Eriathwens piggies

I think I mentioned at the start of the month that Ebony was a little under the weather? Well, she did improve, but the last couple of days its been obvious something was wrong again, at first she just wasn't up and about much, her pain returned when going to the toilet and she wasn't passing normal poops, she was started on metacam which got her up and moving but that made it clear the issue wasn't her bladder like I thought, her back legs were very stiff, shes wobbled, swung her hips, bunny hopped, almost limped on her left rear and generally been a bit uncomfortable, nothing consistent, but after her awful scurvy when we first got her, and almost at 4 years old, I'm a little worried she may be developing arthritis, although there has been some bickering between some of the larger piggies, there's a possibility they've knocked her over and caused an injury.
She has an appointment later today so hopefully we can figure out what's going on.

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Not exactly the news I wanted to hear, but its something we know how to manage at least. Ebonys issues are likely neurological, which means probably E.cuniculi yet again. Shes got a 28 day course of panacur and metacam. She has lost some muscle mass in her back legs and about 90-100g since she was spayed in May.

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Aw, poor little Ebony, this E-Cuniculi is a horrid disease. Hope you can knobbly it with the drugs and she starts to feel better soon x
 
Thankyou both, ive sat and had a think about what to do for her, I got rye grass hay in for Fern as it was higher in protein than a lot of hay but less calcium than alfalfa and not as high in calories like oat hay, so it seemed a good option for building muscle mass without putting too much weight on weak legs.. so I'm going to take Ebony out each day to give her a chance to eat some and get her legs moving to build them back up. Fingers crossed that's enough to help her a bit while the meds get to work.
 
A little massage never hurt anyone! Today will be her 3rd dose of panacur and there is already a great deal of improvement. On the vets table her legs were splaying out behind or to the side, however she can currently stand well on the scales without losing grip and she has gained a little weight. When walking in the cage she is definitely picking up and putting down her feet with more purpose and shes alternating between walking normally and little bunny hops, but there's improvement. She has also groomed the majority of the dead hair out of her back end and legs which I've been having to do for her. Hopefully by the end of her course of treatment on day 28 she should be back to normal completely!

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So lovely that both girlies are looking so well. Misty has the neatest scar, it’s healed so well. well done girls ❤️
 
Misty is back with her friends with absolutely no issue whatsoever, not a chatter or grumble to anyone 🙂 she is unfortunately still crying while peeing, reasons still unknown, but she's otherwise fairly pain free as far as I can tell and acting normally.

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Aw, Misty is back home with her friends, I’m sure she will feel much better now. Strange about the wee crying though?
 
Bill & Ted said:
Aw, Misty is back home with her friends, I’m sure she will feel much better now. Strange about the wee crying though?
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It is very odd, the only thing I can think of is possibly cysts in the kidneys that are either too small for my vet to see or actually inside the kidney? No idea if they would have shown up on her xrays. I'm assuming my next step is to take her to a specialist for a ct scan, to see whats going on. Although she needs a while yet still to recover from her surgery I think. She's definitely happier in herself now she's back with her friends.
 
Eriathwen said:
It is very odd, the only thing I can think of is possibly cysts in the kidneys that are either too small for my vet to see or actually inside the kidney? No idea if they would have shown up on her xrays. I'm assuming my next step is to take her to a specialist for a ct scan, to see whats going on. Although she needs a while yet still to recover from her surgery I think. She's definitely happier in herself now she's back with her friends.
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Yes, that might be the next step, but for now she is enjoying the company x
 
Is she on any pain relief for the painful wee's? or is that not something that the vet recommends?
 
Betsy said:
Is she on any pain relief for the painful wee's? or is that not something that the vet recommends?
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Yes shes currently on metacam and paracetamol, there was talk a while ago of maybe swapping the paracetamol for something stronger, possibly gabapentin. But we're waiting for her to recover more before deciding on anything further I think.
 
Sleeping so hard you look dead seems to run in the family, Shellys decided to take over from Leonard giving me heart failure when I go up there! She didn't appreciate me just double checking she was ok before lights out, interrupting her grooming 🤣 shes such a funny little pig.

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Me too 😅 she always has the best facial expressions bless her.

I had kind of expected it, but Oliver has spread his lice through the bars to Fern, although luckily it is isolated to those 2 as their pens aren't connected to anyone else's.
So..Fern got her first bath, and just like Oliver, she loved it.

Just a warning about the video, for some reason it flickers, so if youre sensitive to flickering or flashing lights id give it a miss!

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Frustratingly, ive just weighed Ebony and she has also got lice 🤦‍♀️ just ordered more bottles of Lice n Easy shampoo, looks like all 20 will be getting baths when it arrives, well..18, Fern and Oliver have had theirs for the week. One of the downsides to large herds I guess! Nevermind.
 
So, I realised that Ebony can't be bathed with Lice n Easy while on panacur, and its probably not the best idea to bath Misty either so soon after surgery so I've made the pair of them an appointment on Tuesday to see my vet so they can be given a different form of treatment.

Misty is back to being a stroppy mare, so I'm not sure if shes feeling better or worse! But she's put a little weight on and seems quite happy.
Ebony has gained 70g! She also seems to be developing a very slight head tilt but its on and off. Her poops are a little dodgy but they're a good size at least and she's eating well.
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Hope you can get the lice problem sorted.
I didn’t know guinea pigs would share so nicely and generously - they certainly don’t with food!
 
Ugh..so much for my bathing plan, my boilers packed up. Hopefully my vet can help me out for all of them with a spray or spot on or something, although he isnt in on Tuesday, so our appointment has been pushed back to Friday 🤦‍♀️ sometimes I wish my life was happening to someone else 🤣
 
Boilers still off, but we got some oil filled radiators so things aren't too bad.

Ive had Fern out to check her weight, she is still maintaining, without any help from me whatsoever. Seeing her still over a kilo, I scooped her up and told her what a good girl she was and gave her a big smooch on the cheek, so she squirmed around, put both front feet on my face and started licking me. (Yes, I did have a bit of a happy cry 🤣)

Its hard to believe how far she has come, bless her.
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Fern is doing so well, she’s looking lovely. Hope you get your boiler fix, typical it happens when the weather is at its coldest 🥶
 
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