Hey I’m a new user and glad to hear Sam and Deans vet visit went well! I’ve owned guinea pigs for the last fifteen years. Right now I have two little girls, Chicken and Biscuit, and today I took them to the vet for an annual checkup. The vet I usually go to is on maternity leave so we saw her substitute. He is an exotics specialist and I trust his expertise, but he did something a little questionable. he said that both my girls’ ears were very dirty and used a strip of cotton gauze dampened with saline and shoved it pretty far down into their ear canals to clean them out. It looked extremely uncomfortable, and Chicken has been making grunting noises since her appointment, which she doesn’t usually do.
I saw in your post about your vet visit that your piggies’ ears got cleaned too. In all my years of owning pigs, I’ve only ever cleaned gently on the outer “flap” parts of their ears and monitored to make sure their ears don’t have any visible buildup, but I’ve never shoved anything into their ears like he did, and I’ve never read anything suggesting an owner should. Is this similar to how your vet did it? I’m wondering if the grunting sounds Chicken is making could be due to the trauma of having literally four inches of gauze stuffed into her ear and pulled back out.
Does anyone have any input? Should I make a separate thread for this issue?
Thanks everyone,
Nikki
Chicken and Biscuit
My vet used a very thin Qtip and she didn't shove it down into their ears. It only went in as far as the cotton tip, which is half an inch or less. That was as far as it needed to go to get the wax out as there was no wax deeper than that. I'm thinking that's why she thought the wax build up was environment related. The tip on the examination tool was even thinner and it didn't go very far into their ears either. Once the wax was removed, she could see that the inner ear was clear. The ear has its own mechanisms for expelling wax, so there's never a need to put anything into the inner ear.
Chicken could have a new problem with her ear drum if that much gauze went that far into her ear. I'm sorry she had to go through that and I hope she's ok! Bless her heart!
Chicken could have a new problem with her ear drum if that much gauze went that far into her ear. I'm sorry she had to go through that and I hope she's ok! Bless her heart!
Thank you for your response!!
In the vet’s defense, the gauze he used was extremely thin (think approximately the thickness of a dryer sheet) and maybe it bunched up in her ear so that what looked like four inches of waxy residue was actually just from it unfolding when he took it back out if that makes sense. He sent me home with some of what he used so I can post a photo if my description is confusing.
I don’t want to dismiss the vet’s expertise, but I’ve just never had a pig go through that before! Chicken is still making little grunting sounds, which is 100% new to her since the vet visit. But behaviorally, she’s still acting completely normally. She’s popcorning all over the place during floor time as we speak!!
The only other thing I can think of is that maybe there’s some trauma to the inside of her mouth from the scope and maybe it’s causing her discomfort. She did not take the scope well and it took the doctor a few minutes to be able to see her back teeth.
Thank you again, guys, for the responses!!!
In the vet’s defense, the gauze he used was extremely thin (think approximately the thickness of a dryer sheet) and maybe it bunched up in her ear so that what looked like four inches of waxy residue was actually just from it unfolding when he took it back out if that makes sense. He sent me home with some of what he used so I can post a photo if my description is confusing.
I don’t want to dismiss the vet’s expertise, but I’ve just never had a pig go through that before! Chicken is still making little grunting sounds, which is 100% new to her since the vet visit. But behaviorally, she’s still acting completely normally. She’s popcorning all over the place during floor time as we speak!!
The only other thing I can think of is that maybe there’s some trauma to the inside of her mouth from the scope and maybe it’s causing her discomfort. She did not take the scope well and it took the doctor a few minutes to be able to see her back teeth.
Thank you again, guys, for the responses!!!
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Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
It's humans too that are not supposed to force anything into the ear!
Only thing I can think of if it is ear related is to get a product like Otoclens which dissolves the ear wax, which if some wax was compacted and pushed into the ear, should dissolve and be expelled. I would do several applications. When your regular vet comes back, discuss the new behavior of your guinea pig.
Only thing I can think of if it is ear related is to get a product like Otoclens which dissolves the ear wax, which if some wax was compacted and pushed into the ear, should dissolve and be expelled. I would do several applications. When your regular vet comes back, discuss the new behavior of your guinea pig.
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Sef
- I dissent.
When you say 'scope,' are you referring to an otoscope-type device? Was it used for the purpose of checking the back teeth, or was something more invasive done? I can't imagine that it would have caused a problem, but I guess it's possible.
I have heard of vets using gauze to clean waxy build-up in guinea pig or rabbit ears. My guys have had various ear issues over the years, but my vet generally just uses a cotton swab to take a sample of anything in the outermost areas of the ear. Going any deeper than that does pose the risk (in all animals, including humans) of either pushing wax deep into the canal or of puncturing the ear drum. For waxy build-up that can't be safely removed with a swab, ear drops are used.
In this case, it does sound like maybe the gauze was compacted, and it unraveled once the vet started to pull it out -- making it look like it was longer and had gone deeper than it may actually have.
Ditto Lynx's suggestion of discussing the behavior with your regular vet, though, if it continues.
I have heard of vets using gauze to clean waxy build-up in guinea pig or rabbit ears. My guys have had various ear issues over the years, but my vet generally just uses a cotton swab to take a sample of anything in the outermost areas of the ear. Going any deeper than that does pose the risk (in all animals, including humans) of either pushing wax deep into the canal or of puncturing the ear drum. For waxy build-up that can't be safely removed with a swab, ear drops are used.
In this case, it does sound like maybe the gauze was compacted, and it unraveled once the vet started to pull it out -- making it look like it was longer and had gone deeper than it may actually have.
Ditto Lynx's suggestion of discussing the behavior with your regular vet, though, if it continues.
He used saline and duoxo micellar solution to break up the wax. He said with guinea pigs he just pours some onto the gauze rather than putting the drops directly into the ears as he would with larger animals or rabbits. He gave me some to take home and said to use the same technique once every three weeks. I am going to ask my regular vet about it when she returns.
It was an otoscope that went in her mouth. He didn’t do anything invasive, just looking. I just don’t know where this new sound is coming from. It sounds comparable to the sounds a very congested human would make. I just hope she’s feeling alright. She’s not giving any other indications that she’s feeling any different than usual, though, so that’s a plus.
It was an otoscope that went in her mouth. He didn’t do anything invasive, just looking. I just don’t know where this new sound is coming from. It sounds comparable to the sounds a very congested human would make. I just hope she’s feeling alright. She’s not giving any other indications that she’s feeling any different than usual, though, so that’s a plus.
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