patnporridge
Junior Guinea Pig
Here's a tightened version:
Hi! This is a long one, so I'll try to keep it organised. I had to ask Claude AI to make it more concise as I was all over the place!
Our guinea pig Plum is around 5 years old (rescue, so we're not certain) and has become quite the medical case. A year and a half ago she had a front tooth removed after it snapped, which left her with chronic sneezing, wheezing, and a weepy eye on that side. Our exotics vet monitors her every 3–4 months and always gives her the all-clear, explaining it's just the lasting effect of the surgery. We nebulise her with F10 and saline, and she gets meloxicam when symptoms flare. Despite all this, she's a happy little pig — food-obsessed, active, full of personality.
In February she started pooping blood. She was acting completely normally, but we took her straight in. An ultrasound and X-ray didn't show anything alarming, and the vet suggested a spay as a potential solution — though without a clear diagnosis. The X-ray was touch and go as her breathing caused complications under anaesthetic, so the vet said they wouldn't operate until her breathing improved first.
She was put on Co-trimoxazole, then switched to Baytril. She stopped eating, went into gut stasis, and lost 100g in a few days. It was the worst week of my life nursing her through it, but she pulled through, and the bleeding stopped. We decided to let her rest and hope she was on the mend.
A month later, the blood is back — though again, she seems completely unbothered. The vet now wants to try Karidox before booking surgery. She's only been on it two days, but she's already going off her food and we're scared of gut stasis again. I've emailed the vet with our concerns and have held off on tonight's and tomorrow morning's dose — the gut stasis felt closer to losing her than anything else she's been through.
We're stuck in a difficult loop: she can't have surgery until her breathing improves, her breathing won't improve without antibiotics, but the antibiotics keep sending her into gut stasis.
We love her enormously, and we're realistic that 2026 might be the year we lose her. Honestly, I'd rather she go peacefully from an internal complication while still happy and eating than suffer through another bout of gut stasis or not wake up from anaesthetic. When I tentatively raised the idea of quality of life — and whether treatment was still worth pursuing — the vet seemed taken aback, so I'm not sure where we stand on that front.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice would be gratefully received.
Hi! This is a long one, so I'll try to keep it organised. I had to ask Claude AI to make it more concise as I was all over the place!
Our guinea pig Plum is around 5 years old (rescue, so we're not certain) and has become quite the medical case. A year and a half ago she had a front tooth removed after it snapped, which left her with chronic sneezing, wheezing, and a weepy eye on that side. Our exotics vet monitors her every 3–4 months and always gives her the all-clear, explaining it's just the lasting effect of the surgery. We nebulise her with F10 and saline, and she gets meloxicam when symptoms flare. Despite all this, she's a happy little pig — food-obsessed, active, full of personality.
In February she started pooping blood. She was acting completely normally, but we took her straight in. An ultrasound and X-ray didn't show anything alarming, and the vet suggested a spay as a potential solution — though without a clear diagnosis. The X-ray was touch and go as her breathing caused complications under anaesthetic, so the vet said they wouldn't operate until her breathing improved first.
She was put on Co-trimoxazole, then switched to Baytril. She stopped eating, went into gut stasis, and lost 100g in a few days. It was the worst week of my life nursing her through it, but she pulled through, and the bleeding stopped. We decided to let her rest and hope she was on the mend.
A month later, the blood is back — though again, she seems completely unbothered. The vet now wants to try Karidox before booking surgery. She's only been on it two days, but she's already going off her food and we're scared of gut stasis again. I've emailed the vet with our concerns and have held off on tonight's and tomorrow morning's dose — the gut stasis felt closer to losing her than anything else she's been through.
We're stuck in a difficult loop: she can't have surgery until her breathing improves, her breathing won't improve without antibiotics, but the antibiotics keep sending her into gut stasis.
We love her enormously, and we're realistic that 2026 might be the year we lose her. Honestly, I'd rather she go peacefully from an internal complication while still happy and eating than suffer through another bout of gut stasis or not wake up from anaesthetic. When I tentatively raised the idea of quality of life — and whether treatment was still worth pursuing — the vet seemed taken aback, so I'm not sure where we stand on that front.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice would be gratefully received.
