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Arthritis And Leg Injury

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Our oldest Star is 5 1/2 and she is on a daily dose of 0.1ml of metacam a day to treat her arthritic knees. She has gained good movement. Their cage is fleece on top of vet bed which she copes with very well.
 
Teddy has been a little better in himself since this afternoon. He catches on quick. To encourage him to take his syringe feeds I give him one syringe and then follow each one with a little flat leaved parsley. He has moved a little more in his cage and eating a little hay. I did wonder if his tummy was feeling windy as I had heard it gurgling so followed his feeds with a little Infacol. As soon as his mobility returns to as normal as possible I will let him spend time with the girls but need to make their fleece cage liner and pee pads first. I need to get his weight back up and keep him mobile so that he builds up some leg muscle.
 
I have had to take Teddy to the vet this afternoon. As it is armistice day the vet was closed so I had to ask the emergency vet. Teddy had become listless and wouldn't eat his critical care, not even his parsley which he adores. I had never seen this vet before and she didn't speak English so I was even more stressed and anxious as my French isn't good enough to talk medical. She told me she wasn't expert in guinea pigs and asked me to come back tomorrow. She did examine Teddy; she took his temperature which was normal and she checked his heart and chest which was normal. She also palpated his tummy and checked his legs and teeth. She gave him a cortisone injection which I was a little nervous about as Teddy had had an oral dose this morning.

I have been trying to give him water via syringe since coming back and have had Teddy on my knee on a vet bed. He couldn't keep still and settled on his tummy with both back legs stretched out behind him.

I wondered whether he had developed gastro stasis and so gave him a Buscopan crushed in water and 0.3ml of Emeprid along with some probiotic. As you can see from this photo he is stretched out which is not as he has normally been these last few weeks with his leg pain. His tummy also looks distended.

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Poor little mite! I will need to get him some Baytril tomorrow to complete his meds for bloat. I have been getting him to exercise since his leg injury by dangling veggies in front of him and him following round the coffee table. He was able to run the last few days but with his wonky leg he can't move easily round his cage.

One thing I noticed the vet doing was checking his sight. As Teddy didn't respond as he should have I asked her did she think he was blind and she said she thinks he is. He doesn't like the vets and always climbs up me so I suppose if he is going blind then he must know my scent.

I love him so much I don't want him to die but I know that it may come sooner than I would ever wish.
 
Oh no! Poor Teddy. Is his stomach hard like a drum? If so that's a classic sign of bloat. If you have an electric toothbrush you could try a bit of massage on his tum to help shift any gas. He does seem very uncomfortable. I really hope you can see your regular vet soon. Helaing vibes and hugs to you both. x
 
Well I guess it was bloat. I think I've caught it early this time. The last time was when he was only a few months old and again just before he was one, at which time he nearly died.

I have had him on my knee on his tummy with his legs stretched out and patting his back and massaging his sides. I've also been giving him water from the syringe and have just put him in his cage where a stalk of parsley had been left earlier. He ate it and so I gave him another and put some little pieces of carrot spaced out in his cage and as you can see he has perked up again.

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I took Teddy to the vets today to get some Baytril and have a scabby layer of skin removed from his right hind leg. The vet had written me a letter to take to the specialist vet at Nantes. We have an appointment there tomorrow afternoon. Our vet isn't happy (nor am I) with his weight loss.

It appears I was right when I had said Teddy had dislocated something in his left hind leg as it has now righted itself, after he was stretching both back legs out. He is still holding up intermittently his front right leg. I hope the vet at Nantes can sort him out.
 
Teddy had his syringe feed earlier and after I weighed him. He is 709g this evening. I stood him on the mat in the kitchen and took these photos. He is standing well but his front right foot is still bothering him and he will lift it up now and again although he was putting his weight on it.

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He is so cute and I love him to bits
 
Started off to Nantes today at 1.30pm for our 3.30pm appointment and got there at almost 4pm as the satnav took us every which way but the right way and kept recalculating. It's not an easy place to find.

Anyway, the vet who previously saw Teddy was still on holiday apparently so had to see another vet. I gave him a history of Teddy's problems and he thinks his lack of appetite is due to the arthritis and recent leg injury. He said the sores that appeared on Teddy's feet are pressure sores and to keep using the F&M cream from Gorgeous Guineas. I noticed when I got back he had another one on his front left foot. It doesn't look sore, just like the others didn't, but the skin has cracked at the edges and is coming away so I will need to ask the vet to cut it away.

Teddy is moving better in his cage but on the way back from Nantes he started sneezing and when I got home I could see his nostrils were a little wet. He hasn't sneezed since being home though. It was a long journey home and I had him on my knee as he didn't like being in his carrier for some reason; maybe he didn't like my husband's driving!

The vet didn't seem to think Teddy's weight loss was such a problem as long as he doesn't lose any more. He said it will be easier on his joints. He told me to carry on doing what I'm already doing and not to give him any more steroid. I actually stopped it on Tuesday and wasn't exactly happy that my local vet had prescribed it. He said to reduce the amount of syringe feed to encourage Teddy to eat more for himself. He is writing to my local vet and said there is another pain relief that he can have. I think he said it was injectable though so I am not wanting to do that again as it was distressing for me and poor Teddy.
 
Teddy is improving each day and will eat more pellets now. He is more active and moving around his cage better and coming to the door expecting something nice. He has another pressure sore on his front left foot but I am putting on the F&M cream several times each day. Have an appointment on Monday to have his front nails cut. They curve quite quickly even though I trim them often so I will let the vet do them just in case he cuts into the quick and can put stuff on them to stop any bleeding.

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I've had Teddy out again but this time he has had a good walk around the rug without having to coax him. He likes the dogs and they like him. I think our little dachshund thinks guinea pigs are the babies she never had. He has stopped bunny hopping and one of these photos although a little blurred shows he is picking one leg up and not both together.
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Teddy with Chouchou our French rescue dog
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Update: Teddy has been doing very well and so I stopped his Meloxidyl when his antibiotic finished. He was alright for a few days but for the last three days his right back leg has become painful so I have put him back onto Meloxidyl.

I think he will need to stay on anti-inflammatories but wondered if anyone knew what to give him to protect his stomach.
 
Hi everyone, Teddy hasn't been doing very well for some time now. He is moving around well and eating but his weight has gone down to 650g (weighed at the vet today) when he was a lot heavier. He eats well and even with added syringe feeds he doesn't gain weight. He is on Meloxidyl twice a day for his arthritis, Phosvolavet to protect his stomach lining, vitamin C drops, Cobagreen probiotics. He has a few veggies daily and lots of Oxbow Timothy hay. He has fleece with vetbed underneath and incontinence pads at the bottom to catch the pee. I change his cage daily and pick up the poos throghout the day.

I thought he may have a fungal infection and have asked the vet for a systemic fungal treatment but they are reluctant to do so. They have used something that looks like a washing up scourer today to brush his fur and sent it off to a laboratory to see if it is fungal. He has a greyish lining to his anal sac and sore hind feet. The skin broke in two places on one of his feet last week even though I clean twice a day with antiseptic in the morning and a solution of iodine and warm water in the evening. I have been using F&M ointment and even antiseptic cream but with no improvement.

I have been reading about his symptoms which also include cold feet, bald belly (very hairy last year) sore feet, crusty eyes, weight loss and black edges to his ears (perhaps necrotic). It seems that he could have circulatory problems.

Because of what I have read, especially on GuineaLynx about heart problems I asked my vet today would she treat Teddy for suspected heart problems. She listened to his heart and lungs and said they were fine. I did say I had read that often tests show normal heart and lungs but a trial of meds have improved other guinea pigs symptoms.

As I live in France she asked me for the names of the medications I have read about and the Guinea Lynx web address. She said the medication for the heart could bring on a heart attack as it will make his heart work harder. I haven't read that this can happen. The vets here are so reluctant to treat my guinea pig for either systemic fungal infections or for circulatory problems.

I came away with some cream to put on his feet and feeling helpless and upset.

I don't know what else to do. I have to go back on Thursday as my dachshund is having her mouth x-rayed under anaesthetic and have to pick her up in the afternoon so will take Teddy back. I will be seeing my usual vet and the one I saw today said she would speak to him about whether he will prescribe the heart meds. He is a very reluctant vet also so I don't hold up any hope.
 
Awww bless - he's a gorgeous boy and obviously getting on a bit now.
I am very struck by his current posture where his back looks hunched. Elderly piggies can develop a range of underlying "old age" conditions including heart, kidney and joint/arthritis issues.
The symptoms you describe do suggest circulatory problems with a possible heart issue however you need to be aware that Heart and kidney function are often inter-linked......I am wondering if his kidneys are causing him discomfort - either because as he gets older they are not working as well or perhaps he may have developing kidney stones - either of which will also put pressure on heart function?

You have discussed with your vet about prescribing firstly oral anti-fungals and then heart meds. Vets will not (cannot) prescribe meds unless they have reasonable proof of diagnosis so us piggie slaves have to develop a good rapport with our vets and work with them (rather than presenting them with lots of things off the internet and asking them to "accept the words" of unknown, unqualified strangers and "just dish out the meds" ) You also need to be aware that there is still a lot of misguided and inaccurate information out there on the world wide web about guinea pig conditions that has no scienitifc proof to back it up.

This can be very frustrating for us piggie slaves and one of the biggest issues for us is how to "manage" and "educate" our vets to get the best treatment for our pigs. Diagnostics for piggies have come a long way in the last 20years - and this is what our vets rely on so we have to work with them to their rules.

Going forwards:
An Xray (with a whiff of gas as GA) at this point could help identify
a) how far his arthtritis has spread
b) any heart issues based upon Xray measurements (see images on guinea lynx) and
c) any stones in the kidneys

Strictly speaking your vets would probably also want to take bloods to test for kidney and heart function but, given his age, that might be pushing things. If you want to get a proper diagnosis and treatment for your boy I would suggest discussing with the vets an Xray to check for all the above
HTH
x
 
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