Specialist Need help asap

[Arekkisu]

Hi, I'm new on here but i seriously need help as my vets are useless, my guinea pig is Honey and she'll be 2 on Januray 2020

She started being the smallest out the group and we thought jt was normal but then she started losing weight because her sister was stealing all her food, we noticed and i segregated her for meal times so they could each have their own meal

About 10 months later, shes dropping weight, has sneezing and trouble squeaking, i take her to the vet, respiratory problems, we get medication, she takes it and she gets better

Then, shes losing weight even more, getting to as low as 432g, her ears get crusty and she has episodes where she cant walk, falls onto her side and basically has a seizure

We take her to vets, we get a specialist in, we give her extra vitamin C, the seizures stop


Fastforward about 4 months

Shes going from 515g to 470g overnight, her teeth chipped and even 1 fell out completely, she has scabs and red circle blothches on her feet, they swelled and when i squeezed it SLIGHTLY, puss came out, her hair is falling out on her stomach and around her eyes, her back legs have been dragging and now she cant even hold her front up because her paws hurt her so bad,

Ive been giving her:

Critical care
Pro C vitamin powder
Vitamin C liquid
100% nature oats
100% fibre powder
Lactos free baby milk

And then on the side, antibiotics and osteocare

Shes shown sides of her back legs getting better but even after disinfecting everything, her paws are still hurting her like hell and she cant even lift her head to get water


My vet reccomended me to put her down but I'm gonna fight with her and i know i can hel

Pictures below IN ORDER:

How she sits
Her front paws (graphic)
Her back paws
Her teeth
Hair loss around eyes
Hair loss on stomach
The stuff i give her daily

If anyone can give me some advice on ANYTHING id honestly appreciate it so so much, I'm out of ideas

 

[worried val of york]

I am no expert but your guinea pig looks seriously ill. She needs to be seen by an experienced vet as soon as possible.

 

[Arekkisu]

I am no expert but your guinea pig looks seriously ill. She needs to be seen by an experienced vet as soon as possible.

She has, last time we saw one was last monday, they said theyre not experts and they wouldnt be able to get anyone in for a while because of christmas, I'm doing all i can for her atm but I'm seriously scared

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum.
It does sound like she is very poorly.
What antibiotics is she on for the Bumblefoot? As well as antibiotics, you need to ensure that her bedding is always dry.
Regarding the hair loss, has the said given any indication of its cause - has she been checked for mites/fungal?
Does she eat anything for herself?
How often are you syringe feeding her?

Also, can you add your location to your profile as it helps us with location specific advice. We may be able to suggest a more cavy savvy vet if you are uk based

 

[worried val of york]

Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
Have you checked this link to recommended vets. Is there one near you.
I will tag @Wiebke who is an expert and may advise you if all the foods you are feeding your guinea pig is good for her.

 

[Seven7]

I am not a vet but do her teeth look right to you? I am sorry to hear about it.
Maybe ask the the vet to take a look at her teeth? If she is dropping weight, and you are giving her food, maybe she can’t eat due to her teeth?

Experts will be here to assist but in the meantime, could you crush pellets and make it soft and syringe feed it to her?

 

[Arekkisu]

Welcome to the forum.
It does sound like she is very poorly.
What antibiotics is she on for the Bumblefoot? As well as antibiotics, you need to ensure that her bedding is always dry.
Does she eat anything for herself?
How often are you syringe feeding her?

Also, can you add your location to your profile as it helps us with location specific advice. We may be able to suggest a more cavy savvy vet if you are uk based

Shes been on metacam in the past but I'm currently giving her 0.2mg of baytril once a day

I change her bedding everyday and shes on soft throws which are always clean
I'm feeding her the mix twice a day, but she eats her veggies and flakes and dry food by herself, ill update location now, thanks

 

[Arekkisu]

I am not a vet but do her teeth look right to you? I am sorry to hear about it.
Maybe ask the the vet to take a look at her teeth? If she is dropping weight, and you are giving her food, maybe she can’t eat due to her teeth?

Experts will be here to assist but in the meantime, could you crush pellets and make it soft and syringe feed it to her?

Her teeth were looked at last monday and they filed one down, I'm currently giving her this burgess excel dual care which can be softened with water she eats her veggies and flakes fine tho

 

[Piggies&buns]

Shes been on metacam in the past but I'm currently giving her 0.2mg of baytril once a day

I change her bedding everyday and shes on soft throws which are always clean
I'm feeding her the mix twice a day, but she eats her veggies and flakes and dry food by herself, ill update location now, thanks

Does she eat hay?

 

[Arekkisu]

Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
Have you checked this link to recommended vets. Is there one near you.
I will tag @Wiebke who is an expert and may advise you if all the foods you are feeding your guinea pig is good for her.

Thank you so much

Does she eat hay?

Yes, but whenever i give it to her she drops so much weight again, giving her small amounts atm just incase

 

[Piggies&buns]

I am going to tag in the other health advisors as wiebke isn’t going to be around much for the next while. @PigglePuggle @Siikibam @furryfriends (TEAS)

She needs to be eating hay but being support fed with the critical care in addition to hay intake. Hay is absolutely essential to her diet and needs to make up over 85% of the daily food intake. If she will eat it, then she must. Not only for her overall health but also to help wear her teeth down (they will overgrow on a softened food diet). The syringe feeding is keeping her system going and will help to keep her weight up.

Ultimately though, you need a guinea pig expert vet to check her over and potentially a stronger antibiotic to get on top of things.

 

[Arekkisu]

I am going to tag in the other health advisors as wiebke isn’t going to be around much for the next while. @PigglePuggle @Siikibam @furryfriends (TEAS)

She needs to be eating hay but being support fed with the critical care in addition to hay intake. Hay is absolutely essential to her diet and needs to make up over 85% of the daily food intake. If she will eat it, then she must. Not only for her overall health but also to help wear her teeth down (they will overgrow on a softened food diet). The syringe feeding is keeping her system going and will help to keep her weight up.

Ultimately though, you need a guinea pig expert vet to check her over and potentially a stronger antibiotic to get on top of things.

Thanks a lot, will see how it goes

 

[Seven7]

Experts were tagged, so they will be here to assist you.

I just want to wish you and your little one best of luck.

 

[Arekkisu]

Experts were tagged, so they will be here to assist you.

I just want to wish you and your little one best of luck.

Thank you so much :')

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, I'm new on here but i seriously need help as my vets are useless, my guinea pig is Honey and she'll be 2 on Januray 2020

She started being the smallest out the group and we thought jt was normal but then she started losing weight because her sister was stealing all her food, we noticed and i segregated her for meal times so they could each have their own meal

About 10 months later, shes dropping weight, has sneezing and trouble squeaking, i take her to the vet, respiratory problems, we get medication, she takes it and she gets better

Then, shes losing weight even more, getting to as low as 432g, her ears get crusty and she has episodes where she cant walk, falls onto her side and basically has a seizure

We take her to vets, we get a specialist in, we give her extra vitamin C, the seizures stop


Fastforward about 4 months

Shes going from 515g to 470g overnight, her teeth chipped and even 1 fell out completely, she has scabs and red circle blothches on her feet, they swelled and when i squeezed it SLIGHTLY, puss came out, her hair is falling out on her stomach and around her eyes, her back legs have been dragging and now she cant even hold her front up because her paws hurt her so bad,

Ive been giving her:

Critical care
Pro C vitamin powder
Vitamin C liquid
100% nature oats
100% fibre powder
Lactos free baby milk

And then on the side, antibiotics and osteocare

Shes shown sides of her back legs getting better but even after disinfecting everything, her paws are still hurting her like hell and she cant even lift her head to get water


My vet reccomended me to put her down but I'm gonna fight with her and i know i can hel

Pictures below IN ORDER:

How she sits
Her front paws (graphic)
Her back paws
Her teeth
Hair loss around eyes
Hair loss on stomach
The stuff i give her daily

If anyone can give me some advice on ANYTHING id honestly appreciate it so so much, I'm out of ideas

Hi!

Please see one of our recommended vets as quickly as possible as an emergency. If you can get as far as Northampton and get an appointment with the Cat&Rabbit Care clinic, then you will be in the vet best of hands. They are a vet clinic that specialises in just cats, rabbits and guinea pigs and that see guinea pigs with dental problems from all over the country (plus lots of other problems). Most vets are unfortunately not experienced with piggy dentals or small rodents.
If necessary, try to snatch one of their daily emergency slots by calling them first thing in the morning if they are otherwise booked out.
Recommended Guinea Pig Rescues
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic

Please also step in with emergency home support: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

 

[Arekkisu]

Hi!

Please see one of our recommended vets as quickly as possible as an emergency. If you can get as far as Northampton and get an appointment with the Cat&Rabbit Care clinic, then you will be in the vet best of hands. They are a vet clinic that specialises in just cats, rabbits and guinea pigs and that see guinea pigs with dental problems from all over the country (plus lots of other problems). Most vets are unfortunately not experienced with piggy dentals or small rodents.
If necessary, try to snatch one of their daily emergency slots by calling them first thing in the morning if they are otherwise booked out.
Recommended Guinea Pig Rescues
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic

Please also step in with emergency home support: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Sadly i dont drive and dont have the money to go outside of hemel atm, a different vet quoted me shy of £80 for an appointment and they dont know much about guinea pigs :'( gonna see if anyone can help me out in the meantime, thank you tho

 

[Merab]

How far are you from Letchworth Garden City?
Sorry - my geography of your part of the country isn’t great.

There’s a forum recommended vet there.
The Veterinary Centre
SG6 1BS

I can’t add to the advice but wanted to add support

 

[Arekkisu]

How far are you from Letchworth Garden City?
Sorry - my geography of your part of the country isn’t great.

There’s a forum recommended vet there.
The Veterinary Centre
SG6 1BS

I can’t add to the advice but wanted to add support

I dont even recognise the name 0-0 I'm in herfordshire if that helps but sadly cant get out of hemel

Thanks for the support tho

 

[Merab]

I’ve just looked for you.
Letchworth Garden City is also in Hertfordshire, about 30 miles from Hemel Hempstead.
Is there a friend or family member who could drive you?

 

[Arekkisu]

I’ve just looked for you.
Letchworth Garden City is also in Hertfordshire, about 30 miles from Hemel Hempstead.
Is there a friend or family member who could drive you?

Ill go ask now, tysm :0

 

[Bill & Ted]

If she can’t eat hay try her with a little fresh grass as this will wear her teeth down too x
Fingers crossed you can find a good vet for her, the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton are fabulous piggie vets, such a shame you can’t get there

 

[Arekkisu]

If she can’t eat hay try her with a little fresh grass as this will wear her teeth down too x
Fingers crossed you can find a good vet for her, the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton are fabulous piggie vets, such a shame you can’t get there

Ill try it tomorrow, need to ask if mum puts anything on the grass 0-0 tysm tho

 

[PigglePuggle]

Can't add much to the excellent advice already given except that feeding baby milk, even if it is lactose free, is a definite NO from me. Weaned mammals except some humans CANNOT digest milk- it isnt the lactose which is a form of sugar found in milk, it is the protein casein which adult mammals just dont have the enzymes to digest. I cannot digest casein myself and it makes me very, very sick. Any form of milk should be considered quite toxic to guinea pigs over 3-4 weeks of age, and the gut irritation it will cause could well lead to the inability to absorb essential nutrients.
Please get your piggy to a vet but please also stop any milk based foods immediately, critical care and vit C and probiotics are appropriate support supplements but milk of any kind really is not!

 

[Arekkisu]

Can't add much to the excellent advice already given except that feeding baby milk, even if it is lactose free, is a definite NO from me. Weaned mammals except some humans CANNOT digest milk- it isnt the lactose which is a form of sugar found in milk, it is the protein casein which adult mammals just dont have the enzymes to digest. I cannot digest casein myself and it makes me very, very sick. Any form of milk should be considered quite toxic to guinea pigs over 3-4 weeks of age, and the gut irritation it will cause could well lead to the inability to absorb essential nutrients.
Please get your piggy to a vet but please also stop any milk based foods immediately, critical care and vit C and probiotics are appropriate support supplements but milk of any kind really is not!

Yeah i saw mixing it with the oats and fibre would be good since she has calcium and vitamin c deficency, saw it on a video and it has been working quite well tbh, half a tea spoon added with the critical care, vet said it should be fine, i appreciate the advice but its lactose free and vet said should be fine

 

[PigglePuggle]

I think if she needs more calcium some spinach or parsley would be a much better option, it is very unusual for a piggy to be calcium deficient and although I wouldnt usually go against veterinary advise adult mammals, particularly herbivores, cannot gain any useful nutrients from milk, and it can cause further malnutrition due to it being indigestible.
I think a more experienced vet might be more help to your piggy, her weight is dangerously low and sadly it sounds like she is not doing well at all with the current treatment and advice you are following x

 

[Wiebke]

Please concentrate on giving your piggy herbivore recovery formula, as much as possible and leave out all the other extras. The formula is nutritionally balanced. It contains the necessary hay fibre (keep in mind that that should make over 80% of the daily food intake), is vitamin C and calcium enriched.
If you want to concentrate on putting weight back on, then I would recommend to switch to emeraid, which is more calorific and goes down really well with very ill piggies.
Here is a list of recommended balanced recovery formulas that are suitable for guinea pigs: Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

The more extras you add to the syringe feed and diet, the more you unbalance the nutrition and add to the problems, especially as things like cows milk powder (lactose-free or not) are less than ideal for guinea pigs and should be avoided.

Please keep in mind that your piggy is in the danger zone with an extremely low weight and that your first priority is to get enough food into them without upsetting the gut any more. The fact that your little one has got soft poos means that the gut is not OK. Many of the problems your piggy is dealing with are secondary problems.

Instead of adding more calcium and milk and whatever, feed formula and plenty of probiotics to realign the gut first and foremost, and have a small chance of pulling your little one through the crisis with syringe feeding every two hours throughout the day and every 3 hours throughout the night; feed as much in one go as she will take with each session, ideally at least 5-10 ml. You are aiming at ideally 60-90 ml in 24 hours.

Here are our syringe feeding guide and our crisis care links again. Please take the time to read them!
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Emergency Information and Care

Can I please remind our other helpful forum member to not bring lots of new things into play and concentrate first and foremost on the essentials - this is a very ill piggy fighting for its life, so the absolute priority must be to get enough food into it that is altready nutritionally balanced to get it through the crisis.
Only then can other medical and nutritional issues be tackled - best by sticking to a hay and grass based diet so the piggy is actually getting what it needs most and what is the basis of a healthy long life!

PS: We have members whose knowledge and experience we fully trust that have a health/Illness badge in their signature.

 

[DMS260820]

Ill go ask now, tysm :0

Tysm = ( Thank you so much) @Merab's Slave

 

[Wiebke]

@Abi_nurse

 

[Siikibam]

I hope you’re able to see a more experienced vet soon. Make it known to your mum (I’m assuming she’s the one who’ll take you to the vet?) that your girl really needs to be seen. The teeth cannot be ignored.

With the bumble foot, you could soak her paws in a saline solution. If you can’t get it in a pharmacy then you can make your own - mix 1 teaspoon of water into 1/2 pint (250 ml) of boiled, cooled water.

I would also get her back on the metacam to help with the bumble foot, she must be in pain. What bedding do you use? I’m not sure if you mentioned it and I just missed it.

 

[Arekkisu]

I hope you’re able to see a more experienced vet soon. Make it known to your mum (I’m assuming she’s the one who’ll take you to the vet?) that your girl really needs to be seen. The teeth cannot be ignored.

With the bumble foot, you could soak her paws in a saline solution. If you can’t get it in a pharmacy then you can make your own - mix 1 teaspoon of water into 1/2 pint (250 ml) of boiled, cooled water.

I would also get her back on the metacam to help with the bumble foot, she must be in pain. What bedding do you use? I’m not sure if you mentioned it and I just missed it.

My mums the one whod be paying for the vet which is why I'm kinda pushed more to doing it at home, ive done saline sollution twice a day and when she goes to bed wrap tiny bit of cotton with waterproof streachy bandage so it doesnt get worse (she doesnt bite it so its all good)

Shes on folded up throws and mini puffy pet beds and are changed and washed eveyday ^=^