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Why Are All My Guinea Pigs Dying?!

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Also he has these weird feeling scratchy bumps in his fur? I've checked him for bugs and cant seem to find any... But his hair feels really icky
 
Do you think the pet store will know about good treatment courses... In replacement for the vet? I might be able to get him to take me tomorrow possibly
 
:hb: My parents should be sad! Not mad at me! They should be telling me they hope Frankie makes it not that it might be better if he's gone! We recently got a new puppy Ringo, and for some reason they are talking like if Frankie makes it it will be to hard for me to look after the dog as well as him... Its not like we haven't ever had guinea pigs and dogs they just want there to be no more pigs! :rtm:I should print out that everyone is saying take him to the vet...
Sorry I needed to get some anger out... But its true...
 
Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry that you and Frankie are in this situation. There is very little that you can do now without the advice if a vet. There could be many reasons why he is poorly and so home treating him probably wouldn't be effective.

You are right not to give him iceberg lettuce as that is bad for them. You could safely offer him another baby carrot to see if he is still eating.
 
I'm really feeling for you in this situation. You've obviously cared very deeply for all your piggies and really want to do what's best for Frankie. I can't imagine how frustrating and upsetting it must be for you wanting to do the best and being prevented from doing so. I really hope that things work out and Frankie can pull through; take comfort in the fact you are giving him all the love and affection he needs and really are trying your best in difficult circumstances. And please know this situation you're in is in no way your fault, it was your parents' responsibility to ensure that they could fully provide and care for any pet they were allowing into the house.

Good luck x
 
I know it's difficult and it seems that your parents are worrying about money but if money is that tight then they should not bring animals into the house as once there it is their obligation to provide veterinary care if needed, including for the dog. It was wrong of your Dad to make that deal with you, parents often think of small animals as disposable pets and they're not.

Am afraid a pet shop will not be able to diagnose what is wrong with your pig accurately.
 
I really don't want to upset you or sound mean but maybe you should consider contacting a rescue either to help with vet fees or to surrender him for treatment. I know you are doing everything you can and money is tight. I had many issues with my parents about vets too but I showed them this site and it convinced them to take my piggy to the vet which probably saved his life.

I really hope things work out for you

~Amy
 
I agree that taking Frankie to a rescue would be a really good idea but we know that there aren't many rescues in the US (I am assuming that is where you are) compared to the UK. I would however urge you to find out where your nearest rescue is to see if anyone can help you and Frankie.
 
What a heartbreaking thread this is.

OP - I'm really sorry for you. Of course as you are a minor and dont have control of your own money, the responsibility rests with your parents. There really isnt anything you can do as you do not have the autonomy to act independantly. If your parents cannot or will not pay for vet bills, I would just urge you not to get any more pets until you do have your own income and then you can either get pet insurance, or put aside a certain amount of money each month to go towards vet bills (Which is what I do for the small furries)

The things you describe like the problem with the piggie's foot could be bumblefoot and the skin problem could be mites or a fungal or other parasitic infection but its really hard to say without a) being a vet and b) seeing the animal in question.

Other things to think about are maintaining very good cage hygeine (spot clean every day, full clean out and scrubbing the cage with animal safe disinfectant at least once a week but probably twice, it depends on your bedding, clean water bottles, space to play, good guinea pig nuggets with vitamin C added, ad lib hay to chomp on and lots of hand picked grass if you cant afford veggies every day. Do you have a garden where you can pick clean grass for your pigs?
Thinking long term, and assuming that your piggie makes it and recovers, If you have some space dependant on your climate you could also grow veggies for the pigs. Seed packets are cheap and I grown veg in pots as its just easier than digging the garden ;)

Regarding your parents, it may be that they are not so much angry, as guilty and just feeling awful that they have a sick animal and cant do anything about it due to financial problems. Grown ups often express guilt as anger or get defensive.

Perhaps you could talk to them about planning for vet bills for your puppy too, if he is not insured for vets fees.

Good luck, do let us know how your piggie does and know that our best wishes are with you and your piggie.
I am so sorry. Wish I could wave a magic wand and take your piggie to the vet for you.
 
I really feel for you its a horrible situation for you to deal with.

I would definately look into the rescue option. In addition I would be inclined to give the cage a full cleanout and clean with guinea safe disinfectant. Clean everything including the top and bars.

there is not much more you can do other than making sure water bottle and bowl are clean you can use the same disinfectant but make sure you rinse it all away. With regards to hay they need to have enough so that they dont run out you may need to add more every morning and night
 
Thanks so much everyone for your support :) I was able to convince my dad last night to take Frankie to the vet today. They also told me what happened to Pippin the one with the bad foot. We have 5 meds for Frankie right now! They said he is eating just not much because his teeth are un aligned now so he is favoring one side of his jaw? Also he wasn't drinking much and they said they could fix it but they would have to do lots of things and they were worried about his kidneys as well but all together just the tests would have cost $700 and I couldn't afford that. So he's on a bunch of meds and is going back in in 10 days for them to see how he's doing. I discovered I had a bank account so my dads making me pay for all this but I still couldn't afford it so I'm in debt... But I'm so glad! They said with Pippins foot it was an infection that spread to his bones... :( Does anyone know how critical care works?! My dad says that means we ONLY feed him critical care but why! Does he not get pellets as well? I know he gets hay... So much medicine though... The vet told us that for Frankie's entire life he has had vitamin C deficiency and that's also part of the reason he was sick :( The food I had him on was supposed to have extra but the vet said don't trust it and take him off of it. So next pet trip we are getting Oxbow!
 
Vitamin C deficiency is from a lack of vegetables.
http://jackiesguineapiggies.com/fruitandveg.html
I'd recommend having a read of that to let you know what vegetables to give him. Peppers being the ones I would advice to give the most.

I'm glad you were able to get him to the vets.

Here's a video about critical care. Hopefully that will help.

Make sure you give him the vegetables twice a day, hay and critical care. Pellets are the least important but if your piggie is quite light and needs to gain weight then plain pellets are good for them.
Ones like this
http://www.mrjohnsons.co.uk/media/copy_webAdvanced_Guinea_food_.jpg
or this
https://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh98/AuRoRiS_BkN/DSC02260.jpg

My biggest advice is to make sure you feed your guinea pig vegetables at LEAST once a day or chances are he will die from lack of it. I don't mean to sound harsh but guinea pigs can get very ill if they don't get vegetables in their diet. It can even just be grass cut from your garden (make sure its clean so no cat pee, bird poo etc)
 
Ah, honey - am so pleased you managed to get him to the vet, I lost count of the number of times I checked the forum for an update yesterday. It is really good news that he has medicine, you just have to look at his diet now.

Do you have a plan about his teeth?
 
Guinea Pig Geek said:
Thanks so much everyone for your support :) I was able to convince my dad last night to take Frankie to the vet today. They also told me what happened to Pippin the one with the bad foot. We have 5 meds for Frankie right now! They said he is eating just not much because his teeth are un aligned now so he is favoring one side of his jaw? Also he wasn't drinking much and they said they could fix it but they would have to do lots of things and they were worried about his kidneys as well but all together just the tests would have cost $700 and I couldn't afford that. So he's on a bunch of meds and is going back in in 10 days for them to see how he's doing. I discovered I had a bank account so my dads making me pay for all this but I still couldn't afford it so I'm in debt... But I'm so glad! They said with Pippins foot it was an infection that spread to his bones... :( Does anyone know how critical care works?! My dad says that means we ONLY feed him critical care but why! Does he not get pellets as well? I know he gets hay... So much medicine though... The vet told us that for Frankie's entire life he has had vitamin C deficiency and that's also part of the reason he was sick :( The food I had him on was supposed to have extra but the vet said don't trust it and take him off of it. So next pet trip we are getting Oxbow!
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I am so relieved to hear that you have taken Frankie to see a vet and I am sorry that this has got you into debt. I am sure someone who knows more that me will answer your question about what critical care is .
The vet will help you make decisions about how to proceed with Frankie's treatment . I won't dwell on this too much as we really need to see how he progresses over the next 10 days.
 
As for the critical care, yes he can have other food alongside it. Has the vet shown you how to syringe feed?
 
You have to syringe feed him every three hours but you can give hI'm pellets mushed up in warm water alongside the critical care.Cut up veggies very small and see if he can manage them as well.So pleased you got him to the vets.Good luck with him
 
You mentioned about getting Oxbow on your next trip. I know money is tight for you so my advice to you is to concentrate on following your vet's advice about what Frankie needs.
It sound likes, when he is over this critical stage, it would be prudent to give him a vitamin C supplement . I use the Oxbow vit C tablets (I crush mine & put them on cucumber as this is how my piggies like it ) .
The reason I am telling you this is that I was hoping to establish my piggies on Oxbow cavy cuisine and had started to introduce this into their diet. My piggies just pick out the pellets they are used to and leave the cavy cuisine.
By all means, get the critical care & vit c supplement if you want but I wouldn't go the expense of buying the Oxbow pellets yet ( as long as you are happy with the brand you already have) .
You already know that fresh hay and fresh veggies are crucial.
 
You feed the food ordinarily and give him Critical care as well, DO NOT only feed critical care - it is a supplement food. He still needs his Hay, Veg and Pellets. Glad you got him to the vet. Well done
 
Well done you are a responsible pet owner for finally getting your piggie to the vets. I'm really sorry that you got into debt though.

What is the weather like in your area of the US? I know that you were covered in snow in some areas recently. I'm just wondering if its at all possible for you to hand pick grass or not at the moment.

I dont know anything about piggies with mis-aligned teeth but hopefully someone with experience of dental piggies will be along to answer your questions and give you some advice soon.....

Cassandra
 
Well done keep up the hard work I like a owner who fights for her/his little ones life's but only keep it up if the pig is making progress other wise you are prolonging its pain x
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please do not be angry at your self, I feed my 23 piggies, on guinea pig selective, you can buy this in pets at home £5.50, or online for a 10kg bag £17.99, also in pets at home you can buy pro-C this would help with vitamin C, hay I use 2 types, meadow hay from homebargains, and excel timothy hay from pets at home, veg, please do not give iceberg lettuce as this can cause water loss and diarrhoea, peppers are great, and celery, carrots, cucumber, I use little gem lettuce. if pets toilet is soft stop any lettuce.
bedding I use newspaper, fleece, hay, and vetbeds, no sawdust as this can irritate their lungs, I clean mine out everyday or every second day, Sunday I clean them out and put cage cleaner in their cages.
environment, do not sit cage in front of a window/door, drafts come in and cause problems, do not sit cage in front of heating, pets get too hot.
if pet is not eating please syringe feed, get pets food, with luke warm water and mash food down, make sure its not too hot, get a syringe and pop it in piggie mouth.
the most important thing is please take frankie to the vet, as he may just need antibiotics and if you wait, you may lose him, get as much water food and pro c into him as possible.
keep us informed on how he is doing good luck, p.s. i know how you feel last year i lost 7 piggies, 2 died of kidney failure aged both 3yrs, 2 died of heart failure 1 was 7 months, 1 was 3 yrs, 1 died of complications due to a bladder stone being removed 9 yrs, 1 died of a combination of things, septisaemia, and heat stroke, due to taking to the vet while it was too hot, had no chose he had to get his medication for an abscess, which i found out caused his septisaemia he was 5 yrs. salt was only 240g and had problems with his digestive tract, 3months.
 
Thanks everyone! Frankie is doing MUCH better! He has gained some weight and his bones are no longer everything I feel... He loves his medicine and is doing quite well about everything! The vet thinks he will be fine as long as everything is kept up on and he seems to be happy lumbering around his cage again :) His fur is getting soft and long again and I am so happy for him! :D
Also does anyone know why the website will only sometimes let me on? That's why its taken me so long to reply... every time I try to come on it says that the server was unable to connect or something...?
 
So glad Frankie is doing well :)

I've heard one or two other members in America have been having problems accessing the site as well, I'm afraid I have no idea what the problem is but hopefully will be fixed soon xx
 
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