*urgent* Help

[Jai0199]

Greetings everyone. I am in serious need of help with one of my guinea pigs. I noticed, about 3 hours ago, that her coat was puffed up and she was acting lethargic. She also stopped eating and drinking. Right now she has mild diarrhea. I was in the process of taking her to an emergency animal hospital but all of the vets near me are either closed or they don't specialize in exotic animals. So far, I've force fed her and I've been giving water through a syringe. I don't know what to do. She is only a year old. Time is obviously limited because guinea pigs go downhill fast but I won't be able to get to a vet until tomorrow morning and it's 7pm right now. I now there is a slim chance she will recover on her own but what do you all suggest I do to try and help her recover. Also, do you think I should remove her cage mate? Is diarrhea contagious? Thanks in advance.

 

[Beans&Toast]

To be honest I'd get her to any vets ASAP guinea pigs can deteriorate extremely fast..

 

[Beans&Toast]

Also I don't think there's any need to remove the cage mate as if it's anything contagious it would have spread by now. I'd keep up the syringe feed as much as she will take but she needs immediate vet care..

 

[Posyrose]

I'm sorry that you are having to go through this.It's heartbreaking, I've been there myself too many times....as have most of our members

As you say, these are the signs of a very sick guinea pig. It's good that you have tried syringe feeding her, but I think it's imperative that she gets to see a vet asap. I know that means that she won't be able to see an exotics specialist, but at least they can treat her for pain, gut motility etc and any obvious causes for her feeling so poorly.

Do you have any pain medication or probiotics; if so, give her the recommended/prescribed dose of these. I don't think the diarrhea is contagious.

Having said all of this, I'm certainly not an expert, but I'm sure if you can see a general vet out of hours that would be the best thing you can do for her. I know that this will be expensive, but it may be your only chance to save her.

Come on little one, keep fighting.

(((hugs)) x

 

[Jai0199]

To be honest I'd get her to any vets ASAP guinea pigs can deteriorate extremely fast..

What good would that do? Like I said, those animal hospitals don't specialize in exotic pets. I've called all of them and they don't take guinea pigs.

 

[Jai0199]

I'm sorry that you are having to go through this.It's heartbreaking, I've been there myself too many times....as have most of our members

As you say, these are the signs of a very sick guinea pig. It's good that you have tried syringe feeding her, but I think it's imperative that she gets to see a vet asap. I know that means that she won't be able to see an exotics specialist, but at least they can treat her for pain, gut motility etc and any obvious causes for her feeling so poorly.

Do you have any pain medication or probiotics; if so, give her the recommended/prescribed dose of these. I don't think the diarrhea is contagious.

Having said all of this, I'm certainly not an expert, but I'm sure if you can see a general vet out of hours that would be the best thing you can do for her. I know that this will be expensive, but it may be your only chance to save her.

Come on little one, keep fighting.

(((hugs)) x

Thanks for your reply. I've called over 12 vets that don't specialize in small animals and they say that they don't accept guinea pigs. Unfortunately, I don't have any pain medication for guinea pigs.

 

[Beans&Toast]

To be honest there's not a lot you can do at home now unfortunately..
If you can't get her to a vets all you can do is try to keep her comfortable, keep syringe feeding the food/water throughout the night every few hours as much as she will tolerate and hopefully she will be okay until morning. I know there's lots of human medication guinea pigs can take but I'm not sure about any pain relief, I'm not sure if they could take crushed up paracetamol or something like that?

 

[Beans&Toast]

I completely get what a stressful situation it is, I've had one of my pig's at the emergency vets twice the past month at 3-5am, costing well over £200.
Just try your best to keep her comfortable and keep a very close eye on her.
I don't understand why no vets will help though. Surely they could give help over the phone?

 

[GPTV]

Are you in the UK? i'm guessing not? a general vet should be able to prescribe metacam/loxicom if needed as a painkiller(its used for cats & dogs), often a hunched up appearance & reluctance to eat is because of pain. this would make her more comfortable overnight if they wont treat her properly as such, until you can get to an exotics vet or one who is guinea savvy.
she could have one of a variety of different problems, see if you can keep her eating if at all possible & hydrated as you have been doing, this will help her stay stronger & fight whatever is the matter with her.

ethically i would have thought the vets should see whatever species she is, but just warn you that they don't specialise in whatever species.

i would keep her with her friend as this will stop her stressing out as much & if it is contagious she's already been long with her so both may need treating at a later date anyway.
Good luck with getting her seen, keep her warm & cosy out of draughts etc.

Healing vibes & speedy recovery to her.
keep us updated
xx

 

[Jai0199]

I completely get what a stressful situation it is, I've had one of my pig's at the emergency vets twice the past month at 3-5am, costing well over £200.
Just try your best to keep her comfortable and keep a very close eye on her.
I don't understand why no vets will help though. Surely they could give help over the phone?

Thanks for your input. I asked for advice over the phone for some vets and they didn't have much to say other than what I was already doing. but others either didn't pick up or they didn't know what to do.I'm sorry to hear about your piggy. How is he/she doing now?

 

[Jai0199]

Are you in the UK? i'm guessing not? a general vet should be able to prescribe metacam/loxicom if needed as a painkiller(its used for cats & dogs), often a hunched up appearance & reluctance to eat is because of pain. this would make her more comfortable overnight if they wont treat her properly as such, until you can get to an exotics vet or one who is guinea savvy.
she could have one of a variety of different problems, see if you can keep her eating if at all possible & hydrated as you have been doing, this will help her stay stronger & fight whatever is the matter with her.

ethically i would have thought the vets should see whatever species she is, but just warn you that they don't specialise in whatever species.

i would keep her with her friend as this will stop her stressing out as much & if it is contagious she's already been long with her so both may need treating at a later date anyway.
Good luck with getting her seen, keep her warm & cosy out of draughts etc.

Healing vibes & speedy recovery to her.
keep us updated
xx

Hi, thanks alot for the reply. No I am in the US. I told multiple vets over the phone what species she is and they told me not to bring her in because they only take dogs and cats. I will keep you all posted. Cheers.

 

[Freela]

Ugh. I'm in Canada and I know all too well how hard it is to get off-hours treatment for 'exotics.' I've been in that position a time or two and, although I did find someone who would see them, they clearly knew next to nothing about the animal and really couldn't help (in fact when I had a very sick hedgehog, the emergency vet staff all came in to ooh and aah over her because most of them had never seen a hedgehog! Several hundred dollars gone and I knew more about hedgehogs than they did! So I feel your pain there. All you can really do is what you're doing... syringe food and water to keep her gut moving and hydrated and see a vet that is knowledgeable about guinea pigs first chance you get. ((HUGS)) and thinking of you!

 

[Posyrose]

What an awful situation you are in. Hopefully you will be able to see a vet in the morning. We find it strange here that a vet that treats cats and dogs wouldn't see a guinea pig (although as @GPTV said they might warn that they are not specialists) as they almost universally treat piggies (even though they are not always effective - at least they are there in an emergency)

Give us an update later about how she is. We're all willing for her to keep fighting. Just remember you have done everything you can. There might be some advice on here about alternative painkillers to use, but I would only refer to the stickies which are complied by very competent and knowledgeable members.

Good luck xx

 

[gizzy]

l would get her to any vet asap, lf you live in the uk then the PDSA are very good , they dont carge as such they simply apresiate what ever you can afford

 

[Beans&Toast]

I'm very lucky where I am then because I've never heard of any vet not treating a guinea pig. Yes they may not specialise in piggies but they will certainly be able to help.. how stressful for you!
My Toast had a respiratory infection and had to he taken at 5 am costing an absurd amount of money but the vet said if I had waited she wouldn't have made it so I'm very very lucky and greatful to have a guinea pig vet within walking distance.

How is your little pig doing have you managed to get her seen?

 

[Beans&Toast]

Also I don't know if it's any use now but I read on here that guinea pigs can have 0.2 mls of baby calpol for pain relief in an emergency situation where vet/meds aren't possible

 

[helen105281]

Are you able to get her to a vet today? I appreciate it is not as easy in the US to just go to any vet, but she really needs to be seen by a vet as an emergency once they are open.

 

[Freela]

I'm very lucky where I am then because I've never heard of any vet not treating a guinea pig. Yes they may not specialise in piggies but they will certainly be able to help.. how stressful for you!
My Toast had a respiratory infection and had to he taken at 5 am costing an absurd amount of money but the vet said if I had waited she wouldn't have made it so I'm very very lucky and greatful to have a guinea pig vet within walking distance.

How is your little pig doing have you managed to get her seen?

One of the things I've learned from this forum is that guinea pigs as pets seem to be taken more seriously in the UK. I'm in Canada, and although guinea pigs are fairly common here, the general attitude seems to be that they are 'starter pets' for children and have short lifespans and aren't worth a vet visit. Most people I know are baffled that my pigs get medical care, and I have to drive half an hour (without traffic) to find a vet with guinea pig experience. There are non-exotic vets who will see guinea pigs but obviously have no idea what they are doing (in fact, when I was a much more inexperienced owner I lost a guinea pig at least in part to substandard vet care... I was sick when I figured out later on after it was too late how half-assed her treatment was. She had an abscess lanced and drained, her teeth cut so poorly that she could not eat at all, and the antibiotic she was given was, by the tiny print on the label, actually an ear/eye drop for dogs which stated nowhere that it was even intended to be taken orally. And this level of 'treatment' cost me several hundred dollars over the course of two weeks before she passed away.) I'm honestly jealous of the level of medical expertise available in the UK... I'm actually extremely happy with the vet I have now, but even so things like conscious dentistry are not even an option, and although my vet is great he certainly does not do surgery and such on guinea pigs on a daily basis, if only because no one bothers taking guinea pigs to the vet. The prevailing attitude seems to be that you can get a new guinea pig for about twenty-five dollars so why would you pay more than that for vet care. It's really sad!

 

[Beans&Toast]

One of the things I've learned from this forum is that guinea pigs as pets seem to be taken more seriously in the UK. I'm in Canada, and although guinea pigs are fairly common here, the general attitude seems to be that they are 'starter pets' for children and have short lifespans and aren't worth a vet visit. Most people I know are baffled that my pigs get medical care, and I have to drive half an hour (without traffic) to find a vet with guinea pig experience. There are non-exotic vets who will see guinea pigs but obviously have no idea what they are doing (in fact, when I was a much more inexperienced owner I lost a guinea pig at least in part to substandard vet care... I was sick when I figured out later on after it was too late how half-assed her treatment was. She had an abscess lanced and drained, her teeth cut so poorly that she could not eat at all, and the antibiotic she was given was, by the tiny print on the label, actually an ear/eye drop for dogs which stated nowhere that it was even intended to be taken orally. And this level of 'treatment' cost me several hundred dollars over the course of two weeks before she passed away.) I'm honestly jealous of the level of medical expertise available in the UK... I'm actually extremely happy with the vet I have now, but even so things like conscious dentistry are not even an option, and although my vet is great he certainly does not do surgery and such on guinea pigs on a daily basis, if only because no one bothers taking guinea pigs to the vet. The prevailing attitude seems to be that you can get a new guinea pig for about twenty-five dollars so why would you pay more than that for vet care. It's really sad!

That makes me so angry.
There is a bit of that here too, some people think of guinea pigs as disposable pets, that they only live a few years ( when in fact we know they can sometimes live to 9 years old!)
The best example of this is when I had to take a few days off work because Toast was so ill and needed meds throughout the day and I was absolutely devastated, but my manager didn't understand why I'd be upset because "it's just a guinea pig" but a couple weeks previous she had took time off work due to her dog being ill... double standards
Thankfully though this seems to be rare now (in my experience) and people are realising that the size or life expectancy of the animal has nothing to do with how much you love them.
As for vets, I've never encountered a vet who wouldn't see a guinea pig. All vets here seem to have at least a general understanding of piggies, they may not be exotics specialists but they will certainly help..
I'm very lucky that I have an exotics specialist vet within walking distance

It wasn't until this post that I realised piggies weren't really seen the same in the US/Canada compared to here.. must be so stressful when you've got a sick piggy

 

[Jai0199]

Ugh. I'm in Canada and I know all too well how hard it is to get off-hours treatment for 'exotics.' I've been in that position a time or two and, although I did find someone who would see them, they clearly knew next to nothing about the animal and really couldn't help (in fact when I had a very sick hedgehog, the emergency vet staff all came in to ooh and aah over her because most of them had never seen a hedgehog! Several hundred dollars gone and I knew more about hedgehogs than they did! So I feel your pain there. All you can really do is what you're doing... syringe food and water to keep her gut moving and hydrated and see a vet that is knowledgeable about guinea pigs first chance you get. ((HUGS)) and thinking of you!

Several hundred dollars and they didn't do anything? That's ridiculous! How is your hedgehog now? My GP is doing much better now. Her coat is back to normal and she is back to eating and drinking on her own. However, a new problem has popped up. She seems to be in pain when pooping. I've been monitoring her output and she hasn't put much out. I don't know if guinea pigs can even get constipation but that seems like what she has. Do you have any ideas on what it could be?

 

[Jai0199]

What an awful situation you are in. Hopefully you will be able to see a vet in the morning. We find it strange here that a vet that treats cats and dogs wouldn't see a guinea pig (although as @GPTV said they might warn that they are not specialists) as they almost universally treat piggies (even though they are not always effective - at least they are there in an emergency)

Give us an update later about how she is. We're all willing for her to keep fighting. Just remember you have done everything you can. There might be some advice on here about alternative painkillers to use, but I would only refer to the stickies which are complied by very competent and knowledgeable members.

Good luck xx

I will be on my way to the vet as soon as I can. When you say alternative painkillers, do you mean that I could possibly use painkillers designed for humans on her?

 

[Jai0199]

l would get her to any vet asap, lf you live in the uk then the PDSA are very good , they dont carge as such they simply appreciate what ever you can afford

Unfortunately, I don't live in the UK.

 

[Jai0199]

Also I don't know if it's any use now but I read on here that guinea pigs can have 0.2 mls of baby calpol for pain relief in an emergency situation where vet/meds aren't possible

Thanks for the input. I don't believe we have Calpol in the US.

 

[Jai0199]

I'm very lucky where I am then because I've never heard of any vet not treating a guinea pig. Yes they may not specialise in piggies but they will certainly be able to help.. how stressful for you!
My Toast had a respiratory infection and had to he taken at 5 am costing an absurd amount of money but the vet said if I had waited she wouldn't have made it so I'm very very lucky and greatful to have a guinea pig vet within walking distance.

How is your little pig doing have you managed to get her seen?

I haven't managed to get her seen yet. I'm waiting for the nearest location to open. She is looking much better though. She no longer has diarrhea and she is now eating and drinking. A new problem has arisen though so I will have to get her checked out.

 

[Jai0199]

One of the things I've learned from this forum is that guinea pigs as pets seem to be taken more seriously in the UK. I'm in Canada, and although guinea pigs are fairly common here, the general attitude seems to be that they are 'starter pets' for children and have short lifespans and aren't worth a vet visit. Most people I know are baffled that my pigs get medical care, and I have to drive half an hour (without traffic) to find a vet with guinea pig experience. There are non-exotic vets who will see guinea pigs but obviously have no idea what they are doing (in fact, when I was a much more inexperienced owner I lost a guinea pig at least in part to substandard vet care... I was sick when I figured out later on after it was too late how half-assed her treatment was. She had an abscess lanced and drained, her teeth cut so poorly that she could not eat at all, and the antibiotic she was given was, by the tiny print on the label, actually an ear/eye drop for dogs which stated nowhere that it was even intended to be taken orally. And this level of 'treatment' cost me several hundred dollars over the course of two weeks before she passed away.) I'm honestly jealous of the level of medical expertise available in the UK... I'm actually extremely happy with the vet I have now, but even so things like conscious dentistry are not even an option, and although my vet is great he certainly does not do surgery and such on guinea pigs on a daily basis, if only because no one bothers taking guinea pigs to the vet. The prevailing attitude seems to be that you can get a new guinea pig for about twenty-five dollars so why would you pay more than that for vet care. It's really sad!

I completely agree with you. Everyone believes that guinea pigs are starter pets and that they are easy to maintain. I have had people laugh when I tell them my GP's receive medical care. I've known a couple of people to not even provide hay for their pigs. The only thing they ate was the alfalfa based pellet mix that had mainly seeds and grains.
I can't believe that vet gave your GP eye drops for dogs!

 

[Freela]

That makes me so angry.
There is a bit of that here too, some people think of guinea pigs as disposable pets, that they only live a few years ( when in fact we know they can sometimes live to 9 years old!)
The best example of this is when I had to take a few days off work because Toast was so ill and needed meds throughout the day and I was absolutely devastated, but my manager didn't understand why I'd be upset because "it's just a guinea pig" but a couple weeks previous she had took time off work due to her dog being ill... double standards
Thankfully though this seems to be rare now (in my experience) and people are realising that the size or life expectancy of the animal has nothing to do with how much you love them.
As for vets, I've never encountered a vet who wouldn't see a guinea pig. All vets here seem to have at least a general understanding of piggies, they may not be exotics specialists but they will certainly help..
I'm very lucky that I have an exotics specialist vet within walking distance

It wasn't until this post that I realised piggies weren't really seen the same in the US/Canada compared to here.. must be so stressful when you've got a sick piggy

It makes me mad too! I've never seen the point of taking on a pet if you aren't going to get it proper care when needed! I was excited to find this site full of adult guinea pig owners... here the idea that you could be an adult who keep guinea pigs for your own enjoyment is pretty uncommon. They are really viewed as pets for kids and most of them probably never see a vet, and if the guinea pig gets sick and dies a year or two in, the view is that this is a normal lifespan, even though it really isn't. I know for myself when shopping around for vets, I've had a few tell me they only see dogs and cats (which is fine, if you have no knowledge of the animal, don't see the animal!) The bigger issue is that here we have vets that WILL see guinea pigs... but the last thing they learned was thirty years ago in school and they have only seen two or three guinea pigs since. So they WILL see your pet... but chances are you know more than they do about them. Weirdly enough when I used to have hedgehogs I had an easier time finding competent vets (although I think it was only because hedgehogs were newer pets and thus vets had to do some research and consequently the info they did know what at least recent. With guinea pigs the vets who aren't exotics vets specifically just seem to be out of date and not interested in upgrading.)

 

[Freela]

Several hundred dollars and they didn't do anything? That's ridiculous! How is your hedgehog now? My GP is doing much better now. Her coat is back to normal and she is back to eating and drinking on her own. However, a new problem has popped up. She seems to be in pain when pooping. I've been monitoring her output and she hasn't put much out. I don't know if guinea pigs can even get constipation but that seems like what she has. Do you have any ideas on what it could be?

I'm glad she got through the night and is looking a bit better! That's good news! Pooping less can be a symptom of not having eaten as much, and pain while pooping sometimes is related to urinary issues like bladder infections or bladder stones. Having pain or discomfort can lead to guinea pigs being hunched and unwilling to eat or drink, as a lot of guinea pigs don't cope that well with pain. Maybe ask the vet to test her urine for blood/pus and other signs of infection.

As for my hedgehog, that was actually years and years ago, I've just never forgotten it! We had hedgehogs for about twelve years (three different ones over that timespan) and then we moved on to guinea pigs. Our third hedgehog was a rescue we got as an adult who hated people, and as we had kids by that time we decided to get something less hostile for the kids to enjoy as well! Thistle (grumpy hedgehog) kept injuring the kids who kept trying to make friends with her, but she was having none of it!

 

[Freela]

I completely agree with you. Everyone believes that guinea pigs are starter pets and that they are easy to maintain. I have had people laugh when I tell them my GP's receive medical care. I've known a couple of people to not even provide hay for their pigs. The only thing they ate was the alfalfa based pellet mix that had mainly seeds and grains.
I can't believe that vet gave your GP eye drops for dogs!

When I was a kid I had a guinea pig that lived in a small cage and didn't get hay because we simply didn't know any better then. Unfortunately a lot of vets and retailers are still handing out info that was wrong twenty years ago and is definitely known to be very wrong now! I've also had a lot of people roll their eyes at me that my guinea pigs get vet care- particularly Sundae, my older pig, who has had several problems over the years requiring surgery and a lot of vet visits/meds. The idea is that I could just get another guinea pig for twenty-five dollars, so why pay for vet bills? I just say that there aren't any other Sundaes available, as I have the only one, so I prefer to stick with the original model as long as possible! She has chronic bladder problems and had dental issues and a huge dental abscess that required surgery and a lot of aftercare... I feel like she's lucky that she ended up with me. She is now turning 6 years old this month so she has lived a normal lifespan with medical care and is still doing reasonably well. I don't think she would have been so lucky with a lot of the people I've talked to!

 

[Jai0199]

I'm glad she got through the night and is looking a bit better! That's good news! Pooping less can be a symptom of not having eaten as much, and pain while pooping sometimes is related to urinary issues like bladder infections or bladder stones. Having pain or discomfort can lead to guinea pigs being hunched and unwilling to eat or drink, as a lot of guinea pigs don't cope that well with pain. Maybe ask the vet to test her urine for blood/pus and other signs of infection.

As for my hedgehog, that was actually years and years ago, I've just never forgotten it! We had hedgehogs for about twelve years (three different ones over that timespan) and then we moved on to guinea pigs. Our third hedgehog was a rescue we got as an adult who hated people, and as we had kids by that time we decided to get something less hostile for the kids to enjoy as well! Thistle (grumpy hedgehog) kept injuring the kids who kept trying to make friends with her, but she was having none of it!

I'm glad as well. I had to wake up every two hours to make sure she was alright. Around the 2AM mark, she even starting to popcorn.

Ahh I see. Very interesting! I don't even know where one could find a hedgehog in my state. At one point, I had a plan of purchasing one but I never did find one.

 

[Jai0199]

When I was a kid I had a guinea pig that lived in a small cage and didn't get hay because we simply didn't know any better then. Unfortunately a lot of vets and retailers are still handing out info that was wrong twenty years ago and is definitely known to be very wrong now! I've also had a lot of people roll their eyes at me that my guinea pigs get vet care- particularly Sundae, my older pig, who has had several problems over the years requiring surgery and a lot of vet visits/meds. The idea is that I could just get another guinea pig for twenty-five dollars, so why pay for vet bills? I just say that there aren't any other Sundaes available, as I have the only one, so I prefer to stick with the original model as long as possible! She has chronic bladder problems and had dental issues and a huge dental abscess that required surgery and a lot of aftercare... I feel like she's lucky that she ended up with me. She is now turning 6 years old this month so she has lived a normal lifespan with medical care and is still doing reasonably well. I don't think she would have been so lucky with a lot of the people I've talked to!

I'm glad that Sundae ended up with you. Who knows what kind of care she would have had otherwise? I'm sorry to hear about her health issues. Six years is almost unheard of here. Happy early birthday to Sundae! I hope she lives well past that. My other piggy is only 4 months. Let's hope she makes it to the ripe age of six.