RheMae
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi all. Me again.
I hope it's okay, I've read so much, and it helps to get advice from other piggy parents.
So I started with 3 boys, Judo, Guts, and Bert.
Judo passed away after a trip to the ER, I believe due to gut stasis I wasn't informed of.
I scheduled an appointment for Guts the same night, due to him acting a bit off, and he was diagnosed with gut stasis and bloat. I stayed up all night with him, and he's been in the hospital today. So far, he's pooped 8 pellets, and he's accepting CC through a syringe.
So I've been working with Bert.
I read a lot about guinea pigs after Judo, I wish I would have read it before, but I can't change that now. I know now they need floor time, fresh veg not vit C replacement, and more hay rather than pellets. I also read that in the case of grieving, it helps to move the cage and do a good cleaning, so they don't smell their friend (except on a toy) after they say goodbye. So I did all the above. I got a large cage for floor time, got all the fresh veg and wash, and moved the cage and deep cleaned it. (Which broke my heart and also made me SO itchy- I was allergic to Judo when he got sick. I'm not allergic to the other boys unless they scratch me. It's odd.) We've been doing floor time every night for about an hour, watching them to make sure they're okay.
And tonight Bert is alone, so I kept a close eye on him. He's eating a ton, like wow, so much hay and chewing all his toys and active. And when floor time started, we had so much fun! He was running around and burrowing, and flipping his beds- he loves doing that. He had a lot of healthy poops, but at about the 45 minute mark, he ran in his hidey and I was laughing waiting for him to try and flip it, or to peak out.
But he didn't. So I waited, I saw hay moving. I waited. Then I panicked cuz idk. I just peaked around and saw he was puffed up big time, his eyes were super wide and he was shifting from foot to foot occasionally. I tried speaking to him softly to calm him down, and laid flat on the outside of the cage so I could be smaller and more on his level. But he wouldn't budge. I got terrified he'd hurt himself somehow- and I had to get him back to his comfort to make sure everything was okay. And I did. Checked his tummy, and his bum, and his eyes and nose, and he's okay there.
I just kept feeling like something was off. I was excited to finally sleep tonight but around 2 I figured I'd just check on him, and when I did, I saw he was itching bad. He would lay down, try to sleep, and jump and itch. And repeat. And chatter at me.
I believe he's stressed due to so many changes but I know this stuff is good for him. And I want to check him for mites, since stress and immune issues can trigger them, but I woke my boyfriend up in a panic cuz I thought I saw blood and that he'd cut himself. My boyfriend is about done with me always talking about them, and he said I have to leave him alone and get some sleep. Which I understand but how can I sleep when he can't?
There was no blood. I tried to pick him up but he ran and I don't want to stress him further. He's still eating/drinking fine. I wanted to give him a green as a little treat since I held back today, to be careful of bloat, and so that he'd be more forced to eat hay. (And boy did he.) But my boyfriend told me to leave. Him. Alone.
So now I'm embarrassed a bit and I feel crazy. But I lost one. The other is in the hospital. And I just want their quality of life to be so amazing now that I know how somewhat. And I want to catch everything as early as possible and I know they all need check ups either way now. I plan on scheduling one, but now I'm nervous to mention it to my bf, and he told me to get to bed but Bert is still itching.
Is this overkill? Could I be doing more harm than good? If it is mites, I can get a shampoo, but would a bath stress him to the max? How do you guys balance watching them all day and night with like. Living?
I hope it's okay, I've read so much, and it helps to get advice from other piggy parents.
So I started with 3 boys, Judo, Guts, and Bert.
Judo passed away after a trip to the ER, I believe due to gut stasis I wasn't informed of.
I scheduled an appointment for Guts the same night, due to him acting a bit off, and he was diagnosed with gut stasis and bloat. I stayed up all night with him, and he's been in the hospital today. So far, he's pooped 8 pellets, and he's accepting CC through a syringe.
So I've been working with Bert.
I read a lot about guinea pigs after Judo, I wish I would have read it before, but I can't change that now. I know now they need floor time, fresh veg not vit C replacement, and more hay rather than pellets. I also read that in the case of grieving, it helps to move the cage and do a good cleaning, so they don't smell their friend (except on a toy) after they say goodbye. So I did all the above. I got a large cage for floor time, got all the fresh veg and wash, and moved the cage and deep cleaned it. (Which broke my heart and also made me SO itchy- I was allergic to Judo when he got sick. I'm not allergic to the other boys unless they scratch me. It's odd.) We've been doing floor time every night for about an hour, watching them to make sure they're okay.
And tonight Bert is alone, so I kept a close eye on him. He's eating a ton, like wow, so much hay and chewing all his toys and active. And when floor time started, we had so much fun! He was running around and burrowing, and flipping his beds- he loves doing that. He had a lot of healthy poops, but at about the 45 minute mark, he ran in his hidey and I was laughing waiting for him to try and flip it, or to peak out.
But he didn't. So I waited, I saw hay moving. I waited. Then I panicked cuz idk. I just peaked around and saw he was puffed up big time, his eyes were super wide and he was shifting from foot to foot occasionally. I tried speaking to him softly to calm him down, and laid flat on the outside of the cage so I could be smaller and more on his level. But he wouldn't budge. I got terrified he'd hurt himself somehow- and I had to get him back to his comfort to make sure everything was okay. And I did. Checked his tummy, and his bum, and his eyes and nose, and he's okay there.
I just kept feeling like something was off. I was excited to finally sleep tonight but around 2 I figured I'd just check on him, and when I did, I saw he was itching bad. He would lay down, try to sleep, and jump and itch. And repeat. And chatter at me.
I believe he's stressed due to so many changes but I know this stuff is good for him. And I want to check him for mites, since stress and immune issues can trigger them, but I woke my boyfriend up in a panic cuz I thought I saw blood and that he'd cut himself. My boyfriend is about done with me always talking about them, and he said I have to leave him alone and get some sleep. Which I understand but how can I sleep when he can't?
There was no blood. I tried to pick him up but he ran and I don't want to stress him further. He's still eating/drinking fine. I wanted to give him a green as a little treat since I held back today, to be careful of bloat, and so that he'd be more forced to eat hay. (And boy did he.) But my boyfriend told me to leave. Him. Alone.
So now I'm embarrassed a bit and I feel crazy. But I lost one. The other is in the hospital. And I just want their quality of life to be so amazing now that I know how somewhat. And I want to catch everything as early as possible and I know they all need check ups either way now. I plan on scheduling one, but now I'm nervous to mention it to my bf, and he told me to get to bed but Bert is still itching.
Is this overkill? Could I be doing more harm than good? If it is mites, I can get a shampoo, but would a bath stress him to the max? How do you guys balance watching them all day and night with like. Living?
