Sick: piggie dragging legs

[59classic]

Hi

I am new to the group and have a problem. I am newer to owning guineas, had my first last summer. We now have 2 guineas, males and they have a large cage. I saw the plans on this site and made one. I feed them pellets, timothy hay, and carrotts and other veggies.

My one pig has always been an active little guy. Suddenly yesterday he began dragging his back legs, really dragging. Not scooting his fanny but dragging his legs. He seemed ok otherwise, was eating and drinking. I looked on the internet and saw that this can be nutrional. I started giving him some vit c and calcium and 'just in case' some left over antibiotic I had left over from a previous cold he had. He quickly started going down hill and I was up with him most of the night. I gave him fluids and more sulfa and force fed mashed pellets. I really thought he was going to pass away last night. This morning he seemed alert and started eating again so we took him to the vet as soon as they opened.

They xrayed his back and did not see any damage or anything broken. His legs are still just dragging behind him. I dont know of any falls or rough handling, etc. The vet thought maybe it is scurvy and gave him an injection of vit c, cortisone and more anitbiotic. I think this all comes from the infection. He looked terrible last night but I dont discount scurvy, I guess. Anyway the vet told me if he didnt start moving his hind legs in a week he probably wont. So what then? He seems much more normal tonight, his sweet self. But now what? Anyone else ever go through this? Did the guinea recover? What if he doesnt? Is there anything that could aid his mobility? Anything like a tiny skate board I could strap him to? He has good use of his front legs today, last night he didnt. I'm not done hoping for a miracle but the vet didnt seem too positive.

[Beahbeah]

I unfortunately don't know a lot of stuff that you could do in addition to the vet's advice, but if the vitamin C injection helped, it would probably be good to feed him lots of veggies that are high in vitamin C. Yellow and green bell peppers are very high in vitamin C, as is cilantro/coriander. Check out the blue stickies on the top of the diet/nutrition forum for more information on feeding them.

[59classic]

Well it has been a couple of days now. I have been giving him liquid vit c, and while I couldnt find osteocare I did find a liquid calcium/magnesium supplement. He has also been on an antibiotic from the vet. I have him in a small cage and change the towels several times a day. He seems to be able to manuver himself better on those. I have been doing range of motion/unofficial PT to his back legs. HIs legs at first seemed totally flaccid but as of yesterday I thought his legs looked more normal, my daughter even commented 'Mom his legs are heavier'. Well today he has moved his left back leg minimally. But ANY movement at this stage is good movement right? We are so excited. He has done it several times now. He is far from bearing weight but we are hopeful.

A friend told me a story about her father in law who had a dog who suddenly couldnt move his back legs. He took the dog to the vet who was stymied and reccomended to have the dog put down. The father in law refused and started giving the dog liquid calcium supplement. She said it took a while but the dog walked again.

When he was so bad the first night I even in desperation gave him pedialyte with a syringe. I am new to guineas so I dont know if that helped or not.

[Ly&Pigs]

What dosages are you giving on both the C and calcium?

[59classic]

The only liquid vitamin c I could find locally is that stuff that Petco sells that you are supposed to put in their water. There are other vitamins in it so I knew they would never drink it in the water. So I have been giving him 1 ml of it by syringe. I ordered liquid vitamin c on line and am waiting for it to come. I know the info all says that g. pigs only need 10mg of C a day but this was one sick piggie so I will probably give him a lot more than that for a while. I have been giving him 5ml of the liquid calcium/magnesium twice a day.

[Peggysu]

More is not always better. If humans get to much C a side effect is diahrrea. When he comes off the C he could also get scurvy very easy. I don't know what dose to give but I would not overdose.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

That stuff is no good - go to GNC or a health or drug store and buy plain vit c tablets or liquid vit c.

[59classic]

Our local GNC doesnt carry liquid vitamin c, I checked. 90% of their stuff was body builder stuff. I checked every drug store I could think of, NOBODY had liquid vitamin c. I didnt realize it was such an exotic item. lol So I ordered it online but it will take another day or two to get here. I realize the Petco stuff if probably not good but I also knew it was going to be 3-5 days before I would get the stuff in the mail.

[akstrohm]

You should be able to get vitamin C from your vet. That is what I would recommend.

Is he improving at all?

[pigsmakemesmile]

I would also run it by Guinea Lynx to get their input. They're quite knowledgable with pig medical issues and are quick at responding.

[PiggieMom]

When I gave vitamin C to my sick I take a regular tablet (nothing added, just vitamin C) and crush it with a spoon into a fine powder and mix it with a bit of water and use a 1 cc syringe to feed it to the pig. Guinealynx recommends 25 mg twice a day. You can read about scurvy here.

[59classic]

My vet recommended going to Petco for vitamin c. He doesnt routinely stock it. I have moved to this area and having been looking for a guinea vet. This vet was recommended to me by several guinea pig owners but he isnt as good as the vet we had in Omaha.

I did read the info about scurvy, which was interesting. Thank you. My vet is calling it scurvy. I am not convinced. It started with a fever in my opinion. Yesterday my guinea moved his back leg some. Today nothing but he seems brighter and more his old self. I am working on one of those Roxy Rollers that I found on this site. It is almost finished.

[PiggieMom]

Even if it isn't scurvy, a sick pig will definitely benefit with supplemented vitamin C. I agree that you need to find a new vet though. It's discouraging that he's recommending those trash vitamin drops.

[59classic]

We tried the Roller out last night before I did the final glue down of the straps. He seemed to like it and was zipping around some. I couldnt find wheels just like those in the pic which makes our cart sit a bit higher. But while he was on it last night his left back leg moved a bit again.