Freya's Medical Thread

SquareWheels30 · Post » Tue Jul 30, 2019 3:07 pm

Freya is over 5 and a half years old. In two days, she's seeing the vet for periodic hind leg weakness, in the absence of any injury. It is puzzling and upsetting. She is still eating, but has lost weight. I ordered Critical Care from Amazon, and it has shipped, but for some reason, the site says it won't arrive until next Monday. My question is: is it acceptable to supplement her with carrot baby food to help her gain/maintain weight until the Critical Care comes? If so, how much should she be getting? I don't want to cause diarrhea.

bpatters · Post » Tue Jul 30, 2019 3:52 pm

Why not use a pellet slurry? It would be better for her than the baby food. Just soak them a while, then mash them up. If they're her usual pellets, she may just eat the mash from a pile on her plate. You can also add some of her favorite veggies to it to make it more tempting.

I'd also supplement her with about 30 mg. of vitamin C and see if that helps. Older pigs don't process food as well as younger ones, and they can wind up with a vitamin C deficiency in spite of having a good diet. Vita Drops makes a liquid vitamin C that you can syringe to her --just don't put it in the water as they suggest.

SquareWheels30 · Post » Tue Jul 30, 2019 4:19 pm

Thanks bpatters! I never thought of giving her liquid vitamin C, and I've definitely seen the kind you mentioned at Petsmart. I have been giving her two of her Oxbow vitamin C "cookies" a day, instead of one, since this started, but will try the liquid too. I hope maybe the extra vitamin C has been helping as she isn't experiencing the weakness all day, every day, just for a short periods of time. It is bewildering, to say the least.

Sef · Post » Tue Jul 30, 2019 6:06 pm

You can find some helpful tips on handfeeding here:
https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

SquareWheels30 · Post » Tue Jul 30, 2019 6:37 pm

Thanks sef!

SquareWheels30 · Post » Wed Jul 31, 2019 2:35 pm

I need to ask now about potential treatments. From what I've found here, it seems like we should be asking about a steroid shot and possibly a vitamin B shot. Is this correct?

I'm really, really nervous about the vet appointment. We have to see the second vet in our practice, who we don't know. Plus, Freya's not a good traveler, and it's super hot. We do have AC in our vehicle, she just tries to bury herself in bedding in the carrier. I'm worried about her coming back from the vet in worse condition than she left here in due to the heat and the stress. She's only had to go to the vet twice in her life so far.

Post » Wed Jul 31, 2019 6:18 pm

Has your guinea pig had an xray? Perhaps arthritis is causing or contributing to hind leg weakness?

Sef · Post » Wed Jul 31, 2019 7:06 pm

I'd want to rule that out, for sure.

Can you wrap frozen water bottles and put them in her carrier? Or use one of those reusable, hard plastic cooler packs that you can buy at places like WalMart? They generally stay cold for quite some time.

Do use the A/C, avoid using a hidey in the carrier and make sure the carrier has good air circulation.

I have also mounted a small water bottle full of cool (but not cold) water onto the door of the carrier, so that they have access to water.

SquareWheels30 · Post » Wed Jul 31, 2019 7:45 pm

She hasn't had an x-ray before, no. I was thinking that her weakness came on too quickly to be caused by arthritis, but it is certainly worth checking. I definitely hope it's as simple as arthritis! Her weight loss has me assuming it's something worse.

Anyway, we'll get her an x-ray. Thanks for that advice as well as the advice on keeping her cool!

Post » Thu Aug 01, 2019 8:12 am

An xray would at least rule out bone issues. See what your vet thinks.

Hoping she improves!

Bookfan · Post » Thu Aug 01, 2019 11:53 am

Pepper loved her mash. We'd have her on the kitchen table on a towel with daughter sitting right next to her. We found that if we put the mash on top of a jar lid right side up, it was the easiest way for her to get it.

SquareWheels30 · Post » Sat Aug 03, 2019 12:25 am

Well, the second vet that we had to see is apparently not cavy-savvy, much to our surprise, and so we didn't get anything but Metacam, and an assumption that it is arthritis, though she has no joint swelling or pain in her legs. I'm very disappointed. This vet practice has been voted best in our county for several years running, and we brought our heart pig, Violet, there for three years without a problem. That was way before the second vet joined the practice, though.

Anyway, I have a more pressing concern right now, because regardless of what is wrong with Freya, she needs to gain her weight back, and quickly. The Critical Care came today, (early, yay!) and our first feeds haven't gone well at all. I need to know how she is managing to spit it out and/or let it fall out of the side of her mouth. I thought that as long as a pig is chewing on the syringe, they are swallowing automatically. The plunger is being pressed very, very slowly, so I just don't know how she is doing this.

Please note: She is still eating and drinking on her own, so the issue is not that she is unable to swallow.