My guinea pig Tofu is 6.5 years old. I adopted him when he was 1, after my little cousin left him behind suddenly.
He's very lively usually even for his age until last night (that I noticed). This morning he was not interested in eating or drinking and was hunched over.
I took him to the vet, who did X-rays. They weren't sure about what they found, just that he had too much air in his intestines/stomach. He also has a lump near his kidney OR it IS his kidney; So they sent me to a emergency vet. They gave him fluids and pain meds, he felt a lot better and started eating more; still less than usual. They said he has a really good diet based on what I feed him.
I think a lot of owners here can relate, treatment today was expensive, and it's only exams and diagnostics. An ultrasound (expensive) is recommended, but the tech said that bloating is common and some people pay for the ultrasound only to find out that it was only bloating (so they wasted money). I'm actually I'm not sure if it's just bloating right now. They haven't mentioned G.I. stasis?
Should I put my guinea pig on the foot massager? It's the closest I have to a massaging pad. I'll put some padding on it of course.
The vet didn't prescribe Oxbow critical care, but some meds to take daily. I'm taking him tomorrow back for a following with the vets.
Should I stop feeding him veggies for now?
Advice is appreciated, especially people who went through this before, what was done, and the aftermath. I'm worried about chronic bloating; is treatment costly overtime?
I read about this issue in threads, but each case is different. Mine has a mysterious lump where his kidneys are and I debating whether to wait to see if it grows bigger to save money or get an ultrasound right away.
He's very lively usually even for his age until last night (that I noticed). This morning he was not interested in eating or drinking and was hunched over.
I took him to the vet, who did X-rays. They weren't sure about what they found, just that he had too much air in his intestines/stomach. He also has a lump near his kidney OR it IS his kidney; So they sent me to a emergency vet. They gave him fluids and pain meds, he felt a lot better and started eating more; still less than usual. They said he has a really good diet based on what I feed him.
I think a lot of owners here can relate, treatment today was expensive, and it's only exams and diagnostics. An ultrasound (expensive) is recommended, but the tech said that bloating is common and some people pay for the ultrasound only to find out that it was only bloating (so they wasted money). I'm actually I'm not sure if it's just bloating right now. They haven't mentioned G.I. stasis?
Should I put my guinea pig on the foot massager? It's the closest I have to a massaging pad. I'll put some padding on it of course.
The vet didn't prescribe Oxbow critical care, but some meds to take daily. I'm taking him tomorrow back for a following with the vets.
Should I stop feeding him veggies for now?
Advice is appreciated, especially people who went through this before, what was done, and the aftermath. I'm worried about chronic bloating; is treatment costly overtime?
I read about this issue in threads, but each case is different. Mine has a mysterious lump where his kidneys are and I debating whether to wait to see if it grows bigger to save money or get an ultrasound right away.