SophieLouise
New Born Pup
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2013
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
Coco is a beautiful 2 year old sow with tons of intelligence and character. Her attitude isn't like your typical Guinea Pig. Most of the time she has free range of our living room and hops in and out of her cage as she pleases. She follows you around, comes to you when you call her, climbs up little steps to get onto the sofa and sit on your lap and she has built a friendship with our Miniature Dachshund. She is one of a kind!
She has always been tiny, despite being the dominant piggy in my herd of three. But over the past couple of months she had been losing weight but wasn't showing any other signs of being unwell. She was down to just 650g and off her food so off to the vets we went.
Initially we were unable to determine why she was losing weight. She was prescribed Recovery Plus Advanced Liquid Feed and was given Emeprid (Metoclopramide) by injection to get her gut moving as her poos were very small and not as regular.
I persevered with frequent syringe feeding and weighing but she just wouldn't gain weight. She still seemed very interested in food and would always squeak for veggies. I noticed she would pick up a pellet or piece of carrot (her favourite) and immediately drop it. So I wondered whether she had dental problems.
We went back to the vets and she was given another shot of Emeprid and was prescribed 0.4mls of Loxicom Oral to be given once a day to help with any pain she might have been in. She was then booked in to have an X-ray and have her teeth examined a few days later.
I dropped Coco off in the morning and by lunchtime I had a phone call from the vet. She had fully recovered from her sedation and eating small amounts of hay and veggies. I was told that her teeth were in excellent condition. Which was great to hear, but meant that it wasn't the cause of her losing weight. The vet had noticed a small build up of calcium in her kidney. She then mentioned that she was concerned about Coco's lungs and that she wanted to send the X-rays to a specialist to interpret. I wasn't told anything more.
Coco happily returned home and settled back in. I carried on syringe feeding and giving her 0.4mls of Loxicom every day.
Today I had a phone call from the vet after she'd consulted the specialist. We briefly discussed Coco's Kidney and I was advised to increase her intake of liquids to try and flush it out. Hopefully once it's cleared she will gain weight. Then the conversation got more serious.
They believe that since birth, Coco has been living with only one functioning lung. This would explain why she is very petite for a fully grown Guinea Pig. They are astounded that she is still going at her age. Her incredible personality and attitude has kept her alive. She does not appear to be the same Guinea Pig as in her X-rays.
Her other lung isn't in great condition so she had been prescribed 0.2mls Baytril twice a day to fight any infection. If necessary, she will be on antibiotics for the rest of her life.
She is still a very happy and energetic piggy. And I will keep fighting for her as long as she wants me to.
My vet hasn't come across anything like this before and I've been asked to keep giving feedback as it all helps build knowledge.
I would love to know whether anyone has had a similar experience and how long their piggy lived with just one lung.
Sophie and Coco x
She has always been tiny, despite being the dominant piggy in my herd of three. But over the past couple of months she had been losing weight but wasn't showing any other signs of being unwell. She was down to just 650g and off her food so off to the vets we went.
Initially we were unable to determine why she was losing weight. She was prescribed Recovery Plus Advanced Liquid Feed and was given Emeprid (Metoclopramide) by injection to get her gut moving as her poos were very small and not as regular.
I persevered with frequent syringe feeding and weighing but she just wouldn't gain weight. She still seemed very interested in food and would always squeak for veggies. I noticed she would pick up a pellet or piece of carrot (her favourite) and immediately drop it. So I wondered whether she had dental problems.
We went back to the vets and she was given another shot of Emeprid and was prescribed 0.4mls of Loxicom Oral to be given once a day to help with any pain she might have been in. She was then booked in to have an X-ray and have her teeth examined a few days later.
I dropped Coco off in the morning and by lunchtime I had a phone call from the vet. She had fully recovered from her sedation and eating small amounts of hay and veggies. I was told that her teeth were in excellent condition. Which was great to hear, but meant that it wasn't the cause of her losing weight. The vet had noticed a small build up of calcium in her kidney. She then mentioned that she was concerned about Coco's lungs and that she wanted to send the X-rays to a specialist to interpret. I wasn't told anything more.
Coco happily returned home and settled back in. I carried on syringe feeding and giving her 0.4mls of Loxicom every day.
Today I had a phone call from the vet after she'd consulted the specialist. We briefly discussed Coco's Kidney and I was advised to increase her intake of liquids to try and flush it out. Hopefully once it's cleared she will gain weight. Then the conversation got more serious.
They believe that since birth, Coco has been living with only one functioning lung. This would explain why she is very petite for a fully grown Guinea Pig. They are astounded that she is still going at her age. Her incredible personality and attitude has kept her alive. She does not appear to be the same Guinea Pig as in her X-rays.
Her other lung isn't in great condition so she had been prescribed 0.2mls Baytril twice a day to fight any infection. If necessary, she will be on antibiotics for the rest of her life.
She is still a very happy and energetic piggy. And I will keep fighting for her as long as she wants me to.
My vet hasn't come across anything like this before and I've been asked to keep giving feedback as it all helps build knowledge.
I would love to know whether anyone has had a similar experience and how long their piggy lived with just one lung.
Sophie and Coco x
I think Coco has a very long life to lead! Fingers & paws crossed that the calcium issue will be sorted! Can we see a picture? 
