Worst Guinea Pig carer in the world or the unluckiest?

WICharlie

Post   » Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:07 pm


Weigh something like a stick of butter or a small can of fruit to see if the weight matches the weight of the butter/can.

Also, when you weigh your pigs, put the scale into a laundry basket so the pigs can't run off if they jump off the scale. Eventually, they will get more used to it.

rjespicer

Post   » Tue Jul 24, 2018 2:58 pm


Quick update

Medication now finished for all three (as of yesterday morning) and so far, fingers crossed, all seems to be well. I even got a birthday card from the 3 of them yesterday ;)

Will try and post a pic when I work out how to do it on here.

Many thanks for the help and advice.

rjespicer

Post   » Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:36 am


Taking Nala to the vet this morning.

I noticed she had a swelling on the right side of her face and her weight has dropped 60g since Sunday

She doesn't seem in pain and I still see her eating but not as much. She is quieter than usual though.

When i run my finger along her jaw I can feel a lump but she doest squeak or flinch.

I am hoping it is nothing serious

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:39 am


I hope it is nothing serious too. The least serious I can think of is a bug bite that goes away. But more likely related to teeth or an infection of some kind.

Much luck to you both!

rjespicer

Post   » Wed Aug 22, 2018 2:29 pm


Vet says it is an abscess.

She said the teeth are fine and there is no sign of a puncture on the inside of her mouth

She lanced it and said it was liquid rather than thick pus.

She has sent it off for tests.

In the meantime Nala is on Meloxicam and Sulfatrim to see if that helps. If that isnt the right medication then hopefully the test of the liquid may give the vet a better idea of which medication may work better but if it cant be treated with Antibiotics then she may have to have surgery.

Have to keep an eye on her and check her jaw to see if the swelling comes back in the next 3 days. If it does I have to take her back in but if it doesn't teh vet still wants her to come back in a week.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Aug 22, 2018 10:58 pm


Unusual that it is liquid. I hope you get a positive ID on what is causing it. Was there a strong odor?

Is your vet going to have you flush it daily? Flushing with a warm sterile saline solution is often helpful. These curved tip syringes work excellently:

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:53 pm


Poor Nala. She's had quite the go of it, hasn't she? I'm keeping her (and you) in my thoughts and fingers are crossed.

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Aug 23, 2018 6:50 pm


The vet didn't say anything about flushing, although she did flush her mouth out before she examined it. She said her teeth were fine and there was no sign of any damage in side the mouth and the position of the swelling , between the molars and incisors seemed to indicate it wasn't from her teeth.

She just told me to give her Meloxicam and Sulfatrim and see if the swelling came back in 3 days, if it did go back in if it didn't then go back in a week.

They took her out the back to take the sample so I didn't see or smell it.

I am waiting to hear if they could culture anything from the sample they took so they can identify what is causing it and check if she is on the right meds to combat it. However they didn't warn me that the culture doesn't always work.

Nala seems happy enough, although a little more skittish than before and has been sleeping under the blankets a bit more than usual however I still see her out eating Hay, pellets, Wheatgrass and veggies. She is only taking one to two 5ml syringes of Critical care though, but that was what we were giving her last time, she used to get up on her back legs when she saw me with the syringe but now I have to coax her to take it.

When she was ill last time she was fairly good about taking her meds but this time she just does not want to take it and keeps struggling and moving even when we tried burrito wrapping her and having one person hold her while the other tries to get the syringe in her mouth. She is like a little baby that doesn't want to eat her food keep moving her head out of the way. We were trying to hold her as still as possible but didn't want to be too forceful in case we aggravated the swelling.

Eventually after an hour of this I resorted to top loading a 5ml syringe with about 1 ml of critical care, rather than drawing it in, to seal off the nozzle then adding the meds and then another 0.5 to 1 ml of critical care on top and then putting the plunger back in and giving it a good shake. That worked and she guzzled it down.

After having her meds she was full of beans and trying to mount little Siouxsie and also Chunky Chunkita so she is still active. Also although she lost weight yesterday her weight loss has slowed so that looks promising. She has had 3 doses of meds so far so i am hoping that, if they are working, we should see some improvement this evening and tomorrow.

Yes she has been through it a bit recently, they all have to varying degrees. I just hope that after she recovers we will be able to enjoy a period where we can get through 6-12 months without needing a vet visit for any of them. All told in 5 months, excluding regular check ups (3 visits), we have had something like 5-6 vet visits for various issues (GI Stasis, Ear Infection/Balance issues, Two with suspected Pneumonia and now this) and 2 emergency vet visits. Need a bit of a break .........

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 23, 2018 8:59 pm


Yes, it sure sounds like you (and your guinea pigs) need a break!

Great trick getting the meds in. There is a technique described on this page if you need it:
www.guinealynx.info/tips.html

I hope her weight stabilizes. So the lump is open to the interior of the mouth? Not open to the outside?

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Aug 24, 2018 5:36 pm


Her weight shot up yesterday from 769 to 834g, although when I weighed her on the new scales we just got yesterday it said she was 820g so she must be feeling better and hungry. I suspect teh new scales may be more accurate as they have a better platform set up and was on a solid level surface. The surface the old scale was on I dont think was 100% level or flat. I bought a Chopping board to put the new scale on as I know that should be flat and level.

The lump isn't open to either side it is a swelling in her right top cheek. There is no open wound it is just swollen. The vet got the sample by sticking a needle in to it (from the outside) and in doing so managed to get quite a bit of the liquid out. It looks like the swelling is going down a little but it is hard to tell unless I pick her up and feel along her jaw. Will see if I can get a picture.

She was also slightly better about taking her meds yesterday, she took all of it in the afternoon without needing it to be "Disguised" and took all of the meloxicam and all but .1cc of the Antibiotics "Neat" this morning and I only had to mix the last bit in a tiny bit of critical care.

She had quite a bit of critical care yesterday afternoon but not much last night or this morning.

She gobbles down the Bene-Bac though

Will see what she weighs later today. I try to always weigh at roughly the same time and after i have done the meds.

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Aug 24, 2018 8:10 pm


A couple of pictures that might help see the swelling on her right (darker) cheek although it seem to be less noticeable now

She is still pretty active and eating but seems to have gone off of critical care a bit, yesterday she had a tiny bit in the morning and then a lot in the afternoon (four 5ml Syringes) and then two in the evening. Today she has had 1 5ml syringe in the morning and afternoon but took some coaxing each time. She still seems to be eating plenty of hay and veggies though.


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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Aug 25, 2018 12:10 am


I forget, has Nala had a dental xray?

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