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Sick Guinea Pig

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Blueyes86

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Hi Guys

I'm new to this forum and I need some urgent advise / opinions.

I'm posting this on behalf of my girlfriend who can't post this as she is at work but she has a male Guinea Pig that is about 5 years old, he's been going off his food for a number of weeks now.

He literally now is hardly eating anything, he takes a few bites of fresh food (cucumber, apple etc, no peas) and then loses interest, he hardly touches dry food and has to be syringed water (he doesn't appear to have lost too much weight though.
He's been to the vets twice now for tests (on Urine) and the Vet has said that he can't see anything wrong and that he might just be becoming fussy with what he eats, the Vet did give him Baytril to take but hasn't really had any effect.
Now he seems to be in some pain around his back end area and makes a horrible noise if you touch him there, he can still walk though. He also becomes floppy every now and then and apparently last night he had what looked like a seizure.

Can anyone suggest anything this could be because i'm getting contrasting symptoms with everything from kidney failure to stroke etc but most importantly does anyone know of any good medication or care tips or for a second opinion a guinea pig specialist Vets around the Harlow, Essex area

Thanks
 
Vets and Pets in Broxbourne (though is just over the Essex border into Nazeing) are great and only down the road I think, ask to see Amir Kashiv or Yordan if Amir is not available. I help out at a monthly guinea pig clinic there, the next one is on Saturday 29th of September but it sounds like he needs to see a vet as soon as possible.

http://vetsandpetsltd.co.uk/
 
It could be a lot of things and I'm not terribly experienced with guinea pig illnesses... My first thought would be maybe joint/hip pain regarding his back end, given his age. Regardless, I am quite alarmed that your vet's advice was "he might just be a fussy eater." Even a fussy guinea pig will still eat, and eat quite a lot, even if it's just hay...

Get a second opinion ASAP -- that's a shocking diagnosis!
 
Has your vet checked the molars (back teeth)? Losing interest in the middle of chewing sounds very much like it.

You may need to see a piggy savvy vet over it though, as an inexperienced vet can do more damage than good.

Please weigh your boy daily and top him up with either mushed pellets or Critical Care recovery food. A piggy that is not eating needs about 120ml over the course of 24 hours, usually in 3-6 sittings.
 
Thanks guys, I have called Amir Kashiv but he's not there and forgot to ask for the other guy so will call back when I can.
I think it might be Kidney failure but I'd have thought this would've been apparent in urine tests earlier.
This vet is meant to be 'really good and highly recommended' but I've been really annoyed with his lack of concern, even when I called him for one of our other pigs out of hours he was pretty useless, kind of not listening to what I was saying.

Going back to this vet this afternoon though because they know him. Thanks for posts!
 
Good luck with your vets.

If you do go to see Yordan or Amir, the lady that runs clinics with them can be contacted at [email protected]

She says she would be happy to help prepare notes with you for Yordan or Amir.
 
Sending lucky vibes for your piggy - always worth getting a second opinion and hope the visit goes ok x>>
Please keep us updated.
 
you need feed him manually,get syringe make mix of his food with water and feed him.Make sure he is not losing weight or he will die in 3-5 days without food.
Find good vet.Antibiotic without reason can make things worse.Specially food can stack and need to give something to force unblock after that..
 
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:)
Thank you so much for the lovely messages of support and good wishes.
We went back to the vets yesterday and he has given him some vitamin drops (to carry on also with avipro).. something else which MAY bring his appetite back.
As Kotov rightly said, he has not re-prescribed the anti biotics because they will do no good now.
We are still hand feeding and syringing water and he is still eating minimal on his own accord.
Basically from now it can go either way, if he gets his appetite back then he could make a recovery but if he carries on eating small amounts he will gradually loose weight and pass away.
Apparently the loss of use of his back legs are due to fatigue from not eating enough. He could also have kidney damage but that again is something the vet said you can't test guineas for?
So anyway, I will keep you informed but taking it day by day now.
Thanks again everyone and cuddles to your little piggies too x
 
Thank you for the update, if you email the lady I mentioned in my post above she may be able to give you some additonal guidance.
 
I still don't like that advice. I can believe he might go a bit floppy and drag his back legs some due to fatigue, but that wouldn't cause squeals of pain when you touch them, surely? All our claws crossed here for you though and hoping your little one makes a good recovery.
 
Seems to be going on for so long now... in everyone's experience can you see my little one bouncing back or do you think considering the age (5yr 5months) that he may be too far down the line?
Thanks for all wishes anyway, if love was a cure he'd have been fine a long time ago :(
 
I do think he sounds very poorly. I have been asked to give you a recommendation by Karen who runs the clinics, she says that fatigue due to lack of food does not make the back legs collapse. Calcium crash could do this so a dose of Osteocare Liquid at 0.5ml twice a day for five days will not do any harm. However, stones or renal failure could also cause this. An xray of the entire abdomen, a teeth check and possible blood panel are needed. This could be done at Vets and Pets if you wanted, they do conscious xrays where possible depending how the pig reacts.

He needs more than probiotics and vitamin drops, aggressive syringe feeding is needed and to make a note of what goes in and what comes out. If he is well enough we have space at the clinic on Saturday 29th and Karen (and I) would be happy to help, Amir and Yordan will both be there on the day and any medical issues get referred to them.
 
Ok on advice I have been onto 2 different vets desperately to get support regarding calcium difficiency. The second nurse I spoke to said get baby food which has everything they need may boost energy. No where to get osteocare this time of night but I can call vets tomorrow and enquire. Apparently another vet will need his notes to prescribe this. I am convinced this is what it is because I looked up symptoms! So annoyed that been told its either eat or not when we can be missing something easily treatable!
 
Unfortunately a LOT of vets don't know the ins and outs of piggie care. It's just not something they're taught. I wish they'd just ADMIT of though and refer us somewhere better rather than guessing at diagnoses that don't even make sense. mallethead

A cavy-savvy vet is a must if tests are needed and they seem few and far between. If you're able to take Helen's suggestion up I definitely would!
 
Helen, would we be able to get some osteocare first and consider X-rays etc if this doesn't work? We've got to update vet Saturday anyway and can't imagine anything will change much in meantime.
 
So true! Seems to be all guess work, i know they mean well but not the same when it's us watching them be so ill night after night.
 
Yes that's fine, Karen can see you at clinic as an emergency anyway so just let me know. You won't be able to pm me as you don't have enough posts yet but Karen's email is above and mine is [email protected]

In the meantime I would try to syringe feed as much as you can.

Keeping everything crossed for your little man.
 
Oh excellent thank you! Rang all the Harlow chemists we can think of, only ones open are in asda and tesco and neither have in stock. I'll try more tomorrow morning when they are open. Thank you so much. So much support on this forum. I was loosing patience with getting no where x>>
 
Just to update you guys, we have left a voicemail for the vet but not had a call back yet. Sadly Leo has continued to get worse despite all our efforts and extra TLC. He is now laying on his side, and hopefully it will be a nice peaceful slip away in next hour or so. We did consider trying again the vet who would probably put him to sleep but as it looks imminent we'd rather leave him comfortable and warm in his own bed instead of adding more trauma than he's already had these last few days. Thanks all again for your advice and support- without it I'm sure I'd be worried there was more we could have done. Love and squeaks to all ** piggies x
 
Oh no - poor Leo 8...
If his time has come to leave, hope he has a safe journey to The Bridge.
In tears here thinking of how you must be feeling...hugs x>>
 
That is so sad :(

I hope if he is on the way to Rainbow Bridge it is peaceful and painless.

Much love xx
 
Funny you should ask... Leo is still with us! :-/ no idea what to do. I honestly thought he'd have gone by now and a few times it looked like he had so we covered him back over. Maybe we should give him some water?
 
I think Leo needs to be seen by a vet, Vets and Pets should be open today.
 
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