The Grey's Gang

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Fri Jan 04, 2019 10:46 am


Thank you both!

I am very thankful for the shelter. The rescue still has 5 of the 9 piggies living there that haven't been adopted yet, and they often send me pics and updates...all five are happy and healthy! The remaining 3 were actually adopted together by a family that is friends with the rescue owner, and sometimes they post pics of them on the rescue's facebook page...they also look very happy and healthy. I could not have asked for a better outcome for them!

I hope you all have a good year for you and your pets as well.

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Tue Jan 08, 2019 2:43 pm


A little update, although it's a little sad. Last night around 6 pm, Peanut started having light sneezing. As the night progressed, the sneezes continued to grow closer together, and she was starting to act very lethargically. I laid her on my lap for extensive lap time to see if I could tell what else was going on. By 10 pm, she began having a very runny nose, it was starting to dry on her nose and mouth, and was she cleaning her nose obsessively, at least when she wasn't sneezing. By this morning, there was no improvement; her breaths were sounding a little "clicky" and she would occasionally cough. I worked this morning but the vet was able to get me in on my lunch breaj...soooo Peanut came to work with her mom today so we could get there and back on time!

Unfortunately, Peanut was just diagnosed with pneumonia. The poor thing does not feel good at all. She got her a shot of dexamethasone and a big bottle of oral azithromycin to take home. Thankfully, the vet gave me a huge bottle in case the others have already caught it and aren't showing symptoms yet, so I won't have to bring them all in for the same thing. Every time something like this happens, it is so mind boggling... I've always been careful to not have her in a draft, I didn't allow her face to get any water near it when she had to have a bath, she's never been around children, and she hasn't been anywhere that is known for it, such as a pet store. Yet, somehow she caught it, and I now understand why the first warning you hear about guinea pigs is URIs. This stuff does NOT mess around. The degradation of the poor piggy's health is far more intense and fast than I could have imagined.

Here's hoping that she has a speedy recovery and the others are spared from it. For all those who have ever dealt with piggy respiratory issues...I am so so sorry. This is not an experience I'd wish on anyone!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:02 pm


I am sorry she is ill. You will want to weigh daily and perhaps review:
www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
www.guinealynx.info/antibiotic_advice.html

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Wed Jan 09, 2019 3:45 am


Thank you, Lynx. Fortunately, she is still eating by herself, and she still has a big appetite! She's still lost a little weight, from 290 g to 283 g. The vet said to not be concerned about that small loss just yet, since her body is burning so many calories trying to fight off this infection, but I will definitely have to keep an eye on it. She's already so little that she can't handle to lose very much; her hip bones and spine are still very prominent because she doesn't have much fat on her. Before this started, I was already trying to help get her weight up, but she eats constantly and just isn't gaining much yet. However, there's no telling how long her body was fighting this infection before her symptoms started showing; the vet said that blind piggies are even worse about hiding their illness than normal since they already have increased vulnerability. While she hadn't lost weight until just recently, that may have been why she hasn't gained any lately.

Since Remy is blind as well, and she spends the most time around Peanut, I'm keeping an extra close eye on her as well. Maggie already gets weighed daily because of her tummy troubles, so I've added Peanut and Remy into that nightly routine. Rory absolutely hates being weighed (or picked up for that matter), so I'm holding off on daily weighing unless she starts showing concerning signs.

Even though the others have already been exposed, the vet suggested separating Peanut to lower the chances of the others catching it if they haven't already. It will also allow me to keep a better eye on how much she is eating and drinking, and how the antibiotics are affecting her poops. As soon as I got home, I reconfigured their loft area to give her her own little recuperation cage. She started sniffing around and acting a little panicked, and then she started crying. When Remy started crying, too, and standing against her hidey to try to see into the loft, I realized they were upset because they couldn't find each other. It was so sad, but it's good to see that the two have bonded so well! However, if she doesn't settle down soon, I may let the antibiotics do their thing for a day or two and see that she's still eating, drinking, and pooping well, and let her go back down with Remy. From What I've read, the stress from being separated won't do her or Remy any favors and Remy has already very likely been exposed.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:21 am


Are you giving her a probiotic 60-90 minutes after the antibiotic?

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:25 am


My bene-bac is getting overnighted and should be here today. Since I didn't have any on hand, I've been doing poop soup twice daily since the sneezing started, and I gave her one the rounds of that an hour after her antibiotic to hopefully act as a probiotic.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:35 am


If they've been in a cage together, they've all been exposed. And separation will just add to their stress. I wouldn't do it.

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:23 am


I have them separated more to keep a better eye on how the antibiotics were affecting her eating/drinking/tummy than to prevent exposure. The vet gave her azithromycin, and I know that's one of the antibiotics that can be particularly hard on their tummies. With four of them together, it can be hard to notice if one of them is not eating well or having stomach issues, especially if I'm at work and not there to keep a very close eye on them. That is why I separated Maggie when she had the bout of GI stasis; I was able to see how her stomach was moving and easily see changes in her poo once she was on metoclopramide. However, I did not expect Peanut to take it this bad. Maggie didn't seem to particularly care about being separated when she was sick, so it wasn't too big of an ordeal. Peanut is turning out to be an entirely different story. This morning she seemed to be handling it better, but she was also asleep and may be upset again by the time I get home. I probably should have seen that one coming; Peanut has never been alone in a cage since she was born, and Maggie was over 2 years old before she shared a cage for the first time since being separated from her litter.

So far, her first dose of azithromycin hasn't seemed to affect her stomach much (knock on wood), but she still has a few days to go. The vet said 5 days of daily dosing, but from what I've read, it can take longer than that to completely clear this up, and it very well may start messing with her stomach by the time all of it is said and done. If she's as upset when I get home today as she was last night, I'm definitely putting her back in with the other's regardless, as I know the stress will be too much on her or the others, and I'll just have to keep an extremely close eye on her when I'm home.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:50 pm


Weighing each of them daily will help greatly to monitor them.

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Thu Jan 10, 2019 4:11 pm


Little update...Peanut was upset yesterday afternoon when I got home, so she got put back with the girls to relieve some of her stress. As of this morning, she's up to 300 g, more than she's ever weighed! I'm not sure if this is a good sign, because she does need to gain weight, or if she's weighing more because she's eating but not pooping enough. I have seen Maggie gain weight right before she starts losing it when she has bloat and hasn't stopped eating yet. However, Peanut's tummy is still soft and squishy, so I'm taking it as a good sign for now. The sneezing has slowed down significantly already, and I haven't heard another cough since early yesterday morning! She seems to be a resilient little thing so far. :)

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Sun Jan 20, 2019 5:24 am


Good news...Peanut seems to be doing fantastically! There are still a few big sneezes coming out of her that seem stronger than the normal guinea pig sneezes, but no more drainage, mucus, or labored breathing. Now we are still dealing with the dominance ranks of the herd...

Even before I separated Peanut when she was sick (for less than a day), we were having issues with herd pecking order. They were introduced following proper procedures, and things seemed to be going ok on neutral territory. I needed to replace the chewed up coroplast anyway, so when they got put in the cage, I put in the brand new coroplast, a brand new liner and beds, and then them. There was the normal explorations at first, of course. Maggie and the baby cuddled a lot, Remy let the baby follow her around like a lost puppy, but Rory was not a happy camper that she had a new "sister". There was the normal chasing, rumbling, etc. but then came the teeth chattering. There have been VERY minor scratches to the babies rump, but I was there when it happened. It was more of a 'Rory was chasing the baby, the baby stopped suddenly, and Rory caught up and scratched her while mounting her' than an intentional injury, so they weren't separated. Remy will sometimes chase her if Peanut is drinking and she decides she wants to drink first, but nothing more severe than normal establishing dominance.

When Peanut got sick, I separated her into the loft area for a short period of time, but it was too hard on Peanut to keep her separated. Even Remy would cry and try to climb on her hidey to see Peanut. So, I don't think she has a real issue with Peanut. However, Rory still just does not seem to like her. The worst side effect of this is Rory barbering Peanut. She'll get Peanut cornered under a bed (only if her butt is sticking out from under it) or in the corner and will pull the hair right out of her rump. I've witnessed this several times. We've done bonding baths, we've gone on car rides (I read somewhere that that 'fearful' experience bond them), etc. Now Peanut will hide under the beds so Rory can't see her, and she'll only come out for food and water.

Things ARE slowly improving. I can now safely put in a cuddle sack and not worry about Rory actually harming her; she will kick Peanut out if she decides she wants in instead, but there have never been any biting issues. The only problem we're still having is the barbering and what I consider bullying but is really just chasing. When Rory starts chasing her, Remy tends to enjoy in on it for kicks and giggles. This chasing happens at least 3-4 times a day, and it lasts for quite a while until Peanut can get under a bed. She'll pancake out underneath the flat bottom of a cuddle bed, and Rory doesn't bother her after that. I've never had these kinds of issues in the herd. Cage size should not be the problem, as they have plenty of room. Rory was always bottom of the herd, and I'm hoping this eventually ends when she gets over her superiority complex or whatever this is. I also blame this partly on puberty...Remy started acting as if she was starting to hit puberty and started challenging Maggie about a month ago, and Rory has started this. They're both about 6-7 months old, which I've read is an age where that kind of behavior can begin.

I feel badly for poor Peanut and her little bald spots from barbering, but am at a loss for what to do. Maggie and Peanut are very close, as are Peanut and Remy. On top of that, Rory, Remy, and Maggie are all closely bonded. So if I were to separate Rory or Peanut from the herd, that will lead to a lot of stress. So, right now I'm just hoping this eventually ends, the order of dominance gets established, and everyone can calm down. A night's sleep without Peanut waking me up 'screaming' while Rory chases her would be nice too (LOL). I remember Rory doing the same thing when she was young; she would scream like she was being murdered, even if the other girls were just sniffing her. That eventually ended...so I'm hoping this will too.

Anyway, that's the end of my late night rant. I'm sorry for any spelling/grammar/rambling mistakes; it's about 0400 here, and I've been up since they woke me up at 0100 with their antics...I'm starting to see what people mean when they complain about having trouble introducing a new piggie to the herd; it's not fun when they don't want to get along!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Jan 20, 2019 8:24 am


Glad to hear they are all back together even if there are a few issues. I though barbering was chewing off hair, not pulling it out. Sounds like Rory has a mean streak (Peanut has to squeak or give some indication of pain when he is pulling out hair). Hoping he quits this! You might introduce a couple more places to hide, always with at least two entrance/exits.

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