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Very Sick

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Briony_S said:
We all feel for you and understand this is not your fault, however your poor boy cannot be left to suffer. You need to speak to one of your parents or if that doesn't work is there another adult member of the family or a parent of your friends you can speak to, to help?

You need to either give the piggie up to a rescue, take him to vets or give him to a close friend or family member who can get him the help he needs.

X
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Bacon was actually given to us because they couldn't take care of him.
 
GuineaPig24 said:
I can't put this guy to sleep. It'll make me sad. And he could have like the Guinea pig sign of the flu. His dandruff has even gone down.
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It might make you sad, but please think of Bacon first. He's relying on you to look after him - sometimes that means that the kindest and best thing to do is to put him to sleep.
 
GuineaPig24 said:
I can't put this guy to sleep. It'll make me sad. And he could have like the Guinea pig sign of the flu. His dandruff has even gone down.
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You need to think of his welfare, you are unable to care for him as he needs, from your description he sounds very poorly indeed as he is hunched up. Putting an animal to sleep is for the welfare of the animal, it may make you sad but if he is suffering it is the right thing to do.
 
helen105281 said:
You need to think of his welfare, you are unable to care for him as he needs, from your description he sounds very poorly indeed as he is hunched up. Putting an animal to sleep is for the welfare of the animal, it may make you sad but if he is suffering it is the right thing to do.
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But when Sprite's paw broke we should've, but we didn't, put him sleep!
 
If not to put to sleep he needs to see the vet as an emergency for medical attention so he can be treated.
 
At the end of the day they allowed an animal into their house so it is their responsibility to get veterinary treatment for him.
 
I am very sorry that you are in such a bad position; we feel for you! Taking care of a pet when you cannot pay for vet care or depend on your parents' goodwill is not a good situation to be in. :(

Please try to get your parents to get poor Bacon seen by a vet as soon as possible while there is still time to help him. He sounds seriously ill and will not recover without being treated with an antibiotic. Guinea pigs don't get flu. what they get is a bacterial infection in their breathing system that is equally deadly.
Please show your parents this link from the best medical website for guinea pigs: http://www.guinealynx.info/uri.html
That will hopefully persuade them!
 
I hope Bacon will be seen to and is able to survive. I understand that it is hard to get your parents to listen to you but at the end of the day he is your pet and you must fight for him :(
 
My mom wants to help bacon, but she's very tight on money because she uses the extra money to upgrade the restaurant. She is also using all her money to open a second restaurant. And bacon is going to have to hold on as tight as possible. I'll start syringe feeding him and I Won't let my guard down.

Bacon is breathing normally and I'll weigh him every day to make sure he doesn't lose anymore. If he loses to much weight, peanut butter is fattening and might bring his weight up. I'll stick with constant watching him and constant hay and sweet potatoes in the hay. That's about all he'll eat. And he tries to eat while it's nice, calm, quiet, and humanless.
 
I don't know where abouts in America you are but can you/your parents/guardian/adult friend possibly phone the American version of the RSPCA - like Animal cops to come and pick your guinea pig up? If you sign the pig over to them they can get him treatment.
 
I am very sorry to hear about Bacon and I can only advise as others.

However, please do NOT feed him peanut butter. I know that you want him to put weight on but peanut butter is too fattening and should not be fed to a guinea pig. It can cause more harm than good x
 
GuineaPig24 said:
My mom wants to help bacon, but she's very tight on money because she uses the extra money to upgrade the restaurant. She is also using all her money to open a second restaurant. And bacon is going to have to hold on as tight as possible. I'll start syringe feeding him and I Won't let my guard down.

Bacon is breathing normally and I'll weigh him every day to make sure he doesn't lose anymore. If he loses to much weight, peanut butter is fattening and might bring his weight up. I'll stick with constant watching him and constant hay and sweet potatoes in the hay. That's about all he'll eat. And he tries to eat while it's nice, calm, quiet, and humanless.
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Guinea pigs cannot eat peanut butter. Please do not feed him that.
 
Claire W said:
I am very sorry to hear about Bacon and I can only advise as others.

However, please do NOT feed him peanut butter. I know that you want him to put weight on but peanut butter is too fattening and should not be fed to a guinea pig. It can cause more harm than good x
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Sprite has peanut butter treats. Is that bad?
 
I have a suggestion. Could you not ask your mum if you could borrow the money for the treatment and then when you start working (I dont know how old you are or your situation), you could pay her back straight away? Or as other people have said, ring a charity to help him out.
 
kerry said:
I have a suggestion. Could you not ask your mum if you could borrow the money for the treatment and then when you start working (I dont know how old you are or your situation), you could pay her back straight away? Or as other people have said, ring a charity to help him out.
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I could do simple things like... Uh.... Gaming?
Just kidding, I'm not old enough to have a job... yet...
 
Are you feeding Bacon pellets or dry mix? You can mush up pellets with some boiled, cooled water and feed him that in small portions, about 0.5 ml per mouthful go so nothing is going down the wrong way, which could make things even worse. Please give him also the same amount of water, as he will have likely stopped to drink. We all need to breathe first, drink second and eat third - human as well as cavies!
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
You can also try to ease his breathing with some not too hot steam, but will need an antibiotic to cure him, and the only place you can get it is a vet.

Peanuts and peanut butter, like all nuts, is big no no for guinea pigs.
 
GuineaPig24 said:
I could do simple things like... Uh.... Gaming?
Just kidding, I'm not old enough to have a job... yet...
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Bad idea! You'll only get into a really bad mess! Could you ring up your vet and ask them how much a consultation and the cost of a course of antibiotics would roughly cost? then you and your mum would have a better idea what it will cost.
 
GuineaPig24 said:
I could do simple things like... Uh.... Gaming?
Just kidding, I'm not old enough to have a job... yet...
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So when you have a job just remember that you owe her money and it will be resolved. Write her a note saying "I owe you the money for the vet treatment, as soon as I get my first pay cheque I promise to pay you back stright away" and you sign it and she signs it. That way she won't be annoyed about you using her money and Bacon will get the treatment that he needs.
 
Are there jobs like babysitting, dog walking, car washing, window cleaning, mowing that you could do in your neighborhood, or is it too bad?
 
GuineaPig24 said:
My mom wants to help bacon, but she's very tight on money because she uses the extra money to upgrade the restaurant. She is also using all her money to open a second restaurant. And bacon is going to have to hold on as tight as possible. I'll start syringe feeding him and I Won't let my guard down.

Bacon is breathing normally and I'll weigh him every day to make sure he doesn't lose anymore. If he loses to much weight, peanut butter is fattening and might bring his weight up. I'll stick with constant watching him and constant hay and sweet potatoes in the hay. That's about all he'll eat. And he tries to eat while it's nice, calm, quiet, and humanless.
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I am sorry you are in this position. However from the symptoms you have described even if you keep your guard up and reg feed him if he has an infection the poor boy is prob going to die. Please try to talk to your parents again it will be awful to let Bacon suffer in pain.x
 
did sprite get treatment for his foot when he hurt it? Your parents could end up in a lot of trouble for not treating an animal
 
Please can we clear up a few cultural differences between the US and the UK here, as we seem to be going in circles and are not adding any constructive ideas. The piggy in question is in the USA:
- there is no PDSA or other charity vet care for people on benefits in the USA. Vets in the US only treat and operate for upfront pay and don't accept payment plans. Vet cost are a lot higher than in Britain - in places up to double or even triple.
- Parents in the US are NOT legally obliged to pay for any minors' pets; animal protection legislation is not as advanced as in Europe.
- The only rescue within reach is most likely a shelter with a limited time slot before euthanising and no medical care, like a dog pound in Britain. In some places, one rescue as we Brits understand it (no-kill with medical care) covers two or three states, and they are working hard!
 
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Wiebke said:
Please can we clear a few cultural differences between the US and the UK here, as we seem to be going in circles and are not adding add any constructive ideas:
- there is no PDSA vet care for people on benefits in the USA. Vets in the US only treat and operate for upfront pay and don't accept payment plans.
- Parents in the US are NOT legally obliged to pay for any minors' pets; animal protection legislation is not as advanced as in Europe.
- The only rescue within reach is most likely a shelter with a limited time slot before euthanising and no medical care, like a dog pound in Britain. In some places, one rescue as we understand it, covers two or three states!
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agreed and it also differs from state to state. They do however have animal cops and they only show for serious cases of abandonment and neglect. Although after living in Ohio for a good while (OH) is american... parents are legally responsible as far as I was aware as my aunt was ordered to pay for treatment of a pet for my cousin.
 
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We should be as supportive as we can; GuineaPig24 is currently very much between a rock and hard place - and so is her mum. I sincerely hope that they can work out a solution to get Bacon to the vets in time.
 
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