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Guinea pig head tilt.

2Pigs2Many

2Pigs2Many

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I have 2 boys who are both almost 3 years old now. They have been generally healthy their whole life except 2.5 years ago they fought and got abscesses. They get timothy hay multiple times throughout the day, a small thing of pellets, fresh water, celery for lunch and red leaf lettuce + cucumber + green bell pepper for dinner. Their shavings are cleaned frequently.

Ever since the beginning of this week, my pig Teddy will sometimes have a head tilt? I don't know if it's even that, he will turn his head slightly around and to the side for a good 10 seconds then he will be okay. It has happened 3 times this week so far. On monday, he was squealing in pain which alarmed me, but since then he has not done that. He's eating just fine, wheeking, and generally as excited as he usually is. He does it when I have him reach for a cucumber out of my hand, or if I pet the top of his head. I'm a nurse so first thing I did was palpate for any masses, inspect his ear and give him a look down but I couldn't find anything wrong. Is this the beginning stage of an ear infection? Or could it be he pulled a muscle somewhere?

I have attached a drawing I did to sort of give an idea of what he looks like when he does it. I could not find any pigs online that resemble him when he does it.
 

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2Pigs2Many said:
I have 2 boys who are both almost 3 years old now. They have been generally healthy their whole life except 2.5 years ago they fought and got abscesses. They get timothy hay multiple times throughout the day, a small thing of pellets, fresh water, celery for lunch and red leaf lettuce + cucumber + green bell pepper for dinner. Their shavings are cleaned frequently.

Ever since the beginning of this week, my pig Teddy will sometimes have a head tilt? I don't know if it's even that, he will turn his head slightly around and to the side for a good 10 seconds then he will be okay. It has happened 3 times this week so far. On monday, he was squealing in pain which alarmed me, but since then he has not done that. He's eating just fine, wheeking, and generally as excited as he usually is. He does it when I have him reach for a cucumber out of my hand, or if I pet the top of his head. I'm a nurse so first thing I did was palpate for any masses, inspect his ear and give him a look down but I couldn't find anything wrong. Is this the beginning stage of an ear infection? Or could it be he pulled a muscle somewhere?

I have attached a drawing I did to sort of give an idea of what he looks like when he does it. I could not find any pigs online that resemble him when he does it.
Click to expand...

Hi!

Please have your boy vet checked.

If you are lucky, it is either a build-up of wax or rabbit ear mites; but it can also be an ear infection; in that case, the sooner treated, the more chance you have that the head tilt is not permanent.
A head tilt can also be a sign of e.cuniculi or down to neurological issues, especially if your your head tilt is not the typical one. Blindness can also cause a head tilt.
If there is another reason, then it has to be examined hands-on. is there a specific situation in which the head tilt happens?
 
Wiebke said:
is there a specific situation in which the head tilt happens?
Click to expand...
When I hold out a cucumber for him to reach and grab from my hands or when I pet the top of his head is what aggravates the issue. Otherwise, he is fine.


I will try to get him in on Saturday. Thank you for the advice.
 
So my appointment is for tomorrow at 3:40, the vet I go to is experienced with Piggies so I'm lucky for that.

Are there any tips for avoiding ear infections for the future? How do I clean their ears? Do I just use a Q-Tip and wipe gently with warm water?
 
I have watched multiple videos on the L.A. Guinea Pig Rescue YouTube channel and Saskia often finds the cause of a head tilt to be blindness? It might be worth looking up her videos to see if it looks similar. Hope all goes well x
 
How did things go at the vet?

I would just like to mention that buttercup had a head tilt once that lasted 24 hours. I thought for sure he had a ear infection or something. I had him scheduled to go to a exotic vet (thank god we live close to one). The next day, it completely went away. The head tilt stopped 100%. He was back to normal. I never ended up taking him to the vet. Its been a month since then and he's still doing great with NO head tilt. I'm pretty sure he might of did a pop corn inside of his little igloo and hurt his head or something. Maybe that's the case with yours?
 
Ended up with the vet suspecting an ear infection of his right ear that when he does the tilt it's because his ear is hurting him. So he's on baytril and metacam for a little while. Little bugger is doing just fine otherwise though, he's a tough piggy.
 
Give him the Baytril first and the Metacam immediately after. Baytril tastes horrible and most piggies hate it (except The Ever Beautiful Betsy - she is a straaaaaaange piggie!) but love Metacam as it is nice and sweet and will take the taste away from the yukky Baytril. Hope your piggie soon gets better.
 
Glad it’s nothing too serious.
Hope the meds work.

I can’t comment as @Betsy has done about the taste as I’ve never tried them myself!
 
Merab's Slave said:
I can’t comment as @Betsy has done about the taste as I’ve never tried them myself!
Click to expand...
I haven't tasted it personally but from Christian's reaction (he gave me a shocked "wtf is this?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" look)when he first had it it tastes completely disgusting.
 
Writing to let you guys know that Teddy is doing well now and I haven't seen him do his head tilts since day 2 of his antibiotics! Thank you all once more. :)
 
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