Sick Guinea Pig Separation

[diorpigs]

Hi guys first post here.

My oldest piggie whos about 4 years old recently got diagnosed with what the vet described as a severe ear infection. He had bleeding in his ear and a head tilt. He went to the vet and has been on his medication for 4 days now and has significantly improved. The vet recommended that we keep him away from the other two pigs but didn’t specify until when.

He’s been in his quarantine cage since his diagnosis (12 sq ft) and initially didnt care much. However, since yesterday hes been biting at the cage, wheeking LOUD when he hears the other pigs from the other room, and gets scared every time he leaves his igloo.

My question is can he go back to his friends? Is he still contagious? Ive tried asking his vet but I cannot reach her at all. The other pigs had lived with him prior to his diagnosis and have no symptoms. Also, the older pig has struggled to keep weight on since he was young and has gotten sick before ( nothing as serious as it is now) whereas the other two are only a year younger and have never gotten sick.

also his meds are an oral and topical bay tril, pre probiotics, and metacam.

Anyways- Help

 

[Wiebke]

Hi guys first post here.

My oldest piggie whos about 4 years old recently got diagnosed with what the vet described as a severe ear infection. He had bleeding in his ear and a head tilt. He went to the vet and has been on his medication for 4 days now and has significantly improved. The vet recommended that we keep him away from the other two pigs but didn’t specify until when.

He’s been in his quarantine cage since his diagnosis (12 sq ft) and initially didnt care much. However, since yesterday hes been biting at the cage, wheeking LOUD when he hears the other pigs from the other room, and gets scared every time he leaves his igloo.

My question is can he go back to his friends? Is he still contagious? Ive tried asking his vet but I cannot reach her at all. The other pigs had lived with him prior to his diagnosis and have no symptoms. Also, the older pig has struggled to keep weight on since he was young and has gotten sick before ( nothing as serious as it is now) whereas the other two are only a year younger and have never gotten sick.

also his meds are an oral and topical bay tril, pre probiotics, and metacam.

Anyways- Help

Hi!

I can't tell you whether or how highly the infection is contagious but generally healthy piggies with a fully working health system are able to fend off many bugs, especially when exposure must already have happened.

There has been a general shift in recent years, which is also increasingly acknowledged by piggy savvy vets re. the importance of companionship for guinea pigs and the stress lowering effect of it. Personally, as your other two are not showing any symptoms, I would reunite them again if they were my piggies; but I would have also just split the cage initially or kept my hospital cage close by. However, I cannot tell you what you should do since I cannot assess the health issue and your vet's considerations when making that recommendation.

This guide link here contains a chapter on companionship during recovery, which you may find interesting.