eating and new animals

Question
We have a female ginuea pig. We have had her since early March 2006 and she is about a year old. On Sunday 8/27/06 we purchased a male black lab puppy and he is 7 weeks old. Natalie(our ginuea pig) last ate Sunday morning before we went to pick up our new puppy. Since we returned home with the puppy she will not eat anything. I have tried feeding her hay, pellets and a variety of fresh fruits and veggies that she used to eat daily. Anyways , my I was wondering if the introduction of a new animal was causing some kind of stress with Natalie that is stopping her from eating, or if you know what else could be causing this. Also do you know of anything I could try to get her eating again?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Melissa

Answer
Hello Melissa,

Congrats on your new puppy! It's possible, but it's also possible she is ill. Has she not eaten anything at all since Sunday? If not, is she still pooing? If she isn't pooing she needs to go to the vet as soon as you can get her there. If their tummies stop moving for too long, their tummies rupture and then they most likely can not be saved. If she is still pooing, you need to start force feeding her. You don't have time to wait for her to eat because you don't want her tummy to stop. You can crush pellets and mix them with water and use a syringe to feed her. Continue offering her food in hopes she will eat on her own. Mine adore carrots, bananas, and green grapes. Natalie may have different favorites, offer her those. When mine won't touch carrots, I know they are sick. She needs to see a vet as soon as you can to find out what's wrong. Unfortunantly a Guinea Pig not eating is a very dangerous thing and it's what they tend to do as soon as they aren't feeling good or get a litle stressed. Hopefully you can get her eating again soon and get to the bottom of what's wrong. It could be just the stress got her started and then not eating made her ill. As a rule anytime a pig hasn't eaten in 24 hours, it's time to start force feeding and take a trip to the doctor. Some piggies will have days here or there where they eat less and that's normal but not eating at all is a problem. If it was just the introduction of the puppy, getting her eating again may be all it takes to get her back on track. Good luck! I hope you can get Natalie well again and all of you (including Natalie) will have a wonderful time with your new puppy.

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs