Nystagmus + critical care advice needed please

[Bubble and Squeak]

On Monday evening Truffle was asleep under the hay in one of the hay trays and Bubble jumped in and unfortunately landed on top of him. Truffle let out a squeak and when he went to get out of the tray he was slightly wobbly, but then sorted himself out. On Tuesday and Wednesday we saw him topple over just once on each day, but it didn't look anything of any significance as again he seemed okay afterwards. Early yesterday morning though, poor Truffle was very wobbly walking and falling on his right hand side, but was managing to eat and drink.. We took him to the vet that same morning. The vet said he has Nystagmus (and would feel to him a bit like a child getting off of a merry-go-round). She said some of the causes could be trauma (having been landed on), a stroke (but uncommon in a young piggy), or that it could be something neurological that he has been born with which could have been triggered by trauma, or just coincidence that it has now come to light. She said x-rays for things like this are more often than not inconclusive, and that for now they wouldn't do one. Truffle has been prescribed 0.1ml of Metacam per day, which the vet has said if it is caused by trauma, should resolve itself in about a week. The vet did suggest cordoning off part of the cage for Truffle, but I haven't done this as I am concerned it would break his and Bubble's bond, being that it is coming up to 5 weeks since they have been together. Also, even though Truffle sometimes does a whimpering type noise when Bubble is near, he does take comfort in him being nearby and will seek him out in the cage at times. The vet also mentioned that if the Nystagmus doesn't resolve/improve in a week that they could refer Truffle to an exotic vet for tests.

Please can anyone let me know of their experiences with Nystagmus and if there is anything I could be doing to help Truffle recover. Even though he has been eating and drinking so far, I have been given him a little bit of Oxbow critical care and also holding the water bottle for him to drink from in between. Please can someone advise on how much critcal care I should give Truffle being he is coming up to 12 weeks old. I know that with an adult Guinea pig, the minimum amount if 40ml to maintain their weight, but not sure if the same applies for a younger Guinea Pig.

 

[Wiebke]

On Monday evening Truffle was asleep under the hay in one of the hay trays and Bubble jumped in and unfortunately landed on top of him. Truffle let out a squeak and when he went to get out of the tray he was slightly wobbly, but then sorted himself out. On Tuesday and Wednesday we saw him topple over just once on each day, but it didn't look anything of any significance as again he seemed okay afterwards. Early yesterday morning though, poor Truffle was very wobbly walking and falling on his right hand side, but was managing to eat and drink.. We took him to the vet that same morning. The vet said he has Nystagmus (and would feel to him a bit like a child getting off of a merry-go-round). She said some of the causes could be trauma (having been landed on), a stroke (but uncommon in a young piggy), or that it could be something neurological that he has been born with which could have been triggered by trauma, or just coincidence that it has now come to light. She said x-rays for things like this are more often than not inconclusive, and that for now they wouldn't do one. Truffle has been prescribed 0.1ml of Metacam per day, which the vet has said if it is caused by trauma, should resolve itself in about a week. The vet did suggest cordoning off part of the cage for Truffle, but I haven't done this as I am concerned it would break his and Bubble's bond, being that it is coming up to 5 weeks since they have been together. Also, even though Truffle sometimes does a whimpering type noise when Bubble is near, he does take comfort in him being nearby and will seek him out in the cage at times. The vet also mentioned that if the Nystagmus doesn't resolve/improve in a week that they could refer Truffle to an exotic vet for tests.

Please can anyone let me know of their experiences with Nystagmus and if there is anything I could be doing to help Truffle recover. Even though he has been eating and drinking so far, I have been given him a little bit of Oxbow critical care and also holding the water bottle for him to drink from in between. Please can someone advise on how much critcal care I should give Truffle being he is coming up to 12 weeks old. I know that with an adult Guinea pig, the minimum amount if 40ml to maintain their weight, but not sure if the same applies for a younger Guinea Pig.

Hi

I am very sorry.

Nystagmus (rapid eye movement) is not very common/rarely diagnosed in guinea pigs and there is extremely little you and any vet can do about it, like with any other neurological issues. Strokes can very occasionally happen at a young age. It could be a genetic disposition if your little one has more of a breeder and less of a commercial mass breeding background for a countrywide petshop chain. There is sadly extremely little any vet can do.
There is also not necessarily a clear, direct connection to the jump because the squeak could have been pain but equally just from shock.
Neurological Issues (Seizures, Strokes, E.cuniculi etc.) - Symptoms and Care

As to topping up with food: please be aware that any syringe feeding is only necessary if there is a loss of weight or a prolonged period of several weeks of not putting on any weight (2-3 weeks of stagnation can happen) but he is at an age where he can catch up as he still has a full year before he reaches adulthood and nearly 2 years until his body loses the ability to catch up - genes permitting.

Please take the time to read this newish guide here, which explains how you work out whether topping up is actually necessary, when and on which level to step in and how to monitor how much extra feed is actually needed. I appreciate that you feel pretty helpless in this situation and that topping up is the one area where you feel you can do something. Please be aware that any recovery formula is there to compensate for a reduced hay/grass fibre intake.
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

I sincerely hope that the rapid eye movement is settling down on its own again.





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[Bubble and Squeak]

Thank you @Wiebke Truffle was from PAH, as Blue Cross, RSPCA and our local animal sanctuary only had boars to home with sows, or none to re-home at all. Bubble albeit eating and drinking was very quiet and not moving much, and so we felt the need to get him a friend sooner rather than later. It very sadly could be down to genetics and breeding then. We will see how Truffle does, he has had his 2nd dose of Metacam this morning, so early days with that. I will keep an eye on his weight, and will only feed critical care if he loses weight. That is good to know that his weight could stagnate for 2-3 weeks, as he has hovered between 437g and 469g since we had him. Allowing for different scales, he was 443g this morning, when at the vet he was 450g yesterday.
Thank you so much for your advice and for attaching the guides, I will read those in a while.

 

[Eriathwen]

My only experience with nystagmus recovery really is E.cuniculi related and was resolved with panacur treatment, if your piggy is from a chain store its not unlikely this may be a cause, my EC piggies had flare ups from time to time but were managed very well with metacam and panacur during these times.

The other piggies I've had with it have had it lifelong but adapted very well. That being said, they were on gabapentin at least twice a day, as this does help neurological issues. So it might be worth trying this (it worked so well it even resolved one of my lethal whites severe head tilt)

I hope your piggy is feeling better soon!

 

[Truffolo]

Very sorry to hear little Truffle is unwell. I hope he gets better soon

 

[Merab]

Just want to offer support.
Hope Truffle recovers quickly

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

Thank you everyone for you advice and good wishes for Truffle.

That is good to know @Eriathwen about the panacur treatment and gabapentin, I will chat to our vet about them, especially if it is a long/life term condition.

There is one thing thinking back now, which might have been a sign of something, and that is the way he moved his head around (from when we first got him), especially when excited when food is about.....I had put it down to partly him being so fluffy (being an Abby) including around his eyes, that he couldn't always see properly, and also being very excitable from being so young, but maybe there is more to it.

It is such a shame to see him wobbling around, especially as up until a few days ago he was so active.....lots of popcorning and zoomies. He is such a little sweetheart and I will make sure to do the best we can for him. Bubble is being a good Uncle, and laying next to Truffle at times, keeping him company.

There was a bit of an improvement today, where Truffle came over to join Bubble when eating their greens. Yesterday he struggled, and I lifted him over to be next to Bubble, as he seemed to want to join him rather than eat where he was. One thing I find that is helping Truffle, is that when I have got him out of the cage, and put him back again, is to gently cup my hands around him until he has got his bearings enough to tootle off to where he wants to go.

I will keep everyone updated on how things go, in case it helps anyone else at some time.

Here is a pigture of him and Bubble (already posted with 2 other photos, on my thread Introducing Truffle).....just because.....

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

Do you notice any head tilt?
If he is wobbly, it could also he caused by an infection of the inner ear. This happens quite often and is treatable if it's not left for too long. Inner ear infections are not visible on an x-ray.

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

Do you notice any head tilt?
If he is wobbly, it could also he caused by an infection of the inner ear. This happens quite often and is treatable if it's not left for too long. Inner ear infections are not visible on an x-ray.

Thank you for getting in touch @Viennese Furbabies Truffle doesn't have a noticeable head tilt, apart from when he looks up at me and then his head goes to the side a bit, but bless him, you can see that his eyes are all over the place. Yesterday his head (when there was fresh food around), looked almost the way a caterpillar waves their head around. This morning (so far) he hasn't done this, and he seems to be moving around a bit more, albeit still on the wobbly side, so I am hoping that the Metacam is slowly but surely helping him.

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

An update on Truffle.....

After a week of being on Metacam, Truffle was showing a slight improvement, and so I took him back to the vet on Thursday morning for a review.

Thankfully the Nystagmus has stopped, but he still has Ataxia. The vet put Truffle down on the floor to observe his movement, and whilst he was a bit wary of moving around very much (in a strange setting), he did so enough for the vet to see where things were at with him. There are a few times when it isn't certain that he can see properly, but this could be just because of the head movements he is making at the moment. The vet checked Truffle's ears again and confirmed that he definately does not have a ear infection. The vet said he has got a very slight head tilt. She also said that if it was E.Cuniculi, that we would have probably seen more symptoms before now.

I asked the vet if we could try Gabapentin for him, and she has prescribed 0.2ml twice a day to trial for 2 weeks. I can also continue giving him the Metacam.

The vet said Truffle's symptoms could still be trauma, caused by being landed on, but if it is something else going on neurologically wise, to consider his quality of life. Whilst I wouldn't want any animal to be suffering, I feel that Truffle is far from that point at this current time, and will hopefully remain that way. He is still being very enthusiastic about eating and drinking (apart from last Friday, when I had to give him water at intervals with a syringe, as he didn't appear to be drinking from either of the bottles in the cage. He was quite happy to drink from the syringe though, and by the next day drinking for himself again).

He is such a friendly and happy little chap otherwise, and last night even did a little popcorn, which he hasn't done for just over a week! There even seems to be more of an improvement since having had 5 doses of Gabapentin so far, in that he has picked up a bit more speed again moving around the cage. Whilst he looks like he is going slightly off course at times, I haven't seen him topple over in the last couple of days. At the moment he almost has the same gait that a baby or toddler would have when walking.

I am really hoping that with more time, he will be back to normal again. If not, that his "new normal" can be managed with medication.