Amanda1801
Senior Guinea Pig
After going to the vets yesterday (again!), whatever is going on with Big Dave is still a bit of a mystery.
He has lost weight (500g in the last 9-12 months), but his weight is now stable. His weight loss has been from his upper chest area. His abdomen is still quite rotund, but not fluidy.
He's still eating well, but without his normal enthusiasm that he previously had.
He has lost all his shine, and his colour - his fur is now very dull and dark, where as he was always super shiny and his ginger bits were quite vibrant. He's also quite dandruffy, and shedding fur more than usual.
He suddenly has very dirty ears, there's a lot of muck in them that I'm regularly cleaning out. There's no signs of mites, and he's not scratching them or anything.
Him and Boxy have little brown flecks on their fur - the microscope at work was broken, so I couldn't look at them properly, but the only thing I can think is static lice, so I'm treating them for this. Jeff and Cameo don't have this, and they've had the same hay from the same batches, so I'm not convinced it IS static lice. I've also treated them with xeno as a precaution. I've taken a hair sample to look at under the microscope when it's fixed on Tuesday.
When stroking Big Dave, you seem to suddenly (in the last day or 2) be getting black flecks all over your hands. These aren't lice. They are random shapes, random sizes (but small, not large), almost sticky flecks - they stick to your hand.
He's had a bath (as has Boxy) with lice shampoo, but the brown flecks are still there on the fur, and the black bits are still being shed, but not as much. Boxy doesn't have this strange sticky black stuff.
He's eating well, as previously mentioned. He's not drinking from the bottle, but he never does, so he's not polydipsic. The vet can feel nothing abnormal upon palpation, and he has no fluid wave indicative of abdominal fluid.
So... What's wrong with Big Dave? Where do I go from here?
The vets have pretty much said either see how he goes, monitor him for any changes, or have him in for investigation, the first step being bloods I imagine.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Thanks in advance,
Amanda & Big Dave
He has lost weight (500g in the last 9-12 months), but his weight is now stable. His weight loss has been from his upper chest area. His abdomen is still quite rotund, but not fluidy.
He's still eating well, but without his normal enthusiasm that he previously had.
He has lost all his shine, and his colour - his fur is now very dull and dark, where as he was always super shiny and his ginger bits were quite vibrant. He's also quite dandruffy, and shedding fur more than usual.
He suddenly has very dirty ears, there's a lot of muck in them that I'm regularly cleaning out. There's no signs of mites, and he's not scratching them or anything.
Him and Boxy have little brown flecks on their fur - the microscope at work was broken, so I couldn't look at them properly, but the only thing I can think is static lice, so I'm treating them for this. Jeff and Cameo don't have this, and they've had the same hay from the same batches, so I'm not convinced it IS static lice. I've also treated them with xeno as a precaution. I've taken a hair sample to look at under the microscope when it's fixed on Tuesday.
When stroking Big Dave, you seem to suddenly (in the last day or 2) be getting black flecks all over your hands. These aren't lice. They are random shapes, random sizes (but small, not large), almost sticky flecks - they stick to your hand.
He's had a bath (as has Boxy) with lice shampoo, but the brown flecks are still there on the fur, and the black bits are still being shed, but not as much. Boxy doesn't have this strange sticky black stuff.
He's eating well, as previously mentioned. He's not drinking from the bottle, but he never does, so he's not polydipsic. The vet can feel nothing abnormal upon palpation, and he has no fluid wave indicative of abdominal fluid.
So... What's wrong with Big Dave? Where do I go from here?
The vets have pretty much said either see how he goes, monitor him for any changes, or have him in for investigation, the first step being bloods I imagine.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Thanks in advance,
Amanda & Big Dave
