tabelmabel
Adult Guinea Pig
Hi i haven't posted for literally years but stan became really ill this weekend and of course i turned to this forum for advice.
He is fortunately doing well and pulling through so i wanted to post about his illness just in case it helps someone else.
So - he is 4 yrs old next month. he is a rex pig, that's a large breed and he is 2 lb 11oz. His brother is a bit fatter at 2lb 14oz. We had them in over winter and just the weekend before last we moved them to their outdoor hutch which is within a shed. Every day was warm and sunny so they were out on the grass by day, in the shed nights. The night temps were cold and that's what i think caused poor stans troubles.
Benson remains totally well and we never noticed any problem at all with stan til sunday evening.
He was lethargic, not twittering away like normal and his breathing was laboured. His eyes and nose were clear. I got him to the vet as an emergency. They are not guinea pig experts and did not have a good stock of treatments. stan rallied at the vets and objected heartily to the metacam injection. Vet had no baytril injection but gave him a syringe dose.
Sadly the next morning i found stan in exactly the same place in the cage as I'd put him the previous night. He looked bad and obvs hadn't eaten or drunk anything. Still lethargic, breathing poor. He was standing up but not moving in the cage.
I lifted him out and he felt quite limp compared to normal. I gave his baytril and tried some mushed kibble by syringe but there was no mouth movement and i was worried he would aspirate.
I popped him back and got his favourite foods from the shop: parsley and red pepper plus some baby food fruit puree. I was really worried when there was no interest in the parsley at all.
i was successful in getting his mouth moving on syringed baby fruit though. And every couple if hours i gave a bit more and got small amounts of mushed kibble down too.
By the end of Monday he was still quiet but he had shown some interest in a strand or two of hay and nibbled some grass and a tiny bit of cucumber hand fed. Breathing still effortful.
Tuesday - the breeder i got stan from gave me some handy tips - put ribena in a bottle for high vit c and try melon, fresh leaves and grass and readdi grass. She said stop syringe feeding now he has started nibbling. She also said it was a good sign that Benson was being bossy with stan and that was a sign that stan wasn't as weak as i thought.
Wednesday - today what a difference! Stan is eating everything! He was at his water bottle for the first time since he became ill today (never touched the ribena) and he is twittering away again And his breathing is back to normal!
Obviously we are so pleased, stan is a great character, very vocal and i do feel bad for putting him out too early especially now he is getting older. The breeder said to keep him in nights for 4 weeks which we will stick to.
When stan was ill i kept searching for stories of pigs that had recovered from URIs so i hope my description of his symptoms helps someone and the timescale of recovery. He is on 0.3 baytril 2x day. In his favour was his large weight. I would like to be able to say i spotted the signs early but i think i would have noticed him quicker had he not been outside. Truth be told he might have been off his food for a day or 2 before sunday. It cost £80 to see the vet on sunday and almost s tenner on top for treatment. That is a cheaper vet though.
He is fortunately doing well and pulling through so i wanted to post about his illness just in case it helps someone else.
So - he is 4 yrs old next month. he is a rex pig, that's a large breed and he is 2 lb 11oz. His brother is a bit fatter at 2lb 14oz. We had them in over winter and just the weekend before last we moved them to their outdoor hutch which is within a shed. Every day was warm and sunny so they were out on the grass by day, in the shed nights. The night temps were cold and that's what i think caused poor stans troubles.
Benson remains totally well and we never noticed any problem at all with stan til sunday evening.
He was lethargic, not twittering away like normal and his breathing was laboured. His eyes and nose were clear. I got him to the vet as an emergency. They are not guinea pig experts and did not have a good stock of treatments. stan rallied at the vets and objected heartily to the metacam injection. Vet had no baytril injection but gave him a syringe dose.
Sadly the next morning i found stan in exactly the same place in the cage as I'd put him the previous night. He looked bad and obvs hadn't eaten or drunk anything. Still lethargic, breathing poor. He was standing up but not moving in the cage.
I lifted him out and he felt quite limp compared to normal. I gave his baytril and tried some mushed kibble by syringe but there was no mouth movement and i was worried he would aspirate.
I popped him back and got his favourite foods from the shop: parsley and red pepper plus some baby food fruit puree. I was really worried when there was no interest in the parsley at all.
i was successful in getting his mouth moving on syringed baby fruit though. And every couple if hours i gave a bit more and got small amounts of mushed kibble down too.
By the end of Monday he was still quiet but he had shown some interest in a strand or two of hay and nibbled some grass and a tiny bit of cucumber hand fed. Breathing still effortful.
Tuesday - the breeder i got stan from gave me some handy tips - put ribena in a bottle for high vit c and try melon, fresh leaves and grass and readdi grass. She said stop syringe feeding now he has started nibbling. She also said it was a good sign that Benson was being bossy with stan and that was a sign that stan wasn't as weak as i thought.
Wednesday - today what a difference! Stan is eating everything! He was at his water bottle for the first time since he became ill today (never touched the ribena) and he is twittering away again And his breathing is back to normal!
Obviously we are so pleased, stan is a great character, very vocal and i do feel bad for putting him out too early especially now he is getting older. The breeder said to keep him in nights for 4 weeks which we will stick to.
When stan was ill i kept searching for stories of pigs that had recovered from URIs so i hope my description of his symptoms helps someone and the timescale of recovery. He is on 0.3 baytril 2x day. In his favour was his large weight. I would like to be able to say i spotted the signs early but i think i would have noticed him quicker had he not been outside. Truth be told he might have been off his food for a day or 2 before sunday. It cost £80 to see the vet on sunday and almost s tenner on top for treatment. That is a cheaper vet though.
