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VIDEO - Whats wrong with Bing ?

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yyoung

yyoung

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Bing had a stroke 3 weeks ago. Then last Sunday she was behaving extremely oddly about 3 hours AFTER I removed her daughter who had collapsed and was so severley sick I thought she was dead. Been to vets and he diagnosed resp inf and they have been on Septrin .5ml twice daily since Monday. They have improved but what worries me is that Bing has this very odd head movement and a strange walk that leads me to believe that she has something else wrong with her. Vet seems to think the resp inf has gone deep into the inner ear even though he checked her ears and said they looked clear but he said it could be deep inside. I'm not convinced but have nothing else to attribute this oddness to.

Put them back in their cage today (supervised) and took out toys and houses so that I could see them and so that Bing didn't bump into anything.

Got these 2 short videos.....

Anybody had anything like this ? Any clues ?





As always any help at all ..... very grateful.
 
Bless her, she does have quite a twitch there doesn't she!

My first thought was ear problem - mites or infection - as that's what tends to lead to most piggies shaking/twisting their heads. However the more I watch it, the more it looks like a 'tic', the movement that often afflicts those suffering with Tourettes, for example. As daft as it sounds! I'd wonder about something neurological, if inner ear trouble proves not to be the case.

A stronger antibiotic may be worth your vets consideration if the Septrin doesn't kick in soon. From what I've learned from others, Zithromax, Doxycycline or Chloramphenicol tend to deal with the more deep-rooted problems, including ear infections.

Does Bing actually have a definite respiratory infection, or just her daughter?
 
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Thats a good question actually because I'm not convinced that she does. Neither of these pigs showed any sign of illness whatsoever until Sunday afternoon. My pigs live in my office at home which I am in more than I am out. I am always watching them and there have been no sniffles/sneezing/wheezing/loss of weight/loss of appetite/listlessness.....this came right out of the blue. Obviously it was only 2 weeks since Bing had her stroke and thats why I do agree with you that it may be neurological. Bing still had a very slight head tilt from her stroke but hardly noticeable but then on Sunday her head was thrashing about all over the plcae. It is much improved now so maybe I am just being over cautious. They have been on Septrin 6 days now and today is the first day I felt comfortable putting them home so obviously things are getting better.

Just wondered if there is anything else I should consider ?
 
And just to remember ..... Lenny only just died a few weeks ago from an infection which is of course why I am super cautious at the moment. Is it possible they have the same thing ? Where did it come from (possibly that troublesome Tribbles I think) ?
 
Just reading your thread, not sure what this could be, I thought it was something like CCC4 suggested, ear mites etc. Just one query about the Doxycycline that was mentioned. Does it contain penicycline? If this is the case it would be toxic to guinea pigs. The guinea pig lynx website mentions that in it's dangerous medicines section. Hope not to have offended anyone's feelings but I thought I would bring it up.
 
Just googled doxycycline, it is the same as tetracycline, which is a definate no no for guinea pigs. Extremely toxic. I unfortunatley found out the hard way and lost one of my guinea pigs this way. I feel guilty to this day, and was very cut up about it.
 
sharonS said:
Just reading your thread, not sure what this could be, I thought it was something like CCC4 suggested, ear mites etc. Just one query about the Doxycycline that was mentioned. Does it contain penicycline? If this is the case it would be toxic to guinea pigs. The guinea pig lynx website mentions that in it's dangerous medicines section. Hope not to have offended anyone's feelings but I thought I would bring it up.
Click to expand...

Doxycycline is a safe antibiotic to give to guinea pigs.
http://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotics.html#doxycycline

however [quoted from source above]: The use of tetracyclines in newborn animals may lead to permanent yellow staining of teeth. Avoid using doxycycline in pregnant animals in the last 3 weeks of pregnancy and in newborn animals in the first month of life.

A list of dangerous medications (tetracycline isn't mentioned, however oxytetracycline is - they're NOT the same thing) is here and is always a good idea for a new or experienced piggie owner to have on hand.
http://www.guinealynx.info/dangerous_medications.html
 
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Must apologise for my mistake, but it is very confusing, I thought that nothing that was penicillin based was meant to be used on guinea pigs. So does Doxycycline contain penicillin, or not?
 
Guinea pig Tourettes syndrome?
What a *****, I've never heard such*******, neither *********.*****!
I have never heard a pig swear except maybe when trimming it's toe nails!
Could there be a foreign body in the ear or something stuck in the mouth, highly unlikely but nothing to lose by checking?
"So does Doxycycline contain penicillin, or not?"
No.
 
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Hi, Aww bless her - Just an idea, I may be well of the mark but...

Does she sleep soundly - (ish)? or does she twitch (a lot) even while sleeping.

The reason I ask is because if she is recovering from some middle ear infection then she will be constantly producing a lot more ear wax than normal I would assume to fight off infection, this would maybe send her round the twist with itching? But although this may wake her up, once she is settled I would guess she would be sleeping soundly if this were the case.

If she still twitching a lot in her sleep then I would guess it may be something more serious :(

Hope she feels a lot better soon poor thing.
 
One of my piggies displayed the same action with the twitching head and it turned out to be something lodged in his teeth. If you can, try and get a look inside Bings mouth. It may not be this but its worth ruling that out. With my piggy it turned out to be a piece of dried sweetcorn.
 
alcesterpigs said:
Guinea pig Tourettes syndrome?
What a *****, I've never heard such*******, neither *********.*****!
I have never heard a pig swear except maybe when trimming it's toe nails!
Could there be a foreign body in the ear or something stuck in the mouth, highly unlikely but nothing to lose by checking?
"So does Doxycycline contain penicillin, or not?"
No.
Click to expand...

CCC4 did not say that BIng may be suffering from tourettes, just that the tic was like one that a tourettes sufferer may have! an analogy if you like, so your comments were harsh IMO!

In my limited experience, as you have said Bing has had a stroke, it seems likely to be related..i.e neurological. The only other severe head tilt I have seen in a guinea was as a result of the guinea being dropped by a child and this resulted in nerve damage and subsequent severe head tilt. The guinea pig in question did not have those "tics" though and of course, you would know if your guinea had been dropped!
 
Lavenderjade
I have just been speaking to a forum friend on the phone, I said I was wondering how long before somebody posted a negative response to my Tourettes post. I have just read your response.
It was a joke.

(I hasten to add that my comment relates to my post not your response, in case you misunderstood!)
 
alcesterpigs said:
Lavenderjade
I have just been speaking to a forum friend on the phone, I said I was wondering how long before somebody posted a negative response to my Tourettes post. I have just read your response.
It was a joke.

(I hasten to add that my comment relates to my post not your response, in case you misunderstood!)
Click to expand...

Fair enough! hard to tell though on a forum :)) if I joke around, I tend to put lots of these in :)) so no offence is taken!! I wasn't jumping on you as I dont normally bother with stuff like that,but............:o:))
 
Good, I just stay with my warped sense of humour!!
It is too late for more humour now.
 
Hey I need all the jokes I can get at the moment.....

I have lots of animals and I am now obsessed that this 'infection' (or whatever) may spread around the lot. Trying very hard to keep my realistic head on.

This was mentioned by someone but when Bing is settled and resting their is no head tilt and no wobbling or 'tic'. Looking at her now she looks completely normal.

Look at this picture of the two of them.....they look fine.

008-6.jpg


Bings problems are when she is moving. It's like she has no control over her head. Having said that she isn't waving her head around like a mad woman when standing any more so that has to show there's been some improvement. It was a nightmare trying to syringe food into her on Tuesday night as her head was wobbling so violently. I had to restrain her quite firmly to feed her. I think she enjoyed the restraint because you could hear and feel her anxiety subside as she was getting cuddled (albeit very firmly).

Oh and I do know what you mean about something being stuck in the mouth. When I first got my piggys (almost 7 years now) I couldn't work out where this awful smell was coming from...eventually discovered it was a piece of carrot firmly wedged over the 2 front teeth....kind of like he had sunk his teeth into a cork...wondered what his erratic behaviour was though but found out quickly when I discovered the carrot.:)) Bing does not have anything apparent stuck in her teeth.
 
AP - The misunderstanding comes in where you suggest that I said the guinea pig has tourettes. The joke is fine, understood now, just worded in a way that is not instantly recognised as a joke! It is very amusing now I see it.

Yvonne, if she's shaking her head when walking and moving about, it could "imply" a balance problem, which might add on to the idea of ear or neurological trouble. She's got to really use her balance when walking, when she's sat still she can stablilise her balance - if you get what I mean! If not I'm probably talking nonsense. If something was actively irritating her so much, she'd be twitching her head about all the time, so perhaps not ear mites.
Even a stretched/tight muscle maybe? You know how limited movement can be when you overstretch a muscle, you try to shake the problem off...maybe a stretched muscle is pulling in her neck/back every time she walks which is stopping her moving normally, making her pull her head back and try to shake the feeling off. I don't know, I'm just speculating now but thought it worth mentioning. I'll still be inclined to suspect neurological at this stage, until proven otherwise, purely given Bing's history.
 
I hope for her case that what ever the problem is, that it sorts itself out. Sounds as if there is a slight inprovement on her from what you were saying. I hope she gets well soon, keep us posted.
 
Just so that you can all appreciate my need for a little lite (far too many diets) banter take a look at this ....

020-4.jpg


Cute ...yes ?

Until I tell you that this little fella has a proteinaceous penile plug that I have to try and remove. I wont show you the gory/rude pictures. Removed one on thursday and then last night I spent 5 hours trying to get one out. He is very sick. He can't pee. I don't think he will live.

I there are any pearls of wisdom out there for removing things from mens delicate parts please feel free to share them (sorry if this is a bit off topic !)
 
Sorry I have no advice, but that is a very sweet picture! I really hope he pulls through. Fingers crossed, I know you are doing everything you can and more. x
 
Yes yes very funny ........

Actually (in all seriousness) I dont think the poor wee thing was enjoying at all....

His willy is still sticking out and is all sore and red (yes I know - wide open !) I am keeping it from being hard and crusty but it is still very inflammed. Don't think he has peed yet. It's very sad to see him like this.
 
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