Dindeen
Junior Guinea Pig
Hare is my short-haired guinea pig. I want to give him 'first aid' of some sort so that he'll feel better until I can take him to the vet. I will call his vet tomorrow and schedule a check-up and/or surgery.
I know that some of you might wonder why I am not taking him to the vet now, but I live in the Philippines where human healthcare is sucky and animal healthcare is even worse. Local rescue shelters have only cat/dog vets. My pets had a 'regular' vet but he killed my cat (either by accident or neglect) who was just supposed to be spayed (she was 100% in good health when we brought her into his clinic) so I am not trusting him with my guinea pig. I found a very good exotic animals clinic and their hospital/pet hotel which is a 5-hour drive from my home- unfortunately, today is November 1 which, in our country, is an official holiday and there are no vets in the clinic nor the hospital (I have called them yesterday, the attendants who are taking care of the patients at the hospital said that vets will come in by November 2).
My dilemma is this: Hare has not been able to move his hind legs since yesterday. At first, only one leg could not be moved; he was very angry and loud, when I tried to put him in a non-awkward position, he would struggle so I thought it was a sprained leg. I checked for signs of broken bones as well but there were none. There was no reason for him to be sprained or hurt anyway since, after I cleaned his cage and gave him food, no one had been close to his cage. Later on I checked again when he was less angry and he did not seem to be in pain when I touched the leg although he would get annoyed when I picked him up. In the evening, he could not move both of his hind legs. He kept himself up on his front legs and he did this weird thing where his head would slowly go up and then he would nod- heads goes up, nod... repeatedly. All of his limbs have good blood circulation (not bluish or gray in any area), his nose and mouth are pink. He is eating from time to time, more in the evening and early morning which, as I've noticed is a sign that he is unwell. When he is well, he eats all day long. When he is unwell, he eats only in specific times of the day. I give him calcium, vitamin C and acidophilus in separate times of the day while he looks ills. He is also pooping nonstop (but it is solid, just smaller than his usual poop) and peeing from time to time, and has a light fever. Is this paralysis? A sprained leg? Stroke? What can I do to make him feel better? Any first aid that I can give until I take him to the vet?
A bit more info: He has an abscess on his back so we have been to the vet's for two weeks. First he gave Baytril because Hare had fever and was fighting the infection; this left his urine permanently colored orange. Next, he gave Prednisone to try and make the inflammation go down. Hare is still currently on Prednisone. They said that they would call me once the blood tests were in and the surgeon had a complete diagnosis. I am worried that the abscess might have gone septic.
He is my one and only guinea pig. I don't want to lose him.
I know that some of you might wonder why I am not taking him to the vet now, but I live in the Philippines where human healthcare is sucky and animal healthcare is even worse. Local rescue shelters have only cat/dog vets. My pets had a 'regular' vet but he killed my cat (either by accident or neglect) who was just supposed to be spayed (she was 100% in good health when we brought her into his clinic) so I am not trusting him with my guinea pig. I found a very good exotic animals clinic and their hospital/pet hotel which is a 5-hour drive from my home- unfortunately, today is November 1 which, in our country, is an official holiday and there are no vets in the clinic nor the hospital (I have called them yesterday, the attendants who are taking care of the patients at the hospital said that vets will come in by November 2).
My dilemma is this: Hare has not been able to move his hind legs since yesterday. At first, only one leg could not be moved; he was very angry and loud, when I tried to put him in a non-awkward position, he would struggle so I thought it was a sprained leg. I checked for signs of broken bones as well but there were none. There was no reason for him to be sprained or hurt anyway since, after I cleaned his cage and gave him food, no one had been close to his cage. Later on I checked again when he was less angry and he did not seem to be in pain when I touched the leg although he would get annoyed when I picked him up. In the evening, he could not move both of his hind legs. He kept himself up on his front legs and he did this weird thing where his head would slowly go up and then he would nod- heads goes up, nod... repeatedly. All of his limbs have good blood circulation (not bluish or gray in any area), his nose and mouth are pink. He is eating from time to time, more in the evening and early morning which, as I've noticed is a sign that he is unwell. When he is well, he eats all day long. When he is unwell, he eats only in specific times of the day. I give him calcium, vitamin C and acidophilus in separate times of the day while he looks ills. He is also pooping nonstop (but it is solid, just smaller than his usual poop) and peeing from time to time, and has a light fever. Is this paralysis? A sprained leg? Stroke? What can I do to make him feel better? Any first aid that I can give until I take him to the vet?
A bit more info: He has an abscess on his back so we have been to the vet's for two weeks. First he gave Baytril because Hare had fever and was fighting the infection; this left his urine permanently colored orange. Next, he gave Prednisone to try and make the inflammation go down. Hare is still currently on Prednisone. They said that they would call me once the blood tests were in and the surgeon had a complete diagnosis. I am worried that the abscess might have gone septic.
He is my one and only guinea pig. I don't want to lose him.
