Goggle's Mum
Junior Guinea Pig
I’m sorry to report that Goggle is still having a bad run of health.
This time last year there were all the problems with her pneumonia (http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53136), which came to a head in the summer, and now she seems suddenly very agitated by cuddles.
She is very affectionate, and wants lots of kisses and licks; but if anybody strokes her she can tolerate maybe one or two strokes, and then she jumps a mile and is fearful of anybody touching her again. At first I thought it might be insect bites or a skin condition, and certainly we will try installing a flea lamp to see if it catches anything. Of course I am now scared of washing her in case it brings on more pneumonia, so I’m not sure what we can do if it’s a skin complaint.
Which brings me to the second point…
Goggle has not regained any of the weight she lost when she had pneumonia. Ever since she has always had the odd little wheeze, but it has been once every few weeks and then she has been back to normal. However, in the last couple of days she had a very bad fit of respiratory distress whereby she had a series of hiccupping breaths (not at all like the respiratory distress caused by the pneumonia) in which her whole body shook with each one. This could have been worsened by the stress of thinking she was about to be stroked (which she wasn’t).
I am wondering if a second bout of pneumonia or another respiratory infection could have caused her to lose more weight, which has made her too sensitive to be touched?
I guess another trip to the vet is in order, but our local ones know very little about pigs and when I went to see Anne at O’Meara she wasn’t there, so I had to see her colleague who was very rude and condescending towards me. Any tips I can try beforehand will therefore be very welcome.
Thanks in advance! x
This time last year there were all the problems with her pneumonia (http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53136), which came to a head in the summer, and now she seems suddenly very agitated by cuddles.
She is very affectionate, and wants lots of kisses and licks; but if anybody strokes her she can tolerate maybe one or two strokes, and then she jumps a mile and is fearful of anybody touching her again. At first I thought it might be insect bites or a skin condition, and certainly we will try installing a flea lamp to see if it catches anything. Of course I am now scared of washing her in case it brings on more pneumonia, so I’m not sure what we can do if it’s a skin complaint.
Which brings me to the second point…
Goggle has not regained any of the weight she lost when she had pneumonia. Ever since she has always had the odd little wheeze, but it has been once every few weeks and then she has been back to normal. However, in the last couple of days she had a very bad fit of respiratory distress whereby she had a series of hiccupping breaths (not at all like the respiratory distress caused by the pneumonia) in which her whole body shook with each one. This could have been worsened by the stress of thinking she was about to be stroked (which she wasn’t).
I am wondering if a second bout of pneumonia or another respiratory infection could have caused her to lose more weight, which has made her too sensitive to be touched?
I guess another trip to the vet is in order, but our local ones know very little about pigs and when I went to see Anne at O’Meara she wasn’t there, so I had to see her colleague who was very rude and condescending towards me. Any tips I can try beforehand will therefore be very welcome.
Thanks in advance! x