• 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

Worried :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
carla-1990

carla-1990

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 27, 2015
Messages
231
Reaction score
210
Points
305
Location
uk
So about to do the cage cleaning today and fudge is like this :(
 

Attachments

  • 20150614_180744.webp
    20150614_180744.webp
    50.3 KB · Views: 51
It does look like resting as @PiggyOwner said, have they moved at all yet? Any rapid breathing or signs of distress?
 
What is his general behaviour like? Is he able to move about on his own or does he appear to have collapsed? Is he interested in food/veggies?
 
He looks like he's resting to me. When I check they are ok maybe touch their bottom and they should jump up!
 
Good! Next time probably just put your finger in front of his nose and his head will rise x lol
 
Lol nothing to worry about from the sounds of it, just sounds like he's having a lazy sunday :)
 
It's a good sign . If he's relaxing in the open - it means he feels safe .
 
Aww bless.. ive just cleaned cage out completely. . Loadsss of hay water.. just gave them lettuce and red pepper hes eating lettuce at the mo x
 
Soo fudge is still the same maybe worse :( hes not eaten this afternoon and when he runs he is kind of jumping along with his nose down :( he has a bit of crust around his nose and eye too any ideas? X
 
Initially I thought he was resting. My first pig used to rest in such a position where she could easily bound off if something disturbed her, she was on high alert. The day I found her sprawled out was like a mini celebration as she was beginning to relax. I therefore felt that your pig was learning to relax more.

HOWEVER your description of his movement and the crusty eyes and nose indicate a cold-type illness.
I am linking @Wiebke @helen105281 @Pebble to see if they can help out xx

I advise that you make a vet appointment in the morning.
Does he sound raspy? Is he breathing hard/deep? Does he respond to his favourite veggies?
 
This is what I thought.. dye to the eyes and nose. The hopping type running confused me a bit too almost like hes limping away xx
 
Hes not responding to his fav veg no :( I'm going to take him vets as soon as I can in morning. Xx
 
carla-1990 said:
This is what I thought.. dye to the eyes and nose. The hopping type running confused me a bit too almost like hes limping away xx
Click to expand...
I don't know what to think about the hopping. Do you know his history? Do do you know how he was kept before coming to you?
Also how are his poops? Are they normal and firm?
How old is he?
Does he get veggies each day?

All of those questions may or may not help out with those more knowledgeable than I :)
 
His poo seems normal.. he came from pets at home and I'm unsute of age only about 6 months :/ xx
 
Just checked in on him amd listemd to his breathing I can actually hear him breathing now not snuffly like a cold but like a wheeze but only very very slightly xx
 
Ive only had them 3 months n they must have been around 8 weeks when I bought them x
 
Thank you. I'm sure the others will ask their own questions but hopefully there's some information there to give an informed start.
All I can do now is to wish the two of you the very best of luck.
One more thing - does he live on his own or with others? I ask because one f the more experienced here may be able to advise you on whether or not to quarantine him.

And it's a long-shot as I wouldn't have thought this would cause crustiness, but there's been cases of heat-stroke in this weather. Has he been kept in the sun/got too hot? Just trying to rule that one out. I still think it's a respiratory infection but the movement is confusing me. Heat-stroke can cause lethargy, loss of appetite and odd movement, but I don't think crusty nose or eyes.

:hug:
 
Thankyou for your help.. he lives with another male but hes absolutely fine..nothing different at all about him.. theyre kept inside so no sun :/ xx
 
I'm so sorry to hear he isn't well, A few of us (myself included) thought he was just relaxing when you started this thread. I hope you've managed to get him a vet's appointment.
 
Hmm originally I thought he looked like he was resting. But if you say he has crusty eyes &wheezes when breathing it sounds like it could be an URI .
Is it hot or humid where he is?

My Ellie had a wheezing session &it was suggested the humid heat may have brought it on. She has other health issues so I hadn't given it a thought before.

Have u got dusty hay or bedding that may be dusty that could have brought it on. Change of supplier or new bag of hay can sometimes make a difference.

With the hopping movement it could be down to a bladder issue- has he been drinking less? Pain can cause the hopping motion with bladder problems as well as leg or foot problems.

Make sure he's getting plenty of fluids, this will help if bladder or temperature problems.

But I would definitely make a vets appointment to get him checked over. Doesn't sound like he's quite right :(
Speedy recovery from the girls &I.
Xx
 
Agree with the others that he needs checking, especially if you can hear his breathing, even indoors they can be affected by the humidity. The vet will also be able to assess the way he is walking, they may want to xray if a stone is suspected though he does seem quite young for that.

Ask the vet to check his heart too aswell as his lungs. If there is any fluid he will need a diuretic in addition to any antibiotics. Bisolvon would also help to clear any mucous from his nasal passages. For tonight you can put a bowl of boiling water next to his cage with a couple of drops of Olbas oil in it, until you can get him seen by a vet.
 
Given the number and frequency of cases that we see on the Forum of young/baby piggies bought from a certain chain of pet shops that develop a URI (or other illness) within a few weeks of purchase, I think it's a fair bet to say he probably has an infection of some type that needs treating with antibiotics (abx) sooner rather than later. It takes at least 48hours for the abx to start doing it's stuff so he really needs to see a vet today (thursday). Unfortunately what starts as a respiratory infection can spread to other areas of the body/into the bloodstream and cause a much more general malaise with other symptoms hence why abx treatment needs to be given rapidly.
If there is fluid in his lungs then the diuretic fruseamide will help remove it but not all vets are familiar with using this in piggies. To be honest, given his young age and history, I don;t think there is much to be gained by focusing the vet on heart or urinary stone issues as these are unlikely to apply to him because of his age. Bugs causing respiratory infections "can" spread and infect the heart valves to cause longer term heart issues of bacterial endocarditis - but the time to pursue this is if the abx don;t work. I would however also ask the vet to check his ears for a possible ear infection and examine his skin for signs of ringworm or mites (because of past case histories)

The fact he's off his food means you need to consider syringe feeding to keep his guts moving, and monitor his weight and his poo output daily in case you need to get some gut stimulants from the vet.
The syringe feeding guide is here
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-syringe-feeding-guide.115359/

Poorly pigs do tend to hunch up and can present with hopping - (as can piggies with Vit C deficiency). Providing exta Vit C (50mg/day) will be beneficial to help boost his (currently challenged) immune system and stave off mites and ringworm, It is also worth investing in some probiotics to help his guts against the action of the antibiotic. Both of these can be added to his syringe food (mushed up pellets homogenised with a hand blender are fine - no need to spend a fortune on Critical care which a lot of piggies actually don;t like anyway!) A guide to all these things is here
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...vitamin-c-overview-with-product-links.115404/

I'm sorry you are going through this - it;s no consolation but sadly you are ot alone and ifyou will find lots of other threads on the H & I board of other slaves who have had similar expereirces (and thankfully, for the most part the pigs make a complete recovery)

Sending healing vibes
x
 
Thankyou everyone for all the information.. I couldnt sleep properly last night I came downstairs at midnight and about 3am to see if h was ok :( ive put fresh hay water food and veg in the cage.. although greedy nibbles is eating all the veg before fudge can even smell it haha.. I'm going to be taking fudge to the vets as soon as ive done the school run.. no appt just gonna take him down to pets at home so they can see him they also have a vets in there too.. xx
 
Being as you bought him from there it is worth mentioning the problem. Pets at Home, despite of all their faults, they do (and so they should) tend to offer free vet care if you bought your pet recently. I hope eight weeks is considered recent enough.
Good luck. Please don't be afraid to mention the meds advised, or to mention that an awful lot of pigs have been having respiratory issues from Pets at Home. I am the sort of person who rarely makes a complaint, but if you are firm with them that you feel the issue is down to where they source their guineas, they may go the extra mile for you, and I would certainly be complaining if I were in your shoes.
Hugs and good luck xx
 
Really sorry to hear that your guinea isn't well, it's very stressful when they become ill to both us and them. :hug:

Hmm, they are a bit basic though (P@H vets), but as long as they treat your guinea correctly, that's the main thing. I personally wouldn't take mine to them based on what I've read, there was also someone else who got piggies from P@H that were ill, she took them back to P@H to be checked by their vet who gave more antibiotics (wrong dose, not enough as I recall) and suggested if they didn't get better after the course of meds to think about having them pts... for a uri... so she took them off to an exotic vet who gave her two different meds at the proper dose....

When you've been would you mind posting what the vet has said please? Maybe you'll get one who knows what they are talking about.

Good luck, I hope it goes well :)

PS - I do believe that people ought to make complaints when getting sick animals from P@H I personally think they shouldn't be selling them as they seem clueless.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top