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Suspected stroke advice please

Curtis Cavies

Curtis Cavies

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 21, 2014
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Wakefield, West Yorkshire
I have just found one of my piggies Grace, looking as if she has had a stroke. When feeding them all I noticed she had gone to the side bars of the cage and was nosing through them, she couldn't seem to see where she was or the food I was putting in. When I called her name and waved my hand toward her, she is normally a piggie that will run away, not come, she didn't seem to even see my hand. Then when she moved she almost fell over sideways and was staggering in circles. Having had any piggies and still having over 20 now, I have seen this before and suspect it's a stroke. I have immediately given Baytril and Metacam. And I have checked her ears as I have recently had mites in the herd. Grace sadly seems to regularly suffer from mites on her back (a severe condition she came with when I rescued her) and was due her ivermectin spray today, which I have also given her as I know these can cause fitting and I want to rule out that problem with her.
I would like to ask if I am correct that Metacam is the better med to be offering assistance for her? I have placed her back with her friends for now and I am keeping a close watch on her, she is currently settled, eating freshly picked grasses with the others, looks to have slight head tilt to left and I feel she is blind. Can anyone tell me if the blindness may be temporary? If they all start having fun and frolics and she looks to be getting bumped and jostled and not joining in, then I shall place her in a quiet corner, perhaps with one of the other quiet girls for companionship.
She seems content for now. Is there anything else I can be doing? Thank you.
 
Curtis Cavies said:
I have just found one of my piggies Grace, looking as if she has had a stroke. When feeding them all I noticed she had gone to the side bars of the cage and was nosing through them, she couldn't seem to see where she was or the food I was putting in. When I called her name and waved my hand toward her, she is normally a piggie that will run away, not come, she didn't seem to even see my hand. Then when she moved she almost fell over sideways and was staggering in circles. Having had any piggies and still having over 20 now, I have seen this before and suspect it's a stroke. I have immediately given Baytril and Metacam. And I have checked her ears as I have recently had mites in the herd. Grace sadly seems to regularly suffer from mites on her back (a severe condition she came with when I rescued her) and was due her ivermectin spray today, which I have also given her as I know these can cause fitting and I want to rule out that problem with her.
I would like to ask if I am correct that Metacam is the better med to be offering assistance for her? I have placed her back with her friends for now and I am keeping a close watch on her, she is currently settled, eating freshly picked grasses with the others, looks to have slight head tilt to left and I feel she is blind. Can anyone tell me if the blindness may be temporary? If they all start having fun and frolics and she looks to be getting bumped and jostled and not joining in, then I shall place her in a quiet corner, perhaps with one of the other quiet girls for companionship.
She seems content for now. Is there anything else I can be doing? Thank you.
Click to expand...

I am very sorry!

Please speak to a vet and see them as soon as possible!

All you can do is keep her ask quiet and comfy a possible with hay and water close by. Step in with syringe feeding and watering if she can still swallow. Keep in mind that 80% of the dailyfood intake is hay, so nibbling on a little veg is nowhere close to enough. If it was a severe stroke, then there is a high risk she may have more.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
Wiebke said:
I am very sorry!

Please speak to a vet and see them as soon as possible!

All you can do is keep her ask quiet and comfy a possible with hay and water close by. Step in with syringe feeding and watering if she can still swallow. Keep in mind that 80% of the dailyfood intake is hay, so nibbling on a little veg is nowhere close to enough. If it was a severe stroke, then there is a high risk she may have more.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Click to expand...
Just thought I'd check back in. Grace came slowly back round within a few hours. Head tilt gone, balance back to normal and it would seem her sight also. She never stopped chomping her freshly picked grasses and hay all day and night and was charging round like a good one with the rest of the girls this morning, wheeking for breakfast! Perhaps I was wrong, or the Metacam has worked a miracle. Looking at her right now, she is foraging around as content as all the others. Thank you for your advice, if she turns again I will rush her straight to the vet. In the meantime I will keep her on Metacam for a few more days. Guinea pigs never cease to amaze me. They either hide it so well they are mostly beyond help when us humans notice, or they are so resilient they bounce right back. So glad Grace is still with me for now. Thank you again.
 
Curtis Cavies said:
Just thought I'd check back in. Grace came slowly back round within a few hours. Head tilt gone, balance back to normal and it would seem her sight also. She never stopped chomping her freshly picked grasses and hay all day and night and was charging round like a good one with the rest of the girls this morning, wheeking for breakfast! Perhaps I was wrong, or the Metacam has worked a miracle. Looking at her right now, she is foraging around as content as all the others. Thank you for your advice, if she turns again I will rush her straight to the vet. In the meantime I will keep her on Metacam for a few more days. Guinea pigs never cease to amaze me. They either hide it so well they are mostly beyond help when us humans notice, or they are so resilient they bounce right back. So glad Grace is still with me for now. Thank you again.
Click to expand...

All the best! Cherish every day you have with her.
 
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