mordeandrigs
New Born Pup
Hi there, everyone. I am not a new viewer of the forum but I am new to posting. I haven't been able to find exactly the answers I'm looking for so I figured I would sign up and start my own thread. There is clearly something going on with my piggies but I am not sure what. Please bare with me, I am about to give you every single piece of information I think may be somewhat relevant to figuring out whats going on!
Background: I rescued two boars, both turned three earlier this summer, in 2021. Mordecai and Rigby's original owner got them as babes from Petsmart and after a year felt she couldn't take care of them anymore. Since I took them in, they have had yearly vet checks, they live in a c&c cage (that has grown in size with them) with fleece bedding, and are fed orchard grass hay, oxbow adult guinea pig pellets, oxbow vitamin c treats (1 tab each a day) and some veggies.
I had another piggies, very briefly, named Theo. He was 4 years old and came from a girl who was moving and had to rehome him. I got him in early July, and I noticed a heavy lice infestation on him a couple weeks in. He was taken to the vet (a different once then my usual one because my usual one wouldn't see him for a week) and they treated with revolution. 5 days after, he declined rapidly, he was not eating, his poops were small and dry, he was laying around a lot, and worst of all, he had edema all over his body. The vets (new and usual to get a second opinion) couldn't determine what was wrong with him. He was on baytril, metacam, and a diuretic to try to treat whatever was going on and I was having to feed him cc every few hours. He was very up and down. After going to both vets a total of 4 times, I ended up driving him an hour and 45 minutes away to a specialist who determined he probably had heart disease for a long time and possibly thyroid cancer and it had just finally developed into heart failure possible due to the stress of the rehome. After only having him a month, I had to make the difficult decision to put Theo down. That was a little less than 3 weeks ago.
Now, Mordecai and Rigby, are behaving different and showing signs that something is wrong. It first started because I noticed that Mordecai and Rigby seemed very itchy, specifically scratching and biting on their backsides and ears/cheeks. Rigby was also laying around a lot more than usual. I took them to the vet straight away, the usual vet they had been seeing for the past few years. The vet thought they seemed perfectly healthy, no clear signs of pain, heart and lungs sounded good, didn't find anything under the microscope to suggest mites or lice but we decided since Theo had had lice before he passed, it would be a good idea to treat with revolution anyway. We gave their nails a good cut and away we went thinking everything was good and the revolution would treat whatever was causing the itching.
Although, I noticed over the next week after treatment that their itching hadn't really subsided any and Rigby had watery eyes (clear, glistening in the lower lid under the eye but no crust around eye). I thought, maybe it's environmental? I live in an old, pseudo studio apartment and it has been very hot and humid here. The A/C is on pretty much all day and ceiling fans to keep the air circulating. I thought maybe the humidity (although I don't have a proper way to check how dry/humid it is in my apartment) and that's bothering their skin. I also realized I had switched the laundry detergent I was using to clean their bedding from tide pods (silly, I know) to the GG 3 in 1 Laundry Detergent Pods. I have since realized the GG detergent had enzymes in it which I read can irritate skin. So I stopped using that and bought All Free and Clear (I have only done one clean with this detergent so far as washing day is today). Could the GG laundry detergent have been causing the itching?
Well I can't remember exactly how long ago in this whole process but I noticed both of their poops were off, but in different ways. One was having very big, dark poops and the other was having slightly dry, one end pinched poops. I added a second water bottle into their cage to promote more water drinking. I thought that maybe the itching was causing stress and it was disturbing their guts and once we got the itching under control, their poops would normalize. Well about 4 days ago, I noticed their poops were soft and would flatten when stepped on. So I took both of them off fresh veggies immediately and started a pea sized amount of bene-pac plus gel each day to both. I also put in an extra hay rack, filled toilet paper tubes with hay, and put clumps of hay in their hides to encourage hay eating to hopefully increase their fiber. I have also been bringing them both out for supervised floor time at least once a day to encourage movement and stimulation.
That brings us to last night/today. I just wasn't feeling great about everything. I noticed Mordecai looked bloated and sure enough when I picked him up and sat with him, his tummy feels slightly hard in the lower abdomen/sides. He is still very alert and active, both in the cage and during floor time, and seems to be eating and drinking okay. But I just had a bad feeling so I decided to weigh him. During their vet appointment about two weeks ago, they got his weight at 2.7lbs (1224g) and last night he weighed in at 2.57lbs (1167g). Of course, this triggered the alarm bell for me. Rigby's has only fluctuated slightly since the appointment (within 20 grams).
As it stands today, Rigby is showing the following symptoms: watery eyes, sleeping more frequently and more deeply, itching and biting his backside/back legs/ears/cheeks, slightly abnormal poops, brown specs in fur and skin but none moving. Mordecai is showing the following symptoms: bloated lower abdomen, abnormal poops, weight loss, itching and biting his backside/back legs/ears/cheeks. They also both seem very cranky with each other (snapping and rumbling at each other more, but no fighting.) Could this have something to do with my piggy who passed away early this month (a common illness?), could this be something environmental causing stress (a change, an irritant, an allergy, skin issues because of humidity or a/c?), am I stressing them out because I'm so stressed out, or is there something I am missing completely? Both piggies are going into the vet today after I get off of work, but they will have to go to a different one than usual because my normal vet has not responded to my messages or calls. They are seeing the vet that saw Theo during his illness to at least hopefully get some answers or treatment options. Does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on? What types of treatment should I expect the vet to suggest so I know that they're appropriate and piggy-safe? I really can't imagine losing another piggy after everything Theo and I went through earlier this month. Any info or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Background: I rescued two boars, both turned three earlier this summer, in 2021. Mordecai and Rigby's original owner got them as babes from Petsmart and after a year felt she couldn't take care of them anymore. Since I took them in, they have had yearly vet checks, they live in a c&c cage (that has grown in size with them) with fleece bedding, and are fed orchard grass hay, oxbow adult guinea pig pellets, oxbow vitamin c treats (1 tab each a day) and some veggies.
I had another piggies, very briefly, named Theo. He was 4 years old and came from a girl who was moving and had to rehome him. I got him in early July, and I noticed a heavy lice infestation on him a couple weeks in. He was taken to the vet (a different once then my usual one because my usual one wouldn't see him for a week) and they treated with revolution. 5 days after, he declined rapidly, he was not eating, his poops were small and dry, he was laying around a lot, and worst of all, he had edema all over his body. The vets (new and usual to get a second opinion) couldn't determine what was wrong with him. He was on baytril, metacam, and a diuretic to try to treat whatever was going on and I was having to feed him cc every few hours. He was very up and down. After going to both vets a total of 4 times, I ended up driving him an hour and 45 minutes away to a specialist who determined he probably had heart disease for a long time and possibly thyroid cancer and it had just finally developed into heart failure possible due to the stress of the rehome. After only having him a month, I had to make the difficult decision to put Theo down. That was a little less than 3 weeks ago.
Now, Mordecai and Rigby, are behaving different and showing signs that something is wrong. It first started because I noticed that Mordecai and Rigby seemed very itchy, specifically scratching and biting on their backsides and ears/cheeks. Rigby was also laying around a lot more than usual. I took them to the vet straight away, the usual vet they had been seeing for the past few years. The vet thought they seemed perfectly healthy, no clear signs of pain, heart and lungs sounded good, didn't find anything under the microscope to suggest mites or lice but we decided since Theo had had lice before he passed, it would be a good idea to treat with revolution anyway. We gave their nails a good cut and away we went thinking everything was good and the revolution would treat whatever was causing the itching.
Although, I noticed over the next week after treatment that their itching hadn't really subsided any and Rigby had watery eyes (clear, glistening in the lower lid under the eye but no crust around eye). I thought, maybe it's environmental? I live in an old, pseudo studio apartment and it has been very hot and humid here. The A/C is on pretty much all day and ceiling fans to keep the air circulating. I thought maybe the humidity (although I don't have a proper way to check how dry/humid it is in my apartment) and that's bothering their skin. I also realized I had switched the laundry detergent I was using to clean their bedding from tide pods (silly, I know) to the GG 3 in 1 Laundry Detergent Pods. I have since realized the GG detergent had enzymes in it which I read can irritate skin. So I stopped using that and bought All Free and Clear (I have only done one clean with this detergent so far as washing day is today). Could the GG laundry detergent have been causing the itching?
Well I can't remember exactly how long ago in this whole process but I noticed both of their poops were off, but in different ways. One was having very big, dark poops and the other was having slightly dry, one end pinched poops. I added a second water bottle into their cage to promote more water drinking. I thought that maybe the itching was causing stress and it was disturbing their guts and once we got the itching under control, their poops would normalize. Well about 4 days ago, I noticed their poops were soft and would flatten when stepped on. So I took both of them off fresh veggies immediately and started a pea sized amount of bene-pac plus gel each day to both. I also put in an extra hay rack, filled toilet paper tubes with hay, and put clumps of hay in their hides to encourage hay eating to hopefully increase their fiber. I have also been bringing them both out for supervised floor time at least once a day to encourage movement and stimulation.
That brings us to last night/today. I just wasn't feeling great about everything. I noticed Mordecai looked bloated and sure enough when I picked him up and sat with him, his tummy feels slightly hard in the lower abdomen/sides. He is still very alert and active, both in the cage and during floor time, and seems to be eating and drinking okay. But I just had a bad feeling so I decided to weigh him. During their vet appointment about two weeks ago, they got his weight at 2.7lbs (1224g) and last night he weighed in at 2.57lbs (1167g). Of course, this triggered the alarm bell for me. Rigby's has only fluctuated slightly since the appointment (within 20 grams).
As it stands today, Rigby is showing the following symptoms: watery eyes, sleeping more frequently and more deeply, itching and biting his backside/back legs/ears/cheeks, slightly abnormal poops, brown specs in fur and skin but none moving. Mordecai is showing the following symptoms: bloated lower abdomen, abnormal poops, weight loss, itching and biting his backside/back legs/ears/cheeks. They also both seem very cranky with each other (snapping and rumbling at each other more, but no fighting.) Could this have something to do with my piggy who passed away early this month (a common illness?), could this be something environmental causing stress (a change, an irritant, an allergy, skin issues because of humidity or a/c?), am I stressing them out because I'm so stressed out, or is there something I am missing completely? Both piggies are going into the vet today after I get off of work, but they will have to go to a different one than usual because my normal vet has not responded to my messages or calls. They are seeing the vet that saw Theo during his illness to at least hopefully get some answers or treatment options. Does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on? What types of treatment should I expect the vet to suggest so I know that they're appropriate and piggy-safe? I really can't imagine losing another piggy after everything Theo and I went through earlier this month. Any info or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
) and asked if there has been any report or reason to believe theres been a gas leak. I also asked about any potential issues with our water (they drink filtered tap). He said there aren't any issues with either to their knowledge so I am not sure about that.
