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Millie is poorley!

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Carly and co

Carly and co

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I have been away for the weekend and my husband looked after the Guinea pigs, when i got home buttercups claw was missing (just posted a seperate thread on that one) and Millie who is 2 years old has a huge lump on the side of her face, i mean huge its nearly half the size of her face and she seems to have lost a lot of weight she feels quite boney. Before i went away i noticed that Millie was eating very slowley and seemed to be struggling to chew it. she came for her food this morning but still takes along time to eat, by this time her cage mate Cheryl has eaten most of the food, ive just given Millie in her igloo some cucumber and broccalli and she has eaten it, ive got her booked into the vets at 3.30pm but she just looks so frail and thin, i hope they can sort it out, i rescued Millie when she was 6 months and out of all my pigs shes so lovely natured and loving.
xx
 
Sounds like her teeth maybe need trimming and it seems to sound like she may have an abscess. But I'm sure you will find out for definite at the vets. :)

I hope the vets visit goes well and I'm sure they will be able to sort her out. x x x
 
Do yor piggies normally fight? Sounds like they could have had a scrap. PIggies dont like being looked after by anyone than their normal owner, When I went away I came home to 3 bald piggies, they had got fretful and distressed *** I wasn't about. The other thing maybe your piggy has an abcess in her face which is the reason she cant eat. Hope she goes on ok at the vet. I lost my fav piggy this morning:0
 
pippinskyblue said:
Do yor piggies normally fight? Sounds like they could have had a scrap. PIggies dont like being looked after by anyone than their normal owner, When I went away I came home to 3 bald piggies, they had got fretful and distressed *** I wasn't about. The other thing maybe your piggy has an abcess in her face which is the reason she cant eat. Hope she goes on ok at the vet. I lost my fav piggy this morning:0
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I know ive just been reading your post, 6 is a fantastic age for a Guinea pig, i hope mine all live to be that age, you did everything you could.
My pigs dont usually fight, they do have there moments and Cheryl is the dominant one, Millie usually just does as she is told. shes in her little bed now and cheryl is lying just outside by her.
xx
 
I am sorry; it is so gutting to come home and your piggy has gone really bad - no fault of whoever looked after them - it is not easy to subtle signs when you are a stranger.

It sounds rather like an abscess on her jaw; they can suddenly swell up within hours and it is a pretty frightening experience. Good that you are booked for the vet.

A lost claw is not a problem and can happen easily. Most will grow vback, even if the nail may be a bit thicker at first.
 
Sorry to hear Millie has this problem, I hope the vet has been able to help effectively. How did the appointment go this afternoon?

To me, on reading your post, I agree with the others - dental problem is one thing that does need to be looked into as well, but the lump sounds typical of an abscess. The abscess may be dental related, or it may be 'coincidental' i.e. the abscess led to her reluctance to eat and is the main problem.

One of my elderly sows developed an abscess right on the side of her face - on her upper jaw. Never found out why/how, it just developed out of the blue. Luckily the CCT dealt with it for me, so no anaesthetic - just lanced, drained, cleaned (necrotic tissues removed) and it healed up no problem. Not many vets will do it without sedation, which can be frustrating - especially since you say Millie has lost quite a bit of weight.
 
Carly and co said:
I have been away for the weekend and my husband looked after the Guinea pigs, when i got home buttercups claw was missing (just posted a seperate thread on that one) and Millie who is 2 years old has a huge lump on the side of her face, i mean huge its nearly half the size of her face and she seems to have lost a lot of weight she feels quite boney. Before i went away i noticed that Millie was eating very slowley and seemed to be struggling to chew it. she came for her food this morning but still takes along time to eat, by this time her cage mate Cheryl has eaten most of the food, ive just given Millie in her igloo some cucumber and broccalli and she has eaten it, ive got her booked into the vets at 3.30pm but she just looks so frail and thin, i hope they can sort it out, i rescued Millie when she was 6 months and out of all my pigs shes so lovely natured and loving.
xx
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I took Millie to see the vet and its not looking good, she said she thinks its an abscess its really big, she said if the abscess? is inside her jaw then theres nothing they can do for her the best thing would be to put her to sleep because its not fair on her, if it is not in the jaw they would **** be able to drain it or lance it, think thats what she said its too much to take in, I'm taking her back in the morning and they will keep her in for an xray and see whats going on then decide what to do. its bad news i know it is you can tell be the look on the vets face cant you, i just know.
It doesnt seem right though shes coming for her food and being her mischevious self, the vet said she was not underweight, my other one Cheryl is way over weight and Millie just seems small because of being with her. I havnt cried so much in ages shes only 2 why do all my Guinea Pigs end up at the vets, i seem to attract the ones that get sick.8...8...8...
xx
 
awwww me too love, i know just how you feel.

Try not to get too upset, its just the way it is. You wouldnt want the little one to suffer, so you have done the right thing.

Thinking of you tomorrow x
 
Since June i have been going to the vets every other week, first with my himmy pig, then with my rex, i lost them both and was traumatised by it all, but i know now i did my best, and i am ready to help two more even tho its still early days.

I need to have pigs.

It is a lonely time as no one completely knows how you feel and how you are with your babies, but, we all love pigs so we sympathise xxxxx
 
I'm so sorry it wasn't as good news as we were hoping for, but whatever the outcome you can be assured the vet will do whats best for Millie. I know all about the crying its all ive done all day, I couldnt even answer the door when its knocked today. I will be thinking of you and Millie tomoro and I will be praying for you. I have the daunting task of laying my baby girl to rest tomorow, so lots more tears.
Give Millie lots of cuddles tonight I'm sure she will appreciate it x

Good Luck
 
i am sorry to hear about your piggy - it is so upsetting when it doesn't look good - i shall keep my fingers crossed that they can sort it out

love natasha and the gang x
 
pippinskyblue said:
I'm so sorry it wasn't as good news as we were hoping for, but whatever the outcome you can be assured the vet will do whats best for Millie. I know all about the crying its all ive done all day, I couldnt even answer the door when its knocked today. I will be thinking of you and Millie tomoro and I will be praying for you. I have the daunting task of laying my baby girl to rest tomorow, so lots more tears.
Give Millie lots of cuddles tonight I'm sure she will appreciate it x

Good Luck
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I will be thinking of you today aswell.

Just getting Millie ready to take her into the vets. :...

xx
 
Hi Carly, I am sorry the vet didn't seem too positive. Can I just ask you one thing though - is Millie otherwise ok, does she seem interested in life, interested in her friends and still trying to eat her food?

If so, you might like to consider if you can get a second opinion, even if your current vet feels her chances are low there could be someone else who can help. See what the vet says after her x-ray, I can PM you the details of someone in the West Midlands who might be able to help you if you are interested.

I do understand if you choose to follow the vets suggestions, after all it is you and your vet who know and are seeing Millie, and I do not wish to make you feel badly if you choose to have Millie PTS. I just wanted to let you know there might be other options if you feel Millie is not quite ready to go yet, there's no guarantee and of course it may depend on what the vet says after the x-ray. But you know Millie best, you will do what you feel is right for her.

I hope the vet brings you better news than you are expecting later on today, do keep us up to date. xx
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
Hi Carly, I am sorry the vet didn't seem too positive. Can I just ask you one thing though - is Millie otherwise ok, does she seem interested in life, interested in her friends and still trying to eat her food?

If so, you might like to consider if you can get a second opinion, even if your current vet feels her chances are low there could be someone else who can help. See what the vet says after her x-ray, I can PM you the details of someone in the West Midlands who might be able to help you if you are interested.

I do understand if you choose to follow the vets suggestions, after all it is you and your vet who know and are seeing Millie, and I do not wish to make you feel badly if you choose to have Millie PTS. I just wanted to let you know there might be other options if you feel Millie is not quite ready to go yet, there's no guarantee and of course it may depend on what the vet says after the x-ray. But you know Millie best, you will do what you feel is right for her.

I hope the vet brings you better news than you are expecting later on today, do keep us up to date. xx
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Hi
yes Millie does seem her usual self and i did not think it was time for her to go yet, but good news the abscess was not in her jaw, the vet has been able to lance, drain it and given antibiotics and i can collect Millie at 5.20pm she said she coped well with the anesthetic, she said hopefully it wont come back but theres always a chance, hopefully it will not. i cant wait to collect her. will i be able to put her back in with Cheryl when she gets home do you think? xx
 
Really glad to hear that the Vet was able to treat Millie and she's doing well. Hope she makes a quick recovery.

It'd probably be a good idea to ask the Vet about probiotics. (Antibiotics can be harsh on the tummy and affect piggies' appetite.)
 
So glad that its good news! I'm sure that she will have lots of cuddles and extra veg tonight.

x x x :)
 
I am glad that your vet was able to treat the abscess. I was very worried.

BIG VIBES to Millie for a good recovery!
 
Awww what fantastic news, I'm so pleased for you and Millie. Give her lots of cuddles and a special one from me x>>>
 
I am so glad the vet was able to lance and drain the abscess and it's not in the bone. Hopefully the vet has advised you on squeezing the abscess to remove any pus that does build up, abscesses do commonly refill and generally do best healing from the inside out i.e. the wound is kept open, pus emptied multiple times each day, and then when the wound has been free of pus for at least 2-3 days let it heal over.

As you can tell, abscesses are not much fun! I hope Millie is able to eat easier as well now, pain relief may be worthwhile if she seems a little down or reluctant to eat after her treatment today. :)
 
I brought Millie home on Tuesday night, she was quite frightened but managed to eat and drink a little and she slept next to me in a little box. she cheered up a little yesterday and went back to the vets for a check up. the vet had a look at the abscess and squeezed it, there wasnt anymore puss just some blood came out and she squealed, i asked about squeezing it and she said i could, i squeezed it a little this morning but nothing came out, i didnt want to squeeze too hard in case i hurt her, how hard should i be squeezing? Millie didnt really poo yesterday and the vet said shes not eating enough and said to syringe feed her some baby food until shes pooing properley, she said her appetite should pick up today.
She slept in the box again last night and i put lots of her favourite food in, this morning there was poo and wee in the box and she seemed to enjoy her food but I'm still not sure shes eating enough, shes not a big eater any way. any suggestions what i could do to help her eat more?
Thanks
xx
 
My pigs always went for alfalfa stuff or timothy hay, couldnt resist them! Other than that they couldnt resist parsley and baby corns, and beetroot! rolleyes
 
I'm afraid you do need to squeeze the sides of the wound hard, every day. You might think there's no more pus left but it could just be that you're not squeezing hard enough. As Laura says, if squeezing well doesn't produce anything for 2-3 days then you can let the wound heal.

I know myself that it's really difficult to do this when you know that it's likely to be uncomfortable for your piggy but, trust me, a short sharp squeeze will be over relatively quickly and will be a lot less painful and problematic than letting the abcess heal over before all the yucky stuff is out. Just keep telling yourself that it's for her own good and she'll thank you for it in the long run.

With regard to her appetite, are you giving her probiotics? I assume that she's still on antibiotics and these can often reduce a piggy's appetite. I'd definitely try her on probiotics if not already. (You can get from the Vet or Pets at Home sell one called Pro-C). Also some people give their pigs Metatone to try and stimulate the appetite. It's a multivitamin tonic (for humans) which you can buy in chemists and supermarkets.

Did your Vet give you anything for pain relief? Sometimes an anti-inflammatory like Metacam will help ease the swelling and pain, but your Vet needs to prescribe this. Pain can definitely affect appetite.

As she's not eating enough herself you definitely need to syringe feed her. Lots of people mush up normal pellet/nugget style guinea pig food (the plain brown stuff - Burgess Excel, Wagg Optimum etc) with boiled water and syringe feed this paste. There are special recovery foods which you can buy from Vets, or online, but the mushed up pellets work fine.

Is she drinking much? If not, you'll also need to syringe feed some water. Some people also give some rehydration fluid e.g. Dioralyte (for humans) when a piggy hasn't been eating/drinking well.

I really hope that you find something which works and gets Millie back on track x
 
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missy said:
I'm afraid you do need to squeeze the sides of the wound hard, every day. You might think there's no more pus left but it could just be that you're not squeezing hard enough. As Laura says, if squeezing well doesn't produce anything for 2-3 days then you can let the wound heal.

I know myself that it's really difficult to do this when you know that it's likely to be uncomfortable for your piggy but, trust me, a short sharp squeeze will be over relatively quickly and will be a lot less painful and problematic than letting the abcess heal over before all the yucky stuff is out. Just keep telling yourself that it's for her own good and she'll thank you for it in the long run.

With regard to her appetite, are you giving her probiotics? I assume that she's still on antibiotics and these can often reduce a piggy's appetite. I'd definitely try her on probiotics if not already. (You can get from the Vet or Pets at Home sell one called Pro-C). Also some people give their pigs Metatone to try and stimulate the appetite. It's a multivitamin tonic (for humans) which you can buy in chemists and supermarkets.

Did your Vet give you anything for pain relief? Sometimes an anti-inflammatory like Metacam will help ease the swelling and pain, but your Vet needs to prescribe this. Pain can definitely affect appetite.

As she's not eating enough herself you definitely need to syringe feed her. Lots of people mush up normal pellet/nugget style guinea pig food (the plain brown stuff - Burgess Excel, Wagg Optimum etc) with boiled water and syringe feed this paste. There are special recovery foods which you can buy from Vets, or online, but the mushed up pellets work fine.

Is she drinking much? If not, you'll also need to syringe feed some water. Some people also give some rehydration fluid e.g. Dioralyte (for humans) when a piggy hasn't been eating/drinking well.

I really hope that you find something which works and gets Millie back on track x
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Hi thanks for your good advice, ill squeeze it harder and see, the vet really squeezed hard last nite as it made her squeel and it was just blood, it is still weeping throught the wound though. she is still on antibiotics, ill try pets at home for the pro c, what exactly are probiotics? ive softened her dried food with water and ive been syringing her water, how much should i syringe? she doesnt really drink much anyway, i think ill buy some watermelon she loves that. she doesnt drink much anyway, none of my piggies do.
The vet gave her some pain relief after the op but none since. i am still very worried about her.
I popped her back in the her cage mate Cheryl yesterday as i didnt want them to be apart for too long, Cheryl came straight over and kept licking Millie all over she kept licking the wound aswell, is that ok or not?
Cheryl has a big personality and was very energetic i cold see that Millie just wasnt in the mood so i took her out after about an hour. ill try again later.
Thanks
xx
 
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