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Underweight piggie with dull coat

  • Thread starter Thread starter pigges and pumpkin
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pigges and pumpkin

Hi all I'm new here.

My piggy is about 1 yo. The cage where he was in had a draught and was difficult to clean. He has a cough and when he tries to squeek it sounds funny. He also has sores on his feet. I have removed him from the cage and put him in a cage washed with Savlon and cleaned everyday but it is alot smaller. He also gets pellets and lettuce, apple, cucumber and tomato. His bedding is made of hay and he is in a cage during the day on the grass. He eats all his veggies as soon as I give them to him. He sleeps inside and has another male companion but he is pesterring the sick guy a bit.
He is very thin and his coat seems dull.:0

What else can I do to help him? I am busy building him a nice big cage where he will have shade, sunshine and good shelter. What can I feed him to regain his weight? He's been like this for about four days.

And how can I give him vitamin C? I don't really want to force feed him as he is so fragile. I think he caught a cold and has a lack in vitamin C.

Please help.
Thanx
 
Give him slices of pepper twice daily (all colours), if he eats them. It's the veg with the highest vitamin C content. One slice a day is usually enough! Make sure he gets a mix of five different veg twice daily, pellets and plenty of hay and fresh water (no supplements needed)!

If you suspect a URI (respiratory tract infection), I would take him to the vet as soon as you can and have him put on a course of antibiotics. Make sure you get some probiotics as well to keep his appetite up and his guts going!

Here is more medical info: http://www.guinealynx.info/uri.html
I hope that this helps you and your poorly boy.

If you have separated your boars, please be aware that you need to reintroduce them on neutral ground (i.e. bathroom floor or bathtub with a towel in).
 
Sorry to hear about your pig, however I have no doubt that you will restore him to perfect conditon.
Firstly, Vit. C.
Buy some effervescent Vit. C tablets, supermarket own brand is the cheapest. Break off about a quarter of a tablet and dissolve it in about 50ml of water. The measurements are not critical, you cannot overdose a pig with Vit. C. Give your pig the solution from a syringe, about 10ml total per day. A 1ml syringe is the ideal size for syringe feeding.
It sounds from your description of his feet as though he may have bumblefoot, can you describe the problem a little more before I go into greater detail about the condition?
Make sure that he has plenty of fresh food, a sick/underweight pig will eat a lot more food than an otherwise healthy pig.
What exactly does his "squeak" sound like, if it is possible to describe it!?
It sounds as though he would benefit from having a bath and maybe treatment for mites. However, before he has "the works" try and get his overall condition to improve. Keep us updated.

I have just read the previous post.
Unless your pigs are going to live on the bathrom floor or in the bath-tub there is no need to bother about neutral territory!!
 
Hi all
Thank you for the advice. I never knew peppers are high in Vit. C.
I had a really close look at him today and noted that he is eating really slowly and gnawing constantly. I think his teeth are overgrown. He's always had wood blocks but never chewed on them. I even gave him a guava stick (from the tree) and he was not interrested.

He is squeecking better today it just sound a bit haorse. He also seems to have dandruff and fleas which he got from his new friend. Should I buy him a registered piggy shampoo or can I use my dog's tick and flea shampoo? I use it on my horses too and it's rather gentle.
 
If his teeth are overgrown, it would be good, if you went looking for an experienced exotics vet or a rodentologist near you, who won't ask for a GA to cut his teeth. If you leave them, they can grow into his tongue or cause abscesses and he can go off food completely and have major health problems. Unfortunately, tooth trouble is not that rare in guinea pigs!

Hopefully, somebody more experienced with that kind of trouble will come along later.

For lice: I've seen lice'n;easy shampoo recommended on here. I'd be wary of using something made for a completely different species of animal.
 
Where are you? There may be someone near to you who can help.
 
Quick note on teeth: the teeth you want to check are his molars. Incisors do not need to be clipped unless they're curling as often vets clip them too short.

If you can get hold of Critical Care you could try supplimenting his diet with it, it's also helpful for hiding medication. In my home it has the added benefit of being like piggie crack among my pigs, this makes it pretty easy for me to give them meds and vitamin c since they lick it from the spoon.
 
I live in South Africa outside East London and none of our vets have much knowledge of guinea pigs. Neither do any of the owners. My previouse piggy was hurt internally at the pet shop when they sexed her and died a week later. No one could help me or her. And the pet shops don't really keep any medical products for guinea pigs. Mostly for hamsters etc.
 
Hi pigges and pumpkin, welcome to the forum.

I can kind of understand your difficulties; I have only come across a few South African piggies in my four years on various forums but each have had similar experiences to you in terms of veterinary care. I am sorry you lost a pig due to problems caused by the pet shop owners.

I know Gorgeous Guineas (www.gorgeousguineas.com) who sell the Lice 'n' Easy shampoo do ship worldwide.

How are his feet? Gorgeous Guineas also sell ointments to help with sore feet and Bumblefoot, may be worth looking into.

Are the vets willing to listen to you and possibly try out any treatment ideas you suggest? Between us on the forum, with various experience in many piggie ailments, I feel sure we could come up with a good treatment plan that would at the very least ease any discomfort for your piggie.

Good luck, do keep us updated on his progress.
 
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