Struggling to clean

[Lisanjake]

Hi all

My girl who is about 5 years old now, isn’t able to lift herself up to do their cleaning routine. She can do the rest and twist to the side etc but can’t do the first bit when they sit up and rub their paws together.. she just stays in the all 4 position and tries to do it like that.
Has anyone else experienced this?
i wonder if this is why she’s a bit scruffy at the moment

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all

My girl who is about 5 years old now, isn’t able to lift herself up to do their cleaning routine. She can do the rest and twist to the side etc but can’t do the first bit when they sit up and rub their paws together.. she just stays in the all 4 position and tries to do it like that.
Has anyone else experienced this?
i wonder if this is why she’s a bit scruffy at the moment

Hi!

Please have her vet checked for athritis. Appropriate medication can help her to regain more mobility and enjoyement of life.

You may find the practical care tips in these guides here helpful:
Looking after guinea pigs with limited or no mobility
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection

 

[PigglePuggle]

Many senior piggies struggle to keep themselves clean, a vet check to see if there is an underlying issue (UTI or gut problems making her more dirty, arthritis making it painful to bend over and move around) should always be the first thing to check out. Often some mild pain relief medicine, usually loxicom/metacam, can help with age related arthritis and improve mobility.
But also often many seniors need a bum bath more frequently to make sure they dont get sore from having wee soaked feet and fur and a mucky bum- especially if they have longer fur.
There is an excellent forum guide to this somewhere that hopefully someone can link in, but basically a bum bath is just sitting piggy in an inch or two of lukewarm water to wash their rear end and feet, as needed. Some senior pigs need this monthly, or weekly, just to keep them comfortable and hygienic.
But do please ask the vet too, first- a wet mucky rear and limited mobility should first be considered as possible medical issues, and only after the vet has done their best and given any treatment should you accept this as a possibly routine aspect of old age care.

 

[Claire W]

This thread here (at the bottom) talks about bum baths. It’s aimed at boars but the principle of a bum bath is the same for both boars and sows Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths but as already mentioned, please have your girl vet checked to rule out anything medical first

 

[Lisanjake]

Hi!

Please have her vet checked for athritis. Appropriate medication can help her to regain more mobility and enjoyement of life.

You may find the practical care tips in these guides here helpful:
Looking after guinea pigs with limited or no mobility
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection

Darn I thought this could be the case. I’ll bring that up at the appt on Thursday.
I’ve also noticed she doesn’t sleep sprawled out anymore she just lays in a ball and nods off, bless her x

 

[Wiebke]

Darn I thought this could be the case. I’ll bring that up at the appt on Thursday.
I’ve also noticed she doesn’t sleep sprawled out anymore she just lays in a ball and nods off, bless her x

Looks like a pain issue somewhere - what is causing it requires a hands-on examination. So much can cause this!

Please read the guides; they take you through daily care with guinea pigs that are not moving around as much, sit/sleep more in their excrement and cannot clean themselves anymore.

All the best! Please switch from weighing weekly to weighing daily at the same time.

 

[Lisanjake]

I managed to get some (extremely difficult) pics of Winnie’s feet. I have been soaking in Epsom salts for as long as she’s comfortable and the water has gone cold. Waiting for the balm from gorgeous piggies to. Arrive so I hope that comes soon. Does this look bad?
Obviously it wil be the first thing I point out to the vet on Thursday.

 

[YvonneBlue]

I am not one of the forum medical experts but from experience i would guess that your girl probably isn't moving around as much as usual because of pain somewhere. So basically she is sitting in her own urine and it is burning the skin on her feet. You need to ensure that you frequently change the bedding in the areas that she is spending most of her time. Vetbed is very good as it wicks away the urine and you can buy a large piece and cut it into smaller pieces to fit under hidies, etc. Fleece works as well as long as you put something absorbent underneath it.

When my piggy Hazel had sore paws post-op, I used a thin layer of Sudocrem on them after bathing in Epsom Salts.

Hopefully, the vet will get to the bottom of the problem on Thursday. If it is arthritis, pain relief makes a huge difference to the quality of life for you piggy.

 

[Merab]

Hope all goes well at the vets.