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Dental Sudden Head Tilt! Help!

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Sophie

Teenage Guinea Pig
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My piggie Velma is about five years old and has always been very healthy and happy. She was fine this morning but when I've gone to give her veggies just now I noticed she hadn't finished her dandelions from this morning and she came out of her house with her head tilted! She's tucking into her veggies and looks okay in herself but I'm scared to pick her up incase I injure her. Does anyone know what could be wrong with her? I'm so worried.

( I already have one piggie with a constant head tilt caused from having a stroke when he was a baby before I adopted him and it looks just the same)
 
My piggie Velma is about five years old and has always been very healthy and happy. She was fine this morning but when I've gone to give her veggies just now I noticed she hadn't finished her dandelions from this morning and she came out of her house with her head tilted! She's tucking into her veggies and looks okay in herself but I'm scared to pick her up incase I injure her. Does anyone know what could be wrong with her? I'm so worried.

( I already have one piggie with a constant head tilt caused from having a stroke when he was a baby before I adopted him and it looks just the same)

Hi! It is always worse for you when a previous problem/symptom makes an unwelcome return. A sudden head tilt can have several reasons; most often it is cause by an ear infection, less often by ear mites or a stroke/neurological problem. Please have her seen tomorrow; the sooner she gets treated in case of an ear infection or mites, the easier it is to get on top of it, so the head tilt goes away again. We have got a piggy savvy vet locator on the top bar.
 
Thank you for your reply. Ill take her to the vets first thing in the morning, luckily we have a vet at our practice who is very good with guinea pigs. I'm praying it's something that can be easily treated and she gets better, she's such a precious piggie.
 
Took her to the vets today and it turns out she has an abscess, possibly under her tooth. I've been given metacam to give to her but I wondered if I should be syringe feeding her food?
 
Baytril will do nothing - please ask your vet to prescribe Zithromax. This is the best antibiotic for abscesses. How big is the abscess?

If she is not managing to eat as normal, but is still eating something for herself, aim for approx. 60ml syringe food per 24hr period, rising to 120ml if she is eating nothing.
 
Sorry for not updating sooner. Thank you for all your advice. I asked the vet for Zithromax at her next appointment and the vet said she'd never heard of it (I don't think she's very piggy savvy). The abscess had shrunk by the time of her appointment last Friday and we were told to carry on with the Baytril but today it seems to have swelled up again.

I'm now trying to find a vet near me that will prescribe Zithromax so if anyone knows of one in Doncaster please let me know!
 
Just an update: after the other vet diagnosed it as a tooth abscess Steve at the other clinic took a sample and it turns out its a swollen lymph node gland! So glad we didn't let the original vet operate!
She's on new medication now so fingers crossed we start to see an improvement
 
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