Tewdric
Teenage Guinea Pig
Long ramble coming up – sorry, but need to share with people who understand!
My Lilith is getting on a bit in years now, we think she’s about 5, possibly a bit older, but we’re not completely sure due to the very wide possible age range she came with from the rescue. I’ve had her with me for just over 3 years – time flies when you’ve got a genuinely mad pig!
She’s been drinking a lot more than usual in recent weeks, and has been a bit ‘off’ and not herself a couple of times. I get ready to scoop her up for a Vet appointment, and then she bounces back to her usual self. This has happened a couple of times since the beginning of October – she’s also dropped a bit of weight, not much, but she’s a slight pig and….. you know that horrible worrying feeling you get?
Due to the isolated rural position we live in we don’t have access to any of the recommended Gpig vets. I have to rely mostly on good husbandry and a lot of luck….. We’ve moved since the last time I needed to get a pig to a vet, but are still remote. I was never massively impressed with the care on offer at the practice I’d used previously, so I thought I’d try a practice that’s now closest to us.
Lil had been a bit ‘off’ again Saturday + Sunday – again nothing specific, but I thought a tooth check and a general look over wouldn’t hurt. Monday morning comes round and she’s hurtling round the shed hutch & run combo like a loon, but decision made, she was going for a checkup.
Monday night I scoop her up and head off to the new practice. No appointments needed for the evening surgery, you turn up and wait (unless you’re an emergency that gets bumped up the queue).
I arrive and register with the practice. It’s only a small waiting area, but they’ve got a separate area for cats and ‘exotics’ away from the dogs waiting area – so far so good. As I was there with Lilith I was bumped up the queue and seen straight away to avoid stressing her, again in a room no dogs had been treated in.
I was seen by a young vet, who weighed her, had a good feel round her belly etc, asked the right sort of diet type questions of me and then attempted to check Lilith’s back teeth.
That wasn’t easy, too much hay/grass in her mouth, so Lil was whisked away to a back room to have her mouth swabbed out and a larger magnifier used. I was then called back through – no teeth problems visible, but Lil was wheeking a bit when her abdomen was palpated again. She’s a wibbler – I don’t think I’ve ever heard her ‘shout’ which I mentioned to the vet.
An x-ray was recommended just to check for bladder stones (she’d never had a pig present with them, but knew they could be a problem) /other abnormalities or growths.
X-ray completed with Lil apparently sitting in a box. She left them a nicely shaped poo in there, and no abnormalities showed up on the x-ray. I was advised to take her home again attempt to monitor her fluid intake, although she acknowledged that that would be virtually impossible from my POV due to Lil being in a group of 4, and to weigh her daily to monitor her weight.
She also said she was the healthiest pig she’d seen in practice and had a bit of a mini rant about muesli diets and people who thought guineas were easy cheap pets.
I was very impressed with all the above and the fact that she did go further to try and investigate my concerns. I’ve never had that sort investigative acknowledgement from the vets I’ve used before. I’m really pleased I’ve found a practice that I think I’ll be more confident in using compared with where I was before. This is VERY important to me as I’ve got another nearly OAP in Brunel who will be 5 at the end of January.
I’m also very pleased that they don’t seem to have found anything wrong with Lilith. I’ll obviously keep a very close eye on her, but perhaps she is just beginning to show her age.
My Lilith is getting on a bit in years now, we think she’s about 5, possibly a bit older, but we’re not completely sure due to the very wide possible age range she came with from the rescue. I’ve had her with me for just over 3 years – time flies when you’ve got a genuinely mad pig!
She’s been drinking a lot more than usual in recent weeks, and has been a bit ‘off’ and not herself a couple of times. I get ready to scoop her up for a Vet appointment, and then she bounces back to her usual self. This has happened a couple of times since the beginning of October – she’s also dropped a bit of weight, not much, but she’s a slight pig and….. you know that horrible worrying feeling you get?
Due to the isolated rural position we live in we don’t have access to any of the recommended Gpig vets. I have to rely mostly on good husbandry and a lot of luck….. We’ve moved since the last time I needed to get a pig to a vet, but are still remote. I was never massively impressed with the care on offer at the practice I’d used previously, so I thought I’d try a practice that’s now closest to us.
Lil had been a bit ‘off’ again Saturday + Sunday – again nothing specific, but I thought a tooth check and a general look over wouldn’t hurt. Monday morning comes round and she’s hurtling round the shed hutch & run combo like a loon, but decision made, she was going for a checkup.
Monday night I scoop her up and head off to the new practice. No appointments needed for the evening surgery, you turn up and wait (unless you’re an emergency that gets bumped up the queue).
I arrive and register with the practice. It’s only a small waiting area, but they’ve got a separate area for cats and ‘exotics’ away from the dogs waiting area – so far so good. As I was there with Lilith I was bumped up the queue and seen straight away to avoid stressing her, again in a room no dogs had been treated in.
I was seen by a young vet, who weighed her, had a good feel round her belly etc, asked the right sort of diet type questions of me and then attempted to check Lilith’s back teeth.
That wasn’t easy, too much hay/grass in her mouth, so Lil was whisked away to a back room to have her mouth swabbed out and a larger magnifier used. I was then called back through – no teeth problems visible, but Lil was wheeking a bit when her abdomen was palpated again. She’s a wibbler – I don’t think I’ve ever heard her ‘shout’ which I mentioned to the vet.
An x-ray was recommended just to check for bladder stones (she’d never had a pig present with them, but knew they could be a problem) /other abnormalities or growths.
X-ray completed with Lil apparently sitting in a box. She left them a nicely shaped poo in there, and no abnormalities showed up on the x-ray. I was advised to take her home again attempt to monitor her fluid intake, although she acknowledged that that would be virtually impossible from my POV due to Lil being in a group of 4, and to weigh her daily to monitor her weight.
She also said she was the healthiest pig she’d seen in practice and had a bit of a mini rant about muesli diets and people who thought guineas were easy cheap pets.
I was very impressed with all the above and the fact that she did go further to try and investigate my concerns. I’ve never had that sort investigative acknowledgement from the vets I’ve used before. I’m really pleased I’ve found a practice that I think I’ll be more confident in using compared with where I was before. This is VERY important to me as I’ve got another nearly OAP in Brunel who will be 5 at the end of January.
I’m also very pleased that they don’t seem to have found anything wrong with Lilith. I’ll obviously keep a very close eye on her, but perhaps she is just beginning to show her age.
