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Help me keep Terry alive.

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PopcornPigs

PopcornPigs

Adult Guinea Pig
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I am so confused as to what is wrong with my Terry.
He had lost a little bit of weight gradually over a couple of months but nothing significant. Then last week he didn't seem himself and was a bit off his food. Took him to the vet and he was found to have a lump on the right of his neck which the vet could not draw anything from, therefore it could be cancerous as it wasnr't a cyst/abcess. He also had a urine test and there was a high blood count.
His poos were soft and smelly and he seemed very off colour. I was given antibiotics (co trim?) and said we can try blood tests (i think for the lump?). I was also given fibreplex to help with the stomach.

I've never seen Terry like he was then, didn't even want any babycorn. He was drinking loooads but has gone to drinking hardly anything unless I put it to his mouth. He's eating hay and cucumber. He seems to want to eat corn/carrot but takes one bite then doesn't want it. He's still loosing weight. My vet performed a dental check on him and even let me look (as she knows I'm a big guinea fan) but all teeth were even, no spurs etc.

He's not totally weak or anything, he puts up a fight against the meds and this evening he has jumped off my lap and run around my bedroom like he used to (has made me cry thinking I may loose him).

I'm just really desperate to make him better. I do NOT want to loose him. Shall I feed him Critical care? he needs vitamin C obviously.. not interested in bell pepper.

I need as much advice as possible.

My plan is:

unlimited hay (as usual)
cucumber, bottle to lips as often as possible.
critical care
antibiotics/probiotics
vitamin c tablet? if i can get him to take it.

i've tried wetting/softening pellets but he's still not interested in them.
 
Solid lump could just be a fatty lump not necessarily cancer. Blood in urine could be infection or stones. Not sure if it could be kidneys or anything like that. Has he been scanned/xrayed for stones? Could they remove or at least biopsy the lump if they are worried about it? Annabelle lost weight when she had a stone as she was uncomfy. Lexi went off her food for three days once, worried me stupid and then just started eating again. The vets were stumped they couldn't figure out why. Your plan for feeding sounds good, it's what I did for Lexi pretty much.
 
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Yeah id ask the vets to look into this further, possible stone etc. If he is hardly eating and is rapidly loosing weight then yes you must syringe feed him, they recommend about 100 - 120ml just to maintain his current weight but if he is eating a good amount of hay then you shalt need to give him as much but as he is dropping weight I imagine he isn't eaten much?

Hope the poor chap feels better soon!
 
First of all, stop panicking! :)

Not being able to get anything from a lump doesn't mean anything really.

It could be an abscess - the pus in guinea pigs and rabbits is very thick, so it's difficult to get anything on a fine needle aspirate. It could be a lipoma (fatty lump), it could be an enlarged lymph node (if there's a systemic infection present), it could be a tumour (benign or cancerous), theres many things that it may or may not be.

The best way of diagnosing lumps, is by a biopsy, but it doesn't sound like the lump is his main problem at the moment.

The blood in his urine could be as a result of an infection, bladder stones or a kidney problem. Kidney failure causes weightloss, but so does not eating as much due to being uncomfortable/painful, which an infection/stones would cause. Any of these things could also explain his increased thirst.

His soft/smelly poos are likely to be caused by his initial increase in drinking, and the changes in his eating, but there could be another underlying cause.

I would say that, for the moment, give the antibiotics a go, it could just be a simple urine infection. Has he had any pain relief? It could make him more comfortable and improve his eating. If there's no real improvement on the antibiotics, then you're likely to be looking at further investigations, probably an x-ray to rule out stones in the first instance.

In terms of vit. C, if you can get these http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/products-Oxbow-Daily-C_NC2489.htm then great. If not, you'll need to find something suitable - stay away from artificial sweeteners, added zinc etc. I crush the tablet (or part of it, depending on the dose), and either mix it with some water, or add it to the critical care, and syringe it.

If he's got wetter than normal poos, I'd lay off the cucumber. Let him eat hay and offer him dry food. You can top him up with feeds of critical care throughout the day; again, mix it to more of a paste consistency rather than a liquid if you can, as it'll get more fibre in him, and less fluid, per syringe. Don't forget, that you're adding water to the CC where he'd normally be eating mainly hay, so he may just not need to have a drink. As long as he's mobile, if he wants a drink, he'll go to his bottle and have one.

Keep up the fibreplex, this will help the poos and rebalance the gut flora after his antibiotics.


Hope that all helps a little! Keep us updated on his progress :)
 
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He's been roaming around my room for a while. His normal poos are wet but fairly solid but vary in size from his normal length but skinny and small. He has also done caecotrophs. He has bent to get them but they've been really wet and not formed so he's just eaten them/licked them off the floor. I've managed to encourage him to eat some moistened pellets and critical care. He's still loving hay which is good. I have some metacam I could give him. I really hope its just an infection :( I'm just panicking as I've only just lost Doris and I don't know what I'll do if I loose Terry!
 
No advice, just wanted to send Terry some vibes and some hugs to you x x

Edit: I know you are worried regards Vit C, often pellets have Vit C in them, one of our piggies eats hardly any veg due to wet poo's and gets most her Vit C from her pellets, make sure the pellets are just moistened with cold water though not hot as this would denature the Vit C
 
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PopcornPigs said:
He's been roaming around my room for a while. His normal poos are wet but fairly solid but vary in size from his normal length but skinny and small. He has also done caecotrophs. He has bent to get them but they've been really wet and not formed so he's just eaten them/licked them off the floor. I've managed to encourage him to eat some moistened pellets and critical care. He's still loving hay which is good. I have some metacam I could give him. I really hope its just an infection :( I'm just panicking as I've only just lost Doris and I don't know what I'll do if I loose Terry!
Click to expand...

You will get funny sizes and shapes and stuff if he's not eating normally. Any poo is better than no poo though. If he's able to eat hay, he should be able to eat anything really, so maybe just offer him his normal pellets etc. on top of the CC. He'll probably eat more poos than normal to balance his gut flora; probiotics are good, but they're not as good as natures own!

Some metacam could help - call your vet and have a chat about giving him some; they'll also be able to calculate a dose for you based on his current weight and whether you have the cat or dog metacam.
 
Please dont panic, you are doing absolutely fab, you really are. Will vibe like mad for the little piggie. Hugs to you xx
 
I am so sorry your little man is poorly. I am sending hugs to you both.
 
Hello,
I only suggest you call CJ Hall in Mortlake and they will find problem.
We used them long time and they never let us down with pigs.
They removed 2 lumps from Ruby (20 days ago - on my avatar) and she looks like new :)
 
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How is Terry today? Wanted to send some healing vibes, and hugs to you xx
 
Terry was up at the bars fOr breakfast this morning. Although same thing with sweetcorn and carrot.. Took it, took one bite then wandered off. Only really ate a small cucumber chunk but also ate critical care and hay.
 
Keep trying to eat theres a good boy Terry x ps have you tried doing the peeled carrot with a peeler so he has ribbons?Might be easier to eat. Also you can do bran or porridge mash.
 
Healing vibes for Terry :laluot_29::laluot_29::laluot_29: and (((((hugs))))) for you, I know how difficult it is to try and stop worrying so much when there's wrong with our babies. x
 
Sorry to hear your little man is unwell. Mine is poorly too and thankfully he is making a slow and steady recovery. Sending happy thoughts x
 
Thank you everybody. Today things are looking slightly more hopeful. He has gained 37g in two days (I know not much but it all helps, and it isn't going down..) he is eating lots of hay, coming up to the bars for veggies and drinking from the bottle again. I bought some muesli food today to try and tempt him towards dry food, as I know he likes it as I usually use it as his treats (the only 'treat' he'll eat). He has had a nibble on that too. Holding off on critical care today as the appetite has increased. I'm hoping its because the antibiotics have had time to start kicking in. He has one week and one day left of antibiotics until he sees the vet again. Still need lots of positive vibes that he continues to slowly improve. But compared to last Friday he is much better.
 
Terry has gained more weight. I'm so happy. Fingers crossed he makes a full recovery. I honestly believe if I hadn't taken him to the vets he wouldn't be alive today, it just shows how vital it is you seek veterinary help asap.
 
I have managed to get him from 857g (at his worst) to 979g today in just under a week. Eager for him to have his check up on Wednesday to see what the verdict is.
 
Terry went back for his check up and vet was happy with his progress, he seemed a lot perkier but she gave him a steroid injection to help him recover. Since then he's been back to normal, up at the bars for attention / kisses. He went for his post 3 week check up yesterday to test his urine again and it came up fine. So he seems to be fully recovered. However his weight will not go above 960g, he feels extremely bony :( although he is eating fine. Any tips to help him gain weight again?
 
I wonder if it is his age? Ehab is four and I cannot get him to gain weight either.
 
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