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Guinea pig cant move his back end

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LoveMyMenagerie

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Hi everyone, I am new here and just want to ask for some advice/opinions.
When my neighbours moved out they gave me their guinea pig Brian. I believe him to be about 6/7yrs old and he has never been ill in his life (until now).
I went out to check on all the bunnies and Brian last night and noticed he was laying in the corner and didnt look right. I then noticed that he couldnt move properly as though he has lost all movement in his back end. I brought him in and put him in a cat carrier with lots of towels to give him more support. He is still eating and drinking properly as long as the food bowl is in front of him as he cant move. This morning I have noticed that he has passed 2 quite big, round lumps of poo (not hard, still squishy) which is obviously abnormal for a piggie. I have phoned the vets and told them i think he needs to be PTS and ive got an app later on. But I just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this before? I just thought this was all down to old age and the kindest thing would be to put him to sleep. I just want to make sure it couldnt be anything else? All advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ?/
 
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Thank you for the quick response. I just assumed it was an old age thing and didnt want him to suffer hence why i thought it best to put him to sleep. But after reading things online i am now thinking thats the wrong thing to do. I love brian to bits and dont want him to suffer but at the same time want to do everything i can to save him! Hopefully i get one of the nice vets who will understand me rather than the evil ones who basically tell you its cruel to keep them alive! He is my piggie and i will argue with the vet if i have to pow-pow
 
Best of luck! Osteocare has often helped with cases of overnight paralysis - it seems to be caused by a sudden drop of calcium.
 
see thats what it was. He was fine last night. His poos are a little more normal now and he's still eating! Fingers crossed
 
Hi and welcome to you and Brian :)
Oh no so sorry to hear about him.......... :(
whee can only hope that your savvy piggie vet can help him xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
there is many things that might be able to help him.......we've had a few piggies on here that have come back from these problems...tho only you and your vet will know what's best
Lots of healing loving wheeeeeeeeks from my girls and I xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Glynis, Velvet and Onyx x

p.s would love to see a pigture of the little man x)
 
Along with osteocare + vit D, ask about possible steroid injection to ease any inflamation and metacam for painrelief. Many pigs that develop sudden paralysis do improve over time, I know it is scary when it happens but as others have said, don't give up hope just yet.

Suzy x
 
Hope he is doing ok.

With regards to his poops, the reason they may have been squishy lumps is if he had passed caecotrophs and been unable to turn round to eat them.
 
aww thank you, you're all so friendly and welcoming :<>
I'm in Hertfordshire, to be honest my vets are great there is just one male vet in particular i dont overly like but he rarely works so fingers crossed its not him! Well I shall no go there armed with this info and tell me I want to try this first! Thank you all for your help x>>
 
Just wanted to let you all know that i took Brian to the vets and got one of my favourite ones :) explained everything to her and she said it does sound like a vitamin c deficiency. He is on pain killers (Metacam) and she suggested I buy a vitamin supplement to give to him as they dont stock it anymore! The only place open was pets at home so i got Beaphar guinea pig vitamin solution. Would this be ok or can anyone suggest a better one and where i can get it from? x
 
This is good progress. However it may not be enough for him to recover fully and we need to ask a few more questions so we can give you enough info to go back to your vet for further treatment if it seems necessary ( I am not conviced this a mere vit deficiency)

So before I make any further comment can you please list what he eats on a daily basis - I need to know exactly what you feed him routinely each day in terms of pellets/hay..(makes etc) .and most importantly his veggies each day on a routine weekly basis.

x
 
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