Odd Behavior

[stef603]

My 1 yr old piggy has started some unusual behavior. First, I noticed her hopping on both back legs together. Then, when she's lying down, she seems to hold one foot up against her side. Next, she developed a large swelling on the left side of her abdomen. I thought of bloat, but she seems to be eating, drinking, peeing and pooping. Also, the swelling seems to be on one side only. Just to be sure, though, I gave her a dose of simethicone. Would that hurt her if she doesn't have a gas problem?

She has also started this odd behavior. When she sees me looking at her, she stretches forward, dips her one shoulder down and rubs her face along the ground. It reminds of when a cat leans into your leg or into your caresses along her face. (Hope this makes some sense) She is generally out of sorts, staying the pigloo except to come out for a little food and water.

Is it possible she's had a stroke?

[piggly wiggly]

I am unsure of the behavior, but the lump could be a cyst, abcess, or maybe ovarian cysts. You should really get her to a vet. Also you could check out guinealynx website, it is a great cavy medical site. They may have some info there, and you can ask thiese questions there also.

[OSUCavies]

stef, did you ever check on guinealynx? She might need to see a vet.

[stef603]

I'm just now checking GL. I don't know what to think about this pig! She looks terrible one hour and pretty good the next. She's eating, drinking, peeing and pooing but there's something just not right. Can pigs have strokes? Unfortunately, we live in a rural area and I have yet to find an exotic vet, so I have to do the best I can on my own.

[Char-x]

Pigs can have strokes...defiantly find a vet asap.

[OSUCavies]

Yes they can have strokes. My guinea pig had a seizure a couple of weeks ago due to an ear infection and it scared me so much. I thought she was going to die. Don't put it off, get to a vet and find out what's going on. Your piggy might be suffering!

[Feylin]

Guinea lynx has a good Rural Guide for people who live in areas that aren't close to a vet. It's meant to help you while you are waiting to get to one...not as a replacement for a vet.

You might want to check that out and see if it can help you.

[stef603]

What kind of treatment is there for stroke? I will have to find an exotics vet, and since we are in a rural area, that could be hard. I've looked into vets up to an hour away.

Would you trust a regular small animal person to trat for pain? I don't think she is in pain-no teeth grinding, quivering, moaning. When this first set in, she was tender and squealed whan I picked her up.

Today, though, she seems better. When I picked her up for her morning check, she didn't squeal, and the swelling seems to have gone down.

Now I'm thinking possibly one of the kids was too rough with her, and injured her somehow. Broken or bruised ribs comes to mind. What would be the treatment for this?

I realize I need to get her to a vet, but that might take a few days, and in the mean-time, I'd like to have some idea of what to do to help her.

Regarding Guinea Lynx: I got some good info from their library. I submitted a registration request late last night. I haven't gotten my confirmation e-mail yet, so I haven't been able to post yet.

Thanks again for the help and support.

[salana]

If she could have been squeezed or dropped, you should really get an X-ray. Broken ribs should be visible even to a cat and dog vet.

[Astrantia]

I think the only solution is a trip to the vet I'm afraid. I'm sure your nearest regular animal vet can at lest give him/her a look over or maybe suggest another vet to you.

[stef603]

Got my Spotty to a vet today. He thinks it's just a vitamin C deficiency. So he gave me liquid C and a syringe, and we're good to go. I actually had thought of this myself. I picked up a bottle of chewable vit C and cut the pills according to the dosage suggested in GL. The chewable seemed to do some good, and the liquid seems to be even better.

I am soooo relieved. She was looking so peek-ed this a.m., I was very afraid that we'd be bringing home a 'sleeping' piggy and have to explain to my 6 year old that she just isn't going to wake up. I was dreading it!

So I was nearly ecstatic when things turned out as they did.

Of course, at the vet's she perked up and didn't look so bad. She doesn't look as good at home, but she is picking up a little.

Thanks again for all of your help and concern!

[stef603]

UPDATE

After several good days on the Vit C, Spot started to decline again. In particular, her right hind foot became swollen, purplish and scaly. It looked like if her skin were to flake, it would bleed. So, back to the vet we went. This time we were prescribed Orabax and Prednisone. The Orbax wreaked havok on her digestive system, so we quit that. Then, she was having such a hard time with soft poops and not eating that I quit the prednisone, too.

At this point, I have her back to about where we were when we went for the second vet visit. Her digestive problems are resolved, and I've been giving her the prednisone dose every other day. She's eating well and drinking, and pooping and peeing. She has lost a few ounces through this whole ordeal, but at this point her weight is holding steady.

This foot problem seems to come and go. Some days it doesn't look purple and scaly, it's just somewhat swollen and mishapen. She is also varying degrees of lame, from hopping to limping, to walking fairly normally.
I have given her some rest in a cage by herself with towels instead of chips for bedding. Now that she's eating, she seems better off with the other girls, so I returned her to the group cage. I switched from cedar bedding (I know, bad, bad) to Carefresh.

I did shoot some pics of the odd sitting/laying position she's adopted, and of the foot itself. The second picture, trying to zone in only her feet is fairly poor, but I think it will give you an idea of what things are looking like.

At this point, any responses to the following questions would be greatly appreciated:

Has anyone seen anything that looked like this foot before?

Does it look like "bumblefoot"?

Any other suggestions of what the problem might be?

What can I do to help her regain the weight she lost?

Again, thanks so much for any input you can provide.