My poor pig Bob, sick or just scared?

[Anubis1179]

breathing is fine, and none I could see.

[Mum]

Do you weigh him regularly? Has he lost weight?

You need to take him out and check him thoroughly.

So Bob will not come out of his hutch.

Is he kept outside?

[PinkRufus]

Mum, Anubis is referring to Bob's hidey in his cage as a hutch.

[Ledasmom]

What does he do if you move his hidey? Is he generally acting terrified in the cage, and does he act more normally if you take him out of the cage?

[Anubis1179]

Do you weigh him regularly? Has he lost weight?

No, I did not know I needed to. I guess I am a bad guinea pig owner since I did not really look in to all this stuff before I got these guys and just went by when the pet store told me. In fact I did not know 95% of the stuff on this site before I found it. But now that I do know this stuff I will doing it.

As for weight loss, I'm not 100% sure he feels about the same to me.

Is he kept outside?

No he is not, when I said Hutch I was wrong. I should have said his house/box/hidey in his cage.

What does he do if you move his hidey?

Just stands there, but he did that before

Is he generally acting terrified in the cage

Yes I would say he was, I put him back on the other side of he cage and he stayed there for like 20 sec then took off like a bat out of hell for his hidey

does he act more normally if you take him out of the cage?

When I was holding him he acted fine, but when I left him on the chair (I was close by to make sure he did not fall) he just kinda stood there. Most of the time he will stand there for like a min then try to find something to get in to.

You need to take him out and check him thoroughly.

I just did and I could not find anything wrong with him.


I am really worried about my little guy so I am calling a vet ASAP just to be on the safe side. But anything you guys can come up with to help me help Bob would be great.

[klynne]

Make sure you get his eyes checked.

Also ask your vet to check his ears carefully--if he's experiencing changes in vision or hearing, or some other neurological problem, it would explain the sudden behavior changes.

[pigsforlife3]

You are not a bad piggy owner. Many of us started out the same, and made alot of mistakes. But from those mistakes you learn.

Weighing regularly is a must as the first sign of illness is usually weight loss. http://www.guinealynx.com/weigh.html

I would get him into the vet. It can not hurt. Petstore pigs are often sick with mites, URI etc. They are also notorious for miss-sexing. So I suggest you re-sex your pigs. This article http://www.guinealynx.com/sexing.html should help. This one has some great pictures - http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm

[PinkRufus]

Good luck at the vet, I hope he/she will be able to find out what's bothering Bob. I hope you feel better soon too!

[Anubis1179]

I just got back from the vet. I went to

Dr. Edward R. Bennett, DVM
All Pet Animal Hospital
5354 Route 8
Pittsburgh, PA 15044
Phone: 724-444-6600
Fax: 724-444-6588
Email: apah@nauticom.net

He was a great vet and really cared and knew a lot about guinea pigs and even has guinea pigs of his own.

He gave Bob a good once over and found that Bob has Lice. I was horrified but he said just to use something Called Sevin. Lightly sprinkle it on Bob and brush it in 1 a week for 3 weeks. Other then that he could not find anything wrong with Bob, so he gave him a vitamin C shot just in case.

But Bob is back in hiding in his house and I'm going to head out right now to get that Sevin and a new house for Bob just in case.

[PinkRufus]

I'm glad your vet was able to find out that Bob has lice. Three of my pigs have had lice, and it wasn't too hard to get rid of them. I used plastic easy to clean houses during the treatment and got them new wood houses after they were cured. Never heard of Sevin though, maybe someone here has.

[Tracis]

I believe that Sevin is an insecticide. I would not use it.

Bob needs Advantage or topical ivermectin.

https://www.guinealynx.info/lice.html

[Mum]

Please do NOT use Sevin dust.

You can use plain Advantage to treat for lice. Be sure to follow the dosing instructions on this site.