Hot Ears....

[Yvo@21]

hi, sorry I've not posted in awhile...my question is when a Guinea pigs ears are hot does it mean they are not well? Have a infection or in pain? ...or all of the above?... The reason I'm asking is it would be good for people to know this...
I took mr woo to the vets today on ermergancy as he's not been himself at all & I suspected the dreaded bladder stones! As he had gone off his food,squeeking when going to the loo, kinda hunched and rocking a lil bit..plus he had a lot of blood in his urine..
He had the X-ray & my fears were confirmed he has a big bladder stone and is going in for surgery next week, at the
Moment he's on painkiller metacam and anti biotic, I'm also syringe feeding him so he's as strong as he can be for surgery...
But I noticed how warm his ears were before any meds where given him so thought I would ask if Guinea pigs ears are hot does it mean there poorly as it would be a good sign to watch out for....
Thanking in advance for any comments I receive....

 

[Mother Hubbard]

Hi there,
I'm sorry to hear about Mr Woo but it's good he's going in for surgery asap. I think you're right about trying to syringe feed him and keep his strength up as without food, they really go down hill very quickly indeed.

I always believed hot ears meant a piggy is hot from my experience, however I've found with an ill piggy they don't keep their body temperature as well as they would normally do and given them extra heat. However with a human, when one has infection, we tend to be really hot or moving between hot and cold so quickly. How that reflects with a piggy with a bladder stone I don't know. Perhaps he's ears are hot because he is unwell and his body is having to cope with so much, I'd recommend you keep him hydrated as much as possible also after syringe feeding, something often forgotten. Not sure if any of that helps to be honest, but thinking of Mr Woo.

When is his surgery?

 

[Wiebke]

hi, sorry I've not posted in awhile...my question is when a Guinea pigs ears are hot does it mean they are not well? Have a infection or in pain? ...or all of the above?... The reason I'm asking is it would be good for people to know this...
I took mr woo to the vets today on ermergancy as he's not been himself at all & I suspected the dreaded bladder stones! As he had gone off his food,squeeking when going to the loo, kinda hunched and rocking a lil bit..plus he had a lot of blood in his urine..
He had the X-ray & my fears were confirmed he has a big bladder stone and is going in for surgery next week, at the
Moment he's on painkiller metacam and anti biotic, I'm also syringe feeding him so he's as strong as he can be for surgery...
But I noticed how warm his ears were before any meds where given him so thought I would ask if Guinea pigs ears are hot does it mean there poorly as it would be a good sign to watch out for....
Thanking in advance for any comments I receive....

Guinea pigs regulate the body temperature via the blood flow through the ears. Hot ears means that the internal "ventilators" are on and that Mr Woo is currently busy shedding excess heat. Nothing to worry about. Dogs would pant and we humans would sweat.

I am very sorry about the stone and am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well.

Please make sure that you have got everything at home to start syringe feeding asap if he is not eating well or at all after the op. Ask your vets how soon after the operation he can have pain medication again in case you need to see an out-of-hours vet. check on him at least once during the night after the op and weigh him daily at the same time until you are sure that he is recovering well.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide (includes tips on how often and how much to feed)

 

[biscandmatt]

i usually find the opposite and they feel cool to the touch when poorly x

 

[Yvo@21]

Hi there,
I'm sorry to hear about Mr Woo but it's good he's going in for surgery asap. I think you're right about trying to syringe feed him and keep his strength up as without food, they really go down hill very quickly indeed.

I always believed hot ears meant a piggy is hot from my experience, however I've found with an ill piggy they don't keep their body temperature as well as they would normally do and given them extra heat. However with a human, when one has infection, we tend to be really hot or moving between hot and cold so quickly. How that reflects with a piggy with a bladder stone I don't know. Perhaps he's ears are hot because he is unwell and his body is having to cope with so much, I'd recommend you keep him hydrated as much as possible also after syringe feeding, something often forgotten. Not sure if any of that helps to be honest, but thinking of Mr Woo.

When is his surgery?

We re to phone on Monday, so there proberly book him in for Tuesday as they said phone on mon as they can do tue-fri, it's the weekend, plus they wanted him to settle abit before surgery as the poor lil guy is in a lot of pain, and also for us to decide, which is no decission really we will do everything to try & get him better, he's just 3yrs old so still quite young & it's just awful hearing him in pain...

 

[Yvo@21]

i usually find the opposite and they feel cool to the touch when poorly x

Guinea pigs regulate the body temperature via the blood flow through the ears. Hot ears means that the internal "ventilators" are on and that Mr Woo is currently busy shedding excess heat. Nothing to worry about. Dogs would pant and we humans would sweat.

I am very sorry about the stone and am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well.

Please make sure that you have got everything at home to start syringe feeding asap if he is not eating well or at all after the op. Ask your vets how soon after the operation he can have pain medication again in case you need to see an out-of-hours vet. check on him at least once during the night after the op.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Ty for your comment, yes we are syringe feeding him now as he's been off his food since last night, only taking a small bit of fresh food or hay, pellets completly untouched, good to know he was just cooling down as I was worried about his hot ears,

 

[Mother Hubbard]

Keep us updated on mr Woo's surgery.

 

[Yvo@21]

Keep us updated on mr Woo's surgery.

Hi, thx for all the likes & comments, I've got that dreaded wait going on as mr woo is at the vets having surgery to remove that big bladder stone, we took him in at 9:15am, it's 12:15pm now, they have quite a lot of surgeries to do today so I can't go by timing, but I guess no news is good news, but the wait is horrible..
Mr woo is the black & white piggy in my photo,
Cotton is missing him he keeps going to the end of his enclosure looking to see if he's back, those two have a very strong bond even tho I seperated them at 7mths, the bond was so strong both enclosures are a joined but a fence seperating them so they can see, hear, talk to each other, and sniff each other...
Had to seperate as at 7mths they started to squabble & 2 times blood was drawn, but despite that there bond remained strong, if I lifted one out, the other would squeak,& freak out as his buddy wasn't next door.........

 

[Wiebke]

I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed! The wait is always the worst bit.

Please make sure that you have got everything ready to step in with syringe feeding and watering if necessary; your care can be as vital for his recovery as the operation itself. Also ask the vets how soon after the op he is able to have painkillers again in case you need to see an out-of-hours vet. See a vet if he is lethargic, in obvious pain and not eating at all and asap if there is any deterioration. Check on him at least once overnight during the first night.
A step-by-step guide with all the necessary information is here: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weigh him daily either before breakfast or dinner during the recovery to make sure that he is OK; just wathcing him eating can be deceptive. Expect some bleeding/bloody urine in the first days and keep him on light towels or fleece for the first 2-3 days, which you can change daily.

For the longer term, you want to adjust the diet to a low calcium diet with filtered water (which usually goes quite a long way to prevent the build-up of calcium and minerals in the bladder), low calcium pellets (like 5 pellets of "bunny" from zooplus per day) and a balanced low calcium veg diet to prevent a reoccurrence.
You also want to protect the irritated bladder with added glucosamine (either vegetarian glucosamine or cystease/cystophan). Cystease is a glucosamine food supplement for cats, who are the other species prone to bladder problems. It is now widely used for guinea pigs.
Low Calcium Diet For Bladder Piggies We recommend to follow the IC diet at the end of this link; it is well researched and nutritionally balanced for the long term.
Low calcium pellets: Bunny GuineaPigDream BASIC | Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus!

 

[Yvo@21]

Sad news on mr woo, I'm in tears writting this,saddly today mr woo passed away, the surgery was just too much for him,he was in terrible pain,& despite telling the vets baytril didn't agree with my piggy as when he was on it he just refuses to eat or drink, they gave him baytril....
He passed not even 24hrs after the surgery & my heart is broken, his brother cotton is feeling it too he looks so sad...

 

[AlbiePercy]

I'm so sorry to read this Popcorn free Mr Woo xx

 

[Wiebke]

I am ever so sorry! Sadly, bladder stone operations with boars are often a lot trickier depending on on where the stone is located; and it also depends on how experienced your vets are with small animal operations.

You have given Mr Woo a chance; that is all you can do under the circumstances - the only other option would have been euthanasia. Please don't feel guilty; you have done everything you could. You are welcome to post a tribute to Mr Woo in our Rainbow Bridge section if and whenever it feels right for you.

Here are tips on what you can do for Cotton: Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

 

[Lady Kelly]

Sad news on mr woo, I'm in tears writting this,saddly today mr woo passed away, the surgery was just too much for him,he was in terrible pain,& despite telling the vets baytril didn't agree with my piggy as when he was on it he just refuses to eat or drink, they gave him baytril....
He passed not even 24hrs after the surgery & my heart is broken, his brother cotton is feeling it too he looks so sad...

I am so very sorry to hear this, how devastating. I have had a similar experience with a piggy coming round from an operation only to get a phone call later that night to say he passed away. Its crushing as you allow yourself to feel that the worst is over Sending hugs and strength to you and Cotton