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Sick guinea pig with vet appt at 7am

rowann

rowann

Junior Guinea Pig
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My guinea pig vet was out today, the earliest I got was 7am. She is very stiff and not walking right. She is eating and drinking. Anything I can do for her in the meantime? It's 12 hours until the appt.
 
Hi, I'm afraid it's 1am here in the UK so not sure if you will get many responses before you go to the vet.
It's good that you're taking her as soon as you can after noticing her problems, and also positive that she is still eating and drinking.
In case anyone else with more medical knowledge than me comes along later, can you explain what exactly you mean by her being stiff and not walking right? If she is limping, keeping one leg off the ground, she may have sprained/broken/scratched it, in which case there isn't really anything you can do until the vet sees it, beyond keeping her comfortable and perhaps moving food etc closer so she doesn't have to move much.
Good luck at the vet in the morning, hope it is only something minor!
 
Thank you for your reply, I was concerned about that time difference too. She is very sick and stiff, also has a horrible smell? And when she walks its like a hop.
 
Sounds like some symptoms of scurvy ( vit c deficiency) Are you feeding high vit c veg? Mention this to your vet.
 
yes, ive been giving her supplements. she had this issue before and ive recently run out for about 3 days, i picked some up today though.
 
Could be leg injury, although if she smells it could be a urinary tract infection or womb issues. The hopping motion would indicate pain of some description it could be caused by any of the above... Limb, urinary or reproductive system pain :(

Good luck at the vets let us know how u get on
Healing vibes
Xx
 
rowann said:
My guinea pig vet was out today, the earliest I got was 7am. She is very stiff and not walking right. She is eating and drinking. Anything I can do for her in the meantime? It's 12 hours until the appt.
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Hi!


I am very sorry. Keep your piggy as comfy and warm (but not hot) as possible. Keep weighing her daily - it is so easy to underestimate that 80% of the food intake is hay and that a guinea pig with mobility issues won't eat as much. If necessary top her up with syringe feed (mushed up pellets with a syringe whose tip has been cut off as shown in the guide to allow fibre to come through) and water.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Administering Medications And Syringe Feed

All the best at the vets!
 
Aw, so your little girl is unwell, I hope the vet can find out what the problem is and get it sorted x
 
The vet gave me buphrenorphine, and I am going to keep giving her the vitamin c tablets. He said she should recover. (:
 
Buprenorphine, sold under the brand name Subutex, among others, is an opioid used to treat opioid addiction, acute pain, and chronic pain. It can be used under the tongue, by injection, as a skin patch, or as an implant. So this is what it does. I googled it
 
Skypipdot said:
Buprenorphine, sold under the brand name Subutex, among others, is an opioid used to treat opioid addiction, acute pain, and chronic pain. It can be used under the tongue, by injection, as a skin patch, or as an implant. So this is what it does. I googled it
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Well done @Skypipdot dont know why I bothered with those 8 years of university when everything is on google now! :)
 
Its all good having painkillers but if you dont know why the pig needs them its not a good vet. Or do you know?
 
I don’t know, but her back legs are in pain. Haha, this has been my vet for years and years. He did say give more vitamin C though.
 
It would be helpful if we knew what the diagnosis is, requiring such very strong painkillers. It is very unusual for piggies to be prescribed anything stronger than meloxicom routinely or possibly tramadol for piggies in a lot of pain. Does the vet think piggy has had an injury like a fall or something? Or a very painful gut problem like acute bloat? Puggle was given an opiate injection when she had acute bloat, but also meds to get her guts moving again...
 
Yes he talked about abdominal pain, which I guess is the reason for the pain meds. I didn’t have the money for the x-ray sadly.
 
He didn’t really for sure give me a diagnosis. I just felt like he gave many ideas.
 
Should I continue with the pain meds? He hasn’t really helped me at all and I don’t know why he was like this this visit.
 
Opiates cause constipation so if its a gut issue that should really be a one-off emergency pain relief treatment. Piggies need to keep pooping. I honestly never heard of a vet who would send opiates home for regular pain relief without a definite diagnosis of a really painful condition... I think you should call the vet and ask exactly why they have prescribed this and what illness or injury they have diagnosed that requires it. Mostly vets prescribe meloxicom which is bit like piggy paracetamol/acetaminophen, giving an opiate to take home is... very unusual.
Hope your piggy gets well, it might be worth considering a second vets opinion!
 
rowann said:
Should I continue with the pain meds? He hasn’t really helped me at all and I don’t know why he was like this this visit.
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I would find a vet that knows about guinea pigs. I have the feeling you have been fobbed off and hes made some money out of you whilst you were there. You arnt treating the cause but just helping the pain of the cause, whatever it is
 
Tramadol is like that (also an opiod) and it is very rarely prescribed and usually just very small dosage, just as a topup when the guinea pig is in so much pain that meloxicom isn't handling. We were prescribed with Bunny and Deedee in the past with that but only for a short time.

What dosage was prescribed for your piggy? Unfortunately, I think you really need to get a second opinion. I don't think your vet knows a lot about guinea pigs. Also, if your guinea pig has broken any of his legs, you would only know if you get an xray. Prescribing meds without you knowing what it is for really is quite a problem.
 
Yeah, theres a small issue with finding another vet. I live in a very small town, i've called 12+ vets and some were 2 hours away. It's all dogs and cats. He is the only one.
 
0.3 mg, i'm not gonna give it to her, i've decided i'm going to just give her more vitamin c and see how she does. This vet usually does my bird, tortoise, and rabbit. He is very good with them, this is the third time i've brought him my guinea pig, and this is the first time he's given any kind of medicine.
 
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