One guinea back from vet hospitalisation, other guinea freaking out

[Anna12]

Hi,
One of my guinea pigs has been very ill (problem with the teeth that cannot be treated, only palliatively), and has been hospitalised for the last couple of days. We picked him up this morning. The vet gave us liquid food and medication for him and we need to see how this develops. We put him together with his mate that he's been with for the last couple of years. In the first 30 minutes, the other pig seemed very happy that he was back, and she came to say hi, and was laying next to him. However, the other one does not have a lot of energy and is not as reactive as normally. After giving the pig his meds and liquid food, we put him back, and it seemed as if they were fighting. The female healthy pig went fully crazy, squeeking, running after him, and even pulling hairs out, and trying to jump on top of him. He's very much in need of rest, and he froze at some point. We decided to take them apart for now (with a fence, so they can still see each other). The healthy guinea just kept on squeeking, running around the fence (her door is open, so she can come out and walk around the whole cage of the other guinea). Does anyone have an explanation from what can cause such a behaviour? And how we could deal with it? Is it fear, or dominance, or just that he has a different smell? We really cannot tell. Is it smart to keep them separate, or should we try to put them together again? I would be really grateful if someone knows what is happening here and how we can deal with that!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Where are you located and do you know exactly what the problem with the teeth is and why it can’t be treated?

As they’ve been apart then they will likely be reestablishing their relationship. After a significant time apart, it can be best to reintroduce on neutral territory rather than just putting them back together in the same cage

 

[Anna12]

Where are you located and do you know exactly what the problem with the teeth is and why it can’t be treated?

As they’ve been apart then they will likely be reestablishing their relationship. After a significant time apart, it can be best to reintroduce on neutral territory rather than just putting them back together in the same cage

Thank you for your quick answer! I live in the Flemish part of Belgium. We have been to a specialised vet, who has taken x-rays of his teeth. He says that basically all of the guineas teeth are bad, and he cannot treat all of them. The only hope is by giving him liquid food and painkillers he starts eating properly again, and his teeth improve a little. But the vet has little hope. The past few days he even has had IV (because he was very bloated), and now he seems quite traumatised to be fair.

Is it wise to put them next to each other so they can see and smell each other, but not get to each other, before putting them together? And would a fleeceblanket with a fence around count as neutral territory? (their usual cage is basically that, but I could potentially set it up somewhere else in the appartment?)

 

[rudent]

When you say the teeth are "bad" do you mean that they are overgrown/curling in the mouth or that there is a problem with the tooth roots? An experienced vet is able to perform a dental on a guinea pig to trim the teeth back, enabling the pig to eat (and hopefully therefore preventing future recurrences), it's a matter of finding an experienced vet willing to do so if that is the case.

As for the fighting, my pigs fell out when my boar had a bladder stone removed and was on extremely strong painkillers. I ended up separating him from my sow for several days until he was back on his feet. I personally didn't have them next to each other as it was impossible to do so but I don't think it would be a problem for them to be able to see each other. I reintroduced them in neutral territory (newspaper fenced in with cc cages in a different room to the one they live in) and then they were able to move back in together without issue.

 

[Anna12]

Small update. It seems like the food we syringe feed the sick guinea makes the other guinea go wild. When we let her smell it, she shows the same behaviour as before. We also let her taste a little, and she seems to reeeeally love it. I'm afraid we have to keep them apart for as long as he's this sick and we have to force feed him.

 

[Anna12]

When you say the teeth are "bad" do you mean that they are overgrown/curling in the mouth or that there is a problem with the tooth roots? An experienced vet is able to perform a dental on a guinea pig to trim the teeth back, enabling the pig to eat (and hopefully therefore preventing future recurrences), it's a matter of finding an experienced vet willing to do so if that is the case.

As for the fighting, my pigs fell out when my boar had a bladder stone removed and was on extremely strong painkillers. I ended up separating him from my sow for several days until he was back on his feet. I personally didn't have them next to each other as it was impossible to do so but I don't think it would be a problem for them to be able to see each other. I reintroduced them in neutral territory (newspaper fenced in with cc cages in a different room to the one they live in) and then they were able to move back in together without issue.

Thanks for answering! It is not an overgrown or curling, but apparently an uneven growth + root problem. He's the most renowned rodent vet in the surroundings, all other vets in the city recommended him, and there's people coming from throughout the country, so I do trust that he knows what he's doing.

Thanks also for the comment on the fighting. I now put them apart with a fence in between, so they can see each other. But I'm very worried about the sick one. He's remaining in the same spot and just laying there. I really hope we get to the point where I feel we can reintroduce them to each other again.

 

[rudent]

Ah sorry to hear that it's such a complex problem, I do hope he manages to start eating by himself. He is probably feeling very low energy after his long stay at the vets and will hopefully improve with consistent feedings. I'm sure you already are but do try to tempt him with his favourite veggies -- eating anything by himself is a sign of improvement & he can then move on to hay.

So if your other pig is jealous of the liquid feed you can just give her a tiny bit each time you feed your sick pig. They don't really have a sense of what quantity the other pig got so usually just giving them a taste is enough to settle them down. I'll just let my jealous healthy pig have the empty syringe in their mouth for a second when I give a sick pig critical care so they get a taste and don't feel "left out". Anthropomorphism, I know, but it does seem to help!

 

[Anna12]

Ah sorry to hear that it's such a complex problem, I do hope he manages to start eating by himself. He is probably feeling very low energy after his long stay at the vets and will hopefully improve with consistent feedings. I'm sure you already are but do try to tempt him with his favourite veggies -- eating anything by himself is a sign of improvement & he can then move on to hay.

So if your other pig is jealous of the liquid feed you can just give her a tiny bit each time you feed your sick pig. They don't really have a sense of what quantity the other pig got so usually just giving them a taste is enough to settle them down. I'll just let my jealous healthy pig have the empty syringe in their mouth for a second when I give a sick pig critical care so they get a taste and don't feel "left out". Anthropomorphism, I know, but it does seem to help!

Yeah, he eats very very little bites, but mostly he's just laying around. Hopefully that will improve in the coming days.

I will definitely try to give her some and see how she reacts!

Thank you for taking the time to help me!