Sick: Help!!

[cookie!]

My rabbit had babies and i had to remove my g-pig as he was being attacked!
so i bought him a new friend g-pig who turned out to be pregnant and had a baby:D

my first g-pig then became very sick the day after the baby was born and had very bad diarrhea, so we brought him into the vets where he died :(

we then noticed the mother g-pig was bleeding from the bum and the vet told us she had a bacterial infection and i had to disinfect the hutch. which i did.

the mothers milk dried up so we are now hand feeding the baby puppy milk every 2 hours the baby is now 5 days old and i noticed that he is starting to bleed from her bum aswell.

would could be causing this? the mother is now better but still has no milk!

also when should i start weaning the baby of the formula?

please help me!!

[BabyBellie]

I'm not sure about the infections but I do know that the baby should not be given puppy milk. Baby guinea pigs can eat solid food from the day they are born so just make sure he is eating pellets and veggies. As for the bleeding I would definately take him into a cavy savy vet and get him looked at. This could be serious. If you think he's having problems eating the pellets you could make a pellet mash. Also, if he refuses to eat, you need to hand feed him critical care or a pellet mash. This link should help http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

[VoodooJoint]

Is this a joke?

If in case it's not then the first thing to do is to get the guinea pigs to a good exotic vet immediately. I'm not convinced your first vet is good at all. If you need help finding one then let us know where you are and we'll see if we can recommend someone.

2nd - make certain the 2 adult GPs are the same sex. If they aren't they will breed immediately and you will have another pregnancy. If you aren't certain if they are the same sex or not then separate them immediately and take them all to a good vet to be sexed.

3rd - take the baby off the milk now. It never needed the milk. Insure it has access to pellets (without seeds or colored bits), hay and fresh veggies. http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...arts-info.html

Read these links
http://www.guinealynx.info/breeding.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/sexing.html

Dangers of housing Guinea Pigs with Rabbits and other species
GP sick after being housed with rabbit
GP severely maimed by rabbit
Rabbits in Petstore terrorizing a Guinea Pig. GP kept from Eating and Drinking by Rabbits
Guinea pig killed by rabbit

[cookie!]

This is not a joke!

Yes, I am certain the Guinea Pigs were the same sex (as one passed away tuesday)

The Vet that examined my Guinea pigs, specializes in Guinea pigs and other small and exotic animals and advised me to feed my baby Guinea pig puppy formula through a syringe, as the baby would not eat any solid foods in any shape or form.

There was no problems between the Guinea pig and Rabbit, until the Baby rabbits were born.

thank you for your advice.

[BubuCandyBlue]

Originally Posted by cookie!

This is not a joke!

advised me to feed my baby Guinea pig puppy formula through a syringe, as the baby would not eat any solid foods in any shape or form.

Please, change the cavy vet immediately. Get her to a new one right away. It is an emergency, unless you want to loose your piggie again.

ps: Hand feeding is done with Critical Care or pellet slurry http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html not puppy formula at all

[lmarieaa]

Whoa, puppy milk!?
Guinea pigs are cavies, not canines, and the nutritional requirements between them are worlds apart! That veterinarian certainly does not sound to know much about guinea pigs if he told you to give it puppy milk. Aren't Guinea Pigs are lactose intolerant? He should have prescribed you Critical Care.
Puppy milk!? I still can't get over that, that is absolutely absurd.
Please find your animals a better veterinarian, their lives depend on it. And guinea pigs and rabbits should never be housed together.
What a disaster, I want to slap that vet!

[Deenanicole08]

I'm not sure if you know about the dietary needs of a puppy, but dogs eat meat, Guinea pigs are STRICK herivores therefore no meat, or any part of meat should be in their diet. Puppy milk has the nutrients the mother would be taking in from the food she would be eating, including meat products. Puppy milk should NEVER be given to a Guinea pig. You should be feeding Critical Care along with hay, pellets, and veggies. Guinea pigs are born with teeth and open eyes so can eat and drink normally right from the get go. They are born this way because they are prey animals, and should they be seperated from their mother because they were attacked by a predator, they can still survive on their own. Please consult with a new vet immediately for your Guinea pigs sake.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Ditto the above.

Please go to House Rabbit Society Rabbit Care Guide and read about proper rabbit care too. And get your rabbit spayed once the babies are weaned.

Rabbits and guinea pigs should never be housed together for the reasons listed here rabbits

Stop buying pets from petshops too Pet adoption: Want a dog or cat? Adopt a pet on Petfinder They are usually sick and missexed.

[cookie!]

Thanks everyone!
I am taking your advice and bringing them to a new vet tomorrow!

Thanks again!

[lmarieaa]

Great! Let us know how things go!

Heres the info on the food we are recommending:
Oxbow Animal Health | Critical Care
Oxbow Animal Health | Critical Care Fine Grind

Best of luck!

[cookie!]

Hi

Good and bad news!
The good new is my Guinea-pig cookie is 100% better!!

The bad news is the baby Guinea-pig has lost a lot of weight and refuses to eat, So the new vet is looking after it!

Thanks again!

[cookie!]

sadly the baby has passed away!

Thanks for all your help.

[bunnys n pigs]

You housed a rabbit and a guinea pig?!

[cookie!]

Yes, I bought them together in a pet shop.
They were both in the same cage and they advised me to keep them together even though I was willing to buy to separate cages.

My Guinea-pigs had nothing to do with them being in the same cage as a Rabbit it was an infection that only Guinea-pigs can get.

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by cookie!

My Guinea-pigs had nothing to do with them being in the same cage as a Rabbit it was an infection that only Guinea-pigs can get.

Really? What is the name of the infection/disease?

[Paula]

Originally Posted by cookie!

My Guinea-pigs had nothing to do with them being in the same cage as a Rabbit it was an infection that only Guinea-pigs can get.

And that was?


The bigger problem is that rabbits and guinea pigs shouldn't be housed together, ever, despite what pet store staff or anyone else might tell you. They don't eat the same food, they are sized differently, they have different needs altogether.

Info: rabbits

I realize you can't go back and correct the past but in the future you should know better than to keep a guinea pig and a rabbit in the same enclosure.

Furthermore, you should know better than to buy any animal.

[cookie!]

The Guinea-pigs became sick after they were taken away from the rabbit, roughly about a month afterwards.
The vet told me it was a bacterial infection caused by the Guinea-pig having a baby.
I am not sure how correct he was, as I do not no allot about diseases or infections that Guinea-pigs can get.
Also it is very common in Ireland to house rabbits and Guinea-pigs together, nearly everyone I know who has a rabbit also has a Guinea-pig in the same cage.
Also nearly everyone keeps there Guinea-pig outside in a hutch, I have bought an indoor one since my Guinea-pigs got sick. Is it wrong to keep them outdoors?

[Paula]

Pigs really need to be housed indoors.

[gooberific]

Please take some time to read the home page and all the links and information it has to offer. You will become inundated with facts about guinea pigs that you might not even had thought would be something to consider. Go through all the stickies on the forum. Read the links the other users provided you in this thread. Your knowledge of piggies and rabbits will grow by leaps and bounds and you will notice as their care improves in what might seem the slightest ways (environment change, stimulation, super duper proper diet, etc.), your pets will reflect the extra love and be all the happier and healthier for it.

I'm sorry for your recent losses. I do wish you'd gone with your "gut" as it were and housed them separately even though the shop sold the pig and rabbit together and told you they were fine. It's one of life's hard lessons, that you can't listen to what everyone says. All you can do now is read up on what went wrong and get yourself educated, which is what you've already started to do. It's a big step in the right direction!

I would also like to reiterate and plead to keep your pigs indoors, and move your rabbits inside if you can. If your piggies had gotten bacterial infections in that area, it's best to keep their habitats extremely clean. I'd suggest using a 50/50 water/vinegar solution when you clean the plastic/surface, and keep up with cleaning the bedding daily.