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Help - the guinea I am looking after has fly strike!

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Glad she saw the vet... I would keep her indoors now xx horrible position to be in ESP if The animal isn't yours! X
 
poor piggie i hope the vet has good news and manage to treat her, if in worst case senario surly the vet would understand that she is not your piggie and would wait for your friend to come home
 
hollie917 said:
poor piggie i hope the vet has good news and manage to treat her, if in worst case senario surly the vet would understand that she is not your piggie and would wait for your friend to come home
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If the animals in pain they wont let them suffer....
 
bubble'n'squeak said:
Look if I did not care I would not be on here - the bottom line is it is not my decision whether to have her put down or not and I don't think the vet would suggest keeping her alive in her paralysed condition regardless of fly strike?
I don't know I have not come across a paralysed guinea before but once she stops cleaning herself and just lies in her toilet then the signs are not good...

Anyway I have an appointment this morning.

The vet said keep moving her, and checking her for maggots and apparently bathing her in warm water is good too. She said that the eggs are laid on the skin and fur so bathing helps get them off.

Thanks for your advice - it's nice to see that some people care.
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Hi there, any news on this piggie?

I thought I should add that the fly strike could be causing the paralyses, I have never had a fly struck guinea pig, but with sheep (I worked in a flock of over 5000) once the eggs have hatched the maggots secret toxins that immobilize, the sheep look drunk at the start, they stagger about like they're dizzy, then they just lie down and seem unable to get up, its the same fly and maggot that affect piggies so I can't see that the effects would be all that different.

I hope you'll let us all know how this turns out, everyone on here really cares! If they come over a bit on the firm side :x, it's out of a need to convey the urgency of the situation (something which is particularly difficult to do in writing :{), and if you ever see an animal die from fly strike you KNOW how urgent the situation is! 6 hours is the difference between life and death in an animal the size of a sheep, so I can't begin to imagine what it's like with a guinea pig or rabbit. It's not difficult to deal with fly strike while the maggots are on the surface, but once they break through the skin and get into the body cavity, everything gets A LOT harder, and life hangs in the balance:...

Please let us all know how you get on!
 
This is terrible. I just want to convey my sympathies to both you and your friend. This is an awful position to be in. Poor piggy must be feeling pretty unwell. As people have said quick action is needed. Maybe if your friend cannot afford vet treatment or is unable to give the time and care the piggy will need to battle through, it may be worth contacting your local rescue for help and advice.

I know you must be worried sick and it is never easy to care for a sick pet, believe me I know. I hope you will update us with how things go. We are all worrying with you and want to help.

Amy
x
 
bubble'n'squeak said:
I am looking after a friends guinea-pig - she is really old and I have had her for 9 days. She could not walk well when she came to me but she seems to have totally lost the use of her back legs now.
Anyway the poor thing has fly strike, I kept her clean and moved her around but with the hot weather...
What should I do! should I take her to the vet tomorrow? if she was mine I would have her put down straight away...
I picked off 2 maggots but I suppose there will be more - this is just awful!
How much is it to have a guinea put down?
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id take the guineapig straight to the vet not wait for a reply from your friend, if the vet chooses to put her down then this means it us the most humane thing to do as the guineapig is suffering. If your friend doesnt agree with what * did then this is selfish on her part to expect an animal to suffer while she gets home from hospital. In the meantime soak the guineapigs back end in warm water and thr maggots should fall away from her, (had a rabbit with flystrike) .. Just to relieve her slightly but defo a vet trip in order asap! :-( if ** friend new her guineapig was elderly and had bad rear legs she should have brought her inside and not let her live outside among the many flys and insects. Please get this poor guineapig to a vet as the maggots are basically eating her alive :'(:'(:'(:'(
 
Guinea pig with fly strike UPDATE

Hi - sorry news is not good.
Turns out the poor old lady had a tumour on her spine which was causing the paralysis - she had to be put down :...
She was 6 years old...
 
I found a maggot on her on Sunday evening so there was no vet which is why i did take the time to find out more about fly strike and to post on here.
There may have been an after hours vet but as i found out when my rabbit was injured they are incredibly expensive so I had to wait until the morning for the vet.
The guinea pig came to me dragging itself around and I was quite surprised that she was like this and had not been to see a vet but she did seem quite happy in herself and eating well.
She saw a vet for the first and last time - still feeling quite tearful about the whole thing! :0
 
Sorry to hear that the piggy had to be pts. It can't have been nice for you to have to deal with all this x>> hope you're ok and RIP little piggy x
 
I'm so sorry to hear of your sad news. You really found yourself in a very difficult position, being sympathetic to this poor piggies pain and discomfort, but not feeling in charge of the situation, but you did your best, and what was best for this poor old lady, and although the out come was not a happy one, at least she is at peace now. :rose
 
Thank you so much for coming to let us know, hope you will stick around.

It must be an awkward situation, and I'm sorry you had to deal with it.

Rip little piggy, sleep well x

Hope you are ok xx
 
If she wasn't well before she came to you, her owner should have taken the responsibility of getting her to the vets sooner, not leave this to someone else to deal with.. You were put in an awful position and you should tell her that when you see her..
If I were you, i'd refuse to ever help her again, and tell her she shouldn't have pets if she's going to allow them to get in this state in the first place..
 
a very sorry end for the poor piggie, and not nice for you to have to deal with.

But I just felt I had to point out that IF this piggie had flystrike and I fear someone else could read this thread and feel its ok to leave the pig for the 48 hours before seeking vet attention. It was just lucky for the pig and the person in this post that the pig didnt in my experience have flystrike, even 6 hours would have been sufficient time for the poor pig to have gone into shock and would not have made it to monday to see a vet.

Anyone else who suspects their animal (regardless of if its a pig or otherwise) has flystrike needs to get that animal to the vets asap, no ifs, no buts. I know the other poster who has had farming experience that has posted here can back me up with just how horrific and quickly this can take fatally hold on sheep within hours, I have lost sheep through flystrike and the damage wasnt that bad, just the sheer numbers involved and the shock the sheep had gone into due to this. It is not something that you can wait till morning, it is not something that would not warrant urgent vet advice and care.

I am sorry for the loss of this pig, but I equally could not just not comment on the lack of getting the pig to the vet asap, as I said, you were lucky, anyone else wont be and I am not prepared to keep quiet and some other pig is eaten alive because you were very lucky with the 48 hour wait.
 
This you tube link is very informative video by a vet on flystrike. It will show just why many of the more experienced members are so insistent that any animal with flystrike should be seen immediately.

http://youtu.be/v1CBsPs6AiQ
 
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