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Tina70

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My local pets at home has a young sows for adoption, they are saying shes had health issues a head tilt and respiratory issues so vets said she has to live alone. When I asked why they said in case she catches something or passes something on. Ive never heard of this but am new to guinea pigs. Am currently waiting for large cage to arrive to can adopt. But we were planning on a pair and feel awful shes 4 months and potentially will always be alone. Has anyone come across a situation like this ? I want to help her but dont want to risk anything if could harm other guinea pigs we adopt
 
I've never come across this. But for example you do adopt her and take her to vets and they give you go signal to get her companions, you need to quarantine her companions away from her for at least week anyway. This is a standard practice to make sure her new companions don't have anything contagious, etc before introducing them

Fingers crossed someone can answer for you :)
 
Morning how wonderful that you are adopting I would ask for the vet report.
I was told our first boy had to live alone due to falling out with another guinea so I know it's for a different reason but he has been happily living with his friend for nearly two years now so I would be reluctant to just take their word for it 💐
 
Being told by pet shops that piggies need to be kept alone due to a variety of reasons is unfortunately not uncommon but also usually not the case. The most common reason is because they had been fighting with a previous cage mate so the staff tell you they can never have a friend without realising the fighting is due to incompatibility and that if that piggy gets the right friend next time they will lead a very happy life.

There are a variety of reasons for head tilts, once the original issue has been treated most don’t cause any problems after that even if the tilt is permanent.
If E.cuniculi (a parasite) was the cause then that can flare up again during their lifetime but we have EC piggies on here but they still live with others.
She may be more prone to URIs going forward, maybe the first one wasn’t treated properly and it has caused some lung damage. It doesn’t mean her friends are always going to be at risk. We see one piggy in a herd get a URI and the others never do (their immune systems fight it off).

We can only summise though given head tilt and respiratory issue as a diagnosis is broad, just don’t know enough about this particular case to draw any conclusions as to why they think she needs to be alone.
 
Take her to the vets, like others said. What does "respitory issues" mean? I would like to know if I adopted her. Does she has something contagious and thats why she has to live alone?

I dont think any pig is happy all alone, and I have a real mess up at home. I've tried to bond him with three different Boys during the years and its not working. Now he has been living alone for a couple of weeks and he has not been as active as he use to. Another boy moved in to be a neighbour two days ago and from the second he entered the house I recognise my boy again. He doesnt want to share a cage, but he needs a neighbour to chat to. I wont try to bond them to live together. But they have each other.
 
She could possibly live with other piggies, but she might need to be on long term medication. Caring for her could be quite a steep learning curve. I recommend reading through the medical card notes to see what you might need to do to control her health issues. Vet bills can be an extra cost if she needs to see a vet and gets medications regularly. I think you need to do lots of research. You are being very kind wanting to take her on, and it's great that you are asking questions here. Welcome to the forum ❤️
 
Sorry, that should be the medical notes on the forum, not the medical card notes. Sorry for the typo 🙏
 
hayethusiasts said:
I've never come across this. But for example you do adopt her and take her to vets and they give you go signal to get her companions, you need to quarantine her companions away from her for at least week anyway. This is a standard practice to make sure her new companions don't have anything contagious, etc before introducing them

Fingers crossed someone can answer for you :)
Click to expand...
Yeah i would keep separate and rescue ones are quarantined for two weeks would be tricky though to have different rooms
 
Piggies&buns said:
Being told by pet shops that piggies need to be kept alone due to a variety of reasons is unfortunately not uncommon but also usually not the case. The most common reason is because they had been fighting with a previous cage mate so the staff tell you they can never have a friend without realising the fighting is due to incompatibility and that if that piggy gets the right friend next time they will lead a very happy life.

There are a variety of reasons for head tilts, once the original issue has been treated most don’t cause any problems after that even if the tilt is permanent.
If E.cuniculi (a parasite) was the cause then that can flare up again during their lifetime but we have EC piggies on here but they still live with others.
She may be more prone to URIs going forward, maybe the first one wasn’t treated properly and it has caused some lung damage. It doesn’t mean her friends are always going to be at risk. We see one piggy in a herd get a URI and the others never do (their immune systems fight it off).

We can only summise though given head tilt and respiratory issue as a diagnosis is broad, just don’t know enough about this particular case to draw any conclusions as to why they think she needs to be alone.
Click to expand...
Thanks I'm going to try and get vets to give more info as sounds odd and want to make sure shop dont have it wrong. She's only young so would be awful for her to be alone for no reason
 
Truffolo said:
She could possibly live with other piggies, but she might need to be on long term medication. Caring for her could be quite a steep learning curve. I recommend reading through the medical card notes to see what you might need to do to control her health issues. Vet bills can be an extra cost if she needs to see a vet and gets medications regularly. I think you need to do lots of research. You are being very kind wanting to take her on, and it's great that you are asking questions here. Welcome to the forum ❤️
Click to expand...
They didn't say she was on meds and one of staff had considered adopting her but future vet bills is a concern. I will try and get more info off vets as they insisted couldn't be in same room as other pigs
 
Hi you certainly need more information we adopted a lovely boy Marcus, from Merrypigs Rescue ,who has a life long breathing condition but touch wood he has had no problems at all and has needed no vet visits other than a yearly check up like my other boys 💙
 
CTWC said:
Hi you certainly need more information we adopted a lovely boy Marcus, from Merrypigs Rescue ,who has a life long breathing condition but touch wood he has had no problems at all and has needed no vet visits other than a yearly check up like my other boys 💙
Click to expand...

He's a cracking chap is Marcus 👍
After chatting to the vet and an examination, Marcus was given the all clear to live with other piggies. It will definitely be worth it for this little one!
 
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