h.h.lovecraft
Junior Guinea Pig
My 8-9 week old guinea pigs came with a lot of sicknesses. They have ringworm, a cold, and both have bladder issues. The vet treats them for ringworm once a week, which they hate and scream extremely loud like they are dying, but they bounce back pretty quickly when I get them home. They are on two different plant based medicines for the other things since they are too young for harsher antibiotics. I give them the medicine two times a day (2 syringes in morning and 1-2 at night). It really sucks because they are so small and they aren't even completely used to being handled yet so it's been a struggle. It usually takes me about 2-5 minutes to give them the meds. I use the tactic most people on here suggest which is holding them with their back against my chest and my left hand around their head while using the right hand to put the syringe in. They are super squirmy and absolutely hate the syringe so even when I get their heads in a pretty tight grip they move their mouth all around to avoid the meds. I also tried wrapping them in a towel, but I actually found it harder to control them that way because they basically just recess their tiny head into it. It takes me a while, but I get it done eventually. In the morning, I give them cucumber in between syringes and after. I also give them a pellet which they love. In the evening, I give one pellet and hand feed them their daily veggies right after.
They seemed ok yesterday, but today was kind of disaster. I managed to give them both the meds. Hexi happily ate her veggies after, but she refused to be touched. She looked like she was popcorning, but it was more like her telling me to stop touching her. It made me very sad because I literally could not touch her without her completely freaking out.
To try to fix this, I picked her up against her will and gave her a veggie. When she was done with the veggie, I would put her down, forcibly pick her up, and then feed her another veggie. This definitely helped a little bit, but she was still doing the "get off me" popcorning a little bit before I decided to put her back. My other guinea pig, Witchfinder, ate some veggies, then generally acted super distressed the entire time I had her in my lap. She just seemed like she didn't want to be held or touched and her squeaking sounded very annoyed or upset, so I also put her back after a few minutes. They were never like this before. I feel like all of the progress I made with them is out of the window. They still popcorn in their cage and come to the side of the cage to get food from me, but I feel like they are more hesitant and stressed than before, especially when I get them out.
I thought maybe doing something positive after the bad experience would help them be more comfortable with it, but now I don't know. I don't know if I should just put them back after instead. I really hope they don't associate being held with bad stuff now. I also feel rather guilty because I'm not perfect with the syringe yet and their is quite a bit of squirming and stress on their end until I manage to get the meds into them. I've only been giving them the meds for two days, and I'm not sure when I will have to stop, so I really need to figure this out. Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone
They seemed ok yesterday, but today was kind of disaster. I managed to give them both the meds. Hexi happily ate her veggies after, but she refused to be touched. She looked like she was popcorning, but it was more like her telling me to stop touching her. It made me very sad because I literally could not touch her without her completely freaking out.
To try to fix this, I picked her up against her will and gave her a veggie. When she was done with the veggie, I would put her down, forcibly pick her up, and then feed her another veggie. This definitely helped a little bit, but she was still doing the "get off me" popcorning a little bit before I decided to put her back. My other guinea pig, Witchfinder, ate some veggies, then generally acted super distressed the entire time I had her in my lap. She just seemed like she didn't want to be held or touched and her squeaking sounded very annoyed or upset, so I also put her back after a few minutes. They were never like this before. I feel like all of the progress I made with them is out of the window. They still popcorn in their cage and come to the side of the cage to get food from me, but I feel like they are more hesitant and stressed than before, especially when I get them out.I thought maybe doing something positive after the bad experience would help them be more comfortable with it, but now I don't know. I don't know if I should just put them back after instead. I really hope they don't associate being held with bad stuff now. I also feel rather guilty because I'm not perfect with the syringe yet and their is quite a bit of squirming and stress on their end until I manage to get the meds into them. I've only been giving them the meds for two days, and I'm not sure when I will have to stop, so I really need to figure this out. Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone
My husband went with the piggies alone, spoke German with the vet, and relayed the information back to me in English. I just asked him again and he said the vet never called it a cold. She clarified exactly what it was in German, he just decided to translate it as "a cold" because what she actually said was a German medical term that I guess he didn't feel the need to elaborate on lol.
I always give lots of cheek strokes under the eye and little rubs on their ears, especially after the medicine. I sure hope they understand I'm not trying to hurt them!
i wasnt suggesting adding Ribena to the meds.
