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Urgent Advice please ! Possible brain damage to our beloved guinea

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murraythatsme

murraythatsme

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Hi, It's a long time since we posted on here ....We were grateful for all the advice when we initially adopted our stray Guinea that wandered into our Garden ....He has been a content little fella after we adopted a mate for him from Barnsely Guinea rescue !
SADLY 3 days ago ...Murray ws found in the garden looking like he was dying with a 'bite/cut' to his throat / neck ....We rushed him straight to the vets ....It didn't look good as he was very lathargic & was in a very poor state ....The vet checked the wound & thought it could possibly from Barney his sole mate ( we find that hard to believe !) We have kept him warm & indoors ...he has been ver 'distant' & hasn't made any attempts to feed ...we have religously given him syringe glucose & water & fed him grass by hand ( he makes no attempt to eat himself !) The VET thought he may have a broken front leg ....x-rayed him & said it wasn't broken ...we noiced his 'gate' was strange & he was falling to one side & not using his leg correctly .....the vet now thinks that this could be 'brain damage or swelling ' ...So has give Murray a steroid injection for the past 3 days .as well as vitamin shots !
As he loves being outdoors ( his natural home with his sould mate Barney) ..we put him in a small pen on the grass ....he was happy to graze on his own accord ...but he just seems so lifeless & 'strange' ....we are woried sick & we hoped that some of your kind membes could once again advice us on anything ...PLEASE ...we are at our wits end ...He belongs to our 5 year Daughter ......the vet thinks he may have been 'shook' ...BUT the wound didn't tally up with something big enough to shake him ........We want to do what is right for him .....He isn't in pain ...& we are slowly realising we may have a 'Special Needs Guinea ' on our hands ...BLESS HIM xx
 
I'm so sorry that this has happened to Murray. Poor boy! :( I really don't have many helpful words of advice. I just want to say I'm sending healing vibes to him, and I really hope he'll make it through this. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Could be from a ferret or rat that was disturbed and luckily didn;t finish the job?

He needs to be syringe fed Supreme Recovery or Critical Care 70 ml + per day.....to keep his guts moving with fibre..(if you haven;t got this mash up some pellets with hot water and leave to cool) - use a 1ml syringe with the end cut off and feed no more than 0.2ml per mouthful (otherwise he may get liquid food in his lungs) and feed plenty of hay and also as he seems to want to eat it, grass........Keep an eye out for infection (particularly respiratory sounds) as steroids will supress his natural immune response

Is he being given antibiotics to stop infection of the wound in view of the fact it could be a bite? He should be on baytril or better still, septrin and he should also be given a probioitic to minimise gut problems from the antibioitic (e.g. Biolapis) or better still, mushed poos from his soul mate mixed in with the liquid food

He is also probably still in shock - he needs somewhere dark, quiet and with plenty of hay to burrow into so he can feel safe - so I would suggest you bring him indoors into an indoor cage on his own. with a box filled with hay inside...

He might not have permanent damage - but you do need to take steps so he feels safe and give him every chance of recovery.

Poor little piggie - and poor you - it must be very worrying and upsetting for both you and your daughter.

Hope he improves over the next few days

x
 
Thanks for your advice,this is the hubby posting this time by the way:xwere going to make sure he has the best chance possibel,just hand fed him some more blades of grass and some mashed up veg,put him to bed in his box in the laundry room,try to get some pics on tomorow.
 
Pebble said:
Could be from a ferret or rat that was disturbed and luckily didn;t finish the job?

He needs to be syringe fed Supreme Recovery or Critical Care 70 ml + per day.....to keep his guts moving with fibre..(if you haven;t got this mash up some pellets with hot water and leave to cool) - use a 1ml syringe with the end cut off and feed no more than 0.2ml per mouthful (otherwise he may get liquid food in his lungs) and feed plenty of hay and also as he seems to want to eat it, grass........Keep an eye out for infection (particularly respiratory sounds) as steroids will supress his natural immune response

Is he being given antibiotics to stop infection of the wound in view of the fact it could be a bite? He should be on baytril or better still, septrin and he should also be given a probioitic to minimise gut problems from the antibioitic (e.g. Biolapis) or better still, mushed poos from his soul mate mixed in with the liquid food

He is also probably still in shock - he needs somewhere dark, quiet and with plenty of hay to burrow into so he can feel safe - so I would suggest you bring him indoors into an indoor cage on his own. with a box filled with hay inside...

He might not have permanent damage - but you do need to take steps so he feels safe and give him every chance of recovery.

Poor little piggie - and poor you - it must be very worrying and upsetting for both you and your daughter.

Hope he improves over the next few days

x
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Hi,THANK YOU so much for taking the time to reply ( I've been up twice in the night to check on him...He does seem content BUT has nade no attempt to feed himself !) noticed the Hubby has been on here ..Bless him we are really worried !
Would LOVE to know whee we can obtain the REcovery / critical care 'food' PLEASE ?
The wound wasn't really big at all ..He had 2 shots of antibiotics & it has healed beautifully ( was a very small wound !) This is what makes it sO difficult to understand ...NEVER thought of a RAT !
We ae unsure whether to carry on with the 'steroid' injections & just try & feed him well & pesisit with hand feeding ( bUT we do pop him in a covered pen to graze & he does nibble on the grass ) just not happy to do it in the box !
Barney his mate found him in the grass pen & it was heart breaking to see him washing Murrays face for him ...snuggled up together !
PLEASE let me know where I can obtain the above ...tHANK YOU so much xx
TRISH x
 
Some vets have it, you can get it online, can't remember where I bought it, sorry, but hopefully someone else here will know. If you happen to be in Northampton you're welcome to have some I have left over from when one of my piggies was ill.
 
Where are you located? What an awful thing to happen. It may be a good idea to try and get your piggy to a rodentologist or someone gpig savvy to show you how to feed him with a syringe as it sounds like he's not eating his food. You can get excel for gpis in bright orange packet and mush those up, should be available at your local pet shop. Sending healing vibes x
 
Hi there

It certainly sounds as though he was got at by a predator - ferret/bird of prey - he's lucky to have survived at all.

Your vet would normally have critical care sachets at the surgery. I don't know if you can by them at places like Pets at Home or not - I use Excel pellets, softened in warm water and find the pigggies usually enjoy them more.

I have had a number of 'brain damged' pigs in - sometimes it's from birth defects othertimes from a stroke - and as long as their ability to eat and digest their food isn't impaired for too long they seem to cope well. Their housing sometimes needs to be altered to accomodate their limitations but as no-one has told them they are different to how they were before, they just pootle on with their piggy lives.

The most important thing at the moment in addition to the medication is his food - as a rough guide for every 10g he loses in weight I would give 15-20 ml of feed. If he can feed himself at all the pellets can be softened with less water so he can eat from the end of a spoon and then progress to feeding them from a bowl - reducing the amount of water so he finally moves back onto dry food.

HTH
Suzy
 
Oh what an awful thing to happen. Wishing you all the best for a good recovery :)
 
You can use mushed up pellets to syringe feed, how did something get in his hutch or run to get him?
 
Very good news to report today:<>murray has been in the garden all day with Barney and we have kept a watchfull eye on him,all though somewhat unsteady he's had a good day,brought him back in just before dark and as i write this he is powerfully tucking in to a carrot at my side:)
 
You need to weigh him daily atm to monitor if he is maintaining or losing his weight.

Supreme recovery can be got from here - no prescription necessary
http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/Supreme-Science-Recovery-Diet-pack-of-10-sachets/productinfo/SCIENCEREC/

but mashed pellets in a lot of water can do the same job....

He might be able to eat off a spoon, but if he is refusing to eat then I'm afraid syringe feeding will be necessary.

Personally I would stay off another dose of steroids...

Is he in pain (fur ruffled?) as maybe a few days on oral dose of metacam would be in order (many guineas stop eating if they are in pain)....(0.2ml once daily of the dog variety assuming he weighs over 1kg)

Otherwise keep doing what you;re doing, monitoring his weight and most importantly getting as much pellet food/Recovery down him as you can to keep his weight maintained....he MUST keep taking in fibre to keep his gut moving. Is he still pooing OK - look out for funny shaped poos - smaller in size, tapering ends, mucus attached as that is a warning his gut has slowed down and you would need to aggressively feed him.If, heaven forbid, he goes into gut stasis (ie no poo output at all), get the vet to give him a motility drug but above all, you must force feed him.

Does anyone have a copy of Laura's syringe feeding pamphlet they can email to murray please?

If you can let us know your location we may be able to put you in touch with a rodentologist who can assist/demonstrate if feeding him is difficult....

HTH
x.
 
That is great news, fingers crossed he goes from strength to strength!
 
Pebble said:
You need to weigh him daily atm to monitor if he is maintaining or losing his weight.

Supreme recovery can be got from here - no prescription necessary
http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/Supreme-Science-Recovery-Diet-pack-of-10-sachets/productinfo/SCIENCEREC/

but mashed pellets in a lot of water can do the same job....

He might be able to eat off a spoon, but if he is refusing to eat then I'm afraid syringe feeding will be necessary.

Personally I would stay off another dose of steroids...

Is he in pain (fur ruffled?) as maybe a few days on oral dose of metacam would be in order (many guineas stop eating if they are in pain)....(0.2ml once daily of the dog variety assuming he weighs over 1kg)

Otherwise keep doing what you;re doing, monitoring his weight and most importantly getting as much pellet food/Recovery down him as you can to keep his weight maintained....he MUST keep taking in fibre to keep his gut moving. Is he still pooing OK - look out for funny shaped poos - smaller in size, tapering ends, mucus attached as that is a warning his gut has slowed down and you would need to aggressively feed him.If, heaven forbid, he goes into gut stasis (ie no poo output at all), get the vet to give him a motility drug but above all, you must force feed him.

Does anyone have a copy of Laura's syringe feeding pamphlet they can email to murray please?

If you can let us know your location we may be able to put you in touch with a rodentologist who can assist/demonstrate if feeding him is difficult....

HTH
x.
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Hi, We can't THANK YOU enough for your very professional advice !
We are located between Doncaster & Rotherham ...south Yorkshire x

He has eaten today independantly ...only grass but muched away ...Also a good attempt at a carrot .....still a little out of character ....BUT did give us a merry time trying to catch him to put him back indoors !
Hoping that is a good sign ...As yesterday he just stayed PUT !
Asleep now in his cosey box in the laundry room ...I'm 'hoping' things are looking up x
 
There are a few forum members located around Doncaster, perhaps you can start an extra thread and put a shout out specifically to those people and ask them to come see him or help to show you how to syringe feed him, best wishes xx
 
Ruth said:
You can use mushed up pellets to syringe feed, how did something get in his hutch or run to get him?
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Hi,sorry for missing your question.We have a six foot by four run with built in upstairs sleeping quaters with a 12 foot tube type thing up to a small two by two cage where they would sit pearing out on to the lawns juicy grass,so one day we proped up the cage and let the lads have a wonder around,after a while we decided they should have a free run of the garden and it worked a treat,out they would pop and graze in the morning,then find cover under some of our many bushes in the garden then they trundeld back in to there warm doubel insulated bed room at night of ther own acord,it was bliss untill this unfortunate episode,they love there freedome so much and as i say all great untill this,I promise to post some pics soon:)
 
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