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Arthritis In The Spine And Knees - Advice Needed Please

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Cyberpig

Cyberpig

Junior Guinea Pig
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Dear All,

Our 5 year old guinea pig badger recently had a large throat abscess that needed to be drained, and he was on a large dosage of antibiotics for weeks. The abscess was successfully removed (it was not due to teeth problems). After he came off the antibiotics, he developed a head tilt and was diagnosed with ear infection due to mites (probably took over because of the low immune system).

A week after this, we noticed that he wasn't moving around much and we took him to the vet again, and because he had been diagnosed with arthritis his knees in November (without x-ray by another vet) and because he had been responding to a dose of Metacam, he was diagnosed with arthritis. Our brilliant current vet decided not to take an x-ray at this point, because Badger had been through 2 months of intervention. Unfortunately, after 2 days, his condition worsened a bit and he could only drag his legs behind him. We took him back to the vets, and they took an x-ray and he was diagnosed with severe arthritis of the spine and knees. His hips are less affected. Badger is now on Loxicom (same as Metacam) and Vetagesic (Tramadol was not available in the pharmacies or the supplier). We started the new treatment today. Has anyone had a guinea pig on this treatment with a similar condition, and if so what else did you do and what were the first signs of recovery? Obviously, we are gutted that we got him through the "ueber-large" abscess (a different story that resulted in us changing to our new vets) for this to have happened now. The arthritis seems to be unrelated to any treatment he received.

I should say that our vet is the brilliant Glenn at Apex, so this query is for personal experience from anyone who had a guinea pig with such a condition, not for any advice instead of veterinary advice. Glenn already saved Badger's life by dealing successfully with the abscess as our previous vets just let it get bigger and bigger until there was almost nothing else to be done.

Thanks for any advice, Cyberpig.
 
Poor Badger. I don't have any experience with my own pigs but have heard good things about water therapy which you can do in the bath. Not sure if Glenn will already have mentioned this though.
 
Thanks Helen. He didn't mention it, but he mentioned gentle massaging. I should say that I understated the amount of treatment Badger received over the last 2 1/2 months, and the amount of advice Glenn had to give us (on the phone and in person). It's been a very long 2 months with constant night feeding, medication, poo mashing (from our other guinea pigs) etc. I attached the x-ray for the abscess to show the full extent (I'm still seething with our other vets - can't say how impressed I am with Apex in comparison). However, I'm reluctant to ask Glenn for any more advice (we bombarded him with questions), as I'm starting to feel like Muenchausen by proxy - although I'm sure he would be more than willing to give it).

3.webp
 
My elderly piggies had arthritis but not as serious as yours. I did find that Potter's tabritis helped ( a quarter of a pill crushed and mixed with water administered via syringe and i did discuss it with our exotic vet first) as recommended by Peter Gurney. It's worth a try to help ease it, mine stopped bunnyhopping once they were on it. It can sometimes caue a runny tummy at first in some pigs so if you do try it you may want to introduce it gradually. So sorry your Badger is having such a hard time of it. Sending healing vibes. x
 
Sorry, should have said that's a daily dose. Never had any trouble administering it as they loved the taste and seemed to look forward to "Tabritis time" !
 
AndreaJane said:
My elderly piggies had arthritis but not as serious as yours. I did find that Potter's tabritis helped ( a quarter of a pill crushed and mixed with water administered via syringe and i did discuss it with our exotic vet first) as recommended by Peter Gurney. It's worth a try to help ease it, mine stopped bunnyhopping once they were on it. It can sometimes caue a runny tummy at first in some pigs so if you do try it you may want to introduce it gradually. So sorry your Badger is having such a hard time of it. Sending healing vibes. x
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I have heard good things about these too.
 
AndreaJane said:
My elderly piggies had arthritis but not as serious as yours. I did find that Potter's tabritis helped ( a quarter of a pill crushed and mixed with water administered via syringe and i did discuss it with our exotic vet first) as recommended by Peter Gurney. It's worth a try to help ease it, mine stopped bunnyhopping once they were on it. It can sometimes caue a runny tummy at first in some pigs so if you do try it you may want to introduce it gradually. So sorry your Badger is having such a hard time of it. Sending healing vibes. x
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Thanks for the tip, i may mention this on Friday at the vets for my girls, both have arthritis (Haven's is much worse than Honor's). May have to buy a box and see how they go down :)
 
I feel sorry for your piggy, I have arthritis in both knees and it's bloody painful and hard to walk somedays! It's a pity you couldn't get a piggy version of diclofenic as I swear by it. ;)
 
Thanks for the advice Andrea Jane. Last time I looked for Tabritis, we couldn't find it anywhere. We used to give Potter's tabritis to one of our other pigs and it helped (I love Peter Gurney), but he only had a very slight bunny hope. I'll see if I can get hold of some.
 
Cyberpig said:
Thanks for the advice Andrea Jane. Last time I looked for Tabritis, we couldn't find it anywhere. We used to give Potter's tabritis to one of our other pigs and it helped (I love Peter Gurney), but he only had a very slight bunny hope. I'll see if I can get hold of some.
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I used to get it from Boots, I'm sure I saw some last time I went in. If not then try ebay like Piggyfan said or ask your local chemist, they'll probably order some in for you. x
 
Thanks everyone. I will mention it to Glenn when I report back about the success (or non-success) of the Vetagesic. What I would be particularly interested in, is if anyone had a pig that dragged his/her legs and went onto this treatment and recovered, and what the first signs of recovery were? I know it's a long shot. We think there is some movement or resistance in the leg and he is in less pain. Unfortunately, he has put on some weight (he was a very active pig before and he is still eating well). Obviously, it's great that he hasn't lost his appetite, and we don't want to put him onto a diet, because of the gut stasis associated with the Vetagesic (he is on infacol and gut massages as well). However, I assume if he puts on weight that puts more stress onto his bones.
 
I'm really sorry to hear about Badger's health problems. I don't think I can add to what's already been said by others on this thread but you are doing your best for him. I too have a long term poorly piggy, Minky who has been to the vets about 30 times in the last year for 3 abscess removals, head tilt, dental issues & bloat. Luckily she hasn't got arthritis but I know what it's like as I suffer from it badly. I too changed my vet after the second abscess removal & I'm much more happier with my current vet. Only other thing I can suggest is if Badger loses appetite because of all the meds is to have some Fibreplex & a probiotic such as Avipro Plus or Bio-Lapis at hand so you can start him on them at first sign of trouble. These are both non-prescription & can be obtained from Vet UK. Also to weigh more regularly if appetite drops. There is light at the end of tunnel & Minky still has the head tilt but she's been off meds for over 3 weeks & this is the first month since last May that she hasn't been to see the vet. Good Luck with Badger's treatment. xx
 
Stewybus said:
I'm really sorry to hear about Badger's health problems. I don't think I can add to what's already been said by others on this thread but you are doing your best for him. I too have a long term poorly piggy, Minky who has been to the vets about 30 times in the last year for 3 abscess removals, head tilt, dental issues & bloat. Luckily she hasn't got arthritis but I know what it's like as I suffer from it badly. I too changed my vet after the second abscess removal & I'm much more happier with my current vet. Only other thing I can suggest is if Badger loses appetite because of all the meds is to have some Fibreplex & a probiotic such as Avipro Plus or Bio-Lapis at hand so you can start him on them at first sign of trouble. These are both non-prescription & can be obtained from Vet UK. Also to weigh more regularly if appetite drops. There is light at the end of tunnel & Minky still has the head tilt but she's been off meds for over 3 weeks & this is the first month since last May that she hasn't been to see the vet. Good Luck with Badger's treatment. xx
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I'm sorry to hear about your arthritis (and also BossHog's arthritis). It's a horrible condition. Thanks for the advice. Badger has been on Bio Lapis for the last few weeks (mashed in recovery feed as he did lose his appetite shortly after the procedure, and due to the ear infection). At the moment, we are also providing him with his "good stuff" as he can't turn around himself and we are still providing him with some mashed up poo from our other guinea pig Vincent.

I'm really pleased to hear about Minky's progress, it's always lovely to hear a success story (3 abscesses is a lot). I hope her good progress continues. Having a vet you trust is very important. We did trust our previous vets, but then our rabbit died and we weren't happy with their treatment of her and their lack of initiative for Badger. Still can't believe how big the abscess was, and I think the weight at the front exaggerated the problem with the back. Just as well, we are only 45 minutes far aware from Denny, and Glenn at Apex. He was also good with our other rabbit with Pasteurella, where other vets just put her onto baytril, he suggested a bacteria swap and nebulising with another medication. Guess what, she is free of the symptoms now and much happier. Can't believe how fantastic they have been with us and all our animals are with them now.
 
A little tip with Bio-Lapis is to just mix 1/3 of a sachet with 16ml of water & feed that 1/2 on morning & 1/2 on evening or if as you are doing just add 1/3 of a sachet a day to food. The reason I do this is that one sachet is for 50ml which is far too much for one piggy within the 24 hours you're supposed to keep it. I've now changed to Avipro Plus because this is powder in a container & can be mixed in as small a quantity a you wish. When Minky was ill, I had her out for her meds & gave her an hour with me with veggies then she was back in with her 3 companions & then had a meal with them. I'm very lucky that my vet is only either 10 or 15 minutes away depending on which surgery she's at & that in emergencies I can usually take her in at short notice up to 6.30pm through the week & 4.30pm on Saturday.
 
Our little guy has got arthritis and we give him a vitamin C tablet every evening which seems to have helped.

I have read lots on water therapy as well, so this could be worth a go.

I'm sorry to hear of Badgers recent traumas - we also changed vets after a bad experience and was amazed at the difference.I'm wishing you and Badger all the best.
 
Thank you for the messages and the advice. I spoke to Glenn yesterday, and he mentioned that he was only expecting a mild to moderate improvement because of the extensive nature of Badger's arthritis. Badger has shown very mild improvement on the vetegenesic and with physiotherapy. He is not walking yet, but he is retracting his feet and has tried to get them underneath him when he was moving on the floor. We also started the hydrotherapy as suggested by Helen (we cleared it with Glenn, but he advised us to be cautious to not make his back any worse). We have been a bit reluctant to give him anymore oral medication or supplements (although all the suggestions on this thread have been very good), mainly because he has been on so much over the last 2 1/2 months and Glenn has been a bit reluctant to suggest supplements (I assume for this reason). We are still in the process of building up his gut flora, and unfortunately due to the vetegenesic and the loxicom, we may have to start all over again. We decided to give him a cocktail of mashed up poos from our two other guine pigs and the bio lapis. We are still getting up once a night to give him infacol and massages. He was quite bloated on Weds night and when I came home yesterday afternoon. However, last night he was much better and we only had to spend 1/2 hour massaging him in the night. We now have him on a diet of hay only with minimal veggies (cleared with Glenn) as he will put on weight due to lack of movement (he was such an active pig before), and this might be a contributing factor to him not wanting to move.

It's a shame he wasn't on a mild dose of loxicom or something else since his first bout of arthritis in November. Still a bit miffed with our other vets, as it seems that it is generally normal practice to carry on with something once arthritis has been diagnosed.

We arranged to speak to Glenn again on Monday to give an update (have I mentioned how impressed I am with him and Apex!), and I thought I provide an update here as well as other people might learn from our case. Thanks again for all the posts, it's much appreciated.
 
Slight update, had to rush Badger into the vets yesterday. I was working from home and heard a strange rustling noise from the cage. He was dragging himself around in circles, his eyes were in state of nystagmus and he had a head tilt. His last ear infection had been related to mites and external, but this looked like a middle ear infection. He really looked like he was dying. We saw Douglas (our other vet), and he diagnosed left middle ear infection, but he also raised the possibility of a brain lesion. However, Badger recovered really quickly with the antibiotic. Interestingly, this morning we had our first attempt at a step (e.g. foot was brought forward). Small steps, I say.
 
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Just to provide a last update. Badger is probably going to remain paralysed, which is very sad. He hasn't shown any improvement since Saturday morning. However, he is very happy, not in pain, eating and producing large poos (despite the fact he is on antibiotics, loxicom and the vetegenisic). We talked to Glenn and we decided to build him a cart, so watch this space. If it his successful then I will be back with videos. We will carry on with the physiotherapy regardless, and you never know, he may walk again.
 
I love the idea of a cart. Glad that he's happy and doing all the piggie stuff (including poops!). Can't wait for the video!
 
Have a look at the issues we have had with Star, who has had a couple of bouts of paralysis, probably as a result of arthritis. All I can suggest is daily water therapy in warm water where the legs can be gently manipulated.
 
karonus said:
Have a look at the issues we have had with Star, who has had a couple of bouts of paralysis, probably as a result of arthritis. All I can suggest is daily water therapy in warm water where the legs can be gently manipulated.
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I just had a look and it's great that your little girl Star recovered so well (the picture you posted in 2012 was very cute). That's almost like a miracle. We are definitely not giving up on Badger and we keep on with the massaging and physiotherapy. He has been on quite a lot medication (loxicom 0.2 ml, vetegenisic 1.6 ml per day) over the last couple of weeks. He also is now on antibiotics for the inner ear infections, and if there had been a purely bacterial reason for his immobility, then we would have expected some result from that. Speaking to Glenn yesterday, he didn't seem too hopeful that Badger would recover his mobility (although he definitely stated to carry on with everything we are doing). I might actually ask Glenn if I can have the x-ray to post it on here, as Badger's arthritis was pretty extensive.

We did stop the water therapy, firstly because of the ear infection, but secondly, because he became quite distressed. He has a cateract in his right eye, so his visibility is limited as well, which could account for his fear.

However, Star's story has given me some hope! Thank you, it's what we needed.
 
helen105281 said:
I saw a photo on Facebook yesterday of a pig with a cart.
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It is possible to link to a photo on Facebook. Or is it in one of the usual guina pig groups. Sorry there are not that many pictures of carts available online, and it would be good to see some others.
 
It is but I can't for the life of me remember what group it was. If I remember I will try to do tonight as can't access Facebook at work. It may have been Guinea Pig Fun.
 
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