Hi, this is my first time posting on a forum so apologies if this isn’t the best, i have a few concerns with my guinea pig and am looking for some advice
My guinea pig is male, 4.5 years, and has started to become more lethargic over the last 6 months. He has lost 2 of his brothers over the last year (due to old age) and they were all rescues that had been poorly when they were babies, so we were advised that their lifespan might not be as long as the average piggie.
The last couple days he has become even more lethargic, sleeping a lot more and not eating as much (still eating his usual nuggets, hay, veggies and drinking, just not as much as usual). Yesterday he refused apple slices and cucumber slices (normally his favourite!) and took one bite and then left them. He’s still been moving around like normal, but sleeping more, and this evening he has a wet chin, and has had diarrhoea, which he has never had before. His eyes are slightly crusty, and he hasn’t eaten much at all. Until about 30 minutes ago i tried him with some kale and he has eaten lots?! He is making a very quiet almost ‘hooting’ / ‘wheezing’ sound as he breathes, but has done this on and off his whole life and has never seemed to mean anything or happen with any changes of behaviour. He is still just as excited to see us every time we come up to the cage, and is happy to cuddle and be stroked like normal. We have checked his teeth as best we can, and there is nothing abnormal, no broken teeth, not overgrown, they are clean etc.
Apologies for the long post, but we are at a loss of what to do to help him! We cannot currently take him to a vet due to it being a sunday and his usual vet is closed, and will not take a guinea pig as an emergency
. Does this sound familiar to anybody, is it an illness of some sort, or do we just accept that our piggie is coming to the end of his life? Thankyou in Advance- S
My guinea pig is male, 4.5 years, and has started to become more lethargic over the last 6 months. He has lost 2 of his brothers over the last year (due to old age) and they were all rescues that had been poorly when they were babies, so we were advised that their lifespan might not be as long as the average piggie.
The last couple days he has become even more lethargic, sleeping a lot more and not eating as much (still eating his usual nuggets, hay, veggies and drinking, just not as much as usual). Yesterday he refused apple slices and cucumber slices (normally his favourite!) and took one bite and then left them. He’s still been moving around like normal, but sleeping more, and this evening he has a wet chin, and has had diarrhoea, which he has never had before. His eyes are slightly crusty, and he hasn’t eaten much at all. Until about 30 minutes ago i tried him with some kale and he has eaten lots?! He is making a very quiet almost ‘hooting’ / ‘wheezing’ sound as he breathes, but has done this on and off his whole life and has never seemed to mean anything or happen with any changes of behaviour. He is still just as excited to see us every time we come up to the cage, and is happy to cuddle and be stroked like normal. We have checked his teeth as best we can, and there is nothing abnormal, no broken teeth, not overgrown, they are clean etc.
Apologies for the long post, but we are at a loss of what to do to help him! We cannot currently take him to a vet due to it being a sunday and his usual vet is closed, and will not take a guinea pig as an emergency
. Does this sound familiar to anybody, is it an illness of some sort, or do we just accept that our piggie is coming to the end of his life? Thankyou in Advance- S
