Hi! My guinea pigs name is Millie and she is around 5 years old. She has been sick for a few weeks, and despite a bunch of tests and vet visits, the vet cannot figure out what is wrong, and I am unsure what to do. I’m sorry for the long post!
About three weeks ago my guinea pig started having soft poops. We weighed her immediately and she was 2.3 pounds. We went to the vet a week later on the 5th when the poops had become even more soft and almost like diarrhea. Along with this she was acting more lethargic. She looked good physically, and her teeth were good. We took her off veggies for a week, but her poop still remained soft.
On the 11th, we took her back to the vet because her poops were still soft. She lost a bit of weight and was now 2.07 pounds. The vet did an X ray which showed that her stomach was very empty, so she was clearly not eating much. The only other things shown in the x ray was that her heart and liver looked “a little plump.” They sent out a stool sample which came back negative. Blood work was normal besides elevated liver enzymes, which the vet determined was due to not eating. We started her on critical care after this visit, and closely monitored her. Besides the critical care, she still was not eating much, had reduced activity, and still had soft poop. She had lost a little weight the next two days following the vet visit, but since has maintained a weight of 1.92-1.98 pounds.
On the 17th, we took her back to the vet because her poop had become diarrhea again. They completed an echocardiogram which came back normal, and did blood work. Her blood work came back pretty normal, her liver enzymes were back to normal, but her calcium was elevated by one unit. She had a fever at this vet visit, but they think it might’ve been the stress of traveling and being at the vet. They provided us with buprenoriphone, and told us to continue with the critical care. We gave her the pain meds, but she became very sedated and wouldn’t leave bed so the vet told us to stop giving them to her. When we stopped the medication, she started acting more like herself again.
We did an ultrasound on the 19th, and the only thing abnormal was an ovarian cyst. The vet said it was most likely insignificant because it was small, about 1.8 cm in size.
The vets don’t know what else to do. She is still on critical care and maintaining her weight, but still is having some soft poops on and off. She is eating a little bit outside of the critical care, but not much. Does anyone have any advice on what else we can do or what you think it could be? Even thought the cyst is small, could it be causing problems? I’m so sorry for the long post, we have just ran so many tests and nothing has come back abnormal but clearly something is wrong. If anyone has had anything similar happen to them, or have any advice on what you think, or what I could ask the vet I’d love to hear it! Thank you
About three weeks ago my guinea pig started having soft poops. We weighed her immediately and she was 2.3 pounds. We went to the vet a week later on the 5th when the poops had become even more soft and almost like diarrhea. Along with this she was acting more lethargic. She looked good physically, and her teeth were good. We took her off veggies for a week, but her poop still remained soft.
On the 11th, we took her back to the vet because her poops were still soft. She lost a bit of weight and was now 2.07 pounds. The vet did an X ray which showed that her stomach was very empty, so she was clearly not eating much. The only other things shown in the x ray was that her heart and liver looked “a little plump.” They sent out a stool sample which came back negative. Blood work was normal besides elevated liver enzymes, which the vet determined was due to not eating. We started her on critical care after this visit, and closely monitored her. Besides the critical care, she still was not eating much, had reduced activity, and still had soft poop. She had lost a little weight the next two days following the vet visit, but since has maintained a weight of 1.92-1.98 pounds.
On the 17th, we took her back to the vet because her poop had become diarrhea again. They completed an echocardiogram which came back normal, and did blood work. Her blood work came back pretty normal, her liver enzymes were back to normal, but her calcium was elevated by one unit. She had a fever at this vet visit, but they think it might’ve been the stress of traveling and being at the vet. They provided us with buprenoriphone, and told us to continue with the critical care. We gave her the pain meds, but she became very sedated and wouldn’t leave bed so the vet told us to stop giving them to her. When we stopped the medication, she started acting more like herself again.
We did an ultrasound on the 19th, and the only thing abnormal was an ovarian cyst. The vet said it was most likely insignificant because it was small, about 1.8 cm in size.
The vets don’t know what else to do. She is still on critical care and maintaining her weight, but still is having some soft poops on and off. She is eating a little bit outside of the critical care, but not much. Does anyone have any advice on what else we can do or what you think it could be? Even thought the cyst is small, could it be causing problems? I’m so sorry for the long post, we have just ran so many tests and nothing has come back abnormal but clearly something is wrong. If anyone has had anything similar happen to them, or have any advice on what you think, or what I could ask the vet I’d love to hear it! Thank you
