Guinea pig acting odd after boar cleaning

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brookiehcookie

Post   » Fri Jan 11, 2019 7:15 pm


I took both my guinea pigs for a checkup late November. They both appeared perfectly healthy. I went on vacation for 10 days, came back, and my male guinea pig (Naoki) appear to have an impaction. I worked for ~30 minutes cleaning the hay out of the anal sack (I think that is the correct word?) and a huge clump of white stuff that was in a square shape came out as well.

He had been digging in that area with his mouth so much and had yet to remove it himself, so I went ahead and cleaned it with mineral oil and a q-tip. Afterwards, I put him in his cage and he just laid around in shelters. It has been ~ 4 days now and he still is just laying in his house, not coming out for food. I had to take him out of the cage and put a full head of lettuce in front of him then walk a little ways away to get him to eat it.

Now, he just won't leave the house. If i put food by the house or in it, he eats, he occasionally will get water in the middle of the night whenever i'm in bed. Whenever I hold him now, he screams like i'm killing him. He usually loves cuddle time, but now he acts like he is scared to death. He seems very lethargic. Do you think he is sick and I need to take him back to the vet again or is he just traumatized from getting the boar gland cleaned out? I usually clean his anal sac once a month, so it was nothing new, but this time he seems off and its been several days since.

I have noticed the female pig (Koto) seems to be taking control of the cage and chattering and moving him around whenever he is in certain locations. Could she be forcing him to stay in the house?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:05 pm


Please break up you rlong posts into multiple paragraphs with space between them. I edited this post because it was difficult to read.

You need to be weighing daily, perhaps hand feeding, and yes, see a vet asap if he is hiding and lethargic. This is a clear sign something is wrong.
www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

Is he neutered or is she spayed? Pregnancies are dangerous.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:58 pm


You definitely need to see a vet. That's NOT normal behavior after cleaning an anal sac -- there really shouldn't be any after effects from that.

brookiehcookie

Post   » Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:08 am


She is spayed. I will weigh daily instead of weekly and will definitely hand feed him. What I have been doing is placing vegetables and hay in front of his hidey and he drags it in and munches on it, he just refuses to come out to eat it like he usually does. The reason I am hesitant is because whenever i'm out of the room it seems he ventures out -- so that's why I thought it was me. I will definitely take him to the vet.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:10 am


Agree. Unless you forced the clump out and caused some pain/irritation, I can't imagine that his behavior is related to that. It's also possible that there's more stuff up in the anal sac that is causing him to feel unwell. Our worst impaction boar would become lethargic and wouldn't eat if his anal sac got too full (we ended up having to clean it every other day).

I would take Naoki back to the vet, just to be on the safe side.

brookiehcookie

Post   » Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:13 pm


I did another boar cleaning as you suggested, and got a lot of dark green liquid goop out -- i've never seen that. It's always been solid hay. Sorry if that's gross. I'm waiting to see how he acts. I'm hoping he gets better by the time the vet opens tomorrow. If not, I will take him. He is really not happy with me right now, he is glaring and chattering towards me. I did give him 1-2 blueberries as a treat and he seems a bit less mad now, but we'll see what happens.

GPIG

Post   » Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:23 pm


It sounds to me like the obstructions wasn't cleared all the way and was probably painful to him. He correlated you to the pain because you messed with it (in his mind). However, as others said it's not typical behavior after a cleaning and you've done them before so as suggested a vet visit would be a good idea unless come tomorrow he's back to his normal self. Which I think is possible but don't risk it if he's not

The dark green stuff sounds to me like it was the cecal poop that was in there for a long time. So 2 things he's in pain and hasn't been eating the cecal poop he needs. The female may be chasing him away from hers. That's just a guess, I'm not a GP shrink :)

brookiehcookie

Post   » Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:52 pm


I weighed him 2 days ago and he was 1108 grams. Today, he is 1086 grams. I saw little yellow crusties around parts of his eye. I put veggies in for him, but she pushed him into his hut and ate all the veggies, so I fed him a bit outside the cage but he didn't want much. Right now, I have a pile of hay i dedicated just for him. I definitely think something is up, he wouldn't be shedding so much if he wasn't under stress I believe. (He usually doesn't shed a lot) and he is shedding a ton right now. The vet takes several days to get an appointment with -- I'm hoping he'll be ok until then. I do have some critical care on hand in case an emergency happens. Usually he is rumble struting following her around the cage, now he's just staying in his little house and looks like he kinda jumps whenever I pet him, in a bad way.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Jan 16, 2019 8:39 am


Guinea pigs shed for other reasons than stress -- it can also be sort of a seasonal thing.

If the hidey only has one door, throw it away or cut another door in it. No pig should be able to trap another in a hidey.

brookiehcookie

Post   » Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:32 pm


I will replace it with one with two entries.

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