Dilly's Piggies
Teenage Guinea Pig
My sow Melody is 1.8 years old now, when she was a baby she had many problems and whether she would survive was 50:50, but with supportive care she thankfully did make it through and now she lives a pretty normal life, but I never did get any straight answers as to what her problem was so I thought I'd come here, tell you her story and see what you guys make of it, and if you can advise on what I can do for her.
She was 8 weeks old when I got her from a small local family run pet store, they are lovely people and their piggies are really nice, I currently have 5 from there and they are all lovely. Melody however was always different to the others, she was very small and underweight when I got her, almost half the size of the others her age. After getting her home she really struggled to settle in, she was terrified of the other piggies and would overreact whenever one came near her, she would squeal, tilt her head to one side, shiver/shake, shift her weight from one side to the other repeatedly and then walk in circles, sometimes falling over to one side. I immediately took her to the vet as I suspected an ear infection and they gave her some antibiotics, there wasn't an obvious infection but her ear was a little waxy, they cleaned it up for her.
Anyway during and after treatment I noticed she was still head tilting, circling, shivering/shaking, shifting her weight, falling over and crying, she seemed to have extreme fear and anxiety of other piggies and this behaviour was a response to stress for her. I still don't know for sure if this was the problem but it was how it looked to me. Whenever this happened I would take her out and comfort her, human support was something that really helped her, she is very much a people pig.
I also think she was small and thin due to being too afraid to eat incase the other pigs bullied her, because of this I had to take her away from the others and feed her every day, I also topped up with critical care syringe feed, she always ate really well when with her human friends instead of her piggy friends. I had to feed her separately until she was 6 months old, she got better and better and eventually built up the strength and confidence to stand up for herself with the other piggies, she is now completely fine.
I took her to a few vets and none could give straight answers but I think this is a tricky situation, they couldn't find anything physically wrong with her and said she likely has neurological problems that have improved with time and supportive care. Melody also has had a breathing problem since birth, she cannot wheek and makes a clicking noise when breathing, doesn't seem to affect her at all but my vet said she may have a heart problem which can also explain why she is smaller, had such a bad response to stress and is an extremely quiet pig in general.
What do you think is happening with her? This girl is the love of my life and incredibly special to me.
She was 8 weeks old when I got her from a small local family run pet store, they are lovely people and their piggies are really nice, I currently have 5 from there and they are all lovely. Melody however was always different to the others, she was very small and underweight when I got her, almost half the size of the others her age. After getting her home she really struggled to settle in, she was terrified of the other piggies and would overreact whenever one came near her, she would squeal, tilt her head to one side, shiver/shake, shift her weight from one side to the other repeatedly and then walk in circles, sometimes falling over to one side. I immediately took her to the vet as I suspected an ear infection and they gave her some antibiotics, there wasn't an obvious infection but her ear was a little waxy, they cleaned it up for her.
Anyway during and after treatment I noticed she was still head tilting, circling, shivering/shaking, shifting her weight, falling over and crying, she seemed to have extreme fear and anxiety of other piggies and this behaviour was a response to stress for her. I still don't know for sure if this was the problem but it was how it looked to me. Whenever this happened I would take her out and comfort her, human support was something that really helped her, she is very much a people pig.
I also think she was small and thin due to being too afraid to eat incase the other pigs bullied her, because of this I had to take her away from the others and feed her every day, I also topped up with critical care syringe feed, she always ate really well when with her human friends instead of her piggy friends. I had to feed her separately until she was 6 months old, she got better and better and eventually built up the strength and confidence to stand up for herself with the other piggies, she is now completely fine.
I took her to a few vets and none could give straight answers but I think this is a tricky situation, they couldn't find anything physically wrong with her and said she likely has neurological problems that have improved with time and supportive care. Melody also has had a breathing problem since birth, she cannot wheek and makes a clicking noise when breathing, doesn't seem to affect her at all but my vet said she may have a heart problem which can also explain why she is smaller, had such a bad response to stress and is an extremely quiet pig in general.
What do you think is happening with her? This girl is the love of my life and incredibly special to me.
