velveteenery
New Born Pup
Hi everyone! 
I'm Lydia from Longmont, Colorado.
Firstly, I would like to thank you all because although I just registered and this is my very first post, I have been looking at this forum on and off for tips on guinea pig care, creating DIY fleece liners, understanding piggie behavior, recommendations for brands, etc. There is truly a wealth of information on here for the niche of understanding and caring for guinea pigs.
I have had my girls Rosemary, Sassafras (Sassy) and Cinnamon for two months now. I adopted them from foster parents from a knowledgeable and supportive rescue, Cavies and Canines. These girls are about 1 year 8 mos old and have been together for most of their lives, so are a well bonded trio. I don't know much about their history besides that, except that Cinnamon is spayed, and the other two girls are not.
Rosemary started to look unwell yesterday evening (puffed up in corner, refusing veggies, not eating much), and so I fed critical care (I am SO grateful I had some on hand - if any newbies don't have it yet in their guinea pig stock, please buy some. You won't regret having it when you really need it. My Amazon order with it came just in time!). I got her into the urgent care vet this morning. The vet was quite familiar working with exotics and guinea pigs. The vet diagnosed GI stasis. Vet said Rosemary is stable and is hydrated, is eating some, pooping some, and peeing some (which matched me seeing droppings and urine in her smaller pen I put up last night and some of the hay disturbed). However, vet said her gut sounds were weak, and although most of her poops appear normal, some are tear drop shape. I was sent home with critical care and with metacam. We got the first critical care dose down about an hour after getting home, waited 30 mins after that as instructed, then fed the first metacam dose about 15 mins ago.
We considered an X ray or bloodwork to further diagnose the problem, but as I discussed with the vet we decided that for now the risks outweighed the benefits as she would have to be sedated for the blood draw or for the X ray, the latter because she is quite squirmy, and it might only stress her, slow her gut more, and might not tell us anything we didn't yet know. It was recommended to start with supportive care and to watch closely and go back for emergency services if she gets worse.
The vet is thinking it's unlikely that it's an obstruction but that with GI stasis it is hard to precisely understand what's going on.
As I discussed with the vet, we think the four most likely candidates are:
1) I fed some watermelon rind this week. (will no longer feed this to them).
2) I have been feeding herbal mixes from this sampler, sprinkling small amounts in their hay bin to encourage foraging. I do feel dumb for not thinking more about this but just to be completely honest, I sprinkled some from each of the herbal mixes on different nights to see which they liked best. I now am realizing that I should have really just stuck to one at a time and probably even more sparse portions than what I offered. I was hoping it would be good enrichment and got over-excited. I have stopped feeding any of these now.
Herbal Sampler - all five herbal blends to try!
3) We've had construction in our basement (the girls stay on the first floor, not in the basement) so there's been an assortment of noises and possibly some dust or things could have made their way upstairs? I haven't seen it being dusty or noticed strong construction smells wafting upstairs much, but I also know that their respiratory systems can be so sensitive. So I wonder if this was stressing her out between the sensory stimulation and such?
4) Sassafras and Cinnamon have been fighting quite a bit for the past four to five days, which I am also worried about. Sassy continues to attempt to hump Cinnamon, bully her away from food, etc. There is no biting or blood drawn. I moved a food and water source across the cage and tried to include plenty of hideys in order to reduce territorial behavior. Seemed to help some, but behavior has persisted.
Presently, Rosemary is in a little pop up pen with hay and water, and hideys and a piece of fleece over the top so it feels less exposed (Right next to cage, although it is on the ground while the cage is on a one grid high stand). I separated her last night because I wanted to make sure I could tell if she was peeing and pooping and that's tough to discern when there are three in the cage. When I brought her back from the vet, I did pop Cinnamon in there for a half hour because Rosemary was so stressed and I thought a friend could help. She did seem to calm down and start to eat more with Cinnamon in there.
I also out of desperation split the 2x6 C&C cage into two 2x3s with added grids to separate Sassy and Cinnamon, because I was worried their quarreling might be stressing Rosemary out. Sassy promptly chewed on the cage bars for about 15 minutes to try to get to Cinnamon, but the two have since quieted down.
So that was a veryyyyyyyy long winded post! I think I am just looking for additional perspective and feedback, some affirmation that I'm on the right track, and especially thoughts on if separating Cinnamon and Sassy is a good idea, and if separating Rosemary so I can track her urine and feces is best or if it's more important to have a friend in there with her? And also please send some compassion and care to me and my girls.
And wish me luck on the critical care journey as it's my first go around with it.
Thanks everyone <3
Lydia
I'm Lydia from Longmont, Colorado.Firstly, I would like to thank you all because although I just registered and this is my very first post, I have been looking at this forum on and off for tips on guinea pig care, creating DIY fleece liners, understanding piggie behavior, recommendations for brands, etc. There is truly a wealth of information on here for the niche of understanding and caring for guinea pigs.
I have had my girls Rosemary, Sassafras (Sassy) and Cinnamon for two months now. I adopted them from foster parents from a knowledgeable and supportive rescue, Cavies and Canines. These girls are about 1 year 8 mos old and have been together for most of their lives, so are a well bonded trio. I don't know much about their history besides that, except that Cinnamon is spayed, and the other two girls are not.
Rosemary started to look unwell yesterday evening (puffed up in corner, refusing veggies, not eating much), and so I fed critical care (I am SO grateful I had some on hand - if any newbies don't have it yet in their guinea pig stock, please buy some. You won't regret having it when you really need it. My Amazon order with it came just in time!). I got her into the urgent care vet this morning. The vet was quite familiar working with exotics and guinea pigs. The vet diagnosed GI stasis. Vet said Rosemary is stable and is hydrated, is eating some, pooping some, and peeing some (which matched me seeing droppings and urine in her smaller pen I put up last night and some of the hay disturbed). However, vet said her gut sounds were weak, and although most of her poops appear normal, some are tear drop shape. I was sent home with critical care and with metacam. We got the first critical care dose down about an hour after getting home, waited 30 mins after that as instructed, then fed the first metacam dose about 15 mins ago.
We considered an X ray or bloodwork to further diagnose the problem, but as I discussed with the vet we decided that for now the risks outweighed the benefits as she would have to be sedated for the blood draw or for the X ray, the latter because she is quite squirmy, and it might only stress her, slow her gut more, and might not tell us anything we didn't yet know. It was recommended to start with supportive care and to watch closely and go back for emergency services if she gets worse.
The vet is thinking it's unlikely that it's an obstruction but that with GI stasis it is hard to precisely understand what's going on.
As I discussed with the vet, we think the four most likely candidates are:
1) I fed some watermelon rind this week. (will no longer feed this to them).
2) I have been feeding herbal mixes from this sampler, sprinkling small amounts in their hay bin to encourage foraging. I do feel dumb for not thinking more about this but just to be completely honest, I sprinkled some from each of the herbal mixes on different nights to see which they liked best. I now am realizing that I should have really just stuck to one at a time and probably even more sparse portions than what I offered. I was hoping it would be good enrichment and got over-excited. I have stopped feeding any of these now.
Herbal Sampler - all five herbal blends to try!
3) We've had construction in our basement (the girls stay on the first floor, not in the basement) so there's been an assortment of noises and possibly some dust or things could have made their way upstairs? I haven't seen it being dusty or noticed strong construction smells wafting upstairs much, but I also know that their respiratory systems can be so sensitive. So I wonder if this was stressing her out between the sensory stimulation and such?
4) Sassafras and Cinnamon have been fighting quite a bit for the past four to five days, which I am also worried about. Sassy continues to attempt to hump Cinnamon, bully her away from food, etc. There is no biting or blood drawn. I moved a food and water source across the cage and tried to include plenty of hideys in order to reduce territorial behavior. Seemed to help some, but behavior has persisted.
Presently, Rosemary is in a little pop up pen with hay and water, and hideys and a piece of fleece over the top so it feels less exposed (Right next to cage, although it is on the ground while the cage is on a one grid high stand). I separated her last night because I wanted to make sure I could tell if she was peeing and pooping and that's tough to discern when there are three in the cage. When I brought her back from the vet, I did pop Cinnamon in there for a half hour because Rosemary was so stressed and I thought a friend could help. She did seem to calm down and start to eat more with Cinnamon in there.
I also out of desperation split the 2x6 C&C cage into two 2x3s with added grids to separate Sassy and Cinnamon, because I was worried their quarreling might be stressing Rosemary out. Sassy promptly chewed on the cage bars for about 15 minutes to try to get to Cinnamon, but the two have since quieted down.
So that was a veryyyyyyyy long winded post! I think I am just looking for additional perspective and feedback, some affirmation that I'm on the right track, and especially thoughts on if separating Cinnamon and Sassy is a good idea, and if separating Rosemary so I can track her urine and feces is best or if it's more important to have a friend in there with her? And also please send some compassion and care to me and my girls.
And wish me luck on the critical care journey as it's my first go around with it.Thanks everyone <3
Lydia
Cinnamon is the cinnamon and blonde shorthair, Sassy is the tricolor Abyssinian, and Rosemary is the white and brown shorthair. 
I am sure your boys are lovely! What cute names!
Lol.