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Oh dear - think our baby is poorly

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katiep

katiep

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Our vets is going to be sick of the sight of me. Before I take Lucky to see him tomorrow I thought I'd ask your opinions as you all know so much.
Lucky is about 8 weeks old, a rex. He is living with Scruffy who is about 10weeks old, a very energetic abby. Lucky has always been quite quiet, but seems to be getting more and more lethargic. He is eating like mad but between eating seems to doze off - he doesn't even move or jump if Scruffy bounces past him or I go to pick him up.
When I checked him earlier I picked him up and he seemed fine, he was holding his head up as normal, he was warm, no sign of dribble of anything, no wheezing, and he seemed quite alert - just when we put him back in his cage he seems to go sleepy.
Sometimes he seems to be a bit off balance, but other times he toddles around fine. The vet noticed a bit of crust in one of his ears - could this be a sign of middle ear infection causing him to feel a bit poorly? Are there any other reasons for a piggy to be lethargic but to eat like a horse? He still feels a bit boney though.
We are at a loss - Scruffy is the picture of health so Lucky can't have caught anything from him. he has eaten everything we have put in front of him and loads of hay. Is he just a sleepy piggy? Surely he should be popcorning round with Scruffy? We are scared that he is going to get poorly like Fuzzy .. We are racking our brains - could it be that he is an albino and doesn't like the light? Could it be because he was bullied previously and wants to keep himself to himself? he was quite confident when we got him but just seems to have gone a bit sleepy.
Any advice would be very much appreciated - I am going to take him to the vets anyway but it would be nice to know what you think!
 
Oh Katie, you poor sausage. You have really had it tough havent you? I wouldnt like to advise but prefer to leave that for people who know what they are talking about. Best of luck though, hope it is nothing serious :)
 
Crust on his ear may be a sign of fungal problems. I use the CocoNeem Melt (Gorgeous Guineas) on guineas with fungal ears, I just put it on her ears and it cleared it up :)
 
Oh no, I hope it's nothing serious. Dylan often has what we refer to as "down days" where he spends a lot of his time just sitting in his stick house not doing much but we've always put that down to the fact that, because he had a stroke whilst in resuce, he sometimes has days where his balance etc. is off. He's exactly the same at feeding time as Lucky though, he'll always come out and tuck in to his greens or hay or dry food .
 
Thanks Marty, Karen & Lavenderjade. (Can you use the cocneem on a young piggy?)
We just saw something happen - OH saw Scruffy take a run at Lucky and headbutt him quite hard - poor Lucky just seemed to take it didn't react at all.
We have taken him out of the cage and he is in a pet carrier in our bedroom with lots of hay, his waterbottle and plenty of food.
As soon as we put him in the carrier he was sniffing round and now seems to have settled down and is munching, so we are wondering if he was being quiet because he was scared and maybe Scruffy was having a go at him. In the petshop all the other piggies picked on him so he was removed and kept in the back - maybe unfortunately it is happening again. Going to get another cage tomorrow and Lucky can have a bit of peace and quiet, at least until he is bigger. It seems the right thing to do, but we are no experts, what do you think?
 
Aww, poor little man, thats a difficult one. If you think he is being bullied I would definately seperate them. Hopefully the vet will be able to tell you more. I'm not sure how old a piggie can be before you can use the Melt - it's worth emailing the lady who runs the gorgeous guineas website, she's really helpful and informative. If his balance is a bit off it could be an ear infection, hopefully your vet will pick that up.

Fingers crossed Katie :)
 
Good luck Katie Hope everything turns out well O0
 
This is David, Katies OH.

Lucky had a restless night, so we kept him in the carrier whilst we went to work as he still seemed lethargic, but he seemed "ok". Katie came home at about 2 and noticed he was twitching and moving his head around in a random and uncontrolled manner, and he was falling over and stumbling as he was walking. She took him to the vets and they said that they thought it wasnt looking good, but they gave him a shot of antibiotics and a shot of anti inflamatories and said his sight was only slight in one eye.

During the afternoon his involuntary movements have still been quite bad, quite often, almost every time he moves or tries to eat, however he does seem to be eating quite a bit, in fact its probably normal, hes eaten rather a lot and even though he is struggling especially with his drinking, his head is wobbling around and he keeps losing his feet.

We are taking him to the vets again in the morning for another check up and perhaps for some more shots, as hopefully its a temporary neurological problem, or perhaps a fitting problem or something like that, as his eating and his general apetite and even appearance seem normal. Its just the involuntary movements seem very bad and they seem to distress him (and us).

Has anyone experienced anything like this, if so what happened, and is there anything else we can do. He has lots of nice food and hay, and is eating it as we put it in, but he is struggling very much so with his movements. He does seem to get where he wants to go, but even moving 6 inches, he will fall over once or twice and his head will sway from side to side, in circles 3 or 4 times. When he has eaten he will have a snooze and his movements settle down.

Fingers crossed for him, but any help or knowledge would be appreciated...

Dave / Katie
 
Its me, I have stopped blubbing for now.
We have been reading up on past posts - could Lucky have had a mini stroke? The vet said he has virtually no sight, and he is falling all over the place and his head is moving round and round in cirlces.

We are just hoping and praying that he keeps eating and recovers, but the vet said the prognosis isn't good - I am so upset, he is such a little sweetheart, like our Fuzzy, I am sure they are related, Fuzzy died and I desparately don't want the same to happen to Lucky. If we lose him thats it, no mor epiggies because I can't bear to go through it.

:'(
 
PS Scruffy headbutted him last night - before that he seemed fine but a bit lethargic. Also sometimes one ofhis ears goes red (instead of pink), not always the same ear, and I think his eyes have changed colour..

Please if anyone can help we are at our wits end.
 
Katie I would advise that you PM Maryh or Karenrgpr as soon as possible. I always trust their advice. If you could get to Vedra at the CCT (Cambridgeshire)? Dont know where you are but sure you have heard of her on here.
Fingers crossed for poor little Lucky x
 
Hi Debbie,
Yes they checked his ears - one of them was a liittle bit crusty but has seemed to clear up. Lucky is still eating but still falling over and his head is rolling around.
 
He could have had a stroke or it may be afprm of epilepsy.... I have had pigs wirh both.

I am happy to PM you my number if you want a chat - just post on here or pm me and I'll send it over.
 
Thanks, have sent you a PM.
If it is happening every time he moves, could it be epilepsy? Or if it is an inflammation then he coul dget better couldn't he? Just that the vet said the prognosis wasn't good.
I want him to get better so much, he is a little lamb. :'(
 
katiep said:
Hi Debbie,
Yes they checked his ears - one of them was a liittle bit crusty but has seemed to clear up. Lucky is still eating but still falling over and his head is rolling around.
Click to expand...

Ellie's Fluffy had a few episodes of what we described as tilty head. She would struggle to keep upright and she would lose control of her head. A course of antibiotics always sorted it fairly quickly though and she lived to a very good old age. :)
 
Oh thats good to know - I really hope he is still with us tomorrow and the vets sort him out. I don't mind that he is blind, I just want him to have a good life with us and not to be distressed.

Going to try and get some sleep but will be checking on him all through the night.

:'(
 
katiep said:
Oh thats good to know - I really hope he is still with us tomorrow and the vets sort him out. I don't mind that he is blind, I just want him to have a good life with us and not to be distressed.

Going to try and get some sleep but will be checking on him all through the night.

:'(
Click to expand...

My thoughts are with you tonight Katie xx
 
If you have Otodex I would use it to rule out ear mites- that doesn't explain the blindness unless Lucky has poked both eyes. I wouldn't have thought the headbut from your other guy would do this much harm, but who knows?
 
Katie & David I am so sorry to hear Lucky isn't well. Thinking of you & sending my best wishes that Lucky gets better xx
 
Thanks everyone, I called Vedra this morning, she said if he is eating and drinking, which he is, then he is not in pain, and that an ear infection could very well be the cause of his loss of balance. She also said that it will take 10~14days for him to get better and not to let the vet give up easily on him.

Lucky is still with us this morning, and is eating, his movements are still all over the place, but we are going to help him get better.
Off to the vets soon. Poor little mite.
 
I'm sorry about Lucky, Katie - you've not had an easy time of it, have you? :(

Will keep my fingers crossed! O0
 
just seen the thread... hope its good news at the vets. Big hugs to you both :-*
 
Thanks guys. We've just got back and feel a lot more positive. We saw the usual vet that we like - he checked Lucky's eyes again and said that they were reacting to the light, so he does have some sight, and he also agreed that it was probably an ear infection making him wobble and lose his balance, and that in most cases they make a recovery. He said he might always have a slight wobble, but no reason why he shouldn't have a perfectly good life.
We are so pleased, we were expecting the worst. He has had antibiotics and steroids, and we are taking him back to the vets on Monday. He is eating and wobbling round the carrier to get to his water, he is squeaking and chirping, so fingers crossed. He even chewed the vet's figer! We are going to get him a new cage soon, a smaller one so that he doesn't have problems getting around, and we will keep him quiet and apart from the others. he seems like a fighter.

Thank you all so much for all your help and kind words! We'll keep you informed of how he is doing.

Katie xx
 
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