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Conditions Guinea Pig's nipples are enlarged

Guinealover111

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Today I was holding my guinea pig, Chris, and I noticed her nipples looked really large, way more than normal. It looked really painful, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. Last night I did hear her making a weird noise in her cage, it was a low squeak that almost sounded like crying, but when I went to her cage and checked on her, she seemed completely fine. I have an appointment with the Vet tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone has had this happen to their guinea pig and what it might be? There's no discharge or crust of any sort, her nipple is just really long and the area around it is swollen and huge.
 

bpatters

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See a vet. It could be an infection, it could be a mammary tumor. But it's definitely not anything you can treat yourself.
 

Guinealover111

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I've had a bit more trouble with Chris, after taking her to the vet the last time they told me she was fine and that everything was okay. I've noticed for the past 4 days she was eating less and less, I put her on a food scale and I saw she lost 6 ounces. She also has been making whining noises from her cage, and I've noticed dark spots where she has peed, almost looking like blood. So I immediately made an appointment with the vet. They told me she had a calcium deficiency, which I don't understand why because I give her supplements and fresh veggies, but they gave me critical care powder to mix with water and force feed it to her 4 times a day. They didn't seem too concerned when I told them about the blood. The next day, my cousin was holding her and she peed and there was a lot of blood in her urine, so I called the vet and ended up taking her to an animal hospital since everything else was closed. There they told me that they suspect she has a UTI and they gave me an antibiotic and pain medication and they gave her some fluids because she was a little dehydrated. They also told me to continue feeding her the critical care powder mixed with water until she starts to eat again and gets her energy back up. Has anyone had any of their guineas go through this? She's still making noises in her cage as if she's in pain and she's super thin. I just noticed today I could feel all her ribs and I can see how much weight she's lost. Does anyone know anything that could maybe help her more or make her more comfortable? I know today was the first day she's taken her medications and I must be patient, but I can't bare to see her in so much discomfort, especially because all she does is stay in her igloo and barely comes out because of the lack of energy.
 

bpatters

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It will make your posts much easier to read and follow if you'll break them into paragraphs and double space between them. It's very hard to read a "wall of text" and try to pick out the pertinent parts.

Are you taking her to an exotic vet?

Six ounces is a LOT of weight for a guinea pig to lose.

She sounds like she's in pain, which will make her even less willing to eat. What pain medication did they give you? And how often is she supposed to take it? A LOT of vets will recommend a pain medication to be taken only once a day. But guinea pigs have very fast metabolisms, and the pig will be in pain again long before the 24 hours is up. My own vet prescribes half the recommended dose, plus just a bit more, to be given every twelve hours. For instance, if the pig getting .4 cc of pain medication per day, he'll break it into two .21 or .22 cc to be given twice a day.

The most important thing is for her to keep eating. You may have to force feed her, but she won't make it if you don't. Guinea pigs MUST have food moving through their guts at all times, and can develop painful, even fatal, stomach ulcers if they don't.
 

Guinealover111

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I was orginally going to take her to my local vet which is what I usually do, but they had no openings and they said they would consider this an emergency so they gave me the number to an animal hospital. The animal hospital I went to had an exotic vet, but I went through the emergency department so I think it might have been a bit different.

They prescriber her to take .3 mL of meloxicam once a day for the pain medication. For an antibiotic they prescribed her to take .6 mL of SMZ TMP twice a day.

They also told me to force feed 15 mL of critical care powder mixed with water three times a day, until she starts to eat on her own. I also try to force feed her water because she hasn't been drinking.
 
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