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help she's fitting and wheezing HELP NOW

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Is there a PDSA or a 24 hour vet close by?

So sorry, but I have no experience.
 
Help

Have you managed to get hold of a vet or someone who can help?

Let us know how she is please.

Thinking of you. Sending hugs too. xx
 
Baby Calpol 0.2ml by mouth will reduce any pain.
An anti-epileptic drug eg Phenytoin can also be used.
Intrafungol 0.3ml twice daily will act on the cause of the fits ie the fungal skin condition. It will reduce the fit rate considerably within one or two days.
When the pig has a fit leave her alone, if you do attempt to handle her you could get badly bitten and the handling would put her under more stress.
The majority of times the fit will last no more than a few seconds and then the pig stands up and wonders why the owner is distressed!
If you do contact a vet: fits, in themselves, are not a reason to have a pig killed.
 
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I'm her boyfriend, shes taking her to the emergency vets but we arent sure whether he will know much about pigs. it started when she was bathing her with gorgous gunieas shampoo. we saw black specks on her fur & she started fitting. do * know what the vets should do? is there any medication that you advise against giving.
 
if shes fitting would she definitly fall on her side or if shes shakin & vibratin is that just shivering.
 
Shaking and vibrating is shivering, very common when the pig is bathed and being dried. If she was "gasping", doing a silent wheek when she was being bathed, she was more than likely just protesting.

A pig fitting and wheezing would be on their sides, apparently "out of it" for the length of the seizure.
 
Black specks looks like static lice - see alcesterpigs post about fits connected with skin conditions!
 
whats the normal tempreture for a pig because shes at risk of nuemonia. she is extremly cold.the vet said to wash off the gorgous guniea pigs shampoo using fairy liquid, does that sound right?
 
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Normal body temperature is 38-40 degrees C. If she's cold, I don't see why a warm bath to rinse the shampoo off would hurt. No need to use washing up liquid, just warm water should do the trick. If she's going to get sick from this, then she already will be 'exposed' to illness. The best thing is to rinse off the shampoo, get her thoroughly dried off with a towel and hairdryer, and keep her snug in her cage with a safe heatpad and plenty of blankets/lots of hay.

If she is genuinely at risk from pneumonia, make sure the vet gives Baytril and a diuretic tablet for you to have to hand in case she does start to show symptoms. Just enough to tide you over until the vet can see her. You don't want to be waiting for a day to see the vet for treatment if she does come down with a respiratory infection, the sooner she is treated the better.
 
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she had already been rinsed from the bath so she had finished her bath.
the vet said it might be a problem with the gorgous guniea pig products so wash the product off with fairy liquid. is this advisable?
 
In that case, no. If you did a patch test with no problems, it is highly unlikely it was a reaction to the products. Reactions can happen, but without having been there it is hard to tell if what Maisie went through was normal "piggie being bathed" behaviour or a reaction to the shampoo.

Was it determined that Maisie was having a seizure or wheezing?
 
no wheezing, clear chest & lungs, heart beat normal & it wasnt a seizure.
thanks to your advise i realised it was shivering rather then a seizure.
vet said her temp was very low. she still shivering a lot now.
shes had bath before & been fine.
 
i wouldn't use fairy liquid. just make sure you really rinse the shampoo off, as always.

Hope she's ok. Keep her warm tonight with lots of towels / fleece / vet bed and hay.

Good luck,

Charlotte x
 
I am glad it wasn't a seizure. When you've not seen either seizures or severe shivering before, it can be worrying when they do shiver so much. They can shiver through fear as much as through cold.

It sounds like the products were not the problem, I really would focus more on keeping her warm tonight rather than putting her through another bath. The shampoo is rinsed off already, there is no point in washing off what is no longer there.

Sending lots of get-warm thoughts to Maisie!
 
it sounds like what would be a problem now is the fact that she was taken to the vets without being dried off properly- not trying to be critical, it's good you got her to the vets straight away.
best thing to do now is to keep her warm and dry, and keep an eye out for any signs of a chest infection. good luck =]
 
The usual signs are lethargy, sitting hunched/puffed up, weight loss, lack of appetite, discharge from the nose or eyes (e.g. runny nose), dull/sunken eyes, a "clicking" sound when you listen to the chest, laboured breathing. Coughing, sneezing, and actual wheezing/gasping can also occur.
 
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thanks everyone for your help and advice. i know i panicked now! i had read about pigs shivering but wasn't prepared for how violent it is! i just reacted and headed for the vets, although i'm not sure how helpful they were really.

maisie was in her carrier with two layers of towels and wrapped up in a towel whilst we went there. that wouldn't have made her necessarily warm though i know.

the vet said she was cold but her chest was clear. he said to get her home and keep her warm.

i have dried her with a towel and hairdryer and she had loads of cuddles. she is now back in a clean cage and has a heatpad, loads of layers of towels and profleece, and she is walking round muttering to herself and chesney and she has been tucking in to some extra veg. her behaviour is normal now. she does look very greasy though, and i seem to remember reading a post about someone using the melt on their guinea and it not being rinsed off properly and then they had to re-rinse it again the next day. i am pretty sure i have rinsed it off thoroughly but the vet did seem to say she was very greasy.

the black specs turned out to be just dirt, the vet couldn't find any mites/lice etc under the microscope but as her symptoms she has had indicate that then he has said to wait the 48 hours like you are supposed to after using the gg products and then treat with xeno450.

i am going to keep a really close on eye on maisie and take her to see the specialist vet on monday. he isn't in until then. obv if i notice anything else wrong with maisie then i will take her before then.

i feel so stupid not realising she was shivering and not fitting, but she has been itchy lately so my mind was set for looking for things related to that, like fits etc. on the other hand i am glad i was so wrong, and she is ok now. i will monitior her very closely for signs of chest infection/respiratory etc.

thanks again everyone. x
 
forgot to mention - maisie has had the manuka and neem shampoo before and was fine. this time was the first time with the melt and the shampoo. i personally don't think it was the gg products. the vet was just very against them and was talking a load of rubbish really. i was hoping it wouldn't be that vet that was working, as he was the one that picked my rabbits up by their scruff, which is bad enough, but he didn't even support their spines when he did.

also, the thing that made me angry was that he put gloves on incase he caught something, and said i should too. i didn't.
 
PHEW :{
Pity about the insensitivity of the vet tho :xmallethead
I'd do the same thing if in doubt i go running to vets too...........next time i hope you get your lovely one :)
Loads of wheeeeeks and kisses for Maisie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
she's probably wondering what all the fuss is about rolleyes
 
maisie has warmed up now, although she has greasy fur, so looks like i haven't rinsed thoroughly enough afterall. i rinsed alot, but haven't used the melt before and obv it must take alot more rinsing to remove it.

but at least she's warmed up now. and she has been eating, muttering, playing with chesney etc etc.

just got to re-wash her again now to get all the melt off. she won't be happy about that. poor baby, bet she wonders what on earth i'm doing to her.

i don't go to that vets i did tonight, because i don't like them, but it's the closest emergency one, and whenever there is a problem it always seems to be out of hours and i end up there. i have a fantastic vet normally, but we travel 40 minutes there and 40 back just to see him. it's worth it though. i'm taking the pigs with me to see him when i take the buns next week, and see what he suggests for maisie. he's the only vet i trust.

it's been a stressful day and i'm staying awake all night now to make sure maisie is warm and ok.

obviously i will have to bath maisie again in the morning. i don't want to stress her, but i will have to get the melt off properly. should i wash with shampoo again, or just use water to rinse? the vet said to use fairy liquid but i don't know if this is ok. i haven't heard anyone mention this before.
 
Perhaps you could use some mild baby wipes carefully and then use a soft hand towel or washer that's damped and that will rinse off anything from the baby wipes.........just a suggestion :)
Just make sure she has all her food and water close by and some snuggly towels and hay to cuddle into xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
and i do hope you get some sleep XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Glynis said:
Perhaps you could use some mild baby wipes carefully and then use a soft hand towel or washer that's damped and that will rinse off anything from the baby wipes.........just a suggestion :)
Just make sure she has all her food and water close by and some snuggly towels and hay to cuddle into xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
and i do hope you get some sleep XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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thanks. that would probably be a better idea than making her go through the bath again. the film of grease is on the top of her fur so sponging it off with a warm damp cloth would remove it and then she won't get as wet aswell. thanks for that suggestion. :)

she's walking round the cage muttering now and being cheeky as usual. i think i'm alot more traumatised than she is!

i've given her extra blankets and snuggle sacs and a heatpad, and a massive pile of hay so she can keep herself nice and warm. although, ches seems to have taken a liking to the heatpad and keeps standing on it, wheeking from excitement, and then popcorning round after!

i had maisie on my knee drying her before, and she was a bit quiet, but as soon as she went back in with ches, she went back to normal. she was really pleased to see him, and him her. x) ches came to the vets with her aswell to keep her company. x)
 
I never take a piggy alone to the vets, unless it is for an op. they are a lot less stressed that way.

So glad that Maisie didn't have anything seriously wrong with her!
 
The melts can be a pain to get off, a few times I've had to give a second wash a day later. The best thing is to do 2-3 shampoos after the melt, with minimal water the first one or two times. The melt comes off with the shampoo as opposed to the water, as it is so rich.

Fairy liquid is usually only used on the grease spot on the rump. It's great for removing this grease but I wouldn't use it as a shampoo.
 
what do i do now then with her bath? because she is greasy, do i put the shampoo on her and then add a little water to lather it up? or do i wet her first as there isn't alot of the melt on her?

i feel so awful because all this shampoo on her can't be good so regularly. :(

she's going to be upset aswell having another bath. :(
 
Not sure about the melts but you can make bath time less stressful by putting pig in the bath without water and filling the bowl up with water pouring the water on the pig from the bowl with a jug. This is what I do and mine don't mind it.

Glad she is ok though, I've never had a pig react like that, poor thing!
 
SunshineAndTwinkle said:
Not sure about the melts but you can make bath time less stressful by putting pig in the bath without water and filling the bowl up with water pouring the water on the pig from the bowl with a jug. This is what I do and mine don't mind it.

Glad she is ok though, I've never had a pig react like that, poor thing!
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that's why i freaked out so much, because her first bath went so well and she was completely fine! this time she was so upset. :(
 
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