isaulte
Junior Guinea Pig
Apologies for a long backstory, but probably relevant with my query.
Bovril is 6.5 years old, he has been a lone piggy since the age of 2 when his "Uncle" (no real relation) passed away, I have tried to pair him up with others at various points but he has not been "into it" at all! Under 2, he did not like being handled at all but after his Uncle died, he suddenly changed personality overnight... it was really strange. He went from devil to angel overnight! We brought him indoors from his hutch outside once it was obvious that he was going to be on his own for 23 hours a day, since then he has lived in a very high traffic area of my busy home.
Life has gone on for the last four years or so, Bovril came out with the family in the evening, wandered about and let us know when he wanted to go "home" or sits in a little cat bed :-). We taught him (or he taught himself) to ring a bell for attention :-) The last couple of years he has been more happy on a lap. A little while ago we noticed that he was losing mobility in his back legs, I took him to the vet as this was the same reason that his Uncle was PTS, the vet didn't know what the reason was but thought it might be a spinal tumour. Uncle was obviously poorly on top of the leg issue (he was nearly 6). We had also noticed that Bovril was ageing quite badly - vet confirmed he had cataracts, an eye infection, a possible thyroid issue (shedding hair like no-one's business!) and arthritis. I said there and then - is he suffering? Vet said that she would try him on anti-inflammatories for 5 days and treat the eye infection for 14 days, which we did and I went back 6 days later. Vet said the anti-inflams (Loxicom) hadn't worked and she was taking him off them. I asked her if he was in pain or suffering, she said that he probably was uncomfortable but he was coping with it - the outcome of the visit was up to me. She said that if he was eating and drinking then he was probably OK (he was), and I would know when he had had enough. I said that I would take him home to say goodbye and monitor.
Anyway, two weeks on - Bovril is still with us. I took him off sawdust ages ago when I realised he was struggling to get through it, and put him on fleece (with an extra fleece pillow!) that I change twice a day. I give him a warm sitz bath on a Sunday to make sure he isn't getting urine scald (he loves the bath - never bathed him until now but did used to do Uncle as he was white and got mucky, lol. Bovril eats the bubbles and likes my Dyson hairdryer) He now sits under his hay rack munching 24/7, loves breakfast and dinner time and is sitting in his cat bed right now. However, he has no use of his back legs at all and literally drags himself from A to B.
I literally don't know what to do. How can I PTS a piggy that is still obviously enjoying his food and does appear to still have some quality of life? He lets us pick him up, stroke him, cuddle him - no signs of pain. He is basically a paraplegic guinea pig that the vet has signed off. He is actually gaining weight after the vet visit a couple of weeks ago!
I have tried Osteocare but didn't want to continue in case I made it worse... it didn't have the miracle cure over 3 days that I had read should be expected.
Would be grateful for any opinions. Please be kind.... I just want the best for Bovril who has been a much-loved family friend for over 6 years.
Thanks.
x
Bovril is 6.5 years old, he has been a lone piggy since the age of 2 when his "Uncle" (no real relation) passed away, I have tried to pair him up with others at various points but he has not been "into it" at all! Under 2, he did not like being handled at all but after his Uncle died, he suddenly changed personality overnight... it was really strange. He went from devil to angel overnight! We brought him indoors from his hutch outside once it was obvious that he was going to be on his own for 23 hours a day, since then he has lived in a very high traffic area of my busy home.
Life has gone on for the last four years or so, Bovril came out with the family in the evening, wandered about and let us know when he wanted to go "home" or sits in a little cat bed :-). We taught him (or he taught himself) to ring a bell for attention :-) The last couple of years he has been more happy on a lap. A little while ago we noticed that he was losing mobility in his back legs, I took him to the vet as this was the same reason that his Uncle was PTS, the vet didn't know what the reason was but thought it might be a spinal tumour. Uncle was obviously poorly on top of the leg issue (he was nearly 6). We had also noticed that Bovril was ageing quite badly - vet confirmed he had cataracts, an eye infection, a possible thyroid issue (shedding hair like no-one's business!) and arthritis. I said there and then - is he suffering? Vet said that she would try him on anti-inflammatories for 5 days and treat the eye infection for 14 days, which we did and I went back 6 days later. Vet said the anti-inflams (Loxicom) hadn't worked and she was taking him off them. I asked her if he was in pain or suffering, she said that he probably was uncomfortable but he was coping with it - the outcome of the visit was up to me. She said that if he was eating and drinking then he was probably OK (he was), and I would know when he had had enough. I said that I would take him home to say goodbye and monitor.
Anyway, two weeks on - Bovril is still with us. I took him off sawdust ages ago when I realised he was struggling to get through it, and put him on fleece (with an extra fleece pillow!) that I change twice a day. I give him a warm sitz bath on a Sunday to make sure he isn't getting urine scald (he loves the bath - never bathed him until now but did used to do Uncle as he was white and got mucky, lol. Bovril eats the bubbles and likes my Dyson hairdryer) He now sits under his hay rack munching 24/7, loves breakfast and dinner time and is sitting in his cat bed right now. However, he has no use of his back legs at all and literally drags himself from A to B.
I literally don't know what to do. How can I PTS a piggy that is still obviously enjoying his food and does appear to still have some quality of life? He lets us pick him up, stroke him, cuddle him - no signs of pain. He is basically a paraplegic guinea pig that the vet has signed off. He is actually gaining weight after the vet visit a couple of weeks ago!
I have tried Osteocare but didn't want to continue in case I made it worse... it didn't have the miracle cure over 3 days that I had read should be expected.
Would be grateful for any opinions. Please be kind.... I just want the best for Bovril who has been a much-loved family friend for over 6 years.
Thanks.
x
