Continual Weight Loss

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hulia

Post   » Sat Jun 23, 2018 12:20 pm


Hi all, unfortunately my guinea pig Casper was diagnosed with an ear infection the other day (after an exotic vet looked at his x-rays). I don't remember the exact type of ear infection my vet said he had, but she did state that unfortunately it was one that would be very hard to treat. The best option would be to have surgery for it, but unfortunately the only vet who offers this surgery is a 2hr+ drive away and I am unable to afford it as it would be thousands of dollars :( The other option given was antibiotics, but my vet also let me know that they are usually ineffective at treating this kind of ear infection. So basically, I'm at the point where I'm just trying to give my little guy the best rest of his life that I can. ;-;

I have been noticing a drop in his weight as although he is very eager to eat veggies + pellets, his hay intake has greatly decreased. On the 15th I took him in for a check-up and he weighed 870g, on the 19th when he had his x-rays he weighed 850g, and this morning (the 23rd) I weighed him at 835g. He has always been a bit of a lighter guinea pig, but I know for a fact this amount of weight loss can't be good. (Note: I am going to start weighing him daily, I had just gotten the scale yesterday as that was when my vet let me know what the diagnosis from the x-ray was.)

So my question is: should I get him some Critical Care and incorporate it into his diet? Would this help him keep up a steady weight? Or is this just inevitable as his health begins to decline? He is still a very active piggie and besides the decrease in eating he seems perfectly normal. He is still eating 1/4 cup of pellets every day (half in morning, half at night) and his 1 cup of veggies (I've been giving him a bit more recently to encourage him to eat). He does snack on his hay for a bit but definitely not as much as he use to.

I'm also curious to know if any of you have had luck with more complex ear infections getting cured with antibiotics? And if so what kind? Casper is still so active that I figure trying the antibiotics while he's still acting like himself might be worth a try.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sat Jun 23, 2018 5:29 pm


How old is he?

I'd definitely try the antibiotics. They may work, they may not, but it's certainly worth trying.

And yes, you can give him Critical Care and see if it will stabilize his weight. You might even get lucky -- he may like it and eat it from a plate.

hulia

Post   » Sun Jun 24, 2018 12:19 pm


Thanks for the reply!

He's only 3 years old. I weighed him again this morning and he was back up to 850g so that's a good sign. The vet that looked after him is out until Monday so I'll be sure and call then about trying the antibiotics and picking up some Critical Care!

hulia

Post   » Wed Aug 22, 2018 7:16 pm


I'm pretty sure you aren't suppose to have more then one post on the same guinea pig...so I'm reviving this post, even though my question isn't about the same topic :p

So I came home from work today and I noticed a bit of blood in the waterline of one of Casper's eyes. I would post a photo but I'm not sure how? Anyways, he's acting normal and I gave him a piece of carrot so I could get a better look at it. I think perhaps he poked himself with a piece of hay or something? As it doesn't look bad but I definitely noticed a bit of blood. Should I be taking him to the vet asap? Or is it okay to wait and make an appointment for the next day? Or, is it fairly common for guinea pigs to poke themselves and will it heal by itself? Any answers will be much appreciated!

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:00 pm


It is fairly common for pigs to get hay pokes, and how you put the hay in the cage (pile, or hay rack, or other dispensing method) can affect that.

If he isn't squinting and if there's no discharge from the eye, I'd keep a close watch on it. If you do see any signs of infection or pain, then get him to a vet.

hulia

Post   » Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:45 pm


Thanks for the advise! I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on him. He's been kinda picky with his hay lately, and wont really touch it in the rack unless its suuuper fresh hay, so I've been keeping a pile of it on the ground of his cage to make sure he's getting enough. I can definitely see how that might have caused him to poke his eye: i'll have to try and figure out a safer way or perhaps buy some softer hay to keep in a pile.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Aug 22, 2018 10:48 pm


Yes, you did the right thing posting on this topic.

Lots of info on www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html Note all the images.

hulia

Post   » Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:57 pm


So I kept an eye on him for about a week, unfortunately his eye only seemed to get worse the past couple days so I took him to the vet tonight. They said he had an eye infection and prescribed eye drops. I made sure to bring a screenshot of the dangerous medication list from the info page, but had a question about it. It said drugs like amoxicillin can be bad, and then listed a bunch of derivatives. I noticed a couple of them ended in "cin". The eye-drops prescribed were not listed as one of the derivatives, but the prescription is tobramycin (gen) 0.3% OphS, and since the main part ended in "cin" I thought I would check in here and see if anyone knows if this would be safe or dangerous to use?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Aug 31, 2018 9:06 am


The dangerous medications page has this:
A guinea pig given any of the following medications orally may require medical intervention.
Since eye drops and creams are not given orally, you should be okay.

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