over. Tried to get him into an exotic vet the next day, but was unable. Did some google research, and there's basically 4 reasons guinea pigs become "anorexic" 1) Ileus- like a blockage in their intestines or extreme bloat. Felt his abdomen, it was soft, and he didn't appear to be in pain. I still thought this was the most likely cause at the time 2) Malocclusion - where their teeth grow into their cheeks or jawbones. Didn't think this was it, because symptoms included constantly wet chin/jaw, and usually a mouth that won't close fully. He looked normal and wasn't drooling. 3) Upper respiratory infection- symptoms are sneezing, coughing, mucus in the nose and mouth. This too did not fit the bill 4) Stress/depression. Yes, that's right, depression. This seemed ridiculous to me. I mean, maybe go a few hours or even a day or two eating very little, but this guy was seriously gaunt. There had to be some physical reason preventing him from eating and drinking, right? Anyway, I thought maybe he missed his old food bowl, so I set it, and him, on the top platform. He didn't move a muscle. Completely lethargic and apathetic. I decided to make him as comfortable as possible and try (although I had little hope) to save him. I figured dehydration was the most pressing problem, so I gave him pedialyte through a syringe. He took it willingly-- like 3.5 teaspoons worth! Good sign. Saw people recommending this product online. It was not carried by any pet stores in town, so I amazon over-nighted it. In the meantime, I soaked and mashed up pellets, and combined them with carrot/apple/banana babyfood and offered it via syringe. He kind of, a little bit, nibbled on the syringe, but not really. This came in the next day. His eyes looked better because of the pedialyte (oh, I kept giving it to him every 4-6 hours). When I offered him the critical care, he went to town!! Took about 2 teaspoons worth and seemed to perk up. I continued to offer him pedialyte and critical care every 4-6 hours. By the next day, I noticed his water bottle (whose level had not changed for days and days) was down about 1/3 of the way. So he was drinking something other than the pedialyte. Awesome! Also, he was running back and forth in his cage! Before he was ill, he was always jumping around and wheeking, but since the illness started, he hadn't moved at all. Offered him some more critical care, which he took, and then decided to reintroduce the old food bowl. Miracle of miracles-- he ate some pellets! The next day his old food bowl was about half empty. Still gave him two servings of critical care, just in case. He still hadn't pooped at all at this point, so I knew he wasn't out of the woods. The next day, he pooped! A fair amount. He was also munching hay out of the NEW food bowl when I walked in, and happily wheeked at me, and stuck his snout through the bars, looking for critical care. I gave it to him, but that was the last time. He's back to his old self. I can't believe it. I think he was just mad about my moving/changing his house around and getting him a new food bowl. I read online, that guinea pigs can go on hunger strike if they are stressed, and once they start to feel bad, they quickly give up the will to live. So weird. I think I just had to get him over the hump, and get him something that he enjoyed, so he'd remember that being alive is better than the alternative. My daughter and Mr. Pickles are reunited and happy. And I don't have to be on constant guinea pig nursing duty. Thank you Critical Care! You worked a miracle!