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Hard Chunks of Earwax?

Eryan

Eryan

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Hello everyone,

Clover has had these hard chunks of wax stuck in her ears, at least I assume they're wax. I believe I found the first one last Tuesday evening and since then, every day or two there's a new one stuck in there without fail.

I took her to the vet for a different issue (runny nose) on Friday and brought the chunks along to see what the vet thought. At that point she didn't have any stuck in her ears and so the vet just took a swab to see if she it's creating too much wax, but she said that everything appeared normal. She did comment on how odd the shape of the chunks were, but that was all.

Clover doesn't appear to be in pain, but has never liked her ears rubbed ever since we first got her back in September. We massage her ears gently to get the gunk out for her but besides doing that, I don't know how to help. They're hard and sometimes sharp, feeling like little pebbles. They must be terribly uncomfortable and I just want to get to the bottom of this.

Have any of you seen something like this in your piggies? Any ideas on what to do for her? We had never dealt with anything like this before Tuesday and now it's almost a daily occurrence, I don't understand why though.

Below I've attached a picture of the pieces we've gotten out of her ears so far as well as how her one ear looks clogged up right now.
 

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Some pigs naturally create more ear wax than others and from my experience it is often the ones with black ears. That said, what you are describing sounds excessive. Did your vet check for ear mites? They can cause a lot of irritation and wax build up.
 
Pound Shilling & Pig said:
Some pigs naturally create more ear wax than others and from my experience it is often the ones with black ears. That said, what you are describing sounds excessive. Did your vet check for ear mites? They can cause a lot of irritation and wax build up.
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She didn't specifically check for ear mites but did ask if she's been shaking her head or scratching her ears more than usual, which I said that she hasn't been. She almost never scratches her ears and only shakes her head if you touch her ears while petting her.

What are other signs of ear mites?
 
Eryan said:
She didn't specifically check for ear mites but did ask if she's been shaking her head or scratching her ears more than usual, which I said that she hasn't been. She almost never scratches her ears and only shakes her head if you touch her ears while petting her.

What are other signs of ear mites?
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I'm not aware of other signs. They don't tend to scratch more than usual or shake their heads but are more sensitive to having their ears touched than they would normally be. They are very tiny, your vet will need to check with a special scope to see them. If she does have them the good news is they can be easily treated by your vet. One of my pigs had them once, they didn't seem to bother her but her ears produced a lot of wax.
 
Update:
On our car ride back home today (we go to university 3 hours away and this is their first trip home with us) Clover began to go very limp. We thought she was going to pass during the ride but knew we had to get her home. Thankfully, she made it, but she is in very very bad shape. She can't walk anymore, although this morning she could, and she's falling over when she does chose to move. She's eating a small bit but when syringed critical care and water most of it just come back out of her mouth. She can hardly lift her head and is leaning on her house and cage walls for support. My heart aches for her 💔 We're going to try to take her to the vet as soon as it opens in the morning so long as she makes in through the night. I think it is an ear infection and I wish our normal vet would've looked more into what I showed her when we visited last week, but I suppose we just have to hope for the best now. The vet we're going to try to bring her to doesn't make appointments and instead goes first come first serve so we're hoping to get in early. They dealt with one of my sick pigs a decade ago so I hope they'll be able to help Clover.
 
Update:
She's gotten much worse over night. She's slowing down even more now and she tenses up when she breathes. My boyfriend pulled two three inches pieces of hay from her mouth, she's just not able to chew. She's been taking water from a syringe now, but she's so much worse than before. We're going to try for the vet in a few hours, the poor girl has been through so much in the few months we've had her. She's such a fighter but I think it may be her time.
 
Please call the vets strtaightaway and get her seen as an emergency. They are obliged to fit her in sooner than a routine appointment as she is clearly very ill. I’m so sorry.
 
My little Clover who has dealt with so much since we got her only back in September is on her last legs. After a car ride home from University, her and Pixie's first time making the 3 hours journey with us, Clover has gone limp. We didn't think she was going to make it through the ride home, thankfully she did, but now she's much worse. She can't stand and flops on her side, she can hardly move, and can't chew. I posted about large chunks of wax (?) found in clogging her ears Tuesday and now I'm sure it's indicative of an ear infection. She was having some balance issues before we left, but a large cyst of hers had just popped under her arm and was going through daily cleanings so we thought she was just getting accustomed to not having such a big weight under her arm... If only I had known. She was able to walk fine in the morning yesterday but now she can hardly pick up her own paw. How I wish I could go back. She's started to tense up while she breathes and I think she's on her way out the door. The only vet we have here opens at 9am and works on a first come first serve basis so we're going to try to get there as early as we can. I fear they'll put her down, but I honestly don't know how anything they could give us could help her feel better. My poor little love, I don't want her in pain but I'm so selfish in the fact that I'm not ready to let her go. My heart is broken.
 
VickiA said:
Please call the vets strtaightaway and get her seen as an emergency. They are obliged to fit her in sooner than a routine appointment as she is clearly very ill. I’m so sorry.
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The only vet that will take her opens at 9am, 2 hours from now. We'll get there as early as we can. I feel so helpless.
 
To my knowledge, vet practices are obligated by law to provide emergency care out of hours for an animal who needs it. You can get her seen as an emergency, and you should - especially if it’s as bad as you say.
 
Little Ones said:
To my knowledge, vet practices are obligated by law to provide emergency care out of hours for an animal who needs it. You can get her seen as an emergency, and you should - especially if it’s as bad as you say.
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They don't answer right now. I phoned an emergency vet they list in case someone is in dire need like Clover, but they don't take guinea pigs besides for euthanasia, I don't know what else to do.
 
Are there no other emergency vets anywhere around when you do a google? I think in US emergency vets aren’t really common.
 
Siikibam said:
I'm so sorry. Did they say why?
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They said she was extremely bloated, an issue we had brought up with our regular vet constantly. Clover had always appeared to be bloated, to the point where my boyfriend said she didn't even appear guinea pig shaped, and we often would massage her stomach and use an electric toothbrush to try to work out gasses. The emergency clinic said she would be in extreme pain by the looks of her and didn't check her ears or anything else, they said surgeries could have helped her but in the state she was in, she wouldn't be able to make it. My poor girl could no longer stand and just rolled around by the time she got to the clinic, I feel so guilty.
 
Thank you to everyone who encouraged us to seek out another clinic to get her seen sooner, I so desperately wish the outcome was different though. I held her the entire way home, wrapped up in her blanket. All snuggled up, she looked just like she did sleeping any other day, but this time she wouldn't wake up and run to the cage to ask for treats. We miss her so much and her sister is all alone now. Clover had so many medical problems in the 3 short month we had her, but she honestly was the sweetest thing on Earth. She was my baby and I miss taking care of her so much, this is has been so hard to go through.
 
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