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Emergency Vet!

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SazzaG96

SazzaG96

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi Guys,

So me and the Guinea pigs have had a very stressful day.
Archie was diagnosed with a URI and is now on antibiotics but today Han in the evening starting falling over, eye twitching and tilting his head to the right continuously.
I was very worried as Han usually is running about pop-corning but he is very lethargic and just sleeping with very little reactions.
So we phoned an emergency vet and went for a consultation right away and have come out with antibiotics but the vet wasn't entirely sure what exactly was causing it as
there was no outwardly symptoms other than him twitching and head leaning. He doubts its brain cancer as he's only 6 months but after taking him home he's still doing these behaviours and it's breaking my heart!
Hes struggling to eat and drink as his head keeps moving so I'm syringe feeding him water and hand feeding nuggets, I have a sachet of liquid food from the vet in case I need it and a follow up appointment ready at my regular vet on monday!
Still feeling very helpless and sad.

Has anybody else had this with their piggies? Were they okay in the end?

Sarah
 
Sorry I've never had this issue just wanted to say I hope your piggy is okay.

Was he given any pain medication?
 
I had piggies with inner ear infections that did head tilting but not really twitching so idk. The ear infections usually cleared up with antibiotics but a few times at the pet store when we had really young piggies with severe infections from whatever horrible place would breed them it never went away and I had to find them loving homes I even had a few that were blind from the damage to the cranial nerve. You can try and Google horner's syndrome in Guinea pigs and see if that looks familiar.
 
Cookies&Glitter said:
I had piggies with inner ear infections that did head tilting but not really twitching so idk. The ear infections usually cleared up with antibiotics but a few times at the pet store when we had really young piggies with severe infections from whatever horrible place would breed them it never went away and I had to find them loving homes I even had a few that were blind from the damage to the cranial nerve. You can try and Google horner's syndrome in Guinea pigs and see if that looks familiar.
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It does look quite familiar which is sadly,
We got the guinea pigs from pets at home and have only had them for a wee while now
I really hope it clear up its so upsetting to see
 
Is your usual vet knowledgeable on piggies?

If he's the same tomorrow with no improvement I'd maybe phone again..


Although I've not had this specific issue with a pig, my Toast hasn't been eating for herself lately for other reasons and I've had to feed her mashed up pellets every 4 hours round the clock so I know how distressing it can be. :hug:

Is he taking the pellets from you willingly?
 
Beans&Toast said:
Is your usual vet knowledgeable on piggies?

If he's the same tomorrow with no improvement I'd maybe phone again..


Although I've not had this specific issue with a pig, my Toast hasn't been eating for herself lately for other reasons and I've had to feed her mashed up pellets every 4 hours round the clock so I know how distressing it can be. :hug:

Is he taking the pellets from you willingly?
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They seem very well knowledgeable but it doesn't say anywhere they specialise in it so i'm unsure! These are the first guinea pigs i've ever owned.
He takes the pellets willingly but hes struggling to get them in his mouth because his head is constantly moving from centre to right, centre to right in a continue movement so he cant get the thing he's trying to.
I'm going to try stay up and set alarms tonight to make sure hes getting water and food through the night just because I'm so worried.
I don't know what else to do!
 
That's good that he still has his appetite.
Does in seem like he's in pain?
Is he alert and responding to you?

And yeah I'd do the say with getting up and feeding, just to make sure he definitely gets food. If he wasn't that would cause a while other set of issues.
 
Beans&Toast said:
That's good that he still has his appetite.
Does in seem like he's in pain?
Is he alert and responding to you?

And yeah I'd do the say with getting up and feeding, just to make sure he definitely gets food. If he wasn't that would cause a while other set of issues.
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He's not alert at all, hardly responding now
He not squeking in pain but he's not doing anything right now so its hard to tell
 
SazzaG96 said:
He's not alert at all, hardly responding now
He not squeking in pain but he's not doing anything right now so its hard to tell
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Do you have any pain relief for him?
Is he doing the same thing now that he was doing when the vet seen him or has he got worse?

I've never experienced this so I really don't know how to help, but if it were me I think I'd keep a very close eye on him and watch out for any deterioration. And if he gets worse I'd phone the vet for advice again.
It's so hard when these things happen at inconvenient times when vets are closed
 
Beans&Toast said:
Do you have any pain relief for him?
Is he doing the same thing now that he was doing when the vet seen him or has he got worse?

I've never experienced this so I really don't know how to help, but if it were me I think I'd keep a very close eye on him and watch out for any deterioration. And if he gets worse I'd phone the vet for advice again.
It's so hard when these things happen at inconvenient times when vets are closed
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No pain relief for him at all!
He seems to have gotten worse i'm really scared :(
 
It sounds like an inner ear infection. I would speak to them again and ask for Metacam which is an anti-inflammatory.
 
Sorry i don't have any experience with this, but if he's in pain then this could cause his unresponsive behaviour. do you have any metacam / loxicom at home? (from a cat or dog?) a vet could authorise over the phone to use this & the dosage.

the URI could be contributing to the head tilt, an inner ear infection would tie in with the ear nose & throat connection, i would try & get him to a vet as soon as you can (even a general vet can prescribe painkillers as metacam- it doesn't have to be an exotics vet. (ear ache can be so painful in humans)

Make sure you keep him warm & out of draughts, make sure he's eating & drinking too. you may need to syringe feed if he's not eating himself, due to the pain/ URI.

try this link too, see if its any good?

5 Month Old Sow - Epilepsy?

xx
 
GPTV said:
Sorry i don't have any experience with this, but if he's in pain then this could cause his unresponsive behaviour. do you have any metacam / loxicom at home? (from a cat or dog?) a vet could authorise over the phone to use this & the dosage.

the URI could be contributing to the head tilt, an inner ear infection would tie in with the ear nose & throat connection, i would try & get him to a vet as soon as you can (even a general vet can prescribe painkillers as metacam- it doesn't have to be an exotics vet. (ear ache can be so painful in humans)

Make sure you keep him warm & out of draughts, make sure he's eating & drinking too. you may need to syringe feed if he's not eating himself, due to the pain/ URI.

try this link too, see if its any good?

5 Month Old Sow - Epilepsy?

xx
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Still trying to get through to the emergency vet!
I've managed to split my boars up as Archie was mounting Han and this was causing Han to fall over onto his back a lot and Archie was kinda shoving him round in their bed which is also like them! Is this the right thing to split them up? Han has brightened up a lot since being on his own and is not eating without my help? Could he of been frightened of Archie?
Thank you for all your advice, I don't know what i'd be doing if it weren't for the GP Forum!

I do not have another water bottle though will a shallow dish with water be okay for Archie to drink from?

Sarah
 
It is possible it is epilepsy although I don't personally have much experience with that just horner's syndrome from severe inner ear infections. My vet didn't know about it, I informed him after learning about it in nursing school, ppl get the same thing although not for the same reason and piggies don't have nearly as many cranial nerves as ppl. I had one piggy have it so severely she could barely walk as her equilibrium was just gone.
If I remember correctly it was a combination of 2 antibiotics for 3 weeks that cleared up the infection. She had a permanent head tilt and was blind but as far as I know is still living a happy life with a girl I used to work with, she even found a cage mate to get along with. She didn't let any disability slow her down.
Definitely offer food and water in a shallow dish, if she's having trouble getting around keep at all near by and it's probably good you have him isolated right now. The best thing you can do without a vet is keep him calm and warm and syringe feed/keep hand feeding if needed.
Maybe let a vet know what your thinking it is so they can look it up. A good vet will take what you say and look it up.
It could also be a stroke but piggies can recover from that with some disabilities as well if it's not too severe. Hopefully your baby can come out of it, sending prayers and hugs. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Head Tilt Unknown Cause

Ear Infection And Surolan

heres another 2 links, not sure if it will give you some more ideas to suggest with the vet? Sorry i couldn't post it last night, the forum went into maintenance as i was about to edit it.


@Stewybus has some experience with head tilt with his little lady, he may have some ideas for you too.

as long as Han & archie both have access to water that will be fine(a shallow bowl may actually be easier for him to reach), if he's not drinking you may have to step in & help a little with syringe feeding/watering. or maybe try mushed up soaked pellets on a spoon first if the head tilt is causing you concern regards trying to syringe feed.
cut up thin strips of watery veg like cucumber see if he will eat any of that? wash a couple of handfuls of grass or his favorite veg, just to see if he will eat anything by himself.


will he still eat hay? how is the little man this morning?

xx
 
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I've had experience with head tilt in guinea's with ear infection and Cesaro who we sadly lost last week had a bit of a tilt, the vet said he probably had neurological problems that caused the tilt, he was also a little wobbly and we now think he had something wrong with one of his eyes as well.

I hope you manage to get your guinea pig sorted out.
 
My girl Minky got a head tilt in October 2013. It was caused by an inner ear infection but had caused some neurological damage & she had a slight head tilt for the rest of her life. She coped OK with it & went back to being the to female in her group. She passed away in December last year after complications after an abscess op. The the 26 months from first having a head tilt she led a pretty normal life so it's definitely not the end of the road. I now run Tees Valley Guinea Pig Rescue & we have had several head tilt piggies who have been adopted & now live normal lives in their forever homes :) x
 
Stewybus said:
My girl Minky got a head tilt in October 2013. It was caused by an inner ear infection but had caused some neurological damage & she had a slight head tilt for the rest of her life. She coped OK with it & went back to being the to female in her group. She passed away in December last year after complications after an abscess op. The the 26 months from first having a head tilt she led a pretty normal life so it's definitely not the end of the road. I now run Tees Valley Guinea Pig Rescue & we have had several head tilt piggies who have been adopted & now live normal lives in their forever homes :) x
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Thank you so much your message it's very reassuring to hear! That sounds amazing you must be very proud of your rescue the work you do is amazing :)

Han has improved vastly over night and is now walking around the cage (still head tilted and body) but is feeding himself and drinking by himself!

Thanks for all your support guys!

Sarah
 
There are a number of issues that can cause head tilts; inner ear infection is the most common, so your vet did the right thing to give you an antibiotic to close out that angle.

However, neurological issues like epilepsy or strokes etc. can also cause similar symptoms, especially when it comes to fitting. In some cases, the issue is caused by ear mites or other rabbit issues.
It is usually rather detective work for a good vet to determine what exactly is the cause, if at all possible. I am very sorry that you are having such a bad time. It is very upsetting to a piggy in that state.

It is good that you have had him seen promptly. if it is an ear infection; the sooner you treat, the higher the chance that the head tilt will disappear in the long term.

@Abi_nurse
 
Sometimes they may need to be given an individual feeding session by themselves because they may be a little slower until they adjust. With Minky, I took her out of the cage & gave her some extra veggies at breakfast time & tea time before I put her back with the others & gave them all their veggies. It all depends on how bad the tilt is. Hers was about 90 degrees & it also caused her front teeth to wear diagonally instead of horizontally as normal. As time went by her tilt went to about 10 to 20 degrees & sometime wasn't noticeable at all. If you weigh your piggy regular you'll see if any extra feeding is required but just a few veggies on your lap should suffice x
 
Glad he has improved overnight, it is sounding a lot more promising. Hopefully if it is an infection the antibiotics are starting to kick in. If it was a stroke then the first 48 hours are crucial.
 
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