advice please?

[Katy Felix]

hi all. my guinea pig Cocoa seems to have gotten sick this morning. he showed absolutely no symptoms yesterday or last night- it’s all totally out of the blue. he’s still eating but slowly. the problem is, we cant afford to get hkm to the vet right now. it aounds horrible, but it’s just awful timing. we had to take our two kittens to the vet just the other day, and it cost almost $300. Cocoa has gotten sick like this before, and the vet gave us a course of antibiotics and gave him a couple supplement shots, they also said he was really cold. so since he’s showing the same symptoms, ive given him red pepper for vitamin c and a small heat pad in a towel. he got better after he ate his breakfast, and i was able to make him sit on the heat pad or a few minutes. i don’t have a job, and i had to buy a laptop for high school so i hardly have any money. what can i do? i feel like an awful pet owner and i want the best for Cocoa. <3


***edited by mod****

 

[sport_billy]

How is he now?

Do you vets offer payment plans? Often many pets do

 

[Wiebke]

hi all. my guinea pig Cocoa seems to have gotten sick this morning. he showed absolutely no symptoms yesterday or last night- it’s all totally out of the blue. he’s still eating but slowly. the problem is, we cant afford to get hkm to the vet right now. it aounds horrible, but it’s just awful timing. we had to take our two kittens to the vet just the other day, and it cost almost $300. Cocoa has gotten sick like this before, and the vet gave us a course of antibiotics and gave him a couple supplement shots, they also said he was really cold. so since he’s showing the same symptoms, ive given him red pepper for vitamin c and a small heat pad in a towel. he got better after he ate his breakfast, and i was able to make him sit on the heat pad or a few minutes. i don’t have a job, and i had to buy a laptop for high school so i hardly have any money. what can i do? i feel like an awful pet owner and i want the best for Cocoa. <3


***edited by mod****

Please see a preferably [piggy savvy vet as soon as you can afford to! Have him checked for dental problems (including back teeth), GI stasis (no or very little gut movement), heart problems (which would account for him being cold and lethargic) etc. There is obviously something more serious going on that needs a closer inspection and that cannot be healed with a minimal course of antibiotics and vitamin C on spec.
Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

Until then, please switch from weighing once weekly as part of his regular health check-up to weighing daily at the same time in order to monitor his food intake. Cheap kitchen scales from the supermarket will suffice.
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig

Top him up with syringe feed asap. Over 80% of the daily food intake is hay, which you cannot control by eye. A guinea pig can lose a lot of weight very quickly if you just watch him nibble on a little veg or pellets and think that that is enough.
You can use mushed up pellets in an emergency as long as you cut off the tip of the syringe and plunger as shown in the syringe feeding guide. Needle free syringes are available in any pharmacy. Your care at home in this respect is as important any necessary medication and absolutely vital to keep him alive until you can see a vet and have him treated. Your home feed however cannot replace any vet care and heal the underlying problem.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Administering Medications And Syringe Feed

Please save up for your vet fund as part of the weekly food and bedding cost for your piggy right from the start. Vet care is making the biggest overall budget post in any pet's life, but too many people don't factor this in when they buy their pets.

Since we have got members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details so we can always tailor any advice to what is relevant and available where you are straight away. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to account details and then down to location. This makes it appear with every post you make and saves everybody time. Thank you!

 

[Katy Felix]

Please see a preferably [piggy savvy vet as soon as you can afford to! Have him checked for dental problems (including back teeth), GI stasis (no or very little gut movement), heart problems (which would account for him being cold and lethargic) etc. There is obviously something more serious going on that needs a closer inspection and that cannot be healed with a minimal course of antibiotics and vitamin C on spec.
Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

Until then, please switch from weighing once weekly as part of his regular health check-up to weighing daily at the same time in order to monitor his food intake. Cheap kitchen scales from the supermarket will suffice.
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig

Top him up with syringe feed asap. Over 80% of the daily food intake is hay, which you cannot control by eye. A guinea pig can lose a lot of weight very quickly if you just watch him nibble on a little veg or pellets and think that that is enough.
You can use mushed up pellets in an emergency as long as you cut off the tip of the syringe and plunger as shown in the syringe feeding guide. Needle free syringes are available in any pharmacy. Your care at home in this respect is as important any necessary medication and absolutely vital to keep him alive until you can see a vet and have him treated. Your home feed however cannot replace any vet care and heal the underlying problem.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Administering Medications And Syringe Feed

Please save up for your vet fund as part of the weekly food and bedding cost for your piggy right from the start. Vet care is making the biggest overall budget post in any pet's life, but too many people don't factor this in when they buy their pets.

Since we have got members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details so we can always tailor any advice to what is relevant and available where you are straight away. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to account details and then down to location. This makes it appear with every post you make and saves everybody time. Thank you!

thanks for the help! we took him to the bet earlier and they said he seemed ok, gave us antibiotics. to clarify, he was eating and drinking, just acting lethargic. he’s already perking up!

 

[Katy Felix]

How is he now?

Do you vets offer payment plans? Often many pets do

hello! we did end up taking him, and it turned out he was not as bad as we feared and we payed for a week for antibiotics, after taking his first dose he’s already looking much better.