Baby's Acting A Bit Weird, Limping?

[TheLottiediarys]

Hi guys
Around a week ago I thought Baby looked a little weird when she was walking about.

It's almost like she's limping, so I grabbed her to get a closer look at her, checked her all over, moved her legs to see if there was any problem moving them but they move fine.
The only thing I could see was that the fur around her lower back/ bottom looked a bit askew, kind of ruffled and almost static like.

I thought that was a bit weird, she's got the Rosettes, I think that's the right term, her fur sticks up in random directions all over her body. But with her fur being like this anyway I thought she might have rubbed up against her hut and got a bit ruffled.

But I checked her bottom to see if I could see any thing that might suggest a problem but I couldnt see anything.

I tried to get a video of her limping but you couldn't really tell she was walking weirdly, and I thought I might have imagined it to be worse then it was.

So I thought she might have hurt her leg somehow and see if she still seems to be limping in a few days, checking every day.

So this week ive been watching and she seems to still be hobbling a bit but not outright limping or anything that seemed to be an issue for her so I thought I was getting better. She's still eating drinking and pooing fine.

But today I came to check on her and she looked a bit weird, she was sort of sitting on her side and sticking one leg out, and that looked weird so I went to pick her up and before I even touched her she started crying!
Which isn't weird for Baby, she cried a but in the past when the group were bullying her so that really suprised me.

I picked her up, which she didn't like and looked at her side and her foot almost looks swollen, I'm going to try to take a photo so you can see what I mean
This has really thrown me
What could have happened?
I've checked her foot and there doesn't seem to be anything stuck in it or anything like that?

I think I'll have to go see a vet if I can get in tomorrow, but wondered if anyone had any experience with this kind of thing.

 

[TheLottiediarys]

Okay I've got some photos of her foot
The black one seems quite swollen compared to the white one



Does it look swollen or am I just panicking
Her nails were a little long on the black foot and ive trimmed them to see if that helps relieve the angle she was holding her foot

Any advice?
Should I just take her to the vet?

 

[Swissgreys]

It is hard to tell from the picture, but remember - you know your own guinea pig best.
It sounds like something is not quite right, so I would definitely take her to the vet to have her checked over.

 

[VickiA]

That does look a little swollen. I would definitely take her to the vet for diagnosis and treatment. It could be an injury, infection or perhaps a touch of arthritis (no idea how old Baby is). Please let us know how you get on at the vets.

 

[TheLottiediarys]

Hi guys, managed to get in to see the vet this morning,
He looked at her foot, And thinks she got it caught on something, Maybe a hut or something similar, He thinks the swelling will go down on its own, but if it gets any worse bring her back and hes going to check-in in a months time anyway.

But he had some interesting observations about Baby!
He says her joints are incredibly stiff all over her body! And this might have made her injury worse, He think she isnt getting enough Vitamin C which is causing stiff joints, very confused about this as she has her Guinea food which should have added Vit C in it and lots of veg, But he said this can happen sometimes, so shes got some Drops to go into her water or straight into her mouth.
He said guinea pigs cant get too much Vit C so not to worry about overdosing.
Shes also got quite dry flaky skin, so shes got some shampoo which she will love!

He also said she is very vocal but her voice is really deep for a Guinea! He said he's never heard a guinea with such a deep voice!
All in all I'm very relieved that it seemed to be easily sorted
i learned something about my Piggie i didnt know, and she didnt half make a racket when he was feeling her body!

 

[VickiA]

If piggies get a lack of VIT C it can cause skeletal scurvy which makes them very stiff. Piggies cannot make their own VIT C so it has to be fed to them. In addition to hay and pellets do you give them some veg each day that is high in VIT C? Bell peppers are a good source. Mine get a thin strip of pepper each day to help keep their VIT C levels up.
Here is a useful link to fruit and veg with their levels of VIT c.Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

 

[TheLottiediarys]

Yep, she gets fresh hay daily, fresh veg daily, lots of veg, good pellets, So I'm really not sure why shes so low, She does take a long time to eat her food so maybe shes just not eating enough each day, I'm not sure, The vets given me some drops to give her each day though, so hopefully her joints will improve over time.
She was badly bullied in the past, and since then shes been very quiet, reserved, doesnt move around alot, doesnt eat as much as she used to, even after a year of being away from the herd who did it, so maybe she got depressed? I'm really not sure, but shes getting slowly better now and hopefully will be healthy and happy in the future, I'm glad ive found a vet who seems very interested in getting her better soon and knows what hes talking about with GP

 

[Tiamolly123]

It would be good if you took her to a rescue & get her matched to another sow, you can tell the rescue she was bullied & then they would be very careful in matching her up.. Please get a friend though piggies shouldn't be alone.I can understand your reluctance but she really needs company, you may have a new little piggie once she gets a new friend. Yes her foot is swollen a bit. I don't think she would use it at all if it was broken, so it probably a strain.

 

[TheLottiediarys]

Don't worry I've set up a meeting for her to find a friend
But it had to be pushed back because of this injury
The vet thinks it will heal soon but she can't move around fast enough at the moment to protect herself if she had a falling out as guineas do, little scuffles and such,
She was suppose to go a few Weeks ago but then got sick :/

She's not been alone long
But to get her health back after the last time she was with the group, she had to be seperated because it was really inpacting her health and she got very underweight, I feel bad about it but I kept her in that group longer then I should have because I thought in a group that was bullying her was better then being alone
But I was wrong and she got incredibly unwell
She was very thin and it's stunted her growth because she was under a year old when it started, now at 4 she's about the size of a year old or younger piggie.
She's not been completely cut off all this time, her c c cage is next to the groups so she still chatters and interacts through the bars.

But it made me sad she obviously wants to be with the group but they won't accept her no matter what I do. It was dangerous in the end.

Now that she's put on weight and looks like a healthy, apart from her foot, guinea pig I feel confident that she's healthy enough to go back to having a friend paired with her so it was arranged with a local rescue to pair her with a guinea who would suit her, but then she got poorly so we couldn't go.

I understand that guineas need to have company, and she is going to once she's healthy again. But sometimes you have to seperate them for health reasons, which is what happened with Baby.

I hope that didn't sound too annoyed, because I'm not, I just wanted the best for Baby, and I don't think right now she can live with another guinea who might make her foot worse, she can't walk well at all, just shuffles along the ground dragging her foot behind her, so of a guinea was put on with her now they might see that as a weakness and pick on her for it?

And I don't think that would be right for me to do to her.