Hi all,
Sorry for the alarmist post, but I really am terrified and I'd love some reassurance.
I adopted two little piggies two weeks ago, and have been really careful to do everything a new pig mom should. I know that calcium isn't great for them, so I've kept to low-calcium snacks like romaine lettuce and red bell peper. I've been experimenting with bedding, and after I saw that my littler girl had a very dirty bottom in the first week, I washed her and cut that hair so it's quite short there now.
On Thursday, it got VERY hot here in NYC- and Laoshu, she of the dirty bottom, was very lethargic. I freaked out, put a bunch of icey water bottles in their cage, and browbeat my roommate into putting in the AC that night. She perked up a bit, but not 100%.
Over the following days, I noticed that Laoshu was still lethargic. I was hoping she was just getting over being hot, but not so. I noticed some blood on the towels, but like the idiotic new pig mom that I am, I thought it was stains from the little tomato slices I had fed her and her sister. This morning, I saw a little droplet of blood on my chest when I put her back in her cage- and again, like an idiotic new pig mom, I said to myself "Oh, she must be on her period!"
After a day of research, I am now pretty sure she has a bladder stone. She isn't peeing (I wanted to see if she was bleeding, so I fed her some watery veggies and waited. Over an hour, she didn't pee at all.) though she is still well enough to rumblestrut at her sister and chase after veggies.
I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow (I'll find one on a Sunday no matter what it takes.) However, that doesn't alleviate my fear for her for now. I've done a ton of searching, but basically haven't been able to fine the answer - can this kind of thing kill a little girl guinea pig (2.5 years of age) before I am able to get her to the vet? I would feel bad for the rest of my life if this little girl dies within two weeks of my getting her.
Help!
- new pig mom
Sorry for the alarmist post, but I really am terrified and I'd love some reassurance.
I adopted two little piggies two weeks ago, and have been really careful to do everything a new pig mom should. I know that calcium isn't great for them, so I've kept to low-calcium snacks like romaine lettuce and red bell peper. I've been experimenting with bedding, and after I saw that my littler girl had a very dirty bottom in the first week, I washed her and cut that hair so it's quite short there now.
On Thursday, it got VERY hot here in NYC- and Laoshu, she of the dirty bottom, was very lethargic. I freaked out, put a bunch of icey water bottles in their cage, and browbeat my roommate into putting in the AC that night. She perked up a bit, but not 100%.
Over the following days, I noticed that Laoshu was still lethargic. I was hoping she was just getting over being hot, but not so. I noticed some blood on the towels, but like the idiotic new pig mom that I am, I thought it was stains from the little tomato slices I had fed her and her sister. This morning, I saw a little droplet of blood on my chest when I put her back in her cage- and again, like an idiotic new pig mom, I said to myself "Oh, she must be on her period!"
After a day of research, I am now pretty sure she has a bladder stone. She isn't peeing (I wanted to see if she was bleeding, so I fed her some watery veggies and waited. Over an hour, she didn't pee at all.) though she is still well enough to rumblestrut at her sister and chase after veggies.
I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow (I'll find one on a Sunday no matter what it takes.) However, that doesn't alleviate my fear for her for now. I've done a ton of searching, but basically haven't been able to fine the answer - can this kind of thing kill a little girl guinea pig (2.5 years of age) before I am able to get her to the vet? I would feel bad for the rest of my life if this little girl dies within two weeks of my getting her.
Help!
- new pig mom