Teejay
Adult Guinea Pig
Hi all
We had two boars come to stay with us on Thursday (first time we'd met them), and I immediately saw that one of them was small (half the size of the other), underweight (you could feel his spine and hipbones) and in pretty poor condition (very slight head tilt, unhealthy-looking coat and an eye problem). However, he was lively, bright, inquisitive and was eating really well, and the owner didn't mention any particular problems, so I just assumed that was just 'him'.
He was still fine on Saturday morning, popcorning around the cage when it was veggie and hay time, but by about 2pm, I became really worried about him. He just looked so miserable and he refused every morsel of food I offered him.
I couldn't see anything obviously wrong with him, so I booked an emergency appointment at the vets. While I was waiting for the appointment, I continued to try to feed him, and, in the end, I resorted to syringe feeding him.
By the time we'd got to the vet and waited for our appointment, I was convinced he was at death's door......I truly have never seen such a poorly piggie. I had to keep on checking that he was breathing. I took him out of the pet carrier in the waiting room and held him to keep him warm. For some reason, he kept wanting to lie on his side, so in the end, I laid him along my arm (as you would if you were rocking a baby) with his bottom in my cupped hand and cuddled him. I was totally convinced that he wasn't long for the world.
The vet agreed that he was desperately sick.....she gave me two options; (1) admit him for intensive nursing or (2) PTS. As I'd not been able to contact the owner, I opted for option 1 until such time I could speak to the owner. To be honest, I really thought that the piggie would slip away and take the decision out of our hands :...
So, he was admitted, and we managed to contact the owner, who was happy for him to stay overnight at the vets. I spoke to the vet a couple of times overnight, and there was no change in his condition (but he was still with us).
By the next morning, amazingly he'd rallied round, he was bright and alert and was eating and drinking by himself (it was really a miraculous recovery).
So, we brought him home from the vets yesterday afternoon, and he's like a different piggie! It's amazing.....and he's amazing!
So, I'll finally get to the point.....despite him spending 24 hours at the vets, the vet didn't have a clue what was wrong with him. He was discharged with just about every kind of cure-all treatment possible; recovery food, antibiotics, pain killers, stemetil (for possible dizziness) and eye cream (for his old eye problem).
Since he's been home, I've noticed all sorts of strange behaviour from him......he's definitely not quite right. He's ravenously hungry but he seems to have problems with his mouth (he pounces on food, but then he seems to quickly go off the idea). Although he is tucking into mountains of hay, so if he had teeth problems, then surely he'd have a problem with eating hay? He seems very wobbly on his feet and his head tilt seems more pronouced than when he first came to stay with us. He chews at the spout of the water bottle like a piggie-possessed, and it's almost like he sometimes forgets how a water bottle works...then he suddenly remembers and starts drinking. And finally, I noticed this afternoon that one side of his mouth is drooping a bit, and he has a wet chin, like he's been dribbling.
So, I wondered if he'd had a stroke. I googled 'stroke in guinea pigs', and there seems to be lots of conflicting opinions out there.
Does anyone have any experience of a piggie having a stroke?
Tracey
We had two boars come to stay with us on Thursday (first time we'd met them), and I immediately saw that one of them was small (half the size of the other), underweight (you could feel his spine and hipbones) and in pretty poor condition (very slight head tilt, unhealthy-looking coat and an eye problem). However, he was lively, bright, inquisitive and was eating really well, and the owner didn't mention any particular problems, so I just assumed that was just 'him'.
He was still fine on Saturday morning, popcorning around the cage when it was veggie and hay time, but by about 2pm, I became really worried about him. He just looked so miserable and he refused every morsel of food I offered him.
I couldn't see anything obviously wrong with him, so I booked an emergency appointment at the vets. While I was waiting for the appointment, I continued to try to feed him, and, in the end, I resorted to syringe feeding him.
By the time we'd got to the vet and waited for our appointment, I was convinced he was at death's door......I truly have never seen such a poorly piggie. I had to keep on checking that he was breathing. I took him out of the pet carrier in the waiting room and held him to keep him warm. For some reason, he kept wanting to lie on his side, so in the end, I laid him along my arm (as you would if you were rocking a baby) with his bottom in my cupped hand and cuddled him. I was totally convinced that he wasn't long for the world.
The vet agreed that he was desperately sick.....she gave me two options; (1) admit him for intensive nursing or (2) PTS. As I'd not been able to contact the owner, I opted for option 1 until such time I could speak to the owner. To be honest, I really thought that the piggie would slip away and take the decision out of our hands :...
So, he was admitted, and we managed to contact the owner, who was happy for him to stay overnight at the vets. I spoke to the vet a couple of times overnight, and there was no change in his condition (but he was still with us).
By the next morning, amazingly he'd rallied round, he was bright and alert and was eating and drinking by himself (it was really a miraculous recovery).
So, we brought him home from the vets yesterday afternoon, and he's like a different piggie! It's amazing.....and he's amazing!
So, I'll finally get to the point.....despite him spending 24 hours at the vets, the vet didn't have a clue what was wrong with him. He was discharged with just about every kind of cure-all treatment possible; recovery food, antibiotics, pain killers, stemetil (for possible dizziness) and eye cream (for his old eye problem).
Since he's been home, I've noticed all sorts of strange behaviour from him......he's definitely not quite right. He's ravenously hungry but he seems to have problems with his mouth (he pounces on food, but then he seems to quickly go off the idea). Although he is tucking into mountains of hay, so if he had teeth problems, then surely he'd have a problem with eating hay? He seems very wobbly on his feet and his head tilt seems more pronouced than when he first came to stay with us. He chews at the spout of the water bottle like a piggie-possessed, and it's almost like he sometimes forgets how a water bottle works...then he suddenly remembers and starts drinking. And finally, I noticed this afternoon that one side of his mouth is drooping a bit, and he has a wet chin, like he's been dribbling.
So, I wondered if he'd had a stroke. I googled 'stroke in guinea pigs', and there seems to be lots of conflicting opinions out there.
Does anyone have any experience of a piggie having a stroke?
Tracey
He has had a few and they said there is nothing that can be done just for it to pass.
