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Guinea pig tipped over?

H

hrhmcm

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello,

I have an older guinea pig who has recently lost the use of his back legs. It’s been about a week now and vet believes it to be neurological. He’s been completely fine in terms of eating/drinking etc. so we are just seeing how he gets on.

However, yesterday I did turn around to find him lying on his back. He was completely quiet and lying quite still, so I didn’t even notice it had happened! When I turned him right side up he just happily went back to eating. I think it was just a case of he had lost his balance and was unable to right himself due to his lessened mobility.

I know them laying on their back is less than ideal for their spine and heart, but I was just seeking a bit of clarification on just how bad it is? As now every moment I’m away from the guinea pigs I’m worried that he might have tipped over again.

I work from home in the same room as the pigs, so I can keep an eye on him for most of the day but obviously I’m not able to spend every hour of every day watching him. So I’d just like to know if it is a life or death situation where he must be righted asap, or whether he’ll be okay (or as okay as he can be stuck on his back lol) until it is picked up on?
 
Poor piggy. I'm not sure what to say as I've not had this problem so far. I'm going someone will come along with experience of mobility problems. Could you set up a pet cam on the side of the cage? Then you could check he is OK every half hour. I hope he will be OK 🙏
 
hrhmcm said:
Hello,

I have an older guinea pig who has recently lost the use of his back legs. It’s been about a week now and vet believes it to be neurological. He’s been completely fine in terms of eating/drinking etc. so we are just seeing how he gets on.

However, yesterday I did turn around to find him lying on his back. He was completely quiet and lying quite still, so I didn’t even notice it had happened! When I turned him right side up he just happily went back to eating. I think it was just a case of he had lost his balance and was unable to right himself due to his lessened mobility.

I know them laying on their back is less than ideal for their spine and heart, but I was just seeking a bit of clarification on just how bad it is? As now every moment I’m away from the guinea pigs I’m worried that he might have tipped over again.

I work from home in the same room as the pigs, so I can keep an eye on him for most of the day but obviously I’m not able to spend every hour of every day watching him. So I’d just like to know if it is a life or death situation where he must be righted asap, or whether he’ll be okay (or as okay as he can be stuck on his back lol) until it is picked up on?
Click to expand...

Hi

HUGS

It is scary to find an old piggy on their back, unable to right themselves. :(

I have had that problem with some of my elderlies with mobility issues coming to the end of their lives, with often advanced arthritis. All you can do is to check regularly and right them whenever you notice. One or two were sadly too far gone to recover if it happened overnight and they had to be put to sleep (pts). One of them where we just had come to the sad decision on the examination table suddenly perked up again and lived for a few weeks longer...

What we cannot tell you is how strong the heart is and whether they start to bloat badly as a result of lying on their back for any length of time, which makes it additionally more diffcult to right themselves etc. These are all situational/individual factors that are unpredictable.

Cherish every day you have with your oldie as the special gift that it is and be prepared to race them to the vets if needed to spare them any unnecessary discomfort/suffering. With a luck your boy can make it quite a while longer - but that is the part you just cannot predict. It is a sign that he is sadly getting rather frailer and you will have to accept that. This is the time of life when the much faster metabolism is turning against our beloved ones... :(

You may find this link here helpful:
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection
 
Thank you both for your replies! I’ve been keeping a close eye on him, and so far seems to have been a one off (touch wood!). He seems quite stable enough so far, but will definitely be looking into a camera as there’s usually somebody at home that would be able to help even if I am out.

He has not improved as much as the vet would have liked in the time it has been since he lost use of his legs, but there has been a slight improvement so that little glimmer of hope is keeping us going !
 
hrhmcm said:
Thank you both for your replies! I’ve been keeping a close eye on him, and so far seems to have been a one off (touch wood!). He seems quite stable enough so far, but will definitely be looking into a camera as there’s usually somebody at home that would be able to help even if I am out.

He has not improved as much as the vet would have liked in the time it has been since he lost use of his legs, but there has been a slight improvement so that little glimmer of hope is keeping us going !
Click to expand...

Have you seen our guide with plenty of practical tips and advice on looking after piggies with mobility issues?

here is the link. I hope that you will find it helpful: Looking After Guinea Pigs With Limited or No Mobility


Depending on the cause, recovery can be slow and may never fully happen. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there are no further topples.
 
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