Guinea Pig Is In Pain?

[Cesca904]

Hi everyone! This is my first post, I have come here because one of my female piggies is in.. pain? Yesterday evening I went to feed my pigs when I noticed that Saffron (the piggie) was face down in a corner making a sort of sad squeak noise I instantly panicked and brought her inside examined her and called the vet straight away. We live only about 20 mins away from the vets so she was there in no time. The vet could find no sign of illness but she had pain on her back leg (not broken!) so she is on pain medicine for 5 days and then she has another appointment if she is no better. But I know my Saffy she is so adventurous and lively but now she is just 'meh' and doesn't move around that much, she is eating and pooping a little but I know something is up and I am so worried. Any ideas? Thank you I will report back after the next vet visit.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone! This is my first post, I have come here because one of my female piggies is in.. pain? Yesterday evening I went to feed my pigs when I noticed that Saffron (the piggie) was face down in a corner making a sort of sad squeak noise I instantly panicked and brought her inside examined her and called the vet straight away. We live only about 20 mins away from the vets so she was there in no time. The vet could find no sign of illness but she had pain on her back leg (not broken!) so she is on pain medicine for 5 days and then she has another appointment if she is no better. But I know my Saffy she is so adventurous and lively but now she is just 'meh' and doesn't move around that much, she is eating and pooping a little but I know something is up and I am so worried. Any ideas? Thank you I will report back after the next vet visit.

Hi and welcome!
Please always switch from the usual weighing weekly to weighing daily at the same time you worry about a guinea pig in order to monitor the food intake. Illness and pain can cause a guinea pig to eat less, especially as you cannot control the hay intake, which is over 80% of what a guinea pig eats in a day.

If your guinea pig is losing over 50g in a short amount of time, please step in with offering additional syringe feed. As long as your guinea pig is still eating, just as much as it will take voluntarily. If there are less or thinner poos, this means that your guinea pig has not been eating properly for at least a day, as it takes about that long to process them in a healthy gut.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

The grunting means usually that there is pain in the lower body; often from the urinary tract. You might consider a scan to check whether her bladder and uterus are OK. How experienced with guinea pigs is your vet?

Since we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can adapt any advice accordingly. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!

 

[Cesca904]

Hi and welcome!
Please always switch from the usual weighing weekly to weighing daily at the same time you worry about a guinea pig in order to monitor the food intake. Illness and pain can cause a guinea pig to eat less, especially as you cannot control the hay intake, which is over 80% of what a guinea pig eats in a day.

If your guinea pig is losing over 50g in a short amount of time, please step in with offering additional syringe feed. As long as your guinea pig is still eating, just as much as it will take voluntarily. If there are less or thinner poos, this means that your guinea pig has not been eating properly for at least a day, as it takes about that long to process them in a healthy gut.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

The grunting means usually that there is pain in the lower body; often from the urinary tract. You might consider a scan to check whether her bladder and uterus are OK. How experienced with guinea pigs is your vet?

Since we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can adapt any advice accordingly. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!

Hi! Thank you for your comment, my vet is a pets at home one so very experienced with guinea pigs. What should I look out for if she has something wrong with her bladder. By the way she is not moving around a lot. Should I syringe feed her water?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! Thank you for your comment, my vet is a pets at home one so very experienced with guinea pigs. What should I look out for if she has something wrong with her bladder. By the way she is not moving around a lot. Should I syringe feed her water?

Pets@home vets are usually general no-frills vets and not exotic/small animal specialised vets. They will dispense only a limited range of licensed medications (especially when it comes to antibiotics). You have to be aware of that.

We have got a recommended UKvets locator on the top bar.

Please take the time to read our syringe feeding guide; you find it all explained in there.
Do not just force water down a piggy - that can do more harm than good if it spills into the lungs. You have to give it slowly together with its other fibrous syringe feed and only as much as it will take and can swallow in one go. Not eating and drinking usually goes together in a guinea pig that is not feeling itself; the need to drink comes before the need to eat.
In an emergency you can mush up pellets and syringe feed those; please prep the syringe tip as shown in the guide so the fibre comes through.

Please make an appointment on Monday with a vet that will do a more thorough search than your last vet. Several urinary tract problems can manifest with the same symptoms, so you always need to see a vet for that. If there is pressure on the guts or bladder from large ovarian cysts or womb issues in adult sows, then this can also manifest in pain when pooing or peeing.

Please bring any outdoors guinea pig inside. Urinary tract infection can be triggered because of major temperature swings like we have had recently. How long have you had your piggies and how old are they?

Guinea Pig Vet Locator