Zilly's medical thread
Hey guys, Zilly seems to have had a weird one-night illness and while he seems totally fine NOW I would like some answers so I have some idea of what happened.
Symptoms:
* My boyfriend found him at midnight with sunken eyes, eye discharge, severely dehydrated/tenting skin, and failing to pee/poop. Symptoms came on suddenly.
* He had lost 200 grams of his body weight. (from 1100 to 904)
* He had chewed the skin and hair in a U-shape over his butt end.
Treatment:
* Gave him a butt bath and cleaned some poop and smegma from his anal sac in case discomfort/impaction was causing the symptoms. There were fully formed poops in his sac and a lot of yellow smegma.
* Isolated in a small laundry basket with towels to monitor poops
* 0.15cc simethicone
* 0.05cc SMZ/TMP (in case the eye discharge was due to URI onset)
* 1g BeneBac Plus gel
* 24cc Pedialyte
* 24cc Critical Care
Outcome:
* Pooping/peeing/eating/drinking normally within 6 hours
* Gained 100 grams overnight
* Eyes look normal with no sinking or discharge
* Skin doesn't tent, appears to be hydrated normally
He honestly looks very normal now, which is baffling because he looked terrible last night and in my experience guinea pigs don't recover from illnesses quickly. Could it have been a one-off case of bloat or impaction discomfort?
Should I keep giving simethicone or SMZ/TMP? Keep monitoring poops or reintroduce to cagemates (he lives in a herd of 5 now)?
I appreciate any insight, thanks!
Symptoms:
* My boyfriend found him at midnight with sunken eyes, eye discharge, severely dehydrated/tenting skin, and failing to pee/poop. Symptoms came on suddenly.
* He had lost 200 grams of his body weight. (from 1100 to 904)
* He had chewed the skin and hair in a U-shape over his butt end.
Treatment:
* Gave him a butt bath and cleaned some poop and smegma from his anal sac in case discomfort/impaction was causing the symptoms. There were fully formed poops in his sac and a lot of yellow smegma.
* Isolated in a small laundry basket with towels to monitor poops
* 0.15cc simethicone
* 0.05cc SMZ/TMP (in case the eye discharge was due to URI onset)
* 1g BeneBac Plus gel
* 24cc Pedialyte
* 24cc Critical Care
Outcome:
* Pooping/peeing/eating/drinking normally within 6 hours
* Gained 100 grams overnight
* Eyes look normal with no sinking or discharge
* Skin doesn't tent, appears to be hydrated normally
He honestly looks very normal now, which is baffling because he looked terrible last night and in my experience guinea pigs don't recover from illnesses quickly. Could it have been a one-off case of bloat or impaction discomfort?
Should I keep giving simethicone or SMZ/TMP? Keep monitoring poops or reintroduce to cagemates (he lives in a herd of 5 now)?
I appreciate any insight, thanks!
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Talishan
- You can quote me
For a less knowledgeable owner I'd say vet trip. For you, my gut hunch is that the impaction/smegma buildup made him miserable and as soon as it was gone, he felt 100% better. Guinea pigs look and feel disproportionately miserable when they are dehydrated; I suspect the Pedialyte helped as much as the Critical Care did.
I think I'd keep him separated out maybe one more night, then reintroduce. Make sure he's eating, drinking, and behaving normally. You've probably already figured this out, but set a schedule to check for impaction and smegma buildup regularly. It sounds as if he'll need regular cleaning.
You could also call your vet and ask them just what you just asked here (just read them your post, it's very clear) and ask them to confirm or deny.
Weigh daily for a little bit, make sure he regains the weight he lost.
Good luck and I really hope it's a one-off.
Edit: is he still chewing at his back end? If so => course of ivermectin. But if he's not, it was probably because of the discomfort down there from the impaction/smegma.
I think I'd keep him separated out maybe one more night, then reintroduce. Make sure he's eating, drinking, and behaving normally. You've probably already figured this out, but set a schedule to check for impaction and smegma buildup regularly. It sounds as if he'll need regular cleaning.
You could also call your vet and ask them just what you just asked here (just read them your post, it's very clear) and ask them to confirm or deny.
Weigh daily for a little bit, make sure he regains the weight he lost.
Good luck and I really hope it's a one-off.
Edit: is he still chewing at his back end? If so => course of ivermectin. But if he's not, it was probably because of the discomfort down there from the impaction/smegma.
Thanks for responding, Talishan.
He's doing great as long as I clean him out regularly, but I suspect that he's still uncomfortable because he's inactive (not lethargic, still alert, but doesn't leave his hide often). He's actually developing bumblefoot on both of his hind feet. There's a red open sore on one foot and a pink blister on the other. I'm continuing the SMZ/TMP to combat the bumblefoot and working on keeping his feet clean and dry, but I think a vet visit might be in order next week because the inactivity is worrying me.
He's doing great as long as I clean him out regularly, but I suspect that he's still uncomfortable because he's inactive (not lethargic, still alert, but doesn't leave his hide often). He's actually developing bumblefoot on both of his hind feet. There's a red open sore on one foot and a pink blister on the other. I'm continuing the SMZ/TMP to combat the bumblefoot and working on keeping his feet clean and dry, but I think a vet visit might be in order next week because the inactivity is worrying me.
I have Enalapril from when Corki was sick, and possibly Lasix. Should I trial him on either of those?
There's no hooting or respiratory distress like Corki had.
I am soaking the feet and keeping them clean. Hoping that this doesn't turn out to be anything chronic, but...
There's no hooting or respiratory distress like Corki had.
I am soaking the feet and keeping them clean. Hoping that this doesn't turn out to be anything chronic, but...
I also made the call to separate him from the main herd so he's not competing for food on top of feeling under the weather. He typically lives in a herd of 7, although at the time he got sick 2 of his cagemates were isolated. It gets a little crazy with that many boars so I feel like he will be more comfortable this way, and I can monitor his poop and food intake more closely now.
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Talishan
- You can quote me
Without more evidence of heart compromise I wouldn't trial either enalapril or Lasix, but do ask the vet about it and check for heart enlargement when you see them imo.
Lasix is a powerful drug, and enalapril has more potential side effects than benazepril.
Without reading back, is he the pig that got a split on the skin of his foot? If so, it makes me wonder if he has chronic dry or thickened skin on his feet. Musing out loud here.
Please keep us posted. Hope he's doing better.
Lasix is a powerful drug, and enalapril has more potential side effects than benazepril.
Without reading back, is he the pig that got a split on the skin of his foot? If so, it makes me wonder if he has chronic dry or thickened skin on his feet. Musing out loud here.
Please keep us posted. Hope he's doing better.
Yep, he's the same pig that split the skin on his foot last year. Good call, maybe I need to be diligent with foot care on this one. He's always been obese so I imagine that might contribute to foot problems.
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