nicolefluffy
New Born Pup
Hello all,
My guinea pig fluffy was just diagnosed with Arthritis two days ago
He is about 5.5 years old. He has it in his spine and knees and it’s painful enough that he’s not walking. The vet prescribed Meloxicam for pain relief but he’s still crying when I pick him up to clean his poop. I have to clean it twice a day because he’s not moving and I can’t let him sit in his poop
I would greatly appreciate advice from anyone knowledgeable on guinea pig arthritis on how I can make his life less painful and more comfortable/enjoyable.
1) What is the best way to pick him up so that it minimizes pain? I gently scoop him up from the middle and butt but even that seems to cause him pain and it breaks my heart. I then shift him to one hand with my hand firmly under his butt and his belly on my arm holding him against my chest so that I could scoop out the poop. I am afraid to put him down because then I would have to pick him back up and I am afraid to cause him more pain and stress with unnecessary movement.
2)When I was holding him while changing his poop out tonight he started to have little muscle spasms. I was wondering what was that? Are they caused by him feeling pain? I thought maybe the position was painful so I slightly readjusted my hand that was holding his butt until he didn’t have the muscle spasms anymore.
3) Is it too soon for the medicine to work? I thought it might be working because this morning and the night before he didn’t cry when I picked him up to change his poop but then tonight he cried again
tonight was the 5th dose of the medicine, he has been taking it twice a day for two and half days.
Everything that he loves is within his reach (hay, pellets,water, toys) and his cage has been restricted as per the instructions from the vet so that he can rest for the next 6 to 8 weeks. I wish with all my heart that the medicine would start working because I hate that he’s in pain
Is there anything else at home that I can do other than the medicine to reduce his pain?
My guinea pig fluffy was just diagnosed with Arthritis two days ago
![Loudly crying face :sob: ðŸ˜](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f62d.png)
![Loudly crying face :sob: ðŸ˜](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f62d.png)
1) What is the best way to pick him up so that it minimizes pain? I gently scoop him up from the middle and butt but even that seems to cause him pain and it breaks my heart. I then shift him to one hand with my hand firmly under his butt and his belly on my arm holding him against my chest so that I could scoop out the poop. I am afraid to put him down because then I would have to pick him back up and I am afraid to cause him more pain and stress with unnecessary movement.
2)When I was holding him while changing his poop out tonight he started to have little muscle spasms. I was wondering what was that? Are they caused by him feeling pain? I thought maybe the position was painful so I slightly readjusted my hand that was holding his butt until he didn’t have the muscle spasms anymore.
3) Is it too soon for the medicine to work? I thought it might be working because this morning and the night before he didn’t cry when I picked him up to change his poop but then tonight he cried again
![Loudly crying face :sob: ðŸ˜](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f62d.png)
Everything that he loves is within his reach (hay, pellets,water, toys) and his cage has been restricted as per the instructions from the vet so that he can rest for the next 6 to 8 weeks. I wish with all my heart that the medicine would start working because I hate that he’s in pain
![Loudly crying face :sob: ðŸ˜](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f62d.png)