Chloe Anna
New Born Pup
I'm looking for advice on ear infections/strokes in guinea pigs. My g.pig (Apollo) is 6y5m old. Just to clarify in advance: she is already receiving vet treatment for this issue. I'll put a timeline of events so far for background info:
Thursday evening: Apollo was subdued and not particularly interested in veggies or nuggets. This was not too abnormal as she sometimes takes her time these days.
Friday morning: I woke up to find her with head tilt, tracing eyes/nystagmus, and unsteadiness. Her poos were the right shape and consistency but much smaller than normal. I took her to the vets for an emergency appointment. Potential diagnoses were (i) ear infection, (ii) stroke, (iii) other neurological factors (e.g. brain tumour). Heartbeat and respiration were within normal ranges but she was moderately dehydrated. She was admitted to the vet inpatient for fluid therapy, observations, and to begin antibiotics to treat the suspected ear infection. The vet reported that she was alert throughout the day, eating some veg and hay by herself, and behaving normally. She was mobile but still unsteady and the head tilt and nystagmus continued.
Friday evening: I collected Apollo from the vets with a 7-day course of Enrobactin (the new exotics Baytril) at 0.15ml (25mg/ml solution) twice daily - she weighed 740g. She had improved from the morning and ate some veg.
Saturday morning - Monday morning: Her head tilt improved over the days and the nystagmus reduced until it was barely noticeable. I syringe fed her nugget mush with added probiotics and vitamin C (she despises all flavours of critical care), along with syringed water. She ate some hay and veg by herself and I allowed her two 1-minute grass sessions each day for extra fibre. By Monday morning, she was walking almost normally with only a few stumbles.
Monday afternoon/evening: Apollo had mild diarrhoea (likely from the antibiotics). She did not go out on the grass at all and I gave her additional probiotics and water. The diarrhoea cleared up within a couple of hours and her poos went back to being a normal shape and consistency but smaller than usual. She was a little more unsteady than she had been in the morning but I put this down to the diarrhoea causing her to be dehydrated.
Tuesday morning: Her condition didn't improve from the evening before and she was still unsteady. She was unable to lift her head for syringe feeding without it going into a sort-of circular spasm (I have a video if I'm allowed to link to it). She ate as she had been doing before.
Tuesday evening (now): She is very unsteady on her feet now, hugging the ground and tipping when she walks too fast. Her head continues to go into circular spasms if she lifts it too high and she is now swinging it from side-to-side (occasionally) when sat on the floor (I have a video of this too). I think her head is also slightly more tilted than earlier and I think the nystagmus is slightly more noticeable. She is eating as she has before and was very eager for her nugget mush. She weighs 820g at last check (most of this is nugget mush and water weight I believe).
My questions are:
1) Are these newer symptoms (circular spasms and head swinging) common to ear infections (and/or strokes)?
2) If the initial cause was in fact a stroke, could she have had another so soon after the first?
3) If it is a stroke, are the symptoms likely to decrease again or is it more likely that will she continue like this/deteriorate?
4) Is there anything more I can do to support her?
Sorry that this is such a long post, I have experience with ear infections in rabbits as I work with animals, but I've never dealt with one in a guinea pig before. Although most of the symptoms are the same, I haven't seen the circular spasms or head swinging in rabbits. The vet did say that a stroke was possible but would require an MRI to diagnose definitively. As that would require anaesthesia, we decided not to do it with Apollo being in the condition she's in and at the age she is.
Any help or advice you can give would be much appreciated, especially if your pig has gone through this too.
Link to the videos I mention: (will remove if not allowed).
Thursday evening: Apollo was subdued and not particularly interested in veggies or nuggets. This was not too abnormal as she sometimes takes her time these days.
Friday morning: I woke up to find her with head tilt, tracing eyes/nystagmus, and unsteadiness. Her poos were the right shape and consistency but much smaller than normal. I took her to the vets for an emergency appointment. Potential diagnoses were (i) ear infection, (ii) stroke, (iii) other neurological factors (e.g. brain tumour). Heartbeat and respiration were within normal ranges but she was moderately dehydrated. She was admitted to the vet inpatient for fluid therapy, observations, and to begin antibiotics to treat the suspected ear infection. The vet reported that she was alert throughout the day, eating some veg and hay by herself, and behaving normally. She was mobile but still unsteady and the head tilt and nystagmus continued.
Friday evening: I collected Apollo from the vets with a 7-day course of Enrobactin (the new exotics Baytril) at 0.15ml (25mg/ml solution) twice daily - she weighed 740g. She had improved from the morning and ate some veg.
Saturday morning - Monday morning: Her head tilt improved over the days and the nystagmus reduced until it was barely noticeable. I syringe fed her nugget mush with added probiotics and vitamin C (she despises all flavours of critical care), along with syringed water. She ate some hay and veg by herself and I allowed her two 1-minute grass sessions each day for extra fibre. By Monday morning, she was walking almost normally with only a few stumbles.
Monday afternoon/evening: Apollo had mild diarrhoea (likely from the antibiotics). She did not go out on the grass at all and I gave her additional probiotics and water. The diarrhoea cleared up within a couple of hours and her poos went back to being a normal shape and consistency but smaller than usual. She was a little more unsteady than she had been in the morning but I put this down to the diarrhoea causing her to be dehydrated.
Tuesday morning: Her condition didn't improve from the evening before and she was still unsteady. She was unable to lift her head for syringe feeding without it going into a sort-of circular spasm (I have a video if I'm allowed to link to it). She ate as she had been doing before.
Tuesday evening (now): She is very unsteady on her feet now, hugging the ground and tipping when she walks too fast. Her head continues to go into circular spasms if she lifts it too high and she is now swinging it from side-to-side (occasionally) when sat on the floor (I have a video of this too). I think her head is also slightly more tilted than earlier and I think the nystagmus is slightly more noticeable. She is eating as she has before and was very eager for her nugget mush. She weighs 820g at last check (most of this is nugget mush and water weight I believe).
My questions are:
1) Are these newer symptoms (circular spasms and head swinging) common to ear infections (and/or strokes)?
2) If the initial cause was in fact a stroke, could she have had another so soon after the first?
3) If it is a stroke, are the symptoms likely to decrease again or is it more likely that will she continue like this/deteriorate?
4) Is there anything more I can do to support her?
Sorry that this is such a long post, I have experience with ear infections in rabbits as I work with animals, but I've never dealt with one in a guinea pig before. Although most of the symptoms are the same, I haven't seen the circular spasms or head swinging in rabbits. The vet did say that a stroke was possible but would require an MRI to diagnose definitively. As that would require anaesthesia, we decided not to do it with Apollo being in the condition she's in and at the age she is.
Any help or advice you can give would be much appreciated, especially if your pig has gone through this too.
Link to the videos I mention: (will remove if not allowed).
