• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Specialist Ongoing/unknown illness, very poorly pig

Liz47

Liz47

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Messages
78
Reaction score
30
Points
195
Location
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Arnie is only 4 years old and for a couple of weeks now has been very poorly. I first noticed him being a bit quiet but couldn't find anything wrong, the next day he had a slight head tilt. Took him to the vets that day and started metacam and baytril for a possible ear infection. He has spent most of the time sleeping but still keen to eat. After a while the head tilt improved and now is barely noticeable. After about a week of treatment he started being wet daily from urine and impacted, so we have been trying to keep him dry and gently easing the poo out as advised by our vet. We was concerned as he still wasn't moving about much and then began to stop using his right hand leg (the side that the head tilt was towards), was advised to see a specialist vet so travelled to see her and was impressed by her thorough examination of him. He can feel the leg and does pull it forward occasionally, she could see no signs of ear infection although a middle ear infection would be hard to spot. She didn't think x rays would be much use at this point as doesn't think the problem comes from his spine/bones, an MRI or CT would be more useful but pricey and may also be inconclusive.

The possible diagnosis at this point are middle ear infection, viral meningitis or EC. She upped the metacam dose and also gave us marbocyl (may have spelt that wrong, is a strong antibiotic) and panacur. He also has critical care and a probiotic as has been loosing weight. He's been on these meds since Wednesday, no real change since then but this evening he can't use both his hind legs and is trying to drag himself. You can turn his feet over and gently pinch them and he has no reaction, he is still eating but isn't squeaking for food or being very active. We are going to see the specialist again asap, but unsure what else we can do. I would like to go down further diagnostic routes to find out what is truly wrong with him, but everyone is pointing out that I will spend hundreds of pounds to find out it may be neurological or untreatabke and not really get us anywhere. But I can't leave him as he is and would hate to go straight to PTS without knowing why and if he could get better.

Does anyone have any experience with anything similar ? :( I don't know if it's related but a few months before he became ill he was at the vets as we saw he had white spots on his black bits around his eyes/lips/nose and on the soles of his feet, we saw 3 different vets who had never seen anything similar and could find nothing when they looked in the books or researched it?!

Thank you for any help x
 
I am so sorry to hear that. I have never had to deal with that’s s I am new to the whole pig parent thing. I am so worried this will happen to my babies, too. I hope he gets better. Please keep us updated. It is so horrible to go through it. Sending healing vibes to you and your piggy.
 
Please make sure that you weigh him daily at the same time in the feeding cycle and top him up with syringe feed if necessary; as hay is making 80% or more of the daily food intake, it is very easy to misjudge it if you just go by his veg eating.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

If he is not very mobile, please spot clean where he sits most often twice daily and change his cosy as often, if he uses one. Check the foot soles and the genital area for sores, soreness and urine scald if his mobility is impacted, he struggled to clean himself and take the weight off his front legs.
Here are our impaction tips: Impaction - How To Help Your Guinea Pig.

I am very sorry; it is obvious that you are a very caring and loving owner!

I am tagging our most experienced members for you.
@Abi_nurse @Jaycey @helen105281 @furryfriends (TEAS) @Pound Shilling & Pig
 
Last edited:
Am hoping Abi will be along at some point as she is the most experienced. My first thought would have been E-Cuniculli but I would have expected him to respond to Panacur if so. Poor boy, am sorry you are both going through this. My Ellie lost the use of her legs and I never found out why. It's horrible.
 
Thank you all for the replies and help. We are syringe feeding him and weighing, his weight loss has slowed down. I am worried about urine scald, he's a short haired pig but his fur has started to Matt despite regularly moving him and trying to keep him clean. We had a rabbit that had very limited use of her hind legs and it was very hard to manage at times but while she remained bright we just took extra care to keep her comfortable , would a guinea pig manage quite well without use of their hind legs with extra care? We knew the cause of Beano's illness so without knowing the cause of Arnie's I am reluctant to just see how he goes on his current meds/coping
 
I can't offer any advice but want to send lots of healing vibes x
 
@Liz47 I've had a few pigs with neurological issues. My latest was Anselmo and unfortunately his story didn't have a happy ending, but neurological issues can differ so much I wouldn't take that as a bad sign for Arnie.

We tried Panacur with Anselmo. We also tried Itrafungal and also Zithromax, so those could be something that you can try next.

It is very difficult to diagnose but if he's happy and you're able to care for him and afford the tests then I wouldn't go down the route of having him PTS. His head tilt has improved so there's a good chance that his leg coordination will.

Best wishes to both you and Arnie and please keep us informed and ask any questions you want
 
Just give your boy regular gentle washes and wipes with baby warm water around the soiled areas and the foot pads.

Place and hay and water close by within reach. As long as a piggy is eating on their own, they have the will to live. I've been through it with my then 7/8 year old Nerys who developed mobility issues due to a temporary swelling/fluid build up on the side of her body that started in the adrenal gland area and cost her the use of one leg at times; she eventually regained, but her legs remained weak in the following months while old age started to catch up with her.
Keep an eye for bumblefoot sores on the front leg pads when frail piggies with back leg problems and decreased circulation are not able to take the weight off their front legs for some time.

I found the foot cream from Gorgeous Guineas helpful for Nerys. F & M Ointment 15gm
 
I think the vet can be the only person to advise you. I would say a lot not all of us are out of our depth with this one.
Just make sure they are excellent & specialist vets. I would get him into the vets ASAP. He may be in pain. See if they can give you something more then Baytrill, if needed as that can be an appetite suppressant.
I would get pets at home to pay the bills. Some of them are excellent vets, but unless, it is absolutely necessary I don't think I would leave him overnight. On here is a story about someone leaving there piggy with p@h. When she went to see how he was, they had sent him back to the breeder, without permission.
 
I currently have a pig with EC. She would drag herself around in a circle when first ill, luckily the panacur and time helped deal with that and her ability to walk returned. She is still wobbly and gets damp as while she's mobile, she's not as mobile as a regular pig. I use Kaytee clean and cosy paper bedding in her bed areas that I change every day and so far it's the only bedding I've used that keeps her dry, she's a long haired Texel though so you might have more options with a short haired pig. I also use water wipes to wipe her bits down from time to time if she does start to look a bit mucky.
We were at the point of going in to the vets daily to evaluate recovery vs suffering and each day there was a risk pts would be the kindest option but she really wanted to live. And she lives a good life.

Progress was over the course of months, the syringe feeding seemed never ending..so try not to be disheartened if you don't see results straight away. The medication deals with the parasite, if it is EC, but it's up to the body to repair itself and that can take a while!
 
Thank you all. He is on a high dose of metacam twice a day for any pain and isn't on baytril anymore, he was only on that when I very first spotted his head tilt. I've had him since just under a year old so p@h will be unable to pay the bill, and I actually work for a vets but we are going to a different more pig savvy vets

It's hard as I am recovering from an operation and am unable to walk, so the past few days my OH has been looking after Arnie and his cage mate Ellie so I am now going by what he says as I am being looked after elsewhere. I have asked him to call the specialist and get an appt with her ASAP, I haven't had an update on this today :(
 
I hope your recovery is smooth and fast!
I just wanted to point out that I had had Bramble for a year before she got sick, but I sent all the print outs from the vets and told them she had this because of their rubbish breeding facility. They agreed to refund all my vets fees as it was very much their fault. They agreed to sell me a healthy animal but she was anything but..They sold a ticking time bomb. Just something to keep in mind, we managed to rack up quite a substantial bill so to get it all back was quite a relief!
 
That is helpful thank you. I'm very upset, I've had guineas since I was five and all lived to 9 and 10. Bertie (Arnie's brother) died aged only 2 following a stroke and seizures, and now Arnie is suffering this :(
 
Liz47 said:
Arnie is only 4 years old and for a couple of weeks now has been very poorly. I first noticed him being a bit quiet but couldn't find anything wrong, the next day he had a slight head tilt. Took him to the vets that day and started metacam and baytril for a possible ear infection. He has spent most of the time sleeping but still keen to eat. After a while the head tilt improved and now is barely noticeable. After about a week of treatment he started being wet daily from urine and impacted, so we have been trying to keep him dry and gently easing the poo out as advised by our vet. We was concerned as he still wasn't moving about much and then began to stop using his right hand leg (the side that the head tilt was towards), was advised to see a specialist vet so travelled to see her and was impressed by her thorough examination of him. He can feel the leg and does pull it forward occasionally, she could see no signs of ear infection although a middle ear infection would be hard to spot. She didn't think x rays would be much use at this point as doesn't think the problem comes from his spine/bones, an MRI or CT would be more useful but pricey and may also be inconclusive.

The possible diagnosis at this point are middle ear infection, viral meningitis or EC. She upped the metacam dose and also gave us marbocyl (may have spelt that wrong, is a strong antibiotic) and panacur. He also has critical care and a probiotic as has been loosing weight. He's been on these meds since Wednesday, no real change since then but this evening he can't use both his hind legs and is trying to drag himself. You can turn his feet over and gently pinch them and he has no reaction, he is still eating but isn't squeaking for food or being very active. We are going to see the specialist again asap, but unsure what else we can do. I would like to go down further diagnostic routes to find out what is truly wrong with him, but everyone is pointing out that I will spend hundreds of pounds to find out it may be neurological or untreatabke and not really get us anywhere. But I can't leave him as he is and would hate to go straight to PTS without knowing why and if he could get better.

Does anyone have any experience with anything similar ? :( I don't know if it's related but a few months before he became ill he was at the vets as we saw he had white spots on his black bits around his eyes/lips/nose and on the soles of his feet, we saw 3 different vets who had never seen anything similar and could find nothing when they looked in the books or researched it?!

Thank you for any help x
Click to expand...
Fortunately your piggie has a wonderful parent. I lost 2 guinnea pigs myself, after treatment by a vet, they unfortunately still succumbed to their illnesses. Diet is important and sudden changes can stress them. I've learned that much. Also vitamin C is very important. You could try keeping their food in a sealed container to keep it fresh and to make sure the food retains the vitamin C. Also fresh green veggies and lettuce are a great source of vitamin C. Unfortunately everytime I gave my sick piggies a vitamin supplement it seemed to make things worse. Your lil guy is eating, just keep him comfy and take your vets advise. All the best.
 
Personally, I would discuss having blood-work performed to show any anomalies/ a blood test performed to confirm EC.
 
Thank you for the further replies, they are very appreciated.

The specialist isn't working until Thursday so we have an appointment with her then. In the meantime my partner took him to our usual vets as although he is on medication it seemed unfair to leave him without seeing a vet since he got worse. He's on a very high dose of metacam, and we have been shown how to bathe him to better deal with the wetting himself, this will only be done when necessary. We will be having bloods done at the very least, although the EC test can be rather inconclusive, if it's anything like it is in rabbits. But is a good starting point hopefully.
 
I hope he recovers well. Fingers crossed. Get yourself better then Annie can have a cuddle with mum again. Make sure you keep your hubby on his toes, does them good to do the housework & cooking now & again. Lol
 
Everyone has given great advice. E.cuniculi would be my first thought but this is quite a dramatic response if it is. My second idea would be throwing a clot. Does he have feeling in his hind limbs? If you pinch them slightly at first then harder does he react to it? If he does this is good, it means he had deep pain sensation and there is a chance of potential recovery if no reaction then I would be concerned. What I mean by throwing a clot is that if he has had a clot form somewhere in his body it may have got lodged where his hindlimb vessels meet his body and caused a paralysis. This may explain the recent head tilt potentially and the odd right leg episode. Diagnosis of this is not impossible but very hard to be certain. EC bloods are an idea, as well as checking his heart as this can cause blood clots to be sent around the body if he has any heart issues. I would also potentially look at starting some anti fungals. Ideally voriconazole. I know this is strange to suggestion but E.cuniculi has been reclassified recently as a fungus and we have seen results using voriconazole anti fungals in a rabbit. The drug is expensive in some forms and your vet will need to write a presciption for a pharmacy as we cannot get it usually in veterinary wholesalers. Some of the tablets are reasonably priced, will just need crushing and dissolving into water. Worth a go I would say.

I would also consider gabapentin as some more pain relief it's great for any neuropathic pain and physiotherapy for the hind legs. Nerve issues can take upwards of four weeks to show any improvement, just to also give you a time frame, so sorry your having a rough time.

Good luck with him and keep us all updated.
 
Last edited:
Just wanted to send healing vibes to you and Arnie. I think your doing amazing . Hope you are both much better soon. xx
 
Thank you all, sorry for the late update.

Arnie is still the same really, he seems bright enough and taking his meds voluntarily through the syringe. We saw the piggy savvy vet, we have moved onto prednisolone. The vet and I are aware of the cautions with steroids and side effects and are prepared for these, it is a last resort and he is booked in for regular checks. Blood work showed nothing. I don't think an MRI/CT would be of much benefit to Arnie, as he has meds to cover all possible outcomes. If he doesn't improve we will be having a think about quality of life and making a very hard decision :(
 
@Liz47 I guess that the good news is that he's no worse. I've seen neurological issues get worse quite quickly.

Has the vet said anything about trying an antifungal?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top