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Please Help!

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Lovexchuxlove

Lovexchuxlove

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Our newly adopted guinea pigs Metro & Chevy have been sick for the last two days. They were doing great two days ago only thing that changed is we put them in the same cage. First Chevy started losing weight. Now they are both refusing to eat, chins are wet, fishy smell around mouth, moving slowly, have milky eyes and have both lost weight.
 
I'm afraid our health specialists are all offline at the moment as its the middle of the night here in the UK. Where are you in the world and are you able to get them to an emergency vet appointment?
 
BossHogg said:
I'm afraid our health specialists are all offline at the moment as its the middle of the night here in the UK. Where are you in the world and are you able to get them to an emergency vet appointment?
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We are in the US and its also evening here. I will be calling a vet in the morning but we are worried even about tonight :(
 
I agree with the above, they need to see a vet as soon as possible, if they haven't already. It sounds to me like some kind of respiratory infection. If they came from a pet store it is not uncommon for them to come down with something like this. Keeping everything crossed for your little ones.

Please also note that if the vet finds fluid on their lungs or around the heart a diuretic will be needed in addition to antibiotics. Also in the UK we have a product called Bisolvon which can help clear mucous from the nose.

You may need to support your pigs with hand feeding, here is our guide:

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

The product links are UK based but you should be able to find similar in the US.
 
I hope that you have been able to get them to the vets. Please see one as soon as you see signs of an acute illness, even if it is very expensive.

It sounds like an acute respiratory tract infection; loss of appetite is typical for it. the sooner you can get them on an antitbiotic and can start hand feeding the better the chances of a good recovery. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and thirdly the need to eat. Helen has already given you the link that explains it all. Most of the products mentioned are available worldwide.
http://www.guinealynx.info/uri.html
 
Hello everyone, thanks go the advice and concern. We did take them to get urgent care but our little Chevy passed away as we were leaving. They gave us precautionary antibiotics for Metro because they couldn't pinpoint for sure what was going on. He got really stressed at the vets and they had to give him oxygen, it was so sad :( they gave him the 1st dose at the vet but warned us that they didn't have much hope because with pocket pets they really turn for the worse fast. He made it up until lastnight :( this has been such a sad time. We just got done taking pics of their pumpkin play date. It was very challenging to find a vet that sees guinea pigs in our town. We had to take them to a vet 45 min away. She had to keep referring to her books. She said it was uncommon that people bring in their pocket pets? I can't imagine letting any pet suffer. Not to mention the fact that those little guys brought so much joy to my children it's the least we can do. Thank you again everyone.
 
I am ever so sorry for your losses and the fact that you do not have access to any piggy savvy vets! You are welcome to post a tribute to your two boys in our Rainbow Pets section and share your loss with some people who understand.

Vet care is unfortunately quite varied across the world, but it has made great advances in the last few years in many countries. I am ever so sorry that this is not the case where you live and that the old attitude of "small animals are not worth spending money on as they don't live for long" still prevails, even more so in the US where they are not as common a pet and vet care is a lot more expensive compared to here in the UK. :(

A lot of my own piggies would not have had as long a life without good and knowledgeable small animal vet care. It is however still extremely important to have any piggies seen by a vet promptly and to support them with hand feeding as quickly as possible in order to give them a good chance of recovery. Respiratory illness can unfortunately kill even with the best of care, but the majority of piggies thankfully survive if seen in time.
 
I am so sorry for your loss! Don't worry this is not your fault in any way, sadly cavy savvy vets are not around every corner to everyone's home. :(

Lots of hugs and wheeks x
 
I'm SO sorry! I can't imagine how sad it must be for both of your piggies to pass away just like that! I hope you feel better. I am really sad for you. What you said about the milky eyes, don't take that as a sign of illness, they do that to wash their face. If they do it more than normal, maybe. Sorry again!
 
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