Is my guinea pig special needs?

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breannardw

Post   » Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:25 am


Hello everyone! I have six gorgeous guineas, one of which I recently adopted from petsmart. I was told that she had a head tilt but was the picture of health. She had been treated and cleared for any ear issues and diagnosed with underdevolped muscles. She is sweet as pie but watching her in comparison to my others really makes me believe she has some kind of brain or nuerological damage and is almost certainly deaf. She does not react to anything the others do. If the vacuum comes on everyone runs and hides but she will continue with whatever she was doing at the time. She spends majority of her time in a corner somewhere or burrowed in anything she can get underneath of, with a look about her as if she is somewhere else. She will not eat from me when I hand feed everyone and does not react at all to the sound of a plastic bag being crinkled. When I hold her she wants to lay completely sideways on her right side (same direction that her head tilts) while I stroke her left cheek and jaw line. She is just a strange mystery to me. The others do seem to pick on her a bit and I wonder if she will be happier in a cage alone. Anyone with a similar experience or just some advice is great!

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:34 am


What do you mean by "pick on her a bit?" Pigs are herd animals, and I doubt she'd be happier alone. But she might be happier with just one other pig rather than a whole herd. On the other hand, if they're not just outright torturing her, she might be ok where she is.

It does sound like she's deaf. Can she see? What color is she?

The head tilt may be neurological,, or it may just be left over from an ear infection. There's really no way to know.

Clint The Cuy

Post   » Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:57 am


Did you take her to a vet for a physical exam or was it petsmart that had her looked at? Just out of curiosity.

breannardw

Post   » Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:05 am


They will step or climb right on top of her, steal her food, push and nudge her around, all seemingly normal but she seems to be the focus of it from everyone. She is very timid and they seem to sense that. I thought about pairing her with just one of the piggies and seeing how that went. She can see well which may be why she is always in the corner, so she can know what is going on in her surroundings ( just a theory). She is almost entirely black with a very small strip of white and caramel on her underside.

breannardw

Post   » Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:10 am


It was a vet that is located within this petsmart. I have only had her for about two weeks now, but I did attempt to contact the vet that treated her but he is on vacation right now. As soon as he returns I fully plan on picking his brain about my little one.

Clint The Cuy

Post   » Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:51 am


I would skip the Petsmart/Banfield vet and find an experienced exotics vet to take her to. I wouldn't take my cat to a Banfield, let alone a guinea pig because they really don't know anything about guinea pigs-and that's me being nice. All they do is euthanize guinea pigs that are sick in the store. I know this from a personal experience in my very early guinea pig-owning-life.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:55 am


Ditto. Banfield vets have a terrible reputation, and most of them know nothing about exotics.

breannardw

Post   » Sun Aug 20, 2017 12:19 am


Thank you so much Clint the Cuy and bpatters!

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