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FuzzySaski

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello. This thread is about my 2 year old Guinea Pig, Saki. She's always been a really healthy and explorative piggy with a lot of energy and life for food. She'd always make the loudest sounds when the fridge door would open or when she'd hear me and up. Up to about 4 days ago, she was always exploring her cage, eating and interacting with her cage companion.
A few days ago though, I started noticing her getting more and more inactive. She wouldn't leave her hiding house and although she ate the
 
Hello. This thread is about my 2 year old Guinea Pig, Saki. She's always been a really healthy and explorative piggy with a lot of energy and life for food. She'd always make the loudest sounds when the fridge door would open or when she'd hear me and up. Up to about 4 days ago, she was always exploring her cage, eating and interacting with her cage companion.
A few days ago though, I started noticing her getting more and more inactive. She wouldn't leave her hiding house and although she ate the

Hi and welcome!

Please see a vet as soon as possible; ideally today or latest tomorrow!
Only a hands-on examination can find the cause and address it with the appropriate medication. We can only give you advice on how to keep her alive for the bridging period, but we cannot replace any necessary vet care. Pain, loss of appetite and lethargy from not eating due to discomfort are serious problems that need to be seen by a vet as quickly as possible.


Start weighing her daily and if necessary step in with syringe feeding ASAP; a guinea pig that is not eating, and especially is not eating hay (which is over 80% of the daily food intake) is a very ill and potentially dying guinea pig.
Take the time to read this link here; it contains all the advice on care at home and any further necessary links until you can see a vet and can start the necessary medicated healing process: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

With any pet you need to save up for vet care as part of their weekly/monthly living cost; they make the overall largest budget post in any pet's life. Freedom from pain and any unnecessary suffering is one of the legally acknowledged five freedoms of animal welfare. }

Emergencies in small pets can unfortunately not wait. 4 days are unfortunately already quite a lot of valuable time wasted in which your little girl has got worse, so it is going to take longer to heal her. The longer you wait, the less the chance there is.

All the best - but see a vet ASAP if you want to have a chance of saving your girl!
 
Hello. This thread is about my 2 year old Guinea Pig, Saski. She's always been a really healthy and explorative piggy with a lot of energy and love for food. She'd always make the loudest sounds when the fridge door would open or when she'd hear me wake up. Up to about 4 days ago, she was always exploring her cage, eating and interacting with her cage companion.

A few days ago though, I started noticing her getting more and more inactive. She wouldn't leave her hiding house and although she ate the veggies I gave them, she stopped making her regular excited noises when I'd approach the cage. Her poos also started getting inconsistent, some looking larger and others looking way too small and teardrop-looking.

Right now, she doesn't go outside of her house at all. She only eats lettuce and hay, and discards her pellets and other veggies. I haven't seen her drink water, and she doesn't even use the chew toys anymore. She's also started having really really soft diarrhea-like poos and she looks skinnier with her back bones showing. She hasn't made a single sound and my other guinea pig looks very sad about the situation as well.

Right now, I'd rush her to the vet, but all of them are closed until Tuesday. We haven't had a similar health problem apart from when she got bumble foot last year which we treated. Should I worry about her dying? Are there any home treatments I could try? Has this happened to anyone else before? Please inform me asap if you know a way to help me as I'm really worried! 115777
 

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Hello. This thread is about my 2 year old Guinea Pig, Saski. She's always been a really healthy and explorative piggy with a lot of energy and love for food. She'd always make the loudest sounds when the fridge door would open or when she'd hear me wake up. Up to about 4 days ago, she was always exploring her cage, eating and interacting with her cage companion.

A few days ago though, I started noticing her getting more and more inactive. She wouldn't leave her hiding house and although she ate the veggies I gave them, she stopped making her regular excited noises when I'd approach the cage. Her poos also started getting inconsistent, some looking larger and others looking way too small and teardrop-looking.

Right now, she doesn't go outside of her house at all. She only eats lettuce and hay, and discards her pellets and other veggies. I haven't seen her drink water, and she doesn't even use the chew toys anymore. She's also started having really really soft diarrhea-like poos and she looks skinnier with her back bones showing. She hasn't made a single sound and my other guinea pig looks very sad about the situation as well.

Right now, I'd rush her to the vet, but all of them are closed until Tuesday. We haven't had a similar health problem apart from when she got bumble foot last year which we treated. Should I worry about her dying? Are there any home treatments I could try? Has this happened to anyone else before? Please inform me asap if you know a way to help me as I'm really worried! View attachment 115777

PS: The small poos mean that your girl has not been eating much or any hay for the last day or two (which is the time it takes the poos to pass through the system), which is the overwhelming part of a normal diet.

Please step in with syringe feeding support ASAP. You can find tips on how to mush up pellets and what you can do with what you have got at home or easily available in the emergency care link in my first post. You will find that link very helpful as it contains all the practical tips on how you can keep your piggy going as much as possible until she can see vet.
Please se
 
PS: The small poos mean that your girl has not been eating much or any hay for the last day or two (which is the time it takes the poos to pass through the system), which is the overwhelming part of a normal diet.

Please step in with syringe feeding support ASAP. You can find tips on how to mush up pellets and what you can do with what you have got at home or easily available in the emergency care link in my first post. You will find that link very helpful as it contains all the practical tips on how you can keep your piggy going as much as possible until she can see vet.
Please se
thank you for the advice, I fed her a mix of pellets with water and veggies and seeds. Hopefully she gets better and hangs on until it's time for the vet
 
thank you for the advice, I fed her a mix of pellets with water and veggies and seeds. Hopefully she gets better and hangs on until it's time for the vet

When are you at the vets? This is an emergency so I hope your vets are prioritising getting her in. Please do not feed seeds, they are not part of the guinea pig diet and can pose a choking hazard
 
thank you for the advice, I fed her a mix of pellets with water and veggies and seeds. Hopefully she gets better and hangs on until it's time for the vet

This IS an emergency - see a vet ASAP!
 
When are you at the vets? This is an emergency so I hope your vets are prioritising getting her in. Please do not feed seeds, they are not part of the guinea pig diet and can pose a choking hazard
they're all closed today, so I'll contact them asap tomorrow! I know it's an emergency but sadly the only open ones atm are only for cats or dogs.
 
they're all closed today, so I'll contact them asap tomorrow! I know it's an emergency but sadly the only open ones atm are only for cats or dogs.

Given the medical emergency i would say any vet is better than no vet. If you are in the UK then your vet has to ensure you can access vet care 24/7. Vets often dont provide this service themselves but if you call your usual vet number then you will get a recorded message with the out of hours number on. Sadly i really dont think it will be good to wait til tomorrow
 
Given the medical emergency i would say any vet is better than no vet. If you are in the UK then your vet has to ensure you can access vet care 24/7. Vets often dont provide this service themselves but if you call your usual vet number then you will get a recorded message with the out of hours number on. Sadly i really dont think it will be good to wait til tomorrow
Sadly, most of the vets in my town area are inexperienced and although I tried calling, no one answers. My actual Vet is an hour away but I haven't had luck in reaching them either. I know how serious this is and I'm trying my best to do the best I can right now. Fortunately, she seems to be doing better than yesterday.
 
Sadly, most of the vets in my town area are inexperienced and although I tried calling, no one answers. My actual Vet is an hour away but I haven't had luck in reaching them either. I know how serious this is and I'm trying my best to do the best I can right now. Fortunately, she seems to be doing better than yesterday.

Sadly you just have to keep trying any vets in the local area and keep syringe feeding every 2-3 hours as much as she will take. Hopefully you can get hold of a vet soon
 
Sadly you just have to keep trying any vets in the local area and keep syringe feeding every 2-3 hours as much as she will take. Hopefully you can get hold of a vet soon
I'm on my way to the exotic vet right now, Saski's been a lot better since yesterday and has been exploring her cage and eating normally. I'm still very worried, but it's a relief to know she's not in that much pain.
 
Please let us know how you get on at the vet.
I hope they are able to diagnose the problem and help Saski.
 
I'm on my way to the exotic vet right now, Saski's been a lot better since yesterday and has been exploring her cage and eating normally. I'm still very worried, but it's a relief to know she's not in that much pain.
UPDATE: (sorry for the long wait!)

the vet did a checkup and checked her mouth, feet, ears, poos, overall behaviour etc. They didn't find a problem and since she got better on her own, they said the thing that caused her loss of appetite and inactiveness was the sudden rise in temperature.

Apparently temperature plays a big role in piggy health and if it goes down or up to quickly it can lead to health issues. Luckily, Saski managed to recover without the vet's help once I cooled down my room and fed her through the syringe.

Although she appeared healthy, they still gave us antibiotics to give in case her problem reoccurs, but for now everything is great! She's just like her good old self.
 

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UPDATE: (sorry for the long wait!)

the vet did a checkup and checked her mouth, feet, ears, poos, overall behaviour etc. They didn't find a problem and since she got better on her own, they said the thing that caused her loss of appetite and inactiveness was the sudden rise in temperature.

Apparently temperature plays a big role in piggy health and if it goes down or up to quickly it can lead to health issues. Luckily, Saski managed to recover without the vet's help once I cooled down my room and fed her through the syringe.

Although she appeared healthy, they still gave us antibiotics to give in case her problem reoccurs, but for now everything is great! She's just like her good old self.

That’s brilliant news :) yes, guinea pigs don’t cope with extreme changes in temperature very well
 
UPDATE: (sorry for the long wait!)

the vet did a checkup and checked her mouth, feet, ears, poos, overall behaviour etc. They didn't find a problem and since she got better on her own, they said the thing that caused her loss of appetite and inactiveness was the sudden rise in temperature.

Apparently temperature plays a big role in piggy health and if it goes down or up to quickly it can lead to health issues. Luckily, Saski managed to recover without the vet's help once I cooled down my room and fed her through the syringe.

Although she appeared healthy, they still gave us antibiotics to give in case her problem reoccurs, but for now everything is great! She's just like her good old self.

Hi!

Glad that there is nothing seriously wrong with her.

Please take the time to read these two guides here about hot and cold weather care and heat strokes.
They are REALLY important and can make the difference between life and death for Saski. She has had one lucky escape, but she may not have another one.

Hot Weather Management and Heat Strokes
Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs

Is she an outdoors or an indoors piggy? Outdoors piggies are at greater risk because of the bigger temperature extremes and suddwn swings.
 
Hi!

Glad that there is nothing seriously wrong with her.

Please take the time to read these two guides here about hot and cold weather care and heat strokes.
They are REALLY important and can make the difference between life and death for Saski. She has had one lucky escape, but she may not have another one.

Hot Weather Management and Heat Strokes
Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs

Is she an outdoors or an indoors piggy? Outdoors piggies are at greater risk because of the bigger temperature extremes and suddwn swings.
She's indoors, I think the reason for her behaviour was the fact that I had to reposition my cage in front of the window for a couple of days (I had actually forgotten about how dangerous direct sunlight is!) but I put it back where it originally was and hopefully she doesn't have to go through this ever again.
 
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