I will start out by saying that two weeks ago, we got two guinea Pigs from Petsmart. Two weeks ago, I knew nothing about guinea Pigs. In these past two weeks, my husband and I have spent a great amount of time learning about these wonderful animals. Knowing what I know now, I will never spend a dime at any pet store that sells live animals. We have these little creatures now and we love them. We have completely rearranged our home to fit two Midwest habitats and also have an exercise area for them as well. So I'm convinced one of my piggies is pregnant. She is a pear-shaped, she's gaining weight(such as 60-70 grams ina single week alone), and we feel a ton of movement from these "lumps" in her belly. We took her to a vet that sees exotic animals. I wanted them to do an ultrasound. The vet palpated her stomach, very hard, I might add, and the vet tech, who said she has bred her guinea Pigs(which should've been a clue that they don't know what's best for guinea Pigs) said she doesn't think she's pregnant. The vet said the movement we're feeling is her food moving through her GI tract. They also said her weight gain is normal for young guinea pigs. From what I understand, the average weight gain for young cavies in a week is 20-40 grams, not 70. Vet and vet tech said they think it's bloat or gas, which they said an ultrasound wouldn't be able to pick up on, but an X-ray could. They said to bring her back in a week if her belly hasn't gotten smaller. Here's the thing: I don't believe that this vet is Cavy-savvy at all, because if she was and truly though the issues was bloat, she would realize that bloat can be fatal in guinea Pigs and would've done more to confirm that diagnosis and treat it if that were the case. She also failed to ask about her eating habits and her poop, which bloat would affect. She could be a dead in a week if it were bloat. Luckily I don't think it is, because she's eating and drinking fine, doesn't seem to be in any pain at all, and her poop is completely normal, and so is the frequency of her poop. This vet could've done an X-ray and could've confirmed either of those diagnoses. Oh yeah and she lost tons of credibility in my eyes because she said you can give them yogurt for the probiotics(I'll stick with the bene-bac) and said that guinea Pigs can start getting pregnant at 3-4 months old(umm try 4 weeks old). So as of now, we're taking precautions as if she were pregnant until we find out otherwise. We're also taking her to another vet this week, where I will be insisting on diagnostic testing of some sort. So basically I would like input on how to handle this. What test should I insist that they perform? What should I do in general, such as any advice? Because we're feeling bodies moving within her, I'm thinking she's 10-15 days away from delivering. Also we have her in a large cage right now, but it's still not the size she should be in, we finally got out Midwest cages delivered and I want to put her in it but I'm afraid that the change in her environment will stress her out, but then again, being a cage that is too small probably already stresses her out. Should I go ahead with the switch or should I hold off and ask the (hopefully Cavy-savvy) vet what we should do? Thanks in advance for all input!!
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I'll be anxiously waiting to see pictures of the new babies.
Originally Posted by Kelsie
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