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Pig with neurological problems - recovery

RosiePog

RosiePog

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello I’m new here so hope I’ve got this right.

One of my Guineas became very ill at the weekend, was suddenly spinning in circles and seemed to lose all sense of awareness of her surroundings. We managed to get her to a vet within the hour who wasn’t very optimistic - he said he thought it could be a stroke or an infection which had caused inflammation. He advised separating her from our other pig, keeping her dark and quiet and gave us medicine and food to syringe.
However, despite not being able to walk and find her food, she has been able to eat from my hand so I’ve been doing that for the last two days and managed to get her to take water from a small syringe. She is still very unbalanced but today found her bowl and ate some nuggets without assistance and seems more stable. I’ve been trying not to get my hopes up but I feel like she is making some progress and it doesn’t seem quite as bleak as it did at first.

I suppose I just wanted to know if anyone else had any experience of this kind of illness and how best to aid her recovery from here? Also how do you handle separations, ie how and when do you go about reintroducing them to their companion and what is a reasonable quarantine/recovery time? I will obviously check back in with the vet but wanted more practical advice on what to expect from people who had been through it.

Many thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum
I don’t like sounding negative but I had a piggy doing this - the vet said it was either an infection or a tumour in the brain.

We ended up having to put him to sleep.

Be guided by your vet - every situation is different and I hope your girl recovers
 
Welcome! What medication was your piggy given? I have a little girl called Bramble who suffered similar issues, circling, disorientation, unable to feed herself etc she also had a head tilt. With Bramble, it took her weeks to be stable enough to pick up food by herself, months before she no longer needed syringe feeding, so it sounds like your girl is making pretty quick progress compared to mine!
With regards to separation, if you are giving syringe food then I would keep them together, being ill is stressful on a prey species, being ill and alone is even more so. Bramble sought comfort from her sister while she was alive and continues to look to her current companion Ebony when she is under the weather :)

The biggest thing I would say is, listen to your pig, they will let you know when they've had enough. Bramble had such a will to live, our vet said usually they put to sleep in her state but she so obviously wanted to try that we gave her the opportunity, we had to go back in with her on a daily basis though just to keep an eye on signs she had given up. I don't know if it helped or not but I would take Bramble out and help her to walk, using my hands either side to guide her in a straight line. She used to like walking along walls too as this kept her on track instead of going in circles. For the most part it's a case of keep putting the food and medication in, encouraging them as much as possible towards independence, keeping their spirits up and waiting for their body to repair itself as best it can, the time frame I assume will depend on each piggy. It was a few months for Bram, maybe 4 or 5? It's coming up to 2 years now since she became unwell and is very much enjoying life :)

I hope your piggy recovers soon :luv:
 
RosiePog said:
Hello I’m new here so hope I’ve got this right.

One of my Guineas became very ill at the weekend, was suddenly spinning in circles and seemed to lose all sense of awareness of her surroundings. We managed to get her to a vet within the hour who wasn’t very optimistic - he said he thought it could be a stroke or an infection which had caused inflammation. He advised separating her from our other pig, keeping her dark and quiet and gave us medicine and food to syringe.
However, despite not being able to walk and find her food, she has been able to eat from my hand so I’ve been doing that for the last two days and managed to get her to take water from a small syringe. She is still very unbalanced but today found her bowl and ate some nuggets without assistance and seems more stable. I’ve been trying not to get my hopes up but I feel like she is making some progress and it doesn’t seem quite as bleak as it did at first.

I suppose I just wanted to know if anyone else had any experience of this kind of illness and how best to aid her recovery from here? Also how do you handle separations, ie how and when do you go about reintroducing them to their companion and what is a reasonable quarantine/recovery time? I will obviously check back in with the vet but wanted more practical advice on what to expect from people who had been through it.

Many thanks.
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Hi! Has your vet checked for blindness and is she on antibiotics for a possible infection. Has he considered e.coli?

You are doing the right thing by support feeding fibre and water and otherwise keeping her quiet and calm.
Here is our syringe feeding guide with tips on how much/how often to feed depending how much your piggy is eating by itself. Keep in mind that hay is making 80% or more of the daily food intake.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

See how her companion reacts. Keeping piggies together is often a lot less stressful for them unless they voluntarily remove themselves or the companion is starting a dominance takeover attempt.

@helen105281 @Jaycey @Freela
 
Hi thanks for replies.

I haven’t actually had to syringe feed as she has been eating hay and vegetables by herself when I leave them close to her, or from my hand, and today she found her nuggets so I think food-wise she is not doing too badly.

She is on medicam and sulfatrim. The vet didn’t really say much I think he thought she would have to be put to sleep but only didn’t suggest it straight away as she is so young (around 7 months) he wanted to give her a chance. He was unable to examine her very closely as she was panicking and circling too much. She has been much calmer at home and allowed me to pick her up and give her the medicine fine. I’m not an expert but I think her vision may be impaired as she takes a while to find the food even if under her nose.

I separated them because the vet said to but I’ve been worried about it, for the first day or so I think she was too ill to notice but now she seems steadier I wonder. Although it would be devastating if the healthy one was infected too which he seemed to suggest could happen so I’ve not been sure what to do for the best not having a proper diagnosis. They get on well but the healthy one does tend to dominate slightly and am a bit concerned she would be too boisterous.

Interesting that you had close contact with the vet throughout erathwien, we didn’t see our usual vet as it was over a weekend so I’ve felt a bit in limbo. The suggestion seemed to be to finish the course then come back and see what the situation is then but perhaps I should book in with our regular vet before then and see if they can shed more light. I am loathe to cause her any more stress at the moment though.

I really appreciate all the replies, even the negative, I haven’t known what to think, I swing from feeling like she’s at death’s door to hopeful she’ll push through it without having a clue what “it” is and have kids who are worried so I’ve felt a bit on my own with it.
 
Just to clarify I did syringe feed her on the first day, but she’s been able to take food since.
 
When you can, ask your vet if they think a course of Panacur would help, if they think that your other piggy may catch it, they may be thinking E.cuniculi (which is what Bramble has) although as it's shed in the urine, your other piggy would likely already have had contact, they can have it and not show symptoms for years, if ever, it is triggered by stress. Bramble is also blind on one side due to nerve damage on one side from swelling on the brain. It might also be a good idea to keep checking her incisors each day, the nerve damage meant she wasnt chewing properly so her teeth started wearing at a funny angle when she was able to chew normal food again. If you're worried about dominance then maybe setting their cages side by side so they can still see and talk to one another for the time being would help, then she can't get bossed around :)

Other than that, I just wanted to send big virtual hugs, I can well remember back when we didnt know what was causing the issues and how scary and frustrating the 2 steps forward 1 step back felt and just trying to throw any and every treatment at her in the hopes something worked. In the end, the panacur was pinpointed to be what helped.
 
Thank you that is really useful. It is stressful it’s been a very heavy few days - I had almost reconciled myself to losing her but seeing her gradually show signs of progress and the work of looking after her - I’d be gutted now if she didn’t make it.

This is great as it gives me a bit of background when I see the vet so I can ask the right questions.

I have brought the other one in and made a pen nearby when I’m giving veggies so they know they are nearby and they have had little chats to each other which is encouraging.
 
Eriathwen said:
When you can, ask your vet if they think a course of Panacur would help, if they think that your other piggy may catch it, they may be thinking E.cuniculi (which is what Bramble has) although as it's shed in the urine, your other piggy would likely already have had contact, they can have it and not show symptoms for years, if ever, it is triggered by stress. Bramble is also blind on one side due to nerve damage on one side from swelling on the brain. It might also be a good idea to keep checking her incisors each day, the nerve damage meant she wasnt chewing properly so her teeth started wearing at a funny angle when she was able to chew normal food again. If you're worried about dominance then maybe setting their cages side by side so they can still see and talk to one another for the time being would help, then she can't get bossed around :)

Other than that, I just wanted to send big virtual hugs, I can well remember back when we didnt know what was causing the issues and how scary and frustrating the 2 steps forward 1 step back felt and just trying to throw any and every treatment at her in the hopes something worked. In the end, the panacur was pinpointed to be what helped.
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Just wanted to thank you again for this - have been to the vet and while a stroke is the likely suspect we have also been given Panacur in case it is E.cuniculi, so your advice was spot on.

She has seemed a little better again today and I’m feeling a lot more positive.
 
You're very welcome! Fingers crossed for her continued improvement, with any luck she will be back to her old self in no time :luv:
 
Sad update - lost her this afternoon. She had seemed to be picking up but in the last day went downhill very quickly. I spent a lot of time holding her today and the vet was lovely at the end. We are all sad but now I’m worried about my other girl all alone.

Thanks for the help, it has been such a support finding this forum in these stressful weeks.
 
Oh no. So very sorry to read this, please feel free to leave a tribute in our Rainbow Bridge thread. Hugs to you x
 
Thank you. It was the best thing for her I know and we did all we could, but will take a while to sink in, my whole routine has been around caring for her the last few weeks.
 
Oh, so sorry for your little girl, such a shame, she really seemed like she had turned a corner. You did everything you possibly could x
 
So sorry for your loss.
You did so much for her.
Be kind and gentle with yourself now and allow yourself time to grieve
 
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