arthritis in guinea pigs

[andic]

Hi
winston my 5 year old piggie has been limping for the past couple of weeks. We took him the day we noticed this straight to the vet and vet said that it looked as though he had sprained his front leg.
he was fine for the next week or so but then on Christmas Eve he was dragging and limping on his back legs and very wobbly. The vet examined him thoroughly. Couldn't see anything wrong but prescribed metacam for pain relief. within a few hours he really perked up.
we had seen a little improvement each day. we took him back on Thursday - The vet suggested that it could be arthritus, as she could feel muscle wastage in his back legs. She was happy for him to stop on the metacam for the time being, but wanted to see him again in a week, if gets any worse then she said she'd like to take an xray. he hasn;t lost any weight. when we got home from the vets Winston was racing round the cage chasing his cage mate Beanie!
all the time he has been his usual self eating and drinking fine and pooing etc ok. Winston and Beanie live in their cage in the living room.
Mornings seem to be the worst for him, he drags his legs to the bowl and until he's had his breakfast and then his metacam he seems to be uncomfortable. However within an hour or so he is a lot better and wandering around as usual.
Winston is eating normally his pellets/fresh food and his hay. we've been feeding them seperately to make sure Winston eats all his food, as he was a little slow getting up in a morning and Beanie was taking advantage!
Does anyone have any experience of a piggie with arthritis and could you give me any advice?
I wondered whether I should get him a snuggle safe (even though he's inside) to keep him warm at night - I am trying to keep the fleeces around him to keep him warm.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to put as much info down as possible.
thank you for any advice anyone has!

Andrea
x

 

[Abi_nurse]

Hello. Sorry to hear your piggie is not himself.
Piggies can get artheritis, just like dogs and cats and us humans. Keeping him warm may help a little but he mainly needs pain relief. The muscle wastage on the legs is definately a tell tale sign of artheritis. The only other idea is to ensure that he can move around easily, not too many ramps, ledges etc and a nice soft flat floor for him to move around on. Unfortunatly with giving your piggie long term metacam you will be risking some possible damage to the kidneys. But in the long run, you need to weigh up the risks and quality of life. It will effect different piggies in different ways. If you can get a dose down to as small as possible with the metacam he may be fine for years yet to come. And i would rather risk his kidneys in the last few years of his life to ensure that he is kept comfortable and happy.
Good luck with it all. Hope this helps a little.

x.

 

[andic]

Hi Many thanks for your response.
I've removed all possible obstacles and made sure there are lots of fleeces for him to snuggle up in. Think I'm going to invest in a snugglesafe heat pad for him, even though he is inside we don't have the heating on constant!
Also thanks for the tip about metacam, I will suggest to the vet next week could we reduce the dosage if it's looking like he's going to be on it long term.
Appreciate your help!
best wishes
Andrea
x

 

[flintstones]

Glucosamine helps arthritis in humans, and also dogs as well as cats. My guinea pig is on cystease to line the bladder wall I wonder if this will help your pig as it is glucosamine perhaps speak to the vet about this.

 

[AndreaJane]

My older piggies were bunny hopping and I read on the Peter Gurney website that it could be a sign of arthritis and rheumatism. He recommended giving a daily dose of half a Potters Tabritis pill ( crushed with mortar and pestle, mixed with water and syringe fed ) to older piggies to keep them comfortable.
I tried that after consulting my vet who thought it was worth a go. They have stopped bunny hopping so I'm assuming it had some effect, it may be worth you giving it a try. I would advise you to try a lower dose though and see how it goes, I found half a pill caused excessive weeing and soft poos ( it does have diuretics and senna in it ) but a quarter pill each seemed to be about right for mine. Obviously have a chat with your vet first.
A heat pad would also help ease some of the aches.
Hope you see some improvement soon.
x
Here's the link to P.G's website:
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/oldage.htm

 

[andic]

Many thanks for these responses - Just wondered, as well as tabritis tablets is your guinea also on metacam?
I will definately have a word with my vet about it - anything is worth it to try and help my little old man
Thanks again
Andrea
x

 

[andic]

thanks for all your help guys.
unfortunatley Winston went to the bridge this evening. He had bad arthritis but also we found out he had broken his leg recently as well as gout poor little thing was in pain this afternoon so we made the kindest decision for him

xx

 

[piggyfan]

I am so sorry to hear that. My thoughts are with you.