Hi
These are questions that I can't seem to answer during my research for my book on guinea pig care. I'm trying to write a thorough account so that people can identify their guinea pigs symptoms and know when to go to a vet and how urgent it is.
How do you clean an abscess?
Do anorexic guinea pigs want to eat and can't, or don't want to eat at all?
Is assisted swimming good for arthritic guinea pigs?
They are not supposed to get water in their ears so you have to hold them above the water but low enough so that they can peddle their legs in the water, does it actually sooth arthritis?
What causes blindness in guinea pigs other then cataracts?
why does cauliflower and similar veggies cause bloat?
Is cancer actually treated with chemotherapy?
What causes Cheilitis? too much fruit?
Can you treat conjunctivitis yourself?
What exactly is Crohn cushings disease?
What are the symptoms to watch for with cysts?
I am double checking all the information that I find out so that nothing is wrong or misleading which is why nothing is from just one source.
Thanks in advance for your help!
You may find some answers on the Guinea Lynx website.
Like with our forum, please credit any source you use for your research and cite in your book, or you may lay yourself open to a lawsuit (copyright infringement). This also goes for any pictures you want to use; you need the owner's permission in each case. We do take copyright infringement very serious with The Guinea Pig Forum.
Be aware that medical treatment for guinea pigs is currently very much in flux. There have been big advances in the last few years, but so much more research and testing of new drugs needs to be yet done.
Back in the last century, general vet knowledge on guinea pigs used to be very limited, as guinea pigs were often seen as short-lived small animals not worth the effort. This then led to a phase of experimental home treating with human medications, much of which is sadly still making the rounds online. Many of these home cures have turned out to be detrimental or even downright dangerous. Vet care has since caught up, has integrated the bits that have stood the test of time and is now much better than what you can usually provide at home. Low dosed shop products for skin problems lead to under- or mistreatment and are not to be recommended.
Assisted swimming therapy is not recommended, as it can do more damage than good when applied incorrectly, which it sadly often is. It was a fad of the eighties that appealed to many as a concept and is sadly still touted around. Guinea pigs are not supposed to swim unsupported on their own in a swimming therapy in the first place nor should they be supported by hand. If I were you, I'd put a strong warning in your book to not try it!
Guinea Pigs Swimming?
Cheilitis:
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet and Guinea Lynx; also look them up for ovarian cysts. Please note that it is usually very small ovarian cysts that cause the hormonal imbalances and the visible symptoms (which can turn up, but not necessarily) and that the large ovarian cysts especially in older sows generally do not cause any symptoms.
There are simply foods that can lead to bloat if not introduced carefully in small quantities and preferably fed as part of a mix. They can be fed if done properly and in fact are often the ones that contain vital magnesium, so it is not just a matter of don't feed them at all. Bloating can also be caused by too much fresh grass. Acute bloating is always to be treated as an absolute out-of-hours vet care emergency; it can kill.
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
Conjunctivitis - like any medical issue - is an infection that needs to be seen and treated by a vet. It requires eye drops that contain an antibiotic, as you can end up with chronic/recurring issues.
It is not recommended to home treat on spec without a proper diagnosis. We have seen too often the sorry results of this over the years with too much unnecessary suffering or even death that this can lead to. It has in each case been a very upsetting experience for all of us.
Any owner who is unable or not prepared to pay for adequate medical treatment should think three times before getting a pet of any sort. Access to medical care is one of the basic animal rights together with regular appropriate food and water and adequate, clean housing.
Cushings disease you have to research yourself; it is much more common in hamsters. It is EXTREMELY rare in guinea pigs (most vets are not even aware that guinea pigs can get it and are unlikely to come up against it in their career), and there is not much in the way of treatment, as you can't treat something where there is no knowledge in the first place of what constitutes a normal level of adrenalin in a species without any existing research. You will find that guinea pigs as a species are generally painfully underresearched. In all the years on the forum with hundreds of posts in a year in our H/I section, we have only ever come across three diagnosed cases; the last one as a result of an extensive online search for information. To be honest, it is one of those issues that do not belong in a guinea pig newbie guide to common illnesses as too esoteric and only leading to unnecessary panic and misleading diagnoses.
We have seen what happens when diabetes was "discovered" as a problem that guinea pigs can suffer from and that for a time has been subsequently been bandied around by anxious owners and overdiagnosed by vets without much experience. It is now - with much more understanding of normally high glucose levels in guinea pigs - a much less frequently diagnosed issue that in many cases can be controlled and cured just by dietary changes.
There is no chemotherapy for guinea pigs yet. Cancerous tumours may be operated if possible, otherwise there is only palliative care. The same goes for lymphoma, which is the other most common form of cancer; it is not curable. With better diagnostics/vet knowledge, cancer, especially lymphoma has become more frequently diagnosed in the last few years.
Eye problems can have lots of causes from injury to infection/abscesses around, inside or behind the eye and need to be seen and diagnosed by a vet promptly as soon as you can get a regular appointment. See Guinea Lynx for more information.
Abscesses need to be either removed completely by a vet if they are deep enough to be operable, or they need to be lanced and allowed to heal from the inside out if they are sitting on or close to the surface, or they will flare up again. This means that they need to be kept open for as long as possible and may need daily flushing/squeezing out and the removal of the scab for all pus to come out to prevent a re-infection. It is not at all a pleasant task, but absolutely necessary for success.
Abscesses also require a strong antibiotic to help with healing, otherwise they can - in the worst case - kill. Baytril (the only officially licensed antibiotic for guinea pigs) is often not strong enough to cut through an abscess. Zithromax and sometimes marbocyl are currently the two most effective antibiotics that we know of, but sometimes a culture of bacteria needs to be done to see what - if anything - works in a persistent case.
Guinea pigs that do not eat or don't eat enough can't do so because they are not able to (overgrown teeth or oral/throat rash or obstruction), are in too much pain or their guts have already started to close down. Drinking is even more important bt often overlooked (dehydration). If you leave a guinea pig without food and water for longer than a day, the guts start closing down (gut stasis). Weighing weekly with health guinea pigs and daily with guinea pigs you are worried over is vital for any survival prospects.
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight
Many guinea pigs sadly die because their owners and the treating vets are not aware of just how vital syringe feeding is, how important it is that you step in promptly and just how much food/water is actually needed to keep them alive. It is also very important that it is done correctly; just bunging in a syringe can lead to more problems like pneumonia or choking.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
