Guinea pig after birth anatomy
Hi there,
My guinea pig gave birth to 4 piggies this morning. I had to help assist her as she was not cleaning their sacks off etc Inbetween each pup. She seems fine, eating etc and bonding but I am wondering what their down their should look like? Should it look as if nothing even happened? Should it be swollen? I can tell if she has a prolapse or?
She seems to be falling when she walks, like kind of slumping to the side?
Is there a way I can post photos?
Thanks
My guinea pig gave birth to 4 piggies this morning. I had to help assist her as she was not cleaning their sacks off etc Inbetween each pup. She seems fine, eating etc and bonding but I am wondering what their down their should look like? Should it look as if nothing even happened? Should it be swollen? I can tell if she has a prolapse or?
She seems to be falling when she walks, like kind of slumping to the side?
Is there a way I can post photos?
Thanks
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- And got the T-shirt
Did she have extra calcium foods and vitamin C during the pregnancy? If not, that might account for her gain.
But she really needs to see a vet. Only an x-ray could confirm any structural problems, and there could possibly be an undelivered pup. Is there an exotic vet near you?
But she really needs to see a vet. Only an x-ray could confirm any structural problems, and there could possibly be an undelivered pup. Is there an exotic vet near you?
-
- And got the T-shirt
The location of a fracture determines what kind of treatment can be done.
Please don't use a regular small animal vet unless you can find one that has experience with guinea pigs. They're not trained in the care of pocket pets, and you can waste time and money and your pig still won't get the care it needs.
We had one pig on here whose hip sockets dissolved during pregnancy because of lack of calcium. So your pig really does need an x-ray to see what's going on. And if the problem is an undelivered pup, that's a big emergency.
Please don't use a regular small animal vet unless you can find one that has experience with guinea pigs. They're not trained in the care of pocket pets, and you can waste time and money and your pig still won't get the care it needs.
We had one pig on here whose hip sockets dissolved during pregnancy because of lack of calcium. So your pig really does need an x-ray to see what's going on. And if the problem is an undelivered pup, that's a big emergency.
My pig's femur heads broke off just prior to or during delivery and her hip sockets were gone. Even our exotic vet couldn't help her and we had to take her to a vet specialist at a university that trains veterinarians to get the surgery she needed. We did follow up with our exotics vet. I shudder to think what kind of pain and mis-care she would have gotten at a regular vet.
She recovered great with proper care, though, and was running and jumping just fine later in life.
To find a good vet, see if any in your area are recommended in a section here on GuineaLynx. If not, do what I did: call all the vets in your area that you think are good and ask them "Who would you recommend as having the most experience with guinea pigs?"
Do not ask them "Do you have experience with guinea pigs?" I asked one vet that and they said yes, and it turned out that "experience" to them meant they had seen a guinea pig once 12 years ago. And that was a vet I thought was pretty good. But if you ask "who has the MOST experience" that is an objective call, not casting doubt on anyone else's quality of experience.
When I asked that question to lots of vets and kept hearing the same vet being recommended as having the "most" experience over and over again, that's who I went with, and I've been very happy with them. They have been invaluable in the care of our pigs, and in the instance I mentioned above where things were beyond even their ability, they were honest with me about that. They said, "this is what I KNOW I can do for your pig, this is what I can TRY to do for your pig, and this is what I know this vet specialist at the university can do for your pig. What do you want to do?" They talked me through all the options, costs, and such. They also did the follow-up care for my pig after the surgery at the university. I love that vet!
You should be able to find a good vet for your guinea pig if you ask the right questions.
She recovered great with proper care, though, and was running and jumping just fine later in life.
To find a good vet, see if any in your area are recommended in a section here on GuineaLynx. If not, do what I did: call all the vets in your area that you think are good and ask them "Who would you recommend as having the most experience with guinea pigs?"
Do not ask them "Do you have experience with guinea pigs?" I asked one vet that and they said yes, and it turned out that "experience" to them meant they had seen a guinea pig once 12 years ago. And that was a vet I thought was pretty good. But if you ask "who has the MOST experience" that is an objective call, not casting doubt on anyone else's quality of experience.
When I asked that question to lots of vets and kept hearing the same vet being recommended as having the "most" experience over and over again, that's who I went with, and I've been very happy with them. They have been invaluable in the care of our pigs, and in the instance I mentioned above where things were beyond even their ability, they were honest with me about that. They said, "this is what I KNOW I can do for your pig, this is what I can TRY to do for your pig, and this is what I know this vet specialist at the university can do for your pig. What do you want to do?" They talked me through all the options, costs, and such. They also did the follow-up care for my pig after the surgery at the university. I love that vet!
You should be able to find a good vet for your guinea pig if you ask the right questions.