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Diagnosed roundworms

Dilly's Piggies

Dilly's Piggies

Teenage Guinea Pig
Joined
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I just wanted to post here the outcome of my sow Lottie who has had diarrhoea for 3 weeks, but has been underweight and struggling for almost a year without an explanation. Yesterday I sent off stool samples and it tested positive for roundworms which were most likely picked up from eating grass. Treatment is a 5 day course of Panacur and I have to treat the other piggies that live with her too as their poops are looking suspicious. My vet has never seen a case of a guinea pig with worms, it's supposedly very rare and from what I've read on this forum, it is quite rare. So here's a little info about Lottie who has roundworms that may help others. If anyone else has additional information feel free to add in the comments, I want to know outcomes of piggies that had roundworms.

Lottie's symptoms:
Underweight for 1 year with no obvious cause
Unable to gain weight despite syringe feeding
Fantastic appetite (always acted starving)
Started chewing everything
Drinking more
Sleeping more
Rough looking coat
Inconsistent shaped poops, often with tails
Later progressed into mushy poop and then diarrhoea

Here's my baby Lottie, hopefully she gets better soon and will become chubby again like I've been wishing for <3
DSCN3432.webp
 
Glad you got to the bottom of what was wrong. I too believe that worms a rare in guinea pigs so its good to know the symptoms, just in case.
Hope Lottie makes a good recovery.
 
Do you know what species of roundworms (nematodes) she had? These are really rare in guinea pigs and probably came from a passing rat or mouse if she caught them outdoors. If you know the details I can include this in my veterinary parasitology lecture next year as there's practically no research on domestic cavy parasites... I normally teach about goat and horse worms which are much more common!
 
Firstly, Lottie is an amazing looking guinea pig, I mean absolutely gorgeous.

Secondly, I am too very interested in this thread. Having lost toffee, something was seriously wrong with my guy complicated with so many other issues. I wonder what the full journey is for the worms, is it grass? How does that happen?

I'm always willing to learn, understand how these situations can occur by way of prevention obviously.

thank you @CavyConnoisseur for the detailed information and obviously pursuing your beautiful girls health.
:tu:
 
PigglePuggle said:
Do you know what species of roundworms (nematodes) she had? These are really rare in guinea pigs and probably came from a passing rat or mouse if she caught them outdoors. If you know the details I can include this in my veterinary parasitology lecture next year as there's practically no research on domestic cavy parasites... I normally teach about goat and horse worms which are much more common!
Click to expand...
I wasn't told the species but I can find out for you what she has, I'm willing to give any information I have about Lottie's case to research also so please feel free to ask anything about it, I will get in touch with my vet and let you know the results, I know nothing about parasites in piggies either due to the lack of research hence why I posted here, hopefully others will chip in with some information too! :)
 
If you could let me know which species of parasite then I promise I will find out more from the scientific literature about how much is known about it infecting cavies, then include it in my "veterinary parasites" lecture. I searched for papers a bit yesterday when I saw your post (my PhD is in veterinary roundworms!) but I only found references to parasites of laboratory guinea pigs and wild cavies... there could be a whole research study here if I get a student to study piggy poop samples all year- could be more common than people realise, many gut parasites are asymptomatic until an unrelated stress or minor illness affects the immune system! Might be asking for UK based poop samples on the forum...
 
Poor little one, what rotten luck! Glad you have got to the bottom of it, sending healing vibes.
 
Poor Lottie but you know what the issue is now and she has medication so hopefully this will be the start of a full recovery for her
 
PigglePuggle said:
If you could let me know which species of parasite then I promise I will find out more from the scientific literature about how much is known about it infecting cavies, then include it in my "veterinary parasites" lecture. I searched for papers a bit yesterday when I saw your post (my PhD is in veterinary roundworms!) but I only found references to parasites of laboratory guinea pigs and wild cavies... there could be a whole research study here if I get a student to study piggy poop samples all year- could be more common than people realise, many gut parasites are asymptomatic until an unrelated stress or minor illness affects the immune system! Might be asking for UK based poop samples on the forum...
Click to expand...

:)) 4 prolific poppers here willing to package their best efforts in the name of scientific research :))
 
@Betsy just noticed this thread and wondered if your piggy could possibly have roundworm. I know it's a long shot but might be worth asking the vet to test for this. x
 
Just seen your post and it sounds worth investigating in our piggy. He has had excessive thirst since we got him june2017, always been up and down with weight, but recently dropping lots of weight and bloods and X rays are showing nothing up.
Will def mention to my vet.
How is lot tie doing now?
 
Lottie has been on and off, diarrhoea keeps coming and going, it's a hard time. Still waiting on our second lot of faecal test results to come back as there is obviously still a problem... She's still on probiotics but it's not helping much.
 
Lottie is still not cured, diarrhoea still coming and going, she hasn't done a normal poop for weeks, it's ranging from soft to liquid, having to bathe her daily as she gets herself into a mess. I sent off a second poop sample to the vet lab but somehow they lost it, so I had to do another one, been waiting over a week now and still not heard anything. Lottie is still getting supportive care, probiotics, metacam, vitamin supplements daily and syringe feeding when necessary as she still has a good appetite. She's back to eating her pellets now and weight has gone back up slightly but once supportive care is stopped the diarrhoea comes right back, so frustrating.

Vet had a quick look at her last poop sample and said she thought she saw more roundworm eggs so Lottie likely still has the roundworms, lab will show if she has them and what species so we can put her on the right medication finally. Bacterial infection is likely due to the awful, foul smell of her poop and the stomach cramps she is getting, poor baby is on pain meds because she was so miserable, it's helping! Will keep posting updates, should have the lab results on Monday hopefully.
 
She hasn't had diarrhoea or weight loss for 5 days now, in fact she is gaining weight and has normal poops now. Whatever is happening it intermittent, like she goes around 4 days with issues and then they go away for 4 days and come back etc. I don't know if maybe the roundworms just sent her entire GI tract out of whack, I really hope she doesn't have any organ damage. Fibreplex is helping a tonne, I think I'll pick up another syringe of it as we've run out and give her another week on that as a precaution and hold off further tests unless the diarrhoea comes back again. Does this sound like an okay plan?
 
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