Specialist Cookie Is Ill! Fur Problems?

[Doragon]

Hi guys; I need some advice for my oldest Guinea Pig, Cookie. She's about 3. Long haired.

Cookie got sick at the start of this year, the vets never g
found out what it was but they thought it was a urine infection; as Cookie stopped eating and her back end was all sore. That cleared up; but Cookie lost a lot of weight and has never really been able to get it back.

I was away over the bank holiday weekend and left the guineas in the care of my nan; who has always done an outstanding job. However, went out to see Cookie this morning (didn't have a chance last night to see them as we got home very late) and Cookie's fur seems...well, greasy and matted in places; I picked her up to feel her a lot skinnier than she was when I left. She's still really squeaky and no sign of bum trouble! She was demanding food and gobbling down the second I set it down.

Asked my nan what they had been fed while I was away and she fed them their usual hay and nuggets; carrots, parsnips and cauliflower

I was was going to try and get her to the vet tomorrow; I had to leave to go to college but I was going to give her a bath later to see if I could work out what was wrong and maybe start her on some critical care I have; just to give her a boost until I could get her to the vet.

Any ideas on what this might be? I did have another Guinea Pig called Cream from Cookie's litter; they were mixed breed and had something wrong; as Cream died suddenly last year; so I'm wondering if part of this could be down to poor breeding? Smudge; the other Guinea Pig with Cookie seems completely fine; but I'm keeping a really close eye on her too.

Thanks.

 

[LisaAli]

Hi Welcome to the forum..

We have edited your post to remove the links, re-guinea pig. We hope the links were unintentional. It does sound like a vet visit is in order for Cookie though. Have you weighed her, how much weight has she lost..?

As we have members from all over the world,can you please add your location to your profile as it helps fellow members give any answers to questions you may have that may be area/country specific. This can be done by clicking on your username, then personal details, then add location......

 

[Doragon]

Oops! Those links were not intentional; sorry about that! That's fine; I'll go update my profile now for you guys!

I'm not sure how much weight she's lost exactly - I'm going to start weighing her and all my other pigs weekly; I've never had problems with guineas before so it's never been needed...

Anyway, came home and gave Cookie lots of veggies; she's eating like a horse! I'm just surprised at how fast she's lost weight and the state of her fur. Part of me is saying to leave the fur like that to help the vet see what the problem could be, and the other half is saying to bath her in the morning to keep her from being so matted and just a mess.

Checked her over to see no bum trouble and nothing else to be physically wrong except for the weight loss and the state of her fur, so I'm just not sure what to do while I arrange a vet appointment.

 

[LisaAli]

Is it possible that Cookie has been lying in her own pee ? We will Tag @Wiebke for you and hopefully she may be able to give you some answers. Don't overfeed the veggies, Hay should make up at least 80% of her diet.

 

[Doragon]

It's certainly possible. She does pee everywhere, although I did do a full cage clean before I left! Usually this isn't a problem, but it could be...I'm just not sure what to do, she's always been a little bit of a fragile one compared to all the other piggies I've owned.

Don't worry, I don't overfeed the veggies, I do make sure they have hay at all times. Thought the veggies would give her a bit of a boost with the vitamins and stuff to help her out. Thanks for tagging someone!

 

[Wiebke]

Hiya!

Please weigh Cookie once daily at the same time in the feeding cycle to monitor her food intake, especially as you are reporting a sudden marked loss in weight. You need to step in with hand feeding if necessary.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

She also need to urgently see a vet re. urinary tract problems (interstitial cystitis or bladder stones) or a potential womb infection. The vet also need to check her grease gland. If necessary, you girl may need an x-ray to see what is really going on. A guinea pig shouldn't be that messed up within just a day.

We have got a piggy savvy vet locator on the top bar: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/

 

[Doragon]

She;'s seeing a vet the first appointment I can get in the morning. This has happened over three days while I have been away, but Cookie has always had trouble putting weight back on ever since she got the suspected urine infection in January. The vets never found out what it was.

I'll start weighing her first thing tomorrow morning and monitoring her very closely. I'll keep updating with what she does, and I'll also start her on Critical Care for an extra boost of vitamins and to help her with her weight gain, thank you.
Just very worried for my little girly.

 

[Wiebke]

I can fully understand your worries, especially if you cannot be there every day. Lots of especially stale smelling pee/water can be an indication of an infection either in her bladder or in the uterus. An x-ray may bring clearance. Make sure that she also gets plenty of fluids.

My Cariad ended up being diagnosed with an enlarged, fluid filled and borderline pyometric uterus just half a year after a bladder stone operation; that is why I would have her checked for both; the sympoms were very similar to an acute interstitial (i.e. periodically recurring) cystitis.

Good that you have her booked in! I wish you the best of luck! Please keep us updated.\

PS: if she is being put on an antibiotic, please also ask or get a probiotic to help support the gut fauna. Give a pinch 1-2 hours after the antibiotic. \
I would also recommend to ask your vet for a painkiller/anti-inflammatory like metacam if he doesn't already do so; this will help to make her comfortable.

 

[Doragon]

Thanks very much! I'm comforted by the fact she's still eating as much as ever, so hopefully my vet can just clear things up tomorrow and its nothing too serious.

Mum's making the whole thing so much more difficult than it should be - she won't let me weigh Cookie on the kitchen scales and refusing to let me give her a boost with critical care - "No you're NOT feeding it to her it only needs it for when it stops eating" Etc, etc, she's being really stupid about it.

Just very concerned but since she pulled through nearly three weeks of hand feeding, I'm sure my sweetheart can pull through this, too.

 

[Wiebke]

Poor you! Can you weigh your girl in a cardboard box on the kitchen scales or get some cheap supermarket scales of your own?

 

[Doragon]

Well, uh. At the moment I'm begging my mother to lend me some money so that I can actually get Cookie her vet appointment; as I currently have £2 to my name. I get paid on Friday but there's no way I'm waiting that long to take her.

Hopefully the vet won't be much more than £40 at the most so I'll be able to grab some kitchen scales tomorrow as well, since Mum is really...irritating about it. I guess that's putting it politely.

 

[Wiebke]

Well, uh. At the moment I'm begging my mother to lend me some money so that I can actually get Cookie her vet appointment; as I currently have £2 to my name. I get paid on Friday but there's no way I'm waiting that long to take her.

Hopefully the vet won't be much more than £40 at the most so I'll be able to grab some kitchen scales tomorrow as well, since Mum is really...irritating about it. I guess that's putting it politely.

Many vets will agree to a payment scheme if you ask beforehand.

 

[Doragon]

Thanks very much for the advice! When I ring them tomorrow to book Cookie in I'll ask for a payment scheme if all else fails. I do have some form of savings stashed away, I don't know how much, so I could always just open that early and use that, too.

 

[Wiebke]

All the best!

 

[Doragon]

One last thing - should I bath Cookie before I take her to the vets? I don';t want to mess up the chances of them working out what it is, but I feel bad leaving her like that, the poor thing is a complete mess. Her fur is all matted and greasy...

 

[Doragon]

@Wiebke

Went to the vet this morning and IT doesn't look good for Cookie. They think it's cysts in the ovaries, explains what happened in January and the sudden weight loss.

She's lost over 150g; she now weighs a measly 794g.

If she doesnt start gaining weight the only thing I can do is put her to sleep, unless I want surgery which I don't want to put her through.

Race against time to make her gain the weight. I have medicine for her - metacam and baytril oil. I'm just praying I can give her the best rest of her life that I can. I'll keep you guys updated on how she goes; tell me I i need to make a new thread or whatever.

 

[Kerrie74]

Aww I'm sorry to hear about your guinea pig, I hope she pulls through!

 

[Doragon]

So do I; it's devastating because I know there's nothing I can do for her; absolutely nothing except try and nurse her.

 

[Kerrie74]

I know what you mean, we've had to have two guinea's put down since February due to vets not caring and diagnosing the correctly. The second one was very hard because we had a bit of a bond, he was my guinea pig and we'd had him for just over a year.

I do hope she gets better, sending her lots of love.

 

[Wiebke]

@Wiebke

Went to the vet this morning and IT doesn't look good for Cookie. They think it's cysts in the ovaries, explains what happened in January and the sudden weight loss.

She's lost over 150g; she now weighs a measly 794g.

If she doesnt start gaining weight the only thing I can do is put her to sleep, unless I want surgery which I don't want to put her through.

Race against time to make her gain the weight. I have medicine for her - metacam and baytril oil. I'm just praying I can give her the best rest of her life that I can. I'll keep you guys updated on how she goes; tell me I i need to make a new thread or whatever.

If it is ovarian cysts, are the vets you are using aware that there is now hormone therapy as an alternative to a spay that has been used to good effect in a number of sows, including a number of forum sows? Which county are you in?
@helen105281 @Elwickcavies @Pebble