How long can we wait?

[rendzsikeee]

Hi, I tried to book an appointment with the vet (one that I haven't been before) and when no one got back to me I phoned them up and I suppose they must be swamped, because I've got an appointment for a week from now and I'm not sure if we can wait that long.

So my piggie started having more concerning symptoms about a week, maybe two ago, she gradually lost some weight over a year, but it didn't seem too bad, but now she's got her fur thinning on her belly and got crusty nipples (which I read can be a sign of cysts) and also recently she sort of lost her voice, like when she purrs she kind of just vibrates, but she doesn't have the usual sound, also have a breathy wheek.
I wasn't too worried however, because she's got a good appetite and drinks as usual, although in the past two days she was much less interested in pellets and pea flakes and started to have a bobbing movement (probably with every breath), so now I assume she's got slight problems with swallowing/breathing, she's been slighly less active as well, but still jumps up onto the little houses if she feels like it and I definitely wouldn't call her lethargic.

I wanted to see the vet today, but because of them not getting back to me on time, now I have to wait a week. When I booked the appointment I was only slighly concerned, but today she started to have issues with pooping and that really scared me, because I know how quickly that can become fatal.
She doesn't have diarrhea, but her poop is very mud-like soft and sort of stuck in her bum, also started to smell bad (kinda like cat poop).
I started giving her Critical Care (mainly for the weight, but now also because of the poop) and it helped a little after a few hours and she was having tiny but regular poops, but it seems to be like that again.
I also noticed lumps in her neck that I haven't really noticed before and I'm getting really stressed, because I know that the emergency vet in our area is not very good with guinea pigs, but I also know that the specialist I used to take them to is probably all booked up and I also can't really afford hundreds of pounds just for examinations at the moment (although if push comes to shove that may happen).

So I'm sorry if it's too long, I just wanted to make sure I'm specific enough and I'm getting more and more worried, although she really doesn't seem to feel that bad, especially that she eats and drinks well, but all the other stuff suddenly started to pile up and it's scaring me.

 

[Hope4gem]

Hi, I'm sorry you're dealing with all of this. Can I suggest to first take a breath? I know how anxious it can make you feel when your piggy gets sick, but the calmer you can stay the better you are able to care for your piggy. Are you weighing your piggy daily and writing down the weight? Even if the emergency vet isn't the best it might be worth calling them if you are that worried. You can always keep the other appointment in case you need follow up care. Best of luck to you.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry she is unwell.

You do need to have your piggy seen by a vet as soon as you can. Make an appointment but if anything worsens and her breathing worsens and becomes seriously affected/she can no longer swallow etc, she will need to be seen by an emergency vet

Things you need to do while waiting for the appointment are to

Weigh your piggy daily. This is to ensure she is eating enough hay. Pellets and veg are merely snacks so dont count a huge amount towards the daily fold intake. Pea flakes are a once a week treat so don’t count at all. If she is losing weight and therefore isn’t eating enough hay, you need to syringe as much critical care in a 24 hour period as is necessary to maintain her weight (so this is where the daily weight checks are important).

The soft poop means she has a gut imbalance. Remove all veg from her diet to allow things to settle down. Only offering her hay, and the syringe feeds, and her normal one tablespoon of pellets.

How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Siikibam]

I’m sorry your girl is unwell. Have a look at the link below and see if you can get her booked in at another vet.
Vet Locator

 

[rendzsikeee]

Thanks everyone for answering! I started to weigh her and will continue to do daily (she was weight last week last and now today). The situation is pretty similar as of yesterday; Jojo must be the frist piggie I had who didn't like the taste of Critical Care, so the feeding is not her favourite and I also started to give her a bit of water from a small syringe, because she still drinks by herself, but not often enough IMO (I only saw her drink twice today).
We are back to tiny but relatively normal poops which is a relief, although she was whinig a bit earlier, but I'm not sure what caused that.
I'm constantly checking on her and giving her Critical Care in every couple of hours, I hope everything goes well!
(If anything changes or I find out what's causing all of this, I will post it, maybe it could help someone else too!)

 

[rendzsikeee]

Update: Today I called the vet and they were nice enough to receive us. It turned out that Jojo's heart was slowly failing, which is a rare thing for guinea pigs and there isn't anything we could do about it. This is actually what caused the bobbing/chest contraction when breathing, because her heart couldn't pump enough blood and oxigen around and her body had to work extra hard.
It was an extremely difficult and painful day, but in the end we had to let her go to keep her from suffering any longer.

 

[Claire W]

I’m so sorry for your loss x