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Guinea pig hunched up arched back

Rinoa

Rinoa

New Born Pup
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My guinea pig's back is hunched up and her eyes are smaller than usual. she is eating, drinking and walking (barely). Sometimes her nose gets watery. I read when a guinea pig is hunched like this shes in pain but where its coming from no idea.
She is 6 years and 10 months now. In march 2024 she will be 7 years old.

one day in dec 2023 noticed her back was hunched. she was eating and drinking fine however. I took her to vet Dec 28th and he suspected arthritis. Gave her metacam (1.5mg/ml dog metacam) at 0.15cc dose trwice a day.

Jan 16th+17th green fluid came out her mouth at night

guessed it was mouth related. took her to vet Jan 19th. checked back molars. saw one was long and trimmed it. said her tongue looked swollen. gave me metacam and bactrim. Well she is still walking hunched so it lets me think it wasnt a tooth problem.

at one point her hair also started to thin. her leg hair was falling off and i suspected a fungal infection. the vet gave me med for this. now her hair is growing back so if it was a fungal infection thats taken care of now. I dont think a fungal infection would make her arch her back like this. so now i wonder if the fungal medicine is making things worse.

I got 2 new guinea pigs in october and november
2nd guinea had a fungal infection (passed it unto 1st guinea who got meds n is healthy now) and i guessed passed it unto rinoa (but thats gone now it seems). this guinea now is making breathing noises (uri maybe) and i wonder if she passed a uri to rinoa. would this make a guineas back hunch up?

1st guinea got a fungal infection from 2nd. she is good now tho. is very active and climbs places. a few times while my other guineas were in thier hideys i noticed this new guinea would jump on top of the hidey while the guinea was inside and i now wonder if she didnt jump on a house while rinoa was inside and damaged her back?

Video of Rinoa walking

2nd video


2nd picture is showing how normal the back of kiki is. Rinoa's back tho is clearly up in the air. so is this bloat? spine/bone injury? would old age cause this (arthritis)? It looks like her body/organs are contracting instead of expanding like it normal would. Her body looks bunched up/almost like a ball.
 

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Oh yes she does look very uncomfortable. There could be any number of issues causing her such discomfort and we couldn’t really begin to guess.

All we can really do is advise you to use our care guide. Switch to daily weight checks so you can monitor hay intake daily, step in with syringe feeding if she isn’t maintaining her weight (you can’t judge hay intake by eye so you need the weight checks to ensure she is definitely eating enough). Also to make sure you return to the vet and have her looked at again (and any other piggy you suspect is unwell).

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
 
She's been favoring her pellets more than the hay. I'll keep weighing her.
 
Could you ask if her Metacam could be upped, it looks like a fairly low dose to me. If it’s increased she will get better pain relief and may not be quite so uncomfortable and hunched up
 
"Could you ask if her Metacam could be upped, it looks like a fairly low dose to me." i was thinking the same thing. Everytime one of my guineas got metacam in the past since i first took them to this vet it was always 0.20 thier dose no matter what. all of a sudden he says 0.15 which seems low. If she is in extreme pain 0.15 seems like nothing. I weighed her just now 1.65lbs (0.74844 kg)

"Make sure you don’t overfeed pellets". she has been eating way more pellets. I'll take it away just to see if it changes anything
 
Rinoa said:
"Could you ask if her Metacam could be upped, it looks like a fairly low dose to me." i was thinking the same thing. Everytime one of my guineas got metacam in the past since i first took them to this vet it was always 0.20 thier dose no matter what. all of a sudden he says 0.15 which seems low. If she is in extreme pain 0.15 seems like nothing. I weighed her just now 1.65lbs (0.74844 kg)

"Make sure you don’t overfeed pellets". she has been eating way more pellets. I'll take it away just to see if it changes anything
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Yes, it seems low! 0.2 ml would be better, they tolerate Metacam very well and have a high metabolism, discuss with your vet
 
I made 2 more videos. Think I'm getting closer to the problem. I was watching her breathing and noticed the left side of her body is breathing different from the right. called for another vet appointment

in video 1 her body gets big like a balloon almost then goes down. happens at 16 seconds end of video

in video 2 her body something sort of pops. happens at 16 seconds end of video

does anybody know what organ is on the left top side of a guinea pig? or seen another guinea pig's breathing do this?
 
Poor thing, she does look miserable. Those movements are very strange, it almost reminds me of my tummy moving when I was pregnant. Hopefully the vet will be able to see her quickly. Keeping Rinoa in my thoughts.
 
Bless her. Good luck at the vets. I hope you get some answers. Sending her healing vibes and a cuddle.
 
Poor Rinoa, she does look uncomfortable!
The stiff legs (raising the back end) reminds me of my old boy Squeaks 🌈 when his leg arthritis got really bad. But the movement and popping is a mystery to me. Its good your vet is giving dog metacam twice a day, if he doesn't want to up the amount perhaps he could consider adding Tramadol or Gapapentin to ease the pain - that's what my vet did for my Squeaks and Winifred.
 
vet prescribed baytril.......i asked if i should stop bactrim and give baytril....he said both can be given......so i gave her bactrim...then 2 hours later baytril....yesterday...twice....well now i wake up n she could barely walk. she tumbled over on her side like she has no balance....the vet is closed. regular vet. what do i do?
 
Rinoa said:
vet prescribed baytril.......i asked if i should stop bactrim and give baytril....he said both can be given......so i gave her bactrim...then 2 hours later baytril....yesterday...twice....well now i wake up n she could barely walk. she tumbled over on her side like she has no balance....the vet is closed. regular vet. what do i do?
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I'm so sorry to hear this.Will she take any syringe feed?
 
Oh no. I hope she’s ok. I don’t have any experience of these medications.
 
new video... she is not eating. she is also only favoring pellets. i said this before. she is moving her mouth like shes chewing. but not eating hay. i did give her critical care. she pretty much doesnt want to move from her position. if i try to lift her she runs then falls on her side like she has no balance.


as for why the vet said baytril well another younger pig seems to have uri (gave her baytril) and i suspected she may have passed this unto rinoa. thats why the vet prescribed baytril to the little one n rinoa. he said you can give her baytril n bactrim. or you can stop bactrim n give baytril. both both together is ok. i've been weighing her a whole week and its always been 1.65lbs or so. now i weigh her and its 1.56lbs
 
Poor baby. Did you ask about upping her pain relief? She does look really uncomfortable to me ☹️
Honestly I'm not sure if antibiotics are what's needed here, she could possibly have something going on internally. I'm not a vet though!
It might be worth getting a scan, an ultrasound or an xray. I wonder if there's something going on with her ovaries which could be causing the hair loss?
But honestly I would be looking at upping her pain relief ASAP.
Best of luck to you and your piggy. I so hope you can get to the bottom of this and she starts to improve soon 🤞❤️
 
"I wonder if there's something going on with her ovaries which could be causing the hair loss?" you know i was researching this before. She had crusty nipples a lot of the time and id keep cleaning it. Research said something about ovaries (i think it required surgery). I took her to the vet n believe i brought up the crust but never went beyond that.

I thought she got a fungal infection due to hair loss (another guinea here had fungal infection) so we assumed it passed to her. so i have been giving her fungal medicine for this. i started feeling she may not need this.
the way her body is ballooning in the first video i posted lets me think theres something going on inside.

the 2 main things right now...her eyes are almost fully closed. she isnt moving from her position. I'm afraid to move her
 
Rinoa said:
"I wonder if there's something going on with her ovaries which could be causing the hair loss?" you know i was researching this before. She had crusty nipples a lot of the time and id keep cleaning it. Research said something about ovaries (i think it required surgery). I took her to the vet n believe i brought up the crust but never went beyond that.

I thought she got a fungal infection due to hair loss (another guinea here had fungal infection) so we assumed it passed to her. so i have been giving her fungal medicine for this. i started feeling she may not need this.
the way her body is ballooning in the first video i posted lets me think theres something going on inside.

the 2 main things right now...her eyes are almost fully closed. she isnt moving from her position. I'm afraid to move her
Click to expand...
I'm so sorry,she does sound very poorly.I know you're in the US so I'm assuming there isn't any emergency vets near you?
 
Gem789 said:
I'm so sorry,she does sound very poorly.I know you're in the US so I'm assuming there isn't any emergency vets near you?
Click to expand...
I did call an emergency vet. Very bad reviews tho. scary reviews.

Now i know why she isnt moving. If i let her move she flops to her side. no balance. cant stand up straight once i allow her to move.i have her n the standing position thinking about the vet.
 
she started eating some hay but i think its a last ditch effort to get something inside of her. May just be the critical care gave her energy. Ever since she started arching her back in dec her back never went back to its normal shape.

would it be a bad idea to give her greens now?
 
Personally I'd give her whatever she will eat at this point. Make sure she is comfortable and warm.
Wetting her greens with some lukewarm water will help to keep her hydrated.
Honestly it does sound like she's in pain - if you can I would speak to the vet on the phone ASAP to get advice on upping her pain relief, or even providing her with another type of pain relief on top of the metacam.
 
another video. gave her greens


I made an appointment with an emergency vet but I'm not sure i want go. i have a feeling they are going to tell me what i already know. a month with an arched back and an exotic vet for 43 years cant figure it out. I'm not sure what they will do if i take her.
 
also i dont know if i mentioned this but one time green stuff came out her mouth. so i did have the vet check her teeth, got the back molar trimmed and out on meds for that. but even after this teeth trimming her back was still arched. I'm taking a big risk going to this emergency vet but I'm not sure she will make it till tomorrow morning to see my regular vet. i dont even have an app for the regular vet. so mad they are closed on wedsndays.
 
I'm afraid I have no advice just wanted to offer support.
Watching the videos of her is upsetting and your heartbreak and despair is obvious.
Whatever the outcome you will only get support and no judgement from us if it becomes the hardest decision.
 
Took her to vet and they said her body temperature was low and want to keep her there. she wasnt falling over on her side like when she was here at the house. Think they gave her fluids n other things. They have her in an incubater/some sort of heating machine. They dont want to give her back till her temperature is high enough. They gave me the option to take her back today and she stays there for a few hours or she stays overnight n i get her tomorrow.

said her body temp was 94 degrees Fahrenheit n it should be 99 or above. she is also underweight.
 
Got Rinoa back. got a heater and ordered a heating pad. She needs to be warm. Her body temperature was low and i was told to have a heater or something to keep her warm.Gave me some medicine also. I'm honestly surprised to see her walking after earlier how she just fell to her side n couldnt get up on her own.
 
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