• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Wobbly?

Lovelypigys

Lovelypigys

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 10, 2022
Messages
82
Reaction score
26
Points
210
Location
Canada
Hello, I woke up this morning to see that my youngest male Guinea pig is wobbling and having a harder time walking. His eyes aren’t fully open and he’s having a hard time eating. He’s clearly trying to but his wobbliness makes it hard. We called and there’s no vets in until next week. I don’t know what to do, what could this possibly be? He was fine yesterday, he feels as though he’s lost weight but I think I might just be imagining that because we where just talking about how big he’s gotten over the past couple of weeks.
 
Emergency vet visit is in order I think, I don't know if you have those in Canada?
In the UK all vets have to have access to a 24hr emergency service 👍
 
Lovelypigys said:
Hello, I woke up this morning to see that my youngest male Guinea pig is wobbling and having a harder time walking. His eyes aren’t fully open and he’s having a hard time eating. He’s clearly trying to but his wobbliness makes it hard. We called and there’s no vets in until next week. I don’t know what to do, what could this possibly be? He was fine yesterday, he feels as though he’s lost weight but I think I might just be imagining that because we where just talking about how big he’s gotten over the past couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

Hi

I am very sorry; it could be that he has had a stroke or another neurological event and there is unfortunately a risk that he may have more. :(

Please step in with feeding support asap. Keep in mind that over three quarters what piggies eat in a day is hay and that you cannot control that by eye. Veg, pellets and any treats together only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have.
Here is our comprehensive step-by-step feeding support guide with all the practical how-to tips and advice, including how you can improvise in an emergency: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Our emergency and bridging care collection link: Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

There is unfortunately very little research into neurological issues but in the second part of this guide link you can find what there is: CBS (Calcified Bulla Syndrome) and Neurological Problems - Symptoms and Care

My fingers are firmly crossed for your poorly boy.
 
I’m thinking it’s a ear infection, I’ll bring up my suspicions with the vet once we’re able to see her. It’s my mom who books and pays for the appointments sadly as I’m not able to get a job quite yet. I'm hoping they’ll be able to take him Monday at the latest. I’m going to try to stay up throughout the next few nights to watch him and give him syringes of water along with some critical care. His poops are small and dry so I’ll definitely be on top of his water.
Silly boy will only eat the critical care off of my fingers 🥰
 
Lovelypigys said:
I’m thinking it’s a ear infection, I’ll bring up my suspicions with the vet once we’re able to see her. It’s my mom who books and pays for the appointments sadly as I’m not able to get a job quite yet. I'm hoping they’ll be able to take him Monday at the latest. I’m going to try to stay up throughout the next few nights to watch him and give him syringes of water along with some critical care. His poops are small and dry so I’ll definitely be on top of his water.
Silly boy will only eat the critical care off of my fingers 🥰
Click to expand...

It could any many things and without a diagnosis you can’t assume - all of the conditions produced similar symptoms.

Please ensure you weigh him on kitchen scales daily so you can know he is getting enough critical care each day to keep his weight stable. If he loses weight or is having small poops then he isn’t getting enough - you are aiming for a minimum of 60ml but he could well need more

I hope you can get him seen by the vet and that he feels better soon
 
He’s doing a lot better now, no more wobbling. He seems a bit confused so I’m still keeping a close eye on him and we still plan to take him to the vet because that was absolutely terrifying and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m still feeding him the critical care just in case, his poops are starting to look better and are less dry. He goes goes crazy for that stuff when I mash banana into it lol. I’m keeping him separate from the girls in a pen so that I can access him easier.
 
Let us know how you get on at the vet. Definitely still a good idea to get him checked out.

Are you weighing him?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Let us know how you get on at the vet. Definitely still a good idea to get him checked out.

Are you weighing him?
Click to expand...
Piggies&buns said:
Let us know how you get on at the vet. Definitely still a good idea to get him checked out.

Are you weighing him?
Click to expand...
My mom said she’ll get a kitchen scale for me so I’ll start weighing them each week. I put him back in with the girls because they all seemed to be missing each other. I’m still going to continue with the critical care every few hours just to make sure he’s getting enough. Tomorrow’s cage cleaning so I’m sure he’ll be happy then.
 
Lovelypigys said:
My mom said she’ll get a kitchen scale for me so I’ll start weighing them each week. I put him back in with the girls because they all seemed to be missing each other. I’m still going to continue with the critical care every few hours just to make sure he’s getting enough. Tomorrow’s cage cleaning so I’m sure he’ll be happy then.
Click to expand...

Definitely get some scales, it’s so important - they need to be weighed each week as part of routine care, but need to be weighed daily when there are health concerns.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Definitely get some scales, it’s so important - they need to be weighed each week as part of routine care, but need to be weighed daily when there are health concerns.
Click to expand...
I will definitely start doing that, thank you
 
I woke up yesterday morning to see he had another episode, I had to leave him for the day but I had my grandparents check on him every hour or so. We made a vet appointment for today at 2:30pm but sadly the only vet available isn’t really experienced in Guinea pigs but it’s better than nothing. He isn’t moving as much as usual, discharge from eyes, wobbly, and confused. Hopefully the vet can help us.
 
The vet is thinking it's an inner ear infection. He was 2.2lbs and now he's 1.6lbs, he's lost nearly a pound in two months. He will be starting oral antibiotics and pain meds which we will continue with for 2 weeks. I'll be feeding him critical care every 2-3 hours. I will weigh him everyday to see if there's any improvement. The vet said often times the inner ear infections won't be cured and they are usually euthanized as after the meds stop they usually just return. I feel so sick, I can't believe I didn't catch this earlier. Right now he's still alert and eating. We're all just hoping we can get this cured or even better the diagnosis was wrong. Has anyone dealt with this before?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top