rowankistune19
New Born Pup
I would like to start by saying that I am currently working very closely with my vet to monitor this situation but I am very interested in seeing if anyone has seen anything like this before. Also I apologize for this being so long.
So now onto the issue. I have a young boar named Bilbo around the age six months (I did purchase him from a pet store so I am unsure of the exact age). About four weeks ago he went neurologic. Up until day zero he had showed no symptoms of any kind, then suddenly one day he started having issues. The symptoms included equilibrium problems (falling over on his own), "phasing out" (sessions of a few minutes where he was basically catatonic), an inconsistent head tilt, and random but often star gazing sessions (flipping his head up to the sky and leaving it there for a short time). I will be honest, Bilbo did have a fall a week prior to symptoms occurring when he jumped out of my friends hand and head first into his ceramic food dish, and was prone to running into things when he ran around his pen (actually when he is feeling good he still does it).
After being observed by two vets (from the same clinic) it was decided that neither had seen this before in a guinea pig. The best description that they could use to describe it was that it was like wobblers as seen in dogs (not horses) and dementia. He doesn't have an ear infection and his blood test came back normal so he is otherwise healthy. However he is currently on an anti-inflammation because my vet was curious to see if inflammation was the case (due to trauma). He did get slightly better with it (the symptoms weren't as severe and overall he seemed more stable in terms of his equilibrium) and towards the end of the first treatment was almost back to normal. However, once off the meds he quickly regressed so we put him back on it but it hasn't had the same affect. He star gazes often, is pretty unstable on any surface that isn't flat, runs in circles (both directions) and at one time had a kind of panic attack (ran uncontrollably or started throwing a tantrum in place [kind of reminds me of an autistic child]).
I know neurologic problems are pretty uncommon in guinea pigs but I wanted to ask to see if anyone has seen anything like this before or at least any of these symptoms. I will say that despite the symptoms Bilbo is a rather happy guinea pig. He has a healthy appetite and still tries to play with his "big brother" Ripley, and, of course, will take an opportunity to escape so he can explore as often as he can. Any information would be greatly appreciate. Thanks!
So now onto the issue. I have a young boar named Bilbo around the age six months (I did purchase him from a pet store so I am unsure of the exact age). About four weeks ago he went neurologic. Up until day zero he had showed no symptoms of any kind, then suddenly one day he started having issues. The symptoms included equilibrium problems (falling over on his own), "phasing out" (sessions of a few minutes where he was basically catatonic), an inconsistent head tilt, and random but often star gazing sessions (flipping his head up to the sky and leaving it there for a short time). I will be honest, Bilbo did have a fall a week prior to symptoms occurring when he jumped out of my friends hand and head first into his ceramic food dish, and was prone to running into things when he ran around his pen (actually when he is feeling good he still does it).
After being observed by two vets (from the same clinic) it was decided that neither had seen this before in a guinea pig. The best description that they could use to describe it was that it was like wobblers as seen in dogs (not horses) and dementia. He doesn't have an ear infection and his blood test came back normal so he is otherwise healthy. However he is currently on an anti-inflammation because my vet was curious to see if inflammation was the case (due to trauma). He did get slightly better with it (the symptoms weren't as severe and overall he seemed more stable in terms of his equilibrium) and towards the end of the first treatment was almost back to normal. However, once off the meds he quickly regressed so we put him back on it but it hasn't had the same affect. He star gazes often, is pretty unstable on any surface that isn't flat, runs in circles (both directions) and at one time had a kind of panic attack (ran uncontrollably or started throwing a tantrum in place [kind of reminds me of an autistic child]).
I know neurologic problems are pretty uncommon in guinea pigs but I wanted to ask to see if anyone has seen anything like this before or at least any of these symptoms. I will say that despite the symptoms Bilbo is a rather happy guinea pig. He has a healthy appetite and still tries to play with his "big brother" Ripley, and, of course, will take an opportunity to escape so he can explore as often as he can. Any information would be greatly appreciate. Thanks!
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