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Emergency Guinea pig not moving

K

KarenL

New Born Pup
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Hi all,
I am really worried about my guinea pig. He is about 6 and a half years old. A few days ago he was completely fine but yesterday I noticed that he was moving a bit slowly and often just staying in one place. Now this morning I woke up and checked on him and suddenly he is unable to balance up on his feet. He sometimes is able to move using only his front paws but his back legs seem to be completely useless. I'm not sure what may have caused this because I have not dropped him and do not think he has fallen. Is this just a result of old age? He also is unable to really eat because of this so I am concerned. His brother seems to be fine though.
Any help would be appreciated.
 
KarenL said:
Hi all,
I am really worried about my guinea pig. He is about 6 and a half years old. A few days ago he was completely fine but yesterday I noticed that he was moving a bit slowly and often just staying in one place. Now this morning I woke up and checked on him and suddenly he is unable to balance up on his feet. He sometimes is able to move using only his front paws but his back legs seem to be completely useless. I'm not sure what may have caused this because I have not dropped him and do not think he has fallen. Is this just a result of old age? He also is unable to really eat because of this so I am concerned. His brother seems to be fine though.
Any help would be appreciated.
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He needs to see a vet as a matter of urgency. Have you got him booked in?
 
This is not a result of old age, it's obvious something is not right. If he is not able to eat and is unbalanced it is a medical emergency and you need to see a vet immediately
 
Please let us know what they say, sending lots of love
 
We had this problem out of the blue with our male and it was caused by heatstroke. This can effect them very quickly and can look like they have had a stroke.

Unfortunately we lost our guinea pig after trying everything to help him get better, but as long as you have got your piggie to the vets in time hopefully to help him.

Best wishes to you and your piggie
 
His heartrate was really low and he was a bit cold when he arrived at the vets, caused by what the vets think was a stroke. They were able to get him back to relatively stable by placing him on an IV. However, later in the day, he wasn't getting better and his heart rate was slowing again. We were able to say good bye and then decided to end his suffering. Nutmeg had a great and relatively long life though and thank you all for your support.
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I am a bit worried about his brother Cinnamon, but he seems to be fine for now. It is really not possible for my family to adopt another guinea pig to keep him company at the moment, so any ideas about how to keep Cinnamon happy are much appreciated!
 
So sorry for your loss. You really did everything you could and the last act of kindness was helping him on his way to stop his suffering.

I don't have any suggestions for Cinnamon unfortunately as piggies are herd animals and really do need the company of their own kind. Keep an eye on him in the coming days as piggies can go into acute grief (where they stop eating etc when left on their own). I'm lucky enough to have never had this happen to any of mine but we have seen members where this has happened
 
Sorry for your loss. What an absolutely gorgeous face. I bought my pigs a teddy bear suitable for a newborn, so nothing unsafe on it, and they like cuddling up to it.
 
Hi so sorry to hear about Nutmeg.
If you really can't get another piggie. Even if you fostered another one (The rescue places will pay for everything) Try and keep Cinnamon happy by getting him out often, stroking him, offering him new toys/treats, a box full of hay.
Good luck , let us know how it goes
 
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