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Severe head tilt in 8 month guinea pig

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Further to my post earlier which I did from my phone, the Zantac is a gut stimulant (works on a different part of the gut to the Empeprid I suggested). The probiotic is still needed as it helps restore the flora in the gut that the antibiotic can kill. The gut stimulant is for helping the system keep going so that he still produces poo.
 
Gina said:
Hi my guinea pig Basil who is 8 months old has severe head tilt the vet gave me baytril he is eating parsley and carrot and is weeing but only pooing a little bit. The vet is keen to put him to sleep in a few days but I don't agree, he enjoys being stroked and being in his run but sadly runs in cycles please any advice on his chance of recovery and things I can do to help him thank you
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How is Basil, any better?
 
He is getting better thank you Silly I give him floor time with his hutch mate for 30 minutes twice a day and then the rest of the time they are separate but basil has lots of different food hay and grass and a blanket. Its been hard getting him to take 5 syringes of different meds every day but Ill keep with it. I've got another appointment with the vet in 9 days time and hope he will be alot better by then as I've spent £120 already and I'm only on minimum wage :-( Helen I have fibreplex which I ordered from Ahmed online x
 
I think the meds are doing the trick he is grumpy with me but that's to be expected as he hates the syringes. When I give him and his hutch mate floor time they don't seem to be getting on with alot of chattering and nips which is a shame :-(
 
Glad the meds are helping.

I can see why you want to do the floortime but it basically means they are going through the dominance battle every time they meet again. It may be better to keep them separate until he is better and then rebond them.
 
Thanks Helen I'm keeping them away from each other for now probably for the best. Basil still isn't eating much just grass and hay but his poos are bigger and looking almost normal :-)
 
Good plan. That's great about the poos. As long as he is pooing well then just hay and grass is fine. My pigs tend to favour hay when poorly. Are you weighing daily? if not this would be a good thing to do as you can check if he is losing weight or not.
 
Hi there Gina, l have are had several Torti pigs over the years, and I know how the distressing it can be , l have one at the moment , her name is Daisy

I just finished reading through your thread, and I'm so happy that you didn't take the first vets advice, head tilts , or Torticollis to give it its posh a name , can be caused by so many things, and sometimes the cause is very hard to establish, and the vet that doesn't have the experience, or realizes he just isn't going to make a lot of money trying with a Guinea pig may often say PTS


It just goes to show what a bit of perseverance by a devoted keeper can achieve, I so hope Basil continues to improve the way that he has been

Nice one 8)8)8)



http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=18+1803&aid=2371
 
My guinea pig penny had some thing that sounds exactly the same, turned out she had the parasite e.cuniculi, that is often caught by rabbits. She was started on panicur for rabbit on a low dose, baytril, and metacam. I didnt end up syringe feeding her as she just would have it I just kind of assisted her. I also put her in a smaller cage as she would end up getting in a state end up running round in circles and just coudnt coordinate herself. She fine now, shes kinda a bit 'disabled' her coordination still isnt the best (she cant make it up the ramp or ran around) but she absolutly fine. The vet said its like a human having had a stroke.
I dont know if this will help , maybe mention it to the vet?
I really hope your little piggy gets better soon x
 
I know of another pig who was diagnosed with that recently too, it can be very serious. They were also treated with Panacur but unfortunately the diagnosis came too late and they passed away.
 
hannah8t9 said:
My guinea pig penny had some thing that sounds exactly the same, turned out she had the parasite e.cuniculi, that is often caught by rabbits. She was started on panicur for rabbit on a low dose, baytril, and metacam. I didnt end up syringe feeding her as she just would have it I just kind of assisted her. I also put her in a smaller cage as she would end up getting in a state end up running round in circles and just coudnt coordinate herself. She fine now, shes kinda a bit 'disabled' her coordination still isnt the best (she cant make it up the ramp or ran around) but she absolutly fine. The vet said its like a human having had a stroke.
I dont know if this will help , maybe mention it to the vet?
I really hope your little piggy gets better soon x
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Not allow to edit this post but forgot to say that e.cuniculi attacks the nervous system, that why although she is better she still has some brain/ nervous damage but she still lives a happy life and eats, drinks plays with her friends fine, just cant run far walk up ramps and her head is still a bit 'bobby' :) x
 
Gina said:
I'm so happy with my new vet Basil is on Zantac, metacam, septrin and baytril with viscotears gel for his eyes she checked his ears def a near infection as there's pus
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Ignore my other posts sorry, I didnt read it all properly, oopps! So glad its being sorted, hope he makes a full recovery :) x
 
Just been to the vets very happy Basil had gone from 700g to 840g , his infection is nearly gone and it's pooing normally just on septrin Twice a day for 10 days and then off that hopefully and can reintroduce to his friend. His head tilt is a lot better unfortunately still v bad if picked up but can run on a straight line so very happy thanks for everyone a support xx
 
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