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Paralysis in guinea pig's back legs

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marblemoo

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My 3-year-old guinea pig lost the use of her legs suddenly two days ago. She's fine in herself, eating and drinking and running around as she wishes.
She had an Xray yesterday and the vet has told me they cannot see any break or trauma on her spine or legs. I have been told that it MIGHT be a blood clot touching her spine and I've been told to keep her clean and give her a small dose of metacam once a day for the next 10 days and see how she goes as the clot may dislodge.

She has not been dropped or had any trauma. She has not been stressed and the other guinea she's kept with is just fine.
Our theory on our guineas is that we will always try to make them better if we can (the other has just recovered from a chest infection)...

Can anyone advise on how I can help her?

Thank you in advance :)
 
Although extremely rare I have read in a Peter Gurney book that paralysis in the back legs can be caused by lack of calcium - the treatment is several shots of calcium over a few days I seem to recall - I stress that I am not a vet and that you should be guided by what your vet says - but it might be worth googling it and passing that information along to your vet - (I think it was the book Piggy Potions).Hope your piggy gets better soon.
 
Hi their I've seen this condition many times over the years, yet it still frightens me,

Chances are your vet will find nothing to explain it and may only speculate as to the cause ! ,

Providing your vet is an agreement and there are no pain indicators , I have found like wenton5 has said, gentle massage to be the best medicine Do as often as you can , at least twice a day

It will stimulate the blood supply to take nutrients to the muscles and nerve endings, you may have to be patient though! I have had this condition in pigs and has lasted several hours and sometimes several weeks, but the good news is the majority of the time they make a good recovery . Best of luck with your Piggie
 
Dear all, thank you so much for all of your advice.

Every day we have been massaging Tess' back legs and bottom (with a weak bladder we have had lots of wet laps!), plus we also tried liquid calcium, as recommended to us. 1ml twice a day for 2 days then 1ml one a day for 3 days after that. She came off of it Thursday.

Each day she seemed to have more movement, flicking her back leg occasionally and then moving on her hips, more so than solely her front legs. Yesterday, she decided she was going to move BOTH back legs and proceeded to try and jump off of the sofa (her old favourite trick!) Last night we attempted to give her the same massage and she started trying to kick us off which we're guessing means she has feeling again!

Very proud of her, and very thankful to all of you for your help and assistance.

I wanted to let you know that, just a week after starting the massage and calcium, she is nearly back to her old self. I should also mention she has been on a little metacam once a day to ease the pain. We are due to the vets tomorrow (to see their own vet this time!) and fingers crossed we'll come out with some pretty amazing news.

Thanks again everyone - and a massive thanks from Tess! :)
 
Something happened to 5 year old of mine (who was in major pain with a different issue than the usual overnight lameness), but she is making a good recovery now and is out and about as normal. Her digestion, which was quite affected by the pain (partlial gut stasis), will probably remain on the iffy side in view of her age.

It was a very frightening experience, especially as it happened over the course of a Saturday evening/night.
 
So we saw our own vet this week. She was most surprised to see Tess run across her room!

Our vet says she thinks Tess pulled a muscle between her two legs and thus the paralysis. She added that this is usually seen in female species who have given birth or done the splits. Don't know how Tess managed it!

I've agreed to give her a little exercise every day to help build her muscle back up and in return Tess spent last night running, as normal, across the floor!
 
I'm so happy that Tess Has made so much improvement
these amazing little animals never cease to amaze us

well done Tess x>>
 
I read that Gurney used to use swimming for good exercise. Yeah for Tess, it's so nice to hear a happy story of recovery! Congratulations parents! :) L and the gang
 
wenton5 said:
I read that Gurney used to use swimming for good exercise. Yeah for Tess, it's so nice to hear a happy story of recovery! Congratulations parents! :) L and the gang
Click to expand...


Hi there, yes Peter pioneered some amazing treatments for Guinea pigs, and is very useful for conditions like FCE! Commonly known as spinal cord stroke, or a fibrocarteilaginous embolism(forgive spelling mallethead ) in conditions like this vigorous exercise is recommended, and will often work magic!

But I would be very cautious ! the swimming therapy should be used very carefully!! and only with veterinary advice,

As their are many conditions that can cause back to the leg paralysis, and swimming therapies Could also prove quite harmful If used on the wrong condition.

I might be wrong but personally I would recommend speaking to a vet Before contemplating swimming therapies,
 
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