• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Just bought 2 guinea pigs - one's barely moving

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MillyPig

Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
England
Yesterday I bought 2 female guinea pigs from pets at home , they are 9 weeks old. One of them seems perfectly fine, moving around quite fidgety. But the other seems a little floppy. She has a very slight gunky eye, we asked at the shop if this would be a problem and they said that it could just be conjunctivitis and that if it gets any worse to take the guinea pig back to them and they'll take it to the vet for us.

But this morning she just seems very still and quiet. I picked her up and she kicks a little bit but not much. In the shop she was running around like a loony but was very calm in our hands, not very fidgety.

Do you think she'll be okay? I want to take her to the vets but i really want her to be settled and calm before i move her around again.

What should I do? x
 
I would take her the vets ASAP if she is sick she could go down hill very fast
 
A floppy pig is pretty worrying. Could you say approx where you are in England and then maybe forum people could recommend a vet? But you need to go pretty quickly.

Is the piggy eating and drinking? Is it in an outside hutch or inside cage?
 
It really needs to go to a vet before it gets any worse.

When i bought my 2 from a pet shop (prior to joining the forum) one had conjunctivitis and when i looked in his cage he didnt move when i took the hay off the top of him. He then didnt move when i gently touched him. His eyes were also firmly stuck shut because of it being sticky. I rang the place where i got him (it wasnt pets at home) and they told me to take him to the vets of my choice, get a receipt and go into store with the receipt and they would refund me the vet bill. They did offer me a refund if I gave back the piggy but that was never going to happen!

The vet gave me eye drops for him and also for the other piggy I got with him as it was certain he would get it.

It took about 2 weeks to clear up but it worked and they are now naughty healthy piggys!

I wouldnt feel right handing my piggy back to pets at home to take to the vets, ask if you can stay when he see's the vet or ask if you can take him to your own vet and they will then settle up with you later. I definitely would not hand him back to them.

But I would definitely try to go to a cavy savy vet and not the one pets at home want you to go too.

Here is a list of recommended vets - http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/s...ead.php?t=1788
 
Last edited:
thanks guys. I picked her up and she seems okay, she's quite still at first but then she seems perky. The other one's eye was closed shut so i bathed it with a luke warm wet tissue and clear it for her. It might just be the new bedding .They're outside but have lots of hay and straw keeping them warm. I'll give it another day and if they're still a bit funny then i'll take them to the vets. I'll give them a ring later on just to double check and see if they want me to bring them in. I think they'll be okay. Thanks for the advice everyone. My local vet is lovely so i'll take them there =) xx
 
straw is not good for piggies it can cause eye injuries :)
 
MillyPig said:
thanks guys. I picked her up and she seems okay, she's quite still at first but then she seems perky. The other one's eye was closed shut so i bathed it with a luke warm wet tissue and clear it for her. It might just be the new bedding .They're outside but have lots of hay and straw keeping them warm. I'll give it another day and if they're still a bit funny then i'll take them to the vets. I'll give them a ring later on just to double check and see if they want me to bring them in. I think they'll be okay. Thanks for the advice everyone. My local vet is lovely so i'll take them there =) xx
Click to expand...

Glad you are going to ring the vet but hope you can get an appointment soon. Piggies are very good at hiding illness as they are prey animals so she could go downhill again quickly.

Fingers crossed for her. Also yes, get rid of straw as that could worsen the eye problem and is generally not good for piggies.
Some vitamin c might be good - a slice of bell pepper has high vit c in which might be a good start. Also is hutch shaded as it is v warm in the UK at the mo and piggies suffer in the heat?
there are loads of threads about foods, bedding etc so worth having a hunt around on here for info.
 
Will try gettng rid of the straw. Shall i leave the hay in there for them to eat? It's cloudy here but mild, they are in shade =) x
 
Leave the hay in please. 80% of the daily food intake of a guinea pig should be hay. They need it to nibble on.

PS: You can claim back any vet cost from p@h. Sadly, pet shops are not a good place to get guaranteed healthy pets from; for that you need to turn to a good rescue.
 
yeah , i've left the hay in. I wasn't going to get the from P@H but i saw the two i have now and just fell in love.

They both have conjunctivitis now so what i'm going to do is call the shop and see what they say. They said they'd take them to the vets for us but i dont want to hand the guinea pigs back because they'll go through even more stress. If i know that p@h will pay for the vet bills then i don't mind but yeah =/ xx
 
If you take them back they will just offer to refund yo and the poorly pigs will be placed in the adoption cenetre for someone else to come along and buy. Please take them to your own cavvy savvy vet and have them treated and then go into pets at home with your reciepts from when you bought the piggies and the vet bills and ask to be re-imbersed. xx
 
yeah i will try that. I don't wanna "return" them =( i will call p@h and my vets today xx
 
Having had pigs with conjunctivitus it only cost me £28 for the consultation and the treatment - so dont worry that the bets bill is going to be huge it shouldnt be - but you might want to look at some of the previous threads on here about pet insurance - approx £7 per month per pig with exotic direct - bear in mind that a broken leg or operation could run in to many hundreds of pounds - although in the 3 years I have had my pigs I have only had to spend out about £100 - (including £17 today for a checkup for Bumble )
 
Pets at Home will reimburse you vet bills, when i bought Artie and Harvey two and a half years ago from PAH Artie was suffering from a eye and chest infection and then a UTI ontop! which cost over £100 in treatment all which was paid by PAH. :)

Please get the wee one seen to a vets, I'd strongly recommend getting both checked out just in case x

P.s welcome to the forum! :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top