cookie_ladyfriend
New Born Pup
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2020
- Messages
- 9
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For the last couple of months, possibly more, Pepper (5 year old sow) has been experiencing bouts of pain and lethargy.
When in pain, she will stay in a hidey most of the day, and periodically squint/wince like she's in pain. Sometimes she sleeps, sometimes she just stares. Even on bad days, she will have periods of full-energy activity, where she is alert, running around the cage, and a happy guinea pig.
History:
In June, her cagemate Truffle passed away (GI stasis from antibiotics). In my grief, I didn't realize Pepper hadn't seen Truffle's body. She kept looking for her, and I eventually bought all new blankets and cage stuff because it was breaking my heart.
Six weeks later, I adopted Willow. Pepper tolerates her and I'm glad she has another companion. About this time, Pepper started to lose weight. She went from 1071g in June down to a low of 927g in late September. In the last week, inexplicably, she has started to regain weight and is back to 983g.
At no time did she lose her appetite.
Weight Loss and Vet Visit
At first, I took the weight loss to be a function of moving around in the cage much more, as she was asserting dominance over Willow. I tried to remedy the weight loss by taking her out for meals, as Willow was eating much faster than Pepper, and giving her more veggies. I also bought oat hay. This did kind of work, and I was able to get her back to 1034g. But I noticed an increased frequency of her pain symptoms. I thought it might be bloat and scaled back on the veggies. I am not able to correlate the quantity of veggies she's eating to her pain. Her weight then went back down to 985g. I have attached a chart tracking her weight for 2024.
She has always been a vocal, chittery lady, so I did not suspect anything related to her mouth until recently. In the last couple months, when we have cuddle time, she began chittering after 2-3 minutes of gentle petting. I began to suspect this was a teeth issue.
I was traumatized from going to the vet with Truffle, but I gathered my courage and took her in. I gave them all the info I had. The vet was kind, but a HORRIBLE guinea pig vet, and I deeply regret taking her; he decided to take her temperature with a rectal thermometer, and the poor girl spent the next few days squealing when she pooped. He said her fur looked healthy, and outwardly she looked fine (I agree). He attempted to examine her teeth—front teeth seemed okay, back/molars he was unable to see because there was food there. He did not put much effort into checking the back teeth, despite that being the reason I was there. He squeezed some pee out of her and ran an $80 test. He told me the pee was cloudy and wrote a script for the same antibiotic that killed poor Truffle, along with an anti-inflammatory. Guinea pig pee is always cloudy, because of calcium. I did not give her the antibiotics.
So now here I am, making this post. I have no idea what to do, and to see her in pain is destroying me. I cannot find any pattern to this.
Observations:
- poop looks totally normal (vet agreed)
- no apparent pain when peeing or pooping
- appetite has never waned (minor exception: the most recent box of hay, she has started rejecting _some_ of the seed heads, which is out of character, as she generally goes crazy for those. when she does reject them, i keep going through the box until I find one she will eat.)
- when in pain, she is on all-fours, slightly hunched
- when I see her in pain, I will occasionally pick her up and cuddle with her. After I put her back, most of the time she seems to feel better for 5-10 minutes, goes around the cage handling her business, and then goes back to her hidey and sleeps.
- when she knows breakfast or dinner is on the way, she is full energy, paws on the grid, can't eat fast enough.
WRT common tooth pain symptoms:
- she does have a wet mouth and beard after eating, but this has always been the case.
- she has been eating a little slower than normal
- she does not shy away from eating harder foods, like her oxbow biscuits
- she does not appear to have trouble keeping food in her mouth
I am desperate for help here, any advice is most welcome. I feel helpless not being able to do anything, and not even understanding what the problem is. Thanks in advance.
When in pain, she will stay in a hidey most of the day, and periodically squint/wince like she's in pain. Sometimes she sleeps, sometimes she just stares. Even on bad days, she will have periods of full-energy activity, where she is alert, running around the cage, and a happy guinea pig.
History:
In June, her cagemate Truffle passed away (GI stasis from antibiotics). In my grief, I didn't realize Pepper hadn't seen Truffle's body. She kept looking for her, and I eventually bought all new blankets and cage stuff because it was breaking my heart.
Six weeks later, I adopted Willow. Pepper tolerates her and I'm glad she has another companion. About this time, Pepper started to lose weight. She went from 1071g in June down to a low of 927g in late September. In the last week, inexplicably, she has started to regain weight and is back to 983g.
At no time did she lose her appetite.
Weight Loss and Vet Visit
At first, I took the weight loss to be a function of moving around in the cage much more, as she was asserting dominance over Willow. I tried to remedy the weight loss by taking her out for meals, as Willow was eating much faster than Pepper, and giving her more veggies. I also bought oat hay. This did kind of work, and I was able to get her back to 1034g. But I noticed an increased frequency of her pain symptoms. I thought it might be bloat and scaled back on the veggies. I am not able to correlate the quantity of veggies she's eating to her pain. Her weight then went back down to 985g. I have attached a chart tracking her weight for 2024.
She has always been a vocal, chittery lady, so I did not suspect anything related to her mouth until recently. In the last couple months, when we have cuddle time, she began chittering after 2-3 minutes of gentle petting. I began to suspect this was a teeth issue.
I was traumatized from going to the vet with Truffle, but I gathered my courage and took her in. I gave them all the info I had. The vet was kind, but a HORRIBLE guinea pig vet, and I deeply regret taking her; he decided to take her temperature with a rectal thermometer, and the poor girl spent the next few days squealing when she pooped. He said her fur looked healthy, and outwardly she looked fine (I agree). He attempted to examine her teeth—front teeth seemed okay, back/molars he was unable to see because there was food there. He did not put much effort into checking the back teeth, despite that being the reason I was there. He squeezed some pee out of her and ran an $80 test. He told me the pee was cloudy and wrote a script for the same antibiotic that killed poor Truffle, along with an anti-inflammatory. Guinea pig pee is always cloudy, because of calcium. I did not give her the antibiotics.
So now here I am, making this post. I have no idea what to do, and to see her in pain is destroying me. I cannot find any pattern to this.
Observations:
- poop looks totally normal (vet agreed)
- no apparent pain when peeing or pooping
- appetite has never waned (minor exception: the most recent box of hay, she has started rejecting _some_ of the seed heads, which is out of character, as she generally goes crazy for those. when she does reject them, i keep going through the box until I find one she will eat.)
- when in pain, she is on all-fours, slightly hunched
- when I see her in pain, I will occasionally pick her up and cuddle with her. After I put her back, most of the time she seems to feel better for 5-10 minutes, goes around the cage handling her business, and then goes back to her hidey and sleeps.
- when she knows breakfast or dinner is on the way, she is full energy, paws on the grid, can't eat fast enough.
WRT common tooth pain symptoms:
- she does have a wet mouth and beard after eating, but this has always been the case.
- she has been eating a little slower than normal
- she does not shy away from eating harder foods, like her oxbow biscuits
- she does not appear to have trouble keeping food in her mouth
I am desperate for help here, any advice is most welcome. I feel helpless not being able to do anything, and not even understanding what the problem is. Thanks in advance.
. I'm actually in the US in Wisconsin.
Has arthritis been considered due to her age and the fact she displays discomfort?
