Piggie is hopping! HELP! - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**Lucy Topanga** · #1 11-24-07, 12:15 am

hello,

I have 2 guinea pigs, both female, one is 1year, the other is almost 3 years.

The older one has always had her ups and downs with her health due to something that happened when she was younger. She is a bit overweight right now, so i have decided to switch foods and put her on Oxbow Cavy Cuisine (right now she is on Sunscription Guinea Pig). Anyways, the last couple of days I have noticed when she runs, or moves quickly, she moves both her back feet at the same time. She almost hops like a bunny (not talking about pop-corning). I took her out of the cage tonight and took a good look at her and I can't feel anything broken and she doesn't seem to be in pain. She is eating drinking pooping and peeing normal. Has anyone ever seen this? I would also like some feedback on the Oxbow pellet. I contacted the company and read a lot of good stuff on it from the Guinea Lynx site.

Any feedback would be appreciated!
Thanks!

**pigsforlife** · #2 11-24-07, 12:21 am

Do you give your girls fresh produce? If so, what do you give them?

**Lucy Topanga** · #3 11-24-07, 12:29 am

Yes I give them about 2 cups a day of a mixture of the following: Romaine lettuce, yellow,orange, or red peppers, carrots, tomatoes, parsley, Dandylion greens, etc. I have to be pretty carful what I feed them because Lucy has a very sensitive stomach. They eat about 1 cup each, they eat at the same speed and I watch them. I also give them all organic.

**pigsforlife** · #4 11-24-07, 12:35 am

Hopping is a sign of scurvy. So if they were not recieving any vegetables than that would be my guess.

Defiantley take her to a reputable exotic vet. And post on guinea lynx as well.

As for Oxbows Cavy Cuisine, I can not say enough good things about it. I recently switched the girls onto it, and the pellets were so much greener and fresh smelling.

**Lucy Topanga** · #5 11-24-07, 01:02 am

Hi,
I have made an appointment for monday but if things get worse over the weekend I will call for an emergency appointment.
I will post about how she is in the morning. She doesn't seem to be hopping when I went to see her 5 minutes ago and I did another through physical exam. I am starting to wonder if it is just an excitment thing or something I haven't noticed before.
anyways, thanks for the advise. I will keep you posted.

**daftscotslass** · #6 11-24-07, 03:04 am

Hopping can also be a sign of pain. If possible I would see if you can get in to the vet sooner.

**JarBax** · #7 11-24-07, 03:52 am

When one of y piggies was ;mping, the immediate advice was to restrict her movement to lessen possibe further aggravation. I removed the ramp, and all cushions and other accessories the piggies use to climb on. At that stage, I felt that seperating her from the other 3 girls would have caused her more distress, so I kept her in the 3 x 5 base, although the advice was to keep her in a much smaller space. (Her pain arose from a slightly swollen areas around her nails, rather than joint/inner problems, and treated with cream, she made a swift recovery.)

Do a search over on guinea lynx if you haven't already, and post in the emergency/medical forum for further info/advice, though have to agree that quick treatment from a good vet is essential if your pig is in pain, on in any way acting differently.

**Lucy Topanga** · #8 11-24-07, 08:01 pm

Hello,
The vet said she couldn't find anything wrong except that she has a bit too much weight on her and i agreed. I am hoping to take a bit of weight off of her. She seems to be doing a bit better, but if it continues, i will be taking her back to the vet on monday for further investigation.

**Char-x** · #9 11-25-07, 07:01 am

Glad to hear nothing is wrong, it's also nice to know you're an owner who will take you're pigs to a vet straight away

**daftscotslass** · #10 11-25-07, 08:11 am

How much exactly is too much?

**rabbitsncavyluv** · #11 11-25-07, 12:21 pm

She may have arthritis.

How do her feet look? She may have bumblefoot or circulation issues if she is overweight.

**Lucy Topanga** · #12 11-25-07, 03:32 pm

Oh not that much. She is not huge or anything.

**Lucy Topanga** · #13 11-25-07, 03:32 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbitsncavyluv

She may have arthritis.

How do her feet look? She may have bumblefoot or circulation issues if she is overweight.

Her feet look great and she does not have bumble foot. The vet and I ruled that out.

**daftscotslass** · #14 11-25-07, 03:35 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucy Topanga

Oh not that much. She is not huge or anything.

How much does she weigh? I would be concerned if your vet was telling you she was overweight if she isn't.