Conditions OMG I think one of my boys had a stroke!

I'm sorry your having to deal with this at 1am. I have heard on here many times that the head tilt could indicate an ear infection so I wouldn't jump straight away to a stroke. Sending you and your piggy healing thoughts.

Pandora, sorry you are having to deal with this. Having a head tilt is a serious sympton that needs to be seen by a vet. It could be an ear infection, it could be more serious. Your piggie needs to get to a vet as soon as possible. If you can not get him there tonight. Call and get him to your vet the first thing in the morning. Keep us posted as to how he is.

Ditto the info on ear infection -- that's the most likely cause, although only a vet can rule out stroke. But do get him in quickly -- the tilt can become permanent if it's not treated early, not to mention that he probably has a raging earache.

If you don't have a cavy-savvy vet, go over to Guinea Lynx and print out the information on which antibiotics are safe for cavies and take it with you -- you don't want to lose your pig because some cat and dog vet gave it penicilliln.

Is there any chance he might have fallen? Head tilt is usually caused by an ear infection but it can also happen after a fall. Either way, I'd get him to a vet. I had a senior female suffer a stroke many years ago. She dragged her leg and seemed confused. Her symptoms seemed to mirror those you see with human strokes.

I just got back from the vet. Peanut did have a stroke. This morning I checked on him and his head wasn't as tilted as it was last night but he was having difficulty walking. It was sort of halting and jerky rather than smooth and fluid. He was very quiet, usually he wheeks really loud for vegies in the morning, but was silent this morning. I had to coax him out of his pigloo after I put the veggies in, when usually hes up on his hind legs begging as I put the vegies in. But once he started eating, he ate just fine and ate his normal amount. I then took him to the vet. The vet checked his ears and there was no infection, and he said his lymph nodes were fine. He said that all the symptoms and the way he was acting there indicated a stroke. He said that at this point since he seemed to be improved since last night that all there was to do is to wait it out. He said that he should keep improving over the next couple weeks, but if he would stop eatting or the symptoms would get worse to bring him back. So I guess I just wait it out....

edit- this vet I've been taking my piggies to for about four years (oldest boys are just over 4) , so it's not a vet I'm not familiar with. He's treated my boys for URI, and absesses. I trust him.

Are you handfeeding? If not, you really should be ready to if he loses weight. Oxbow Critical Care is your best bet. Pigs suffering from a stroke do have a hard time keeping their appetite/weight up. Do you have an accurate scale with which you can weigh Peanut daily? If not, that should be on the list of necessities ASAP.

If you are unfamiliar with handfeeding, check out the following carefully: https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

Happy you did the right thing and got him checked out by your vet. With good care and monitoring his weight, there is a good chance that he could have a very positive turnabout. Good luck and healing vibes from my pigs to Peanut!

It's great that you took him in. Did your vet prescribe anything?

yes..over the 31 years i have raised guinea pigs, several had strokes!! my 3 who had strokes all at different times, each RECOVERED.. different from humans...each of them were over 4 to 5 years old at the time.. VERY DISTURBING AND SCARY TO WATCH THIS! i was in pieces the first time and called my vet... is the one who had the stroke eating and drinking normally?? head still tilted?? please let me know...judy.

hello..one of mine had an ear infection...the difference is ear infection=tilted head...stroke the eye/eyes move wildly and eratically about..been raising guinea pigs for 31 years so i have seen more than my share of these...judy..

I had a similar situation happen with my piggy just a month and a half ago. Suddenly his head was just jerked to one side. The only difference is that my piggy is only 2 yrs old and I didn't see any wild eye movements. But he had the same problem the next day- jerky walking and being very very quiet afterwards. We also brought our piggy to the vet right away. No sign of ear infection- but no confirmation of stroke either. Anyway- it's been a while now and after several vet visits- we're still not sure what's wrong with piggy. We're still really concerned about him. Anyway- I hope your piggy's problem is easily solved and that he is well soon.

that sounds so scary!!

Thank you for the update. I am so sorry that your little guy had a stroke! Glad to hear he's eating.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts/advice. I do have a digital scale I can use to weigh them. It's not a person scale, but a small one that does lb/oz or kg and I can put him on that. He seems to be eating no problem, infact they are all having breakfast now,and he's right in there munching away, but I haven't seen him drink from his water bottle since Tueday... Now he never does drink alot, 2 of my 4 seem to drink alot more than the other two and Peanunt was one of the "not often" water drinkers. I'm going to keep an eye on that. I'm not sure if he's not drinking or if he's just doing it when i'm not lookin! He is eating fresh vegies and hay and is walking better than he did before. His head is still not strait but again the tilt is better than yesterday. The vet said based on his appearance yesterday that he didnt' think the stroke was that severe and said chances were really good that he would recover. The only thing I've noticed that is a HUGE change from before is that he has not been vocal AT ALL since the stroke. Peanut was my "talker" he would always be the first one to start wheeking at the top of his lungs in the morning for his vegies, when I would come home from work, or just any time he felt like it for no apparent reason at all! He was always walking around squeeking and talking all the time! But he has been totally silent, since the stroke. The only time I heard him make any sound at all was that vibrating purr noise when I was holding him at the vet yesterday. It's funny because I always used to grumble about how loud he was , and now all I want is to hear him wheek at the top of his lungs again!

Hugs and a speedy recovery to the piggie