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Specialist Nystagmus, head tilt, loss of coordination, neurological problem

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Hana0526

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My guinea pig Toby passed away last year. I had taken him to the vet once I noticed something was wrong. He was having trouble finding things and finding his way like he was losing his sight or disoriented. He had a good appetite just wasn't responding well unless it was the sound or smell of food.

I found he also had some scabs on his chin. I'm thinking now that it wS ear mites that spread to his face. But he wasnt prescribed ivermectin which I wish I got.

The head tilt I think infection spread to his inner ear. And he was turning his neck to one side unless he was woken up with yummy food like a piece of lettuce or oxbow digestive wafer.

I had taken him to the vet and she gave chlorhexidine cream for the bald spots, it was just crusty skin and fur fallen out. And she gave Meloxicam and Sulfameth.

I read that ear mites spread from animals such as horses or cattle rubbing against the hay. I think that is how he got it. I should have gotten an autopsy but I listened to my sister as she said she thought it was a waste of money since I cant do anything about it. Now I regret not having done it.

He was having trouble finding his way to his ramp. And it was so sudden... something got to his brain. I think ear mites because of the bald patches on the face and head tilt, nystagmus... he was my closest pet and sweetest thing. I miss him so much...

In a couple days he just went downhill fast. He seemed to be doing well before eating well but with a little coordination difficulty turning left (I think because of an ear infection from ear mites) because that is the direction his head was tilted later.
 

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I'm really sorry, it does sound like it was a really bad ear infection or E-Cuniculli as Wiebke has suggested. Or maybe something neurological?
 
Wiebke said:
Hi! I am very sorry for your loss!

Did your vet consider e. cuniculi?

@Jaycey @helen105281
Click to expand...

Weibke, Helen,
Thanks for responding..

The vet did not mention e cuniculi. I think that's what it was though.

She thought ear infection, brain infection, or stroke. She didnt know what it was for sure.

It was just a few days he declined so quickly. It was really unexpected.

The thing is is that nothing was showing. Until the sudden deterioration... it was so sudden... the neurological symptoms. He seemed totally and completely normal before that... I wish to understand... I also don't want anyone else to go through it.
 
Sorry i got confused with Psoroptes cuniculi (rabbit ear mite). I meant I think that was the culprit.

But it could have been e cuniculi...
 
HUGS!

Guinea pigs can go downhill with terrifying speed, leaving you totally shaken and looking for answers to make sense of what has happened. Unfortunately things can happen so quickly that any help can only come too late as medication needs time to kick in.

You have not failed your piggy; it has been seen by a vet promptly. That is all that is required from a good owner.
This bundle of symptoms is not easy to diagnose for a vet; any treatment (strong antibiotics most likely) would have needed at least a day to get to work - and even then, it would have been VERY much on a wing and a prayer, as far as the vet was concerned, as it was already advanced and they could not have been sure whether they had the correct culprit. :(

You can only give your piggy the happy days that it measures a good life by; you do not have the choice of what or when it is going to die from. I try to think of my piggies as a loan from God, but it is he who has the power to cancel the loan at any time and not I. Piggies have such huge personalities that we often forget just how small their bodies are or how limited any possible vet care still very often is.

It won't be much of a consolation for you, but I have lost a number of piggies within hours of noticing the first sign of a range of unexpected conditions over the years. My Pili Pala died from a last massive stroke in my arms just on Sunday evening. She'd shown signs of going into heart acute heart failure only that morning. I couldn't even take her to an emergency vet as the added stress of the trip would have meant that she'd likely die on the way or latest during the examination - and I have already got THAT t-shirt, thank you! :(
 
@Hana0526 Something similar happened to my Anselmo. He went from fine to having to be PTS within a fortnight.

I first noticed an issue when he was sniffing for food. He's wave his head all over the place. But, he could eat and walk fine. I booked him a vet appointment for a few days later and by that time he had deteriorated and it was more pronounced.

We tried him on Itrafungal. During the next week the issue seemed to move down his body and he lost the use of his back legs. We went back to the vet and we added in a wormer to see if that helped. It continued to worse until he couldn't pee or poop and so didn't want to eat either. We took him back to the vet again and we decided that it was his time. We couldn't work out why he wasn't peeing or pooping as he had a full bladder and stomach, but his muscles weren't working. So, he was PTS.

We have no idea what happened but we're happy that we dealt with it as best we could.
 
@Wiebke

I'm crying reading your post.. It's hard to find someone who understands. It made me feel more at peace. I don't know why I"m always so sad thinking about him.

He was eating well and running around and interacting with me. He seemed so happy and healthy. Even on his last day, when he was losing consciousness with the neurological problem, he was still responding to lettuce and wafer and nibbling on those things with the energy and abilitiy he hade. Just he would go back to sleep or being unresponsive. So I felt like he wanted to live and still loved his food..

I'm so sorry about Pili Pala... :*( What a sweet name... :*( She was blessed with you as her owner..
 
@Jaycey

Aw. So sorry about Anselmo... God bless you, God bless him, God bless everyone.

Is PTS Post Traumatic Stress? Toby also could not poop once he was noticably getting worse neurologically. I cleaned out the poop. Maybe the brain did not have consciousness to be able to go poo or pee?
 
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