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My guinea pig isnt doing well...

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Bubba

Still has swollen foot, now hair falling out.

I have had my Guinea pig for about 3 years and he has been great till the last few weeks he has been having some problems.

He has a swollen foot, and he looks like he has dandruff. I took him to the vet and they gave me some medicine to give him twice a day and some liquid vitamin C to give him once a day.

He told me the food I was getting from wal-mart was not good enough for him so I got some from the pet store they said they get it in fresh every week. They also told me to pick up a full spectrum light so I did.

I've been washing his swollen foot every day with betadine.

Is their anything else I can do for him? I am really worried about him today is his first day on the medicine I hope he gets better.
 
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He took a scrap of skin and some hair to look at He said he didnt see any sign of mites so it must be a fungal problem.

I was talking about dry food earlier by the way, Piggy loves his fruit and veggies. :)

It still worries me he isnt drinking much water. I guess when the medicine starts working he will.

Thanks for the links and info by the way.
 
I hope your little Piggy picks up soon.Sending lots of (((hugs))) and healing wheeks From Louise & Chestnut
xx
 
What is the medicine you're having to give him? If he's on antibiotics, do make sure you give him probiotics, and make sure he's getting enough to eat. Syringe feed if necessary. I didn't know about the probiotics 8...
 
helenllama said:
Skin Scrappings will not always so signs of mites, and they can be fatal.
Click to expand...

Oh.. I got him some stuff on gorgeousguineas I am still waiting on the package though. Fungal shampoo, coconeem melt or something, and cream for his foot.

I got some shampoo from entirelypets it says 2% chlorhexidine or something. Antimicrobial cleansing formulation.

Pigglywink's Rachel said:
What is the medicine you're having to give him? If he's on antibiotics, do make sure you give him probiotics, and make sure he's getting enough to eat. Syringe feed if necessary. I didn't know about the probiotics 8...
Click to expand...

Its called SMZ TMP Liquid I give him 3/4 of a ml twice a day. and I give him .10 ml of liquid vitamin supplement per day its 50mg of vitamin C. The Vet said to stop giving it to him after 7 days.

I've been giving him water in a syringe because he isnt drinking. He has been eating his dry guinea pig food. I've also been giving him some cucumbers and watermelon because I'm worried he isnt getting enough water.

I dont know probiotics? I seen some for dogs if this will work for him I will buy some next time I go out.
 
You need special small animal pro biotic, either Avipro or Bio Lapis, which some vets will order in or you can buy off the net.
 
Oh yeah,,,

One more thing I wanted to ask about. I want to make sure I wash him well what ever is casuing his skin problem.

What should I do when washing his face? I dont want to get anything in his eyes. I was searching for videos on youtube and I didnt see anyone wash their guineas face.

Any suggestions?
 
Chrissie suggested to me that I use some of the foam from the shampoo I use to wipe around the pigs face.
 
His foot doesnt look like its getting any better yet. He is a lot more active now than he was before he started taking the medicine though.

I can't believe how easy he is taking it. He opens his mouth right up to take the medicine.

I am still waiting on the other stuff I got for him online from gorgeousguineas.
 
My long haired piggie used to get mites/mange quite often. None of the others seemed affected even though they all live together. The vet suggested her immune system may be a little lower than the others so she reacted more to it. Since then I've started given them dried Purple Cone Flower (aka Echinacea), which you can buy at Pets at Home, and she's never had another bout since. Maybe just be coincidence, but I still feed it regularly as they love it so much.

Re the shampooing, personally I never let the shampoo near their faces, especially a medicated one. I would simply wipe their face with damp cotton wool.

Hope he's feeling better soon :-)
 
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SMZ TMP is Trimethoprin Sulpha, aka Septrin, so that is a good piggie antibiotic. Probiotics should be given about to hours after the antibiotic; this helps save/restore the good bacteria in the gut, since antibiotics can kill off both bad and good bacteria.

As you mentioned Wal-Mart, am I right in thinking you are in the US? Bene-bac is a great probiotic gel. Either of these products (search around for cheaper if you can) is fine:

30gm tube - http://www.rppets.com/viewitem.php/ShaunaMari/pd1801169/Bene_Bac_Mammal_Gel_
1gm tubes - http://www.strictlypetsupplies.com/_020279995227-PETAG-BENE-BAC-1GM-4-PACK

As far as washing the faces go, no neat shampoo anywhere above the neck, but wipe some foam off the body and rub it in the hair on the face. Use a washcloth to wipe all the foam off. Skin problems, especially fungal ones, exist on the face too. You just have to be more careful with cleaning faces!

Good luck with the foot. Betadine foot soaks can be useful, make sure it's diluted at the ratio of 1:10 though! Is he on any pain relief for it?
I trialled the Gorgeous Guineas bumblefoot ointment (now called Happy Soles ointment) last year and it worked wonders - and I now know it wasn't even bumblefoot my pig had! (It was degenerative joint disease)
 
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Yeah I live in the USA. He has a place around his eye on his left side. I think I will need to wash it with something. I will be ready to rinse it out if I get it in his eye.

I'm just giving him what I posted... I didnt get anything for pain? SMZ TMP, and using some betadine. I havent recieved the gorgeousguineas stuff yet they said it can take 10 days. I also got some BeneBac on order. He will be finished with his smz tmp by the time I get any of the other things I had on order I think. :(

Its bad I live in a small town and every time I go in somewhere to ask about Guinea Pig items they look at me funny. ugh..

I cant tell if its getting any better yet really, but it looks a lot better than some of the pictures I have seen online though. He is still acting normal with it.
 
Pig update. He has finished his course of medicine from the vet, and the sore/lesion on his foot is almost completely healed, but it is still swollen. I am still using the Betadine... He hasnt started drinking his water again yet though...
 
It looks like he has a bump on the side of his foot where he had the sore/lesion or w.e. I'm not sure what it is, but it is still swollen and I still havent recieved the gorgeousguineas stuff yet. :( He has been sleeping a lot the last day or two not moving around much.

Any idea how long something like this takes to heal? I cant take him back to the vet till next week with out risk of losing my job.
 
Hi love, sorry to read all this about your little Piggy 8...
Gosh the mail must be real slow at the moment, i too am not in the UK and find the post can be terrible grrrr
Are you able to post a piccie of Piggy's foot? some of our wonderful people on hear maybe able to help you that way...........if not could you describe it a bit more?
It isn't like an extra bit hanging off the pad on his foot?
I wish little Piggy all the best and some HUGE healing wheeeeeeks xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
 
Nothing extra hanging off. Just swollen. The sore is better, but its still really swollen.

My sister took pig to the vet for me today while I was at work. He told her his infection is worse, and he said he thinks it is in the bone, and there is nothing he can do for him. :( :( :(

Pig is down to 2.5 pounds from about 3.5 pounds. He told her he will die soon from the infection and asked if she wanted him put to sleep, she said no and he told her I can give him the rest of the medicine if I want to and it might make him feel better for a while, but it will not cure him.

Pig was happy to see me when I got home he was running around in his pen and squealing for some veggies… I held him for a while, then I give him the medicine, vitamins, soaked his foot in betadine, and then put on some happy soles foot cream.

He is only 3 years old… He still loves to eat. He started eating some hay when I put him back in his pen. I hope he can get better. :(
 
It does sound like it might be bumblefoot and the infection can spread into the joint. There is some controversry over how this is to be treated. Peter Gurney says that if the piggie is showing no pain/doscomfort then it should be left well alone. However some other people believe it should be treated with antibiotics. My piggie had bumblefoot for about 3 months and I tried many different things but unfortunately it didn't get any better.
 
His foot is still swollen doesnt seem any better, or any worse. He has finished his meds from the Vet.

His hair is starting to fall out now though and he has like.. White crusty stuff around his hair under his neck. I gave him a bath in some gorgeousguineas shampoo thats antifungal, and I gave him a bath in some antimicrobial a few weeks ago. I also used the coconeem melt from gorgeousguineas before his bath.

He still isnt drinking water but he will still pee a lot, I've been soaking his veggies in water before he gets them.

What do you guys think I should do? Try a different vet?
 
Hey,sorry about Piggy.Does your vet specialize in guinea pigs if he don't you may want to see if you can find one that does.That is all i can tell you.
 
Have you checked the vet list on Guinea Lynx, see if there is a good piggie vet near you?
http://www.guinealynx.info/vetlist.html

From your description, it sounds like a fungal infection. Treat with the CocoNeem Melt and the Manuka & Neem shampoo as instructed by Gorgeous Guineas; this shoud clear that problem up.

As far as the foot goes, I think an anti-inflammatory is the next step. Rimadyl works well with piggies, if your vet is willing to prescribe this.
 
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