Loss of balance, can't walk straight, falling over

[throwingclay]

we have had an ear infection issue in the past, noticed he was tilting his head again so we asked the vet to check out his ears when he last got his nails trimmed, vet said he didn't see anything. last time they definitely saw gunk, and had prescribed baytril and ear ointment. this time told us to try ear ointment and if it got bad come back.

we started giving him antibiotics we had left from last time and saw a bit of improvement.

now out of no where i look over and he can't walk straight, he falls completely over. he has an apatite, eating veggies as i type. he's also been munching on his pellets.

my biggest question is should this be addressed immediately cuz it's 10:40pm and no local vets open. we are calling an emergency number. or could this wait until 8am??

i could drive a distance to a 24 hour vet if need be

[throwingclay]

we have been told by vet to bring him when they open, they'll keep him all day to sedate him and look in his ears. is that okay?

[bpatters]

It's what I'd do, rather than go to an ER vet that might not know anything about guinea pigs.

The fact that he's eating means he's not in pain and not having any GI problems. I'd confine him in one end of the cage so he can't get too far from his food and water and not be able to get back. Put all his food and hay close to the water, and put him in there with it. I'm betting he'll be ok.

I had a similar thing happen with one of my pigs. She ate an entire meal on my lap laying on her side because she couldn't sit up straight. I fixed an enclosure like I described above and put her in it. When I got up the next morning, she was fine. The vet checked her over, pronounced her OK, and we didn't even get any meds.

[Lynx]

Do start weighing daily so you can be sure your guinea pig is eating enough after the vet prescribes medication. Be prepared to hand feed if needed.
handfeeding.html
weigh.html
antibiotic_advice.html