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Help with sick guinea pig. Balance issues and fitting

Piggiefamily

Piggiefamily

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all. I haven't been here for sometime due to s very heavy work load.. and now I cameback for some advise.
One of my girls Lizzie has suddenly fell ill. She was acting a bit strange/down yesterday evening but was eating and doing all the normal things. Just seemed a bit quieter than usual.
Today in the afternoon she started acting even stranger and seems she cannot keep her balance. Every so often she has some spams (or what it looks like spams) and hiccups.She also sneezed a few times and had so.e discharge.
My husband took her to the vets and they send her home with some Baytril to be given every 24 hrs 0,5 ml. The vet was not a specialist and told him it might be a few things: ear infection or upper respiratory infection or a parasite inside the ear.
I am going back tomorrow to see the other vet which is specialised in gps and rabbits.
But I am so worried and I don't really know if the vet got the diagnosis right or not.
I have been giving her some mashed pellets with the syringe just to keep her going.
Had anyone experienced something similar and what was the diagnosis/treatment.
Her cage mate his looking worried with her and tries to comfort her but she is either very quiet or with spams. My baby
 
Piggiefamily said:
Hi all. I haven't been here for sometime due to s very heavy work load.. and now I cameback for some advise.
One of my girls Lizzie has suddenly fell ill. She was acting a bit strange/down yesterday evening but was eating and doing all the normal things. Just seemed a bit quieter than usual.
Today in the afternoon she started acting even stranger and seems she cannot keep her balance. Every so often she has some spams (or what it looks like spams) and hiccups.She also sneezed a few times and had so.e discharge.
My husband took her to the vets and they send her home with some Baytril to be given every 24 hrs 0,5 ml. The vet was not a specialist and told him it might be a few things: ear infection or upper respiratory infection or a parasite inside the ear.
I am going back tomorrow to see the other vet which is specialised in gps and rabbits.
But I am so worried and I don't really know if the vet got the diagnosis right or not.
I have been giving her some mashed pellets with the syringe just to keep her going.
Had anyone experienced something similar and what was the diagnosis/treatment.
Her cage mate his looking worried with her and tries to comfort her but she is either very quiet or with spams. My baby
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome back!

I am very sorry; this is a very worrying experience!

Please keep support feeding your girl and see your more experienced vet tomorrow.
This guide here combines all our emergency and crisis care advice: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Do you have rabbits yourself or have rabbits living close by? E. cuniculi has become more common (or better diagnosable) in recent years but it is not necessarily well known that it can also affect guinea pigs. It can cause the symptoms you are describing.
It is not necessarily the only thing that can cause these symptoms, but if you have a rabbit transmission vector, then it should definitely be looked into. E. cuniculi treatment would be with panacur - but please see what you are other vet says.

All the best !

@Abi_nurse
 
Thank you for you reply. No we don't have rabbits or have contact with rabbits.
She lives with her cagemate since they were babies (they are almost 5 yrs) and other 2 piggies on a cage close by (they have been with us for the last 6 months or more).
The spasms are getting more frequent..i think they are actually seizures. She is getting weaker...
Like this I don't think she will get through the night.
What can I do to make her more comfortable?
 
I think perhaps try and get an out of hours appointment. Sorry you’re so worried, hopefully she will be fine tonight.
 
Thank you for your support. Sadly Lizzie passed away last night shortly after 1am. I can't even talk about it...
 
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