What can I do while I wait to get into a vet!

[guineamama2017]

My guinea pig Princess has ANOTHER URI she has had one before and we were able to take her to the vet right away. My vet doesn't open for another 8 or 9 hours and they are the only place I trust as the reviews of other 24 hour vets have some not so great reviews. Is there anything I can do to help her stay stable until I can get to a vet. She is eating and urinating and pooping just fine. She has a cage mate that also has the sickness because whenever one is sick the other is sick. Does anyone have any care tips until I can get to a vet. I know they can be very fatal and she has had it for about 24 hours but I have completely conformed that it is a URI at this point. She is wheezing and has heavy breathing along with nose discharge and crusty eyes. I am getting worried for her health. Can anyone help???

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I'm sure as I post this, you've seen a vet by now. You can try easing their breathing with steam.

Is there any news on their condition?

[guineamama2017]

I am taking them to the vet right now. They survived the night and I am very greatful. The emergency vet costs are really taking a toll on us but we don't wanna give them up since we have assumed that they were abused in their past house. We are always making sure we can pay at all costs. They seem a bit better actually but I am still hearing the weezing and clicking. I am going to try and ask if there are any other meds they can give my piggies as last time the meds made them stop eating and we had to force feed them for over a month. I will definitely give you guys updates. I woke up every three hours last night to make sure they were okay. I will definitely use this advice if the get a URI again which sadly will probably happen since they get sick so much. Thank you!

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I am taking them to the vet right now. They survived the night and I am very greatful. The emergency vet costs are really taking a toll on us but we don't wanna give them up since we have assumed that they were abused in their past house. We are always making sure we can pay at all costs. They seem a bit better actually but I am still hearing the weezing and clicking. I am going to try and ask if there are any other meds they can give my piggies as last time the meds made them stop eating and we had to force feed them for over a month. I will definitely give you guys updates. I woke up every three hours last night to make sure they were okay. I will definitely use this advice if the get a URI again which sadly will probably happen since they get sick so much. Thank you!

If they can get a culture, that would give them a better idea of what antibiotic would do best against the organism and be safe for guinea pigs. Sadly, there are only a few that are considered safe.

Antibiotics are also hard on a guinea pigs tummy. I sympathize with you, as I have two ill pigs at the moment myself and one has been syringe fed every 4 hours for 2 1/2 weeks so far. The other is eating somewhat on his own and is supplemented with Critical Care a few times a day. If they won't eat on their own, they must be force fed. I know it's difficult, but it's just as difficult for them and they really need you.

Good luck with your girls, I hope they have a swift and complete recovery. Please do keep us updated.

[guineamama2017]

Okay so I have an Update on my piggies. They do have URIs and so they will be on some antibiotics. Something we weren't expecting was Rosie possibly has a cyst in her ovary. I have to keep a close eye on her and if it isn't better she will need to be spayed. I am not sure what antibiotic they are going to be put on since it is a different one. I go to an exotic vet so I completely trust them. I will give you another update when I get one.

[guineamama2017]

Another update. We will be taking them for a recheck in two weeks. They were prescribed sulfayrim. If Rosie has no improvement she will get spayed. I will update you guys more when I have more things. Thanks to everyone for their kind words and for giving me hope! I will happily answer any questions you may have

[ItsaZoo]

Good luck with your little ones. I hope they recover quickly with no more issues.

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Glad to hear you got them looked after! Do keep us updated on how they're doing and don't hesitate to ask if you have questions.

[guineamama2017]

For sure. Thanks for everyone's support

[guineamama2017]

Hey I had a question what is the max amount of weight a guinea pig can lose in a day. I am trying to see if my vet made a mistake on the weight.
otherwise she lost 31g in a day and I don't feel that is possible. If I can get an answer fast that would be great!

[Guinea Pig Papa]

31 grams is easily within the realm of possibility. Both of my ill pigs have lost that and more in a day in the past few weeks. That's the reason for the aggressive handfeeding if your pigs arent eating enough on their own.

[bpatters]

A teaspoon of water weighs about five grams. So 31 grams can mean she hadn't peed or pooped before you weighed her the last time, or she had just eaten then and didn't this time.

The ONLY way you can reliable gauge a pig's weight is by weighing at the same time of day, preferably in the morning before breakfast, and keeping a record of it. You can't pay attention to small increases or decreases -- you have to look at a trend over time. Young pigs will be steadily gaining, healthy adult pigs will stay about the same, and sick or old pigs may trend downward.

But you'll drive yourself nuts worrying about ups and downs in weight if you're weighing at different times of day, because you have no idea whether they've just eaten or not.

[guineamama2017]

When I weighed her at night again she was back up. I will try to weigh at the same time but my schedule is crazy

[bpatters]

A night weight is much less accurate than a morning one. You've been feeding her through the day, so you're weighing some unknown amount of food.

Guinea pigs are crepuscular, which is not a terrible form of acne, but means active at dawn and dusk. When you weigh them in the morning, they've been active for a shorter time, and thus have eaten less. You get a truer weight that way.

[guineamama2017]

A night weight is much less accurate than a morning one. You've been feeding her through the day, so you're weighing some unknown amount of food.

Guinea pigs are crepuscular, which is not a terrible form of acne, but means active at dawn and dusk. When you weigh them in the morning, they've been active for a shorter time, and thus have eaten less. You get a truer weight that way.

Thanks!

[guineamama2017]

Also wanted to ask a question this isn't a concern or problem but I was wondering if anyone elses guinea pigs have fallen asleep if you softly sing to them?
Also was wondering has anyone had their female guinea pig fixed? If so what was the outcome?

[guineamama2017]

If they can get a culture, that would give them a better idea of what antibiotic would do best against the organism and be safe for guinea pigs. Sadly, there are only a few that are considered safe.

Antibiotics are also hard on a guinea pigs tummy. I sympathize with you, as I have two ill pigs at the moment myself and one has been syringe fed every 4 hours for 2 1/2 weeks so far. The other is eating somewhat on his own and is supplemented with Critical Care a few times a day. If they won't eat on their own, they must be force fed. I know it's difficult, but it's just as difficult for them and they really need you.

Good luck with your girls, I hope they have a swift and complete recovery. Please do keep us updated.

Sorry for the late reply. We got an antibiotic that doesn't seem to upset their stomach which is good. It is a guinea pig safe med. It isn't in the penicilon family. Also I'm sorry for your sick piggies. I get what force feeding is like. The last time they had a URI I had to force feed em for a good month and a half. The vet says they probably had to be force fed for that long because they started to like it! They are the cutest and trickiest piggies I know. Tell me how things are going for your pigs as well.

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Also wanted to ask a question this isn't a concern or problem but I was wondering if anyone elses guinea pigs have fallen asleep if you softly sing to them?
Also was wondering has anyone had their female guinea pig fixed? If so what was the outcome?

I can't answer the spay question as I've never had females, but it seems to me there was a member here recently, who lost their piggie due to illness. But before that, her piggie would pancake on her chest and fall asleep while her mama would sing "Baby Mine" to her. I'm sure there are others, but that IS one instance that comes to my mind.

[guineamama2017]

I can't answer the spay question as I've never had females, but it seems to me there was a member here recently, who lost their piggie due to illness. But before that, her piggie would pancake on her chest and fall asleep while her mama would sing "Baby Mine" to her. I'm sure there are others, but that IS one instance that comes to my mind.

Thanks! I just noticed recently that one of my piggies would fall asleep while I hold her when I sing softly.
What do small almost pebble like stools mean? I have read something before but I forget where I found it.
They seem to be eating a bit less than normal but I have a few tricks up my sleeve to get their appetite going. Such as giving them their vitamin c tabs. We are giving them more vitamin c than usual but that is since they are sick.

[Artista]

Thanks! I just noticed recently that one of my piggies would fall asleep while I hold her when I sing softly.
What do small almost pebble like stools mean? I have read something before but I forget where I found it.
They seem to be eating a bit less than normal but I have a few tricks up my sleeve to get their appetite going. Such as giving them their vitamin c tabs. We are giving them more vitamin c than usual but that is since they are sick.

The soft small roundish poop is what they take from their underside and eat. Digests the b vitamins.