Hello fellow guinea pig lovers!
Last week we went to feed our little girl, Squeak, her nightly veggies, and we noticed that she was off. She normally comes to the door of her cage squeaking her head off and literally rips the veggies out of our hands. This night, she barely poked her head out of her house, and didn't show any interest in cucumber, her favorite.
It was late, so we moved her into her smaller cage, gave her a towel to cuddle up with and made sure she had plenty of hay, water and pellets.
The next morning I called the vet and we took her in. He diagnosed her with a URI and gave her Baytril (.9 mL / day). We also got her some critical care food so we could make sure she was eating.
The first couple of days were bad. She seemed like she was drunk. She couldn't keep her balance and wasn't walking well. She would sleep with her head in the bowl or hay or on her veggie dish so she didn't have to move to eat.
It's now a week later, and she is up an running around, she eats all her veggies, a bunch of hay, but not much pellets. She gobbles up the critical care food like she is starving. She seems to love being fed from a syringe, she gets so excited for it!
Here is the problem. I thought that since she was doing so well, I would put her back in her large cage so she would feel more at home. Later that night, we noticed that she wasn't walking on her front left foot. She was holding it up against her body and limping. I flipped her over and noticed it was a little swollen.
Here is a pic:
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/7959/img1822x.jpg
Both her back feet look totally normal. Her front feet are dark like that. No scabs, no broken skin, no pain if touched. The left foot is painful if you try to move her toes, its swollen & a little warm. Could she have bumblefoot? She never sneezed, or coughed. No discharge from her nose or eyes. I never herd her wheeze or anything. Could bumblefoot have caused all her symptoms? Is Baytril the right course of action to take since she doesn't have an abscess? Would soaking her feet help even though there isn't any broken skin?
Last week we went to feed our little girl, Squeak, her nightly veggies, and we noticed that she was off. She normally comes to the door of her cage squeaking her head off and literally rips the veggies out of our hands. This night, she barely poked her head out of her house, and didn't show any interest in cucumber, her favorite.
It was late, so we moved her into her smaller cage, gave her a towel to cuddle up with and made sure she had plenty of hay, water and pellets.
The next morning I called the vet and we took her in. He diagnosed her with a URI and gave her Baytril (.9 mL / day). We also got her some critical care food so we could make sure she was eating.
The first couple of days were bad. She seemed like she was drunk. She couldn't keep her balance and wasn't walking well. She would sleep with her head in the bowl or hay or on her veggie dish so she didn't have to move to eat.
It's now a week later, and she is up an running around, she eats all her veggies, a bunch of hay, but not much pellets. She gobbles up the critical care food like she is starving. She seems to love being fed from a syringe, she gets so excited for it!
Here is the problem. I thought that since she was doing so well, I would put her back in her large cage so she would feel more at home. Later that night, we noticed that she wasn't walking on her front left foot. She was holding it up against her body and limping. I flipped her over and noticed it was a little swollen.
Here is a pic:
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/7959/img1822x.jpg
Both her back feet look totally normal. Her front feet are dark like that. No scabs, no broken skin, no pain if touched. The left foot is painful if you try to move her toes, its swollen & a little warm. Could she have bumblefoot? She never sneezed, or coughed. No discharge from her nose or eyes. I never herd her wheeze or anything. Could bumblefoot have caused all her symptoms? Is Baytril the right course of action to take since she doesn't have an abscess? Would soaking her feet help even though there isn't any broken skin?