Dilly's Piggies
Teenage Guinea Pig
I seem to have the worst luck in the world with my Guinea Pigs, I buy them all of the best toys, hay, pellets, veggies, with a huge C&C cage and fleece bedding, I spend a fortune on making sure they are cared for to the best standard yet they always seem to get sick, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
2 weeks ago my 5 year old sow died during surgery because of heart problems, she was hooting and losing weight, had all of the symptoms, yet my non cavy savvy vet diagnosed asthma and prescribed her a ventolin inhaler, which obviously did nothing because it wasn't the correct diagnosis. Then she was diagnosed with a mammary lump, which she had to go in for surgery to remove, she was stable throughout surgery but once they took her off the anesthesia, her heart failed and she sadly died. The vet x-rayed her chest and saw an enlarged heart, which confirms that her symptoms were infact heart disease, had I known this I never would've agreed to surgery, I am still angry that my vets didn't check this out before putting her through surgery, she would still be with me happily munching and playing with her friends today.
Anyway, after this crisis, I obviously know what to expect and look for with a possible heart pig. And now my 3 month old sow has started hooting, she's also skinny, she picks up her pellets but then drops them, she doesn't seem to be able to eat them, however she can eat veggies and hay but she chews it for longer than a normal piggy. She has been stressy for the last 2 days, snapping at her cagemates and she is restless when I hold her, which isn't normal for her, she's usually very laid back and she's friendly with her cagemates. She is around 100g smaller than my other sows that are the same age as her and bought from the same place, she has been this much smaller since I got her, so I thought she was just small and it's normal, but now I'm starting to become concerned that maybe she can't eat as much as she wants to and thus not gaining the weight that her sisters are. I also found what looked to be blood around her lady parts this morning, it was dried and there's nothing there now the dried blood has been cleaned off, maybe she just sat on a tomato or something and I'm over worrying.
I just have a feeling that something is very wrong with her but I cannot pinpoint anything, there are many symptoms that could be something serious yet I could be worrying about nothing, my anxiety is very high after losing my other sow not only 2 weeks ago, I can't help but panic. I'm registering my girls with a new vet clinic as the current one isn't filling me with confidence that they know about Guinea Pigs, I just hope this new clinic knows what they are doing. I also hope I have caught this early and whatever the problem is that it can be treated now and she can live happily and comfortably, as currently she doesn't seem to be very happy and that kills me.
If anyone can piece this puzzle together and figure out the possibilities of what could be wrong with her and what I can do for her before I can get her to a vet, I'd appreciate it.
2 weeks ago my 5 year old sow died during surgery because of heart problems, she was hooting and losing weight, had all of the symptoms, yet my non cavy savvy vet diagnosed asthma and prescribed her a ventolin inhaler, which obviously did nothing because it wasn't the correct diagnosis. Then she was diagnosed with a mammary lump, which she had to go in for surgery to remove, she was stable throughout surgery but once they took her off the anesthesia, her heart failed and she sadly died. The vet x-rayed her chest and saw an enlarged heart, which confirms that her symptoms were infact heart disease, had I known this I never would've agreed to surgery, I am still angry that my vets didn't check this out before putting her through surgery, she would still be with me happily munching and playing with her friends today.
Anyway, after this crisis, I obviously know what to expect and look for with a possible heart pig. And now my 3 month old sow has started hooting, she's also skinny, she picks up her pellets but then drops them, she doesn't seem to be able to eat them, however she can eat veggies and hay but she chews it for longer than a normal piggy. She has been stressy for the last 2 days, snapping at her cagemates and she is restless when I hold her, which isn't normal for her, she's usually very laid back and she's friendly with her cagemates. She is around 100g smaller than my other sows that are the same age as her and bought from the same place, she has been this much smaller since I got her, so I thought she was just small and it's normal, but now I'm starting to become concerned that maybe she can't eat as much as she wants to and thus not gaining the weight that her sisters are. I also found what looked to be blood around her lady parts this morning, it was dried and there's nothing there now the dried blood has been cleaned off, maybe she just sat on a tomato or something and I'm over worrying.
I just have a feeling that something is very wrong with her but I cannot pinpoint anything, there are many symptoms that could be something serious yet I could be worrying about nothing, my anxiety is very high after losing my other sow not only 2 weeks ago, I can't help but panic. I'm registering my girls with a new vet clinic as the current one isn't filling me with confidence that they know about Guinea Pigs, I just hope this new clinic knows what they are doing. I also hope I have caught this early and whatever the problem is that it can be treated now and she can live happily and comfortably, as currently she doesn't seem to be very happy and that kills me.
If anyone can piece this puzzle together and figure out the possibilities of what could be wrong with her and what I can do for her before I can get her to a vet, I'd appreciate it.
So I will phone them for an appointment and to register my girls there, and I ask for Sarah Pellet directly to be the vet that see's her, right?
