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My Guinea Is Sick Or Maybe Dying :(

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lucysguineas

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Hi, my guinea pig is getting on a bit now at about 4/5 years old, I'm worried she's sick or dying as she isn't her normal squeaky self, she has tried to eat but didn't manage to eat much. She has drunk a bit of water too. I put her on the floor and she did have a bit of a run around but no where near as much as usual. I haven't seen her go to the toilet at all today but have only been paying attention for a couple of hours, at 5pm today she was fine and acting normal but by 6pm she was very quiet. I'm worried she could have got too cold out on the lawn today as we're getting colder weather. She's inside now in a small hutch (normally lives in an outside hutch) and I'm staying with her. There are several things that could be wrong with her, my other guinea pig died a couple of months ago so she could be stressed out or lonely. She does have a few lumps and bumps but they don't seem to have grown and the vet said they were harmless, she's had them tested. She was losing a bit of weight for a while which the vet said could be due to kidney/liver? problems but she seemed to be on a more stable weight recently. She does have mites but they're being treated. And of course as she's getting old she probably doesn't have much time.

As I'm not sure if she is just sick or if she is on her way out, I don't know what I should do. When my other guinea died, it was clear she wasn't going to last the night as she felt very heavy, was barley moving and her heart and breathing were weak. But with my guinea now I just can't tell. Should I get her out of her hutch and cuddle her in case she is dying? Or should I just leave her be? I want to cuddle her while she's dying but I don't want to keep her up all night if this is a false alarm. :/
 
Mites can come on for no apparent reason, however they often appear when they are ill or stressed and their immune systems is low. Guinea pigs have low levels of mites anyhow, but so low they are not bothered or affected by them, until they are stressed/ill and the mites multiply out of control.
The fact that she has mites may be an indicator that she is unwell in other ways, but it doesn't always mean so.
I should pick her up if she likes to be cuddled, though if she is still feeling the affects of mites she may not want to be touched. I would go by what your piggy seems comfortable with.
Picking her up may be useful though in terms of detecting any new lumps or bumps, or feeling if she has a hard stomach. The fact that she's not pooping much is an indication that she may have a stomach upset. This can get serious quickly, and personally I think a visit to the vet asap would be a good idea.
I'm sorry for your worry, and I hope she will be ok. x
 
Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your poorly piggy.

Please see a vet as soon as possible; you can find the out-of-hours service number via your regular vet's answering machine.

It would help us a lot if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice and recommendations to brands and options that are available where you are. We have got members from all over the world, so any advice can differ quite a bit! Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personale details and scroll down to location. Thank you!
 
Critter said:
Mites can come on for no apparent reason, however they often appear when they are ill or stressed and their immune systems is low. Guinea pigs have low levels of mites anyhow, but so low they are not bothered or affected by them, until they are stressed/ill and the mites multiply out of control.
The fact that she has mites may be an indicator that she is unwell in other ways, but it doesn't always mean so.
I should pick her up if she likes to be cuddled, though if she is still feeling the affects of mites she may not want to be touched. I would go by what your piggy seems comfortable with.
Picking her up may be useful though in terms of detecting any new lumps or bumps, or feeling if she has a hard stomach. The fact that she's not pooping much is an indication that she may have a stomach upset. This can get serious quickly, and personally I think a visit to the vet asap would be a good idea.
I'm sorry for your worry, and I hope she will be ok. x
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Thanks for your advice, her stomach didn't feel hard but was sort of pulsing I don't really know how to describe it I don't know if I'm just noticing her heartbeat more than usual. I couldn't find any new lumps. For now she's sleeping in her hutch, I did cuddle her for a while but as it was around the time she would normally sleep I decided to let her rest. She has been wandering around her hutch and quite active so I'm hopeful. I checked on her a couple of minutes ago and shes still ok. If she makes it to the morning I'll see if she's better/worse and call the vet. Thanks again!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your poorly piggy.

Please see a vet as soon as possible; you can find the out-of-hours service number via your regular vet's answering machine.

It would help us a lot if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice and recommendations to brands and options that are available where you are. We have got members from all over the world, so any advice can differ quite a bit! Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personale details and scroll down to location. Thank you!
Click to expand...
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your poorly piggy.

Please see a vet as soon as possible; you can find the out-of-hours service number via your regular vet's answering machine.

It would help us a lot if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice and recommendations to brands and options that are available where you are. We have got members from all over the world, so any advice can differ quite a bit! Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personale details and scroll down to location. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'll get her to the vets ASAP.
 
Thanks for all your advice. I checked on her this morning and she was sniffing at her food, and this afternoon she's eating grass and seems more cheerful. Not quite back to normal but she's squeaking more and being more active so fingers crossed. I think it might be because we left her out in the run later than usual and she got cold so we're being very careful with that now. I'll continue to monitor her and might book a check up at the vet to make sure.
 
she doesn't sound completely well to me so i'd recommend taking her to see your piggy savvy vet for a check over. she's older but certainly not 'old old' yet. but even old age symptoms have to be caused by something, so even those can be well managed and the piggy made comfortable even if they can't be cured :)
 
I don't think it's fair when you don't know what's wrong to just leave her. It really is the right thing to take her to the vets, if she is suffering then that's just cruel to leave her :(
 
biscandmatt said:
she doesn't sound completely well to me so i'd recommend taking her to see your piggy savvy vet for a check over. she's older but certainly not 'old old' yet. but even old age symptoms have to be caused by something, so even those can be well managed and the piggy made comfortable even if they can't be cured :)
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Thank you I've booked an appointment with the small animal vet :)
 
Now I can see your location I would really recommend Sarah Pellett at Animates in Thurlby, near Bourne, she is a specialist Exotics vet & excellent with small furries. If you have booked a vet in Pboro & it isn't for a few days, I would ring Animates & I am sure Sarah would fit you in quicker :)
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Now I can see your location I would really recommend Sarah Pellett at Animates in Thurlby, near Bourne, she is a specialist Exotics vet & excellent with small furries. If you have booked a vet in Pboro & it isn't for a few days, I would ring Animates & I am sure Sarah would fit you in quicker :)
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i always wondered where she had gone. she worked at our vets for a while. she's lovely :)
 
Oh did she biscandmatt ? :D Is your practice the one that Molly Varga works at? I think they have worked together :) Yes Sarah is lovely, she has kept my Petal going for the last 2 1/2 years really :) x
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Oh did she biscandmatt ? :D Is your practice the one that Molly Varga works at? I think they have worked together :) Yes Sarah is lovely, she has kept my Petal going for the last 2 1/2 years really :) x
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does that mean it has been over 2 1/2 years since sarah left our practice?! that has gone so fast! she's a lovely person and a great vet :)

molly varga used to work with aidan raftery at our vets but it was before we started going there so i never met molly. she moved to cheshire pets i think :)
 
I think it must be, she was at Casterton vets for a while, that's where we first met her with Petal & the others, then she moved away & I was distraught lol :) I think she worked at Chester Zoo after that, then moved to Animates & has now set up an Exotics Hospital where she sees all exotics, I've met the odd raccoon & skunk in there! :D She is lovely, both as a vet & as a person x
 
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