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Piggy overnight at the vets & tests today

emmyk89

emmyk89

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey all,

My almost 6 year old piggy Reggie was taken to my exotic vets yesterday as his back legs, and one of his front ones weren't working overnight when I saw him in the morning. He had also been steadily losing weight the past month which we thought may just be due to age.

He has been back and forth to the vets the past 2 months for a cyst on his backside which is slowly exuding still.

The vet couldn't initially diagnose anything - but I assume it's probably cancer due to the questions she asked (his weight loss, the outside ring of his eyes are pink not white anymore) but she strongly advised he stay overnight, which I feel awful about aswell because he's in a strange place without his friend :( she said he should be in overnight so they can monitor him, give him fluids and feeds etc, and I'm sure he's in the best place but I still feel so bad.

He's due to have a blood test, and an x-ray under anesthetic today if he's strong enough, but again I'm seriously sad thinking he's not going to make it through that and that the last time I saw him alive was yesterday :(

If he does survive it I'm not sure what the best thing to do is if it is cancer. Obviously hoping for something treatable but because of his age I just don't know what the right thing to do would be on such an old pig.

It's so lovely having guinea pigs as pets but this part of it is inevitable and it's the hardest part. I always question whether I made the right choices no matter what they are, and always regret doing things I did or didn't do, or signs I didn't notice etc etc.

Fingers crossed for Reggie today

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Thanks.

He's had the X-ray and is currently in recovery.

She said he has a large bladder stone that needs surgery, and it's probably causing him pain which is making him not want to use his legs. I don't understand how that on its own can cause him to seemingly lose the use of both back legs over night :(
Oh and he has arthritis in the knees of the back legs.

Does this really explain his overnight loss of use of his legs though? I can understand it being painful, but he seemed like his legs were really stiff and he was kinda dragging them behind him when moving and only using his front ones yesterday. It was like he just wasn't able to propel the back ones forwards.
 
I am very sorry for the diagnosis 😞 Until the stone is out, it isn’t really possible to say whether that is the reason behind his back leg paralysis but if he has arthritis in his knees and spine, that could also be the reason?

I am thinking of you an Reggie x
 
I’m so sorry. Reggie is a very handsome boar 😍 I had a piggie with bladder stones & arthritis and he also struggled with his back legs as a result

Thinking of you and sending lots of healing wheeks. Reggie is a great age, you’re clearly a very caring owner
 
Aww thanks both! Is it possible that a large stone can be pinching a nerve or his spine or something? Or he is choosing not to move his legs because he's in a lot of pain?

I don't know the anatomy of a guinea pig so well. Obviously we are having the stone removed tomorrow via surgery, which I hope he will get theough. But I'm just hoping there isn't something else that's untreatable causing the leg issue, I don't want to cause him a load of unnecessary sufferring, for example if we put him through the surgery and it turns out that he's got a brain tumor and has only a week to live anyway.

Thanks, my pigs are my kids and all my wages go on them every month haha. They have 2 different types of hay, redigrass, dried dandelion leaves, marigold flowers, grain free pellets, and the occasional bit of GP oat biscuit & flaked peas lol Plus expensive surgery when they need it haha 🙂

But after some initial reading I think I'll have to stop with the (occasional) dandelion leaves as apparently they contain a lot of oxalate and bind to calcium and cause stones.
 
Low calcium is generally recommended on here to avoid bladder stones I believe. There’s a good guide about it here in the feeding section

I believe arthritis can cause issues with back leg paralysis but I’m not an expert. I think there’s a guide for it - I’ll try to link it below but I’m on my phone so it might not work 😅

Reggie is a truly gorgeous boar, fingers & paws crossed here for his surgery tomorrow

Limited Mobility Guide
 
The pain in the lower back from the stone can impact on the back leg mobility, especially if ot combines with the arthritis; like pain in the lower spine can cause problems with the digestive system expressing poos as well as impact on his mobility...

It is all very packed and wrapped around each other down there. :(

All the best with his stone surgery.
 
Thanks all. He's just at the vets now with hubby who's dropping him off.

He stayed overnight with us last night and seemed to be using his back legs a little more though I think that's because he perked up a bit when he got back and was with his girlfriend again. He's been eating well this morning too. :)

Trying to look at his diet, but I've always followed the advice on here, with a few extra things.

Daily they all get a small handful or 2 of dried dandelion leaves mixed with their hay, same with dried marigold flowers. Hay-wise they mostly get Timothy hay (from the hay shed) and a soft meadow hay (from nature's own). I put loads in their cage they're never without hay.

Veg wise daily they only get lettuce (little gem or romaine or an occasional salad bad with no spinach) a fairly big sized piece of bell pepper (various colours) each for vitamin C (id say an inch X an Inch in size). Once a week I'll usually buy either fresh parsley or coriander which they get a bit of over a weekend or a few days as it doesn't last long. They get a slice of cucumber, carrot, grape and celery occasionally (like once a week) too. I rarely give them spinach, or broccoli (usually just the odd bit if I buy it for myself) maybe a bit of tomato on occasion, and never give them kale or anything else not listed here.

Pellets - they get science selective grain free pellets twice a day I'd say around a little more than a tablespoon each per day, and about a teaspoon of dried flaked peas each a day. Rarely, maybe once or twice a week they get a 1cm piece of "oat biscuit" from nature's own (doesn't contain any soy related ingredients)

I think the main culprit is the daily dried dandelion leaves, the daily dried peas and possibly too many pellets per day.
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

I would agree that there is likely too much dried forage, peaflakes and pellets.
One tablespoon of forage is enough.
Pellets - one tablespoon (or less even) once a day.

The veggies they can eat every day are lettuce, cucumber, coriander and bell pepper. Everything else is in rotation. I would not feed fruit and carrot
in the same week either due to the sugars.

Best wishes for his surgery
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m sorry to hear this.

I would agree that there is likely too much dried forage, peaflakes and pellets.
One tablespoon of forage is enough.
Pellets - one tablespoon (or less even) once a day.

The veggies they can eat every day are lettuce, cucumber, coriander and bell pepper. Everything else is in rotation. I would not feed fruit and carrot
in the same week either due to the sugars.

Best wishes for his surgery
Click to expand...
Hey, thanks.

Yeh all the other bits of veg I mentioned are not every week, but in rotation :)
 
emmyk89 said:
Thanks all. He's just at the vets now with hubby who's dropping him off.

He stayed overnight with us last night and seemed to be using his back legs a little more though I think that's because he perked up a bit when he got back and was with his girlfriend again. He's been eating well this morning too. :)

Trying to look at his diet, but I've always followed the advice on here, with a few extra things.

Daily they all get a small handful or 2 of dried dandelion leaves mixed with their hay, same with dried marigold flowers. Hay-wise they mostly get Timothy hay (from the hay shed) and a soft meadow hay (from nature's own). I put loads in their cage they're never without hay.

Veg wise daily they only get lettuce (little gem or romaine or an occasional salad bad with no spinach) a fairly big sized piece of bell pepper (various colours) each for vitamin C (id say an inch X an Inch in size). Once a week I'll usually buy either fresh parsley or coriander which they get a bit of over a weekend or a few days as it doesn't last long. They get a slice of cucumber, carrot, grape and celery occasionally (like once a week) too. I rarely give them spinach, or broccoli (usually just the odd bit if I buy it for myself) maybe a bit of tomato on occasion, and never give them kale or anything else not listed here.

Pellets - they get science selective grain free pellets twice a day I'd say around a little more than a tablespoon each per day, and about a teaspoon of dried flaked peas each a day. Rarely, maybe once or twice a week they get a 1cm piece of "oat biscuit" from nature's own (doesn't contain any soy related ingredients)

I think the main culprit is the daily dried dandelion leaves, the daily dried peas and possibly too many pellets per day.
Click to expand...

Fingers very firmly crossed for Reggie today.

Just adding this helpful guide link for readers of this thread: Tips For Post-operative Care
 
Good luck with the stone surgery. I’m sending lots of healing vibes his way ❤️
 
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