Guinea pig ear blacked and filled with liquid

[HEMANT KUMAR]

Hello,
My guinea pig is 4 years old little girl and was showing signs of seizeures from past 1 week.. she just lays on her side without moving , only rapidly moving its limbs when touched..but after syringe feeding and giving water from syringe for only 5 minutes she used to get all good. But yesterday she just laid on her side and didn't even swallowed the food and water given to her..no movement nothing for 6-7 hours, when i tried to keep her straight she looks like she couldn't hold her head and can't even balance her. I tried giving her some mix veggies and fruit juices..and glucose mixed water..after that now she is atleast trying to sit but her head is still touched down. May be weakness or dehydration. But 1 thing that i noticed is her ear flap which is now blue black and it looks like her esr flsps are filled with some sort of liquid. Like ulcers. I am going go a general vet today but here at my place there are no experienced exotic animal vet. Can anybody help what could be the reason for her situation? I am suspecting an ear infection. Can anybody help to identify her diesease and suggest medicines as i am not very much confident on the vet here

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this. I’m sorry to say that she sounds to be very poorly if she isn’t moving and swallowing.

If you can her to swallow then Please step in and syringe feed her a mush of her normal guinea pig pellets mixed with warm water. If you can get it, a proper recovery fed such as oxbow critical care is better but the mushed pellets is the emergency alternative.
Giving veggies, fruit juices and glucose will not help her gut functioning and may cause gut related issues.

You must also make sure you switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead make sure you weigh her every morning so you can be sure she is being given enough of the pellet mush each day.

I’m afraid we cannot tell you what is wrong with her and we cannot suggest medicines. We aren’t vets and have no way of knowing what is going on.

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

I’m sorry to say that the her not moving, her limbs moving and her not wanting to swallow sound like her body may be sadly shutting down

Death, Dying, Terminal Illness; Human Grieving and Bereaved Companions: Information and Support for Owners and Their Children

 

[weepweeps]

I’m so sorry your piggy is unwell. Sending you a hug. I hope your vet can help but it does sound like she is very poorly.

 

[HEMANT KUMAR]

Hello everyone,
First of all thanks to everyone for replying. Just came back from vet and vet confirmed it is an ear infection. Attaching a picture of topical antibiotic given by the vet. If anybody have any knowledge about topical antibiotics for guinea pig, please let me know if this is the right antibiotic. Thank you.

 

[Piggies&buns]

So these are a drop which go into the ear canal.
You need to be incredibly careful with using drops into ears with guinea pigs. They can make the issue worse and much more painful.
Oral antibiotics are better for guinea pigs.

Was she given any painkillers?
Ear infections are incredibly painful, and pain can stop them from eating.

Please syringe feed her a proper fibre rich recovery feed (oxbow critical care or similar) or mushed pellets and weigh her daily. That part is important to stop her going into stasis.

 

[HEMANT KUMAR]

So these are a drop which go into the ear canal.
You need to be incredibly careful with using drops into ears with guinea pigs. They can make the issue worse and much more painful.
Oral antibiotics are better for guinea pigs.

Was she given any painkillers?
Ear infections are incredibly painful, and pain can stop them from eating.

Please syringe feed her a proper fibre rich recovery feed (oxbow critical care or similar) or mushed pellets and weigh her daily. That part is important to stop her going into stasis.

The vet suggested me to rub these drop on the outer and inner side of ear flap and not inside the ear canal..yes meloxicam is given for pain relief.. apart from these baytril twice a day for 3 days.

 

[HEMANT KUMAR]

So these are a drop which go into the ear canal.
You need to be incredibly careful with using drops into ears with guinea pigs. They can make the issue worse and much more painful.
Oral antibiotics are better for guinea pigs.

Was she given any painkillers?
Ear infections are incredibly painful, and pain can stop them from eating.

Please syringe feed her a proper fibre rich recovery feed (oxbow critical care or similar) or mushed pellets and weigh her daily. That part is important to stop her going into stasis.

Oxbow critical care is unavailable here.. but i tried feeding her some mushed pellets.. not too much..she took 2-3 syringes than tried running away. So i let her go because i thought she can have rest for a while , might be in stress from vets visit.

 

[Piggies&buns]

The vet suggested me to rub these drop on the outer and inner side of ear flap and not inside the ear canal..yes meloxicam is given for pain relief.. apart from these baytril twice a day for 3 days.

Thank you for giving more detailed information.
It’s very helpful to know that she also has baytril and is on painkillers.

Oxbow critical care is unavailable here.. but i tried feeding her some mushed pellets.. not too much..she took 2-3 syringes than tried running away. So i let her go because i thought she can have rest for a while , might be in stress from vets visit.

It’s very important that you weigh her as that is the only way to know she is either eating hay independently and that you are support feeding her enough. Depending on what those weight checks are showing you, she could need a minimum of 60ml but as much as 100ml if mushed pellets per day

 

[HEMANT KUMAR]

Hello all,
So a little update about my guinea pig. She now atleast accepting syringe feedings, not too much but 4-5 ml per feed. Also trying to eat on its own but not so successfull as it does look like she is unable to controll all her movements. But the only thing which got worse is her ear. Her ear flap is now as crispy as a potato chip which has chipped in half. Don't know if it can heal or it should be removed surgically.

 

[fluffysal]

I'm afraid I have no advice, just wanted to send healing rumbles from my boys