hello! me and my girlfriend’s guinea pig, cali (3 yrs old), was eating and drinking fine all day. she suddenly got a head tilt to the left, but is still eating and drinking fine. she is even occasionally popcorning, and her head goes back to normal for a few seconds. she recently started fluffing up and she sometimes scratches at her ear. we are thinking inner ear infection, but I'm not sure.
she showed no other signs of being ill. her eye is occasionally wet looking, but she has always been like that.
we are going to try and schedule an appointment tomorrow morning. is she going to be okay? i keep seeing things all over websites saying its fatal and some saying she will be fine. we would like to try to find some peace of mind before we sleep. any advice or kind words? we are both worried to death cause we love her very much
I am very sorry. The very sensitive ear area can be affected by an infection, pain from a blocked outer ear, a neurological issue, or (unless you have rabbits as well) much less likely by a parasite that is called e.cuniculi. Pain in the jaw can also radiate into the ear. Blindness can in some cases cause a head tilt as well.
Good that you are having your piggy seen tomorrow. The sooner it happens the greater the chance that the head tilt can be reversed. But it all depends on what is causing it - and that is not always easy to say. Your vet will likely go for the easiest to treat first after checking the outer ear, which is an infection and you could also ask about whether pain relief may help if your vet is not giving you any. When you ask politely, most vets will explain their thoughts and the medication they prescribe to you - what each is and what it is used for.
Head tilts are not fatal in themselves; it depends on what is causing them and whether it is something temporary in nature (often neurological) and whether it is treatable or not.
They are a symptom, not an illness in themselves. Head tilts range from the mild and reversible to unfortunately the untreatable progressive but it is usually not instant or quick (the quick would be e.cuniculi, a rabbit parasite which is much less of an issue in the USA than the UK where more people have both rabbits and guinea pigs).
Some head tilts will remain but piggies with permanent head tilts can still have a good quality of life for quite a time, including several years, depending.
All the best for tomorrow. Please let us know what the vet says.
PS: Neurological issues are not caused by solar flares. We are not seeing a sudden wave of them about every 11 years during a solar maximum. There was definitely not one the last time when this forum was already running.
Nor have planes fallen from the sky or the economy collapsed from a digital shut down from magnetic storms, as predicted in previous solar cycles... But there seems to be always some sort of scare-mongering or other around.
Hope your guinea gets better soon too xx