Hi. So, I suppose this is now my medical thread for my four year old male guinea pig, Maple, who is apparently paralyzed from about the middle back.
Recently I realized that he was not using his back legs properly when he walked. I thought it was because we had put off trimming his nails for too long, and they were getting in the way of him walking. So my mom and I made trimming them a priority. That was quite the ordeal, and from how much he hated it (he always has), I am fairly sure he had at least some feeling in his back legs at that point. I thought he would start walking properly again once his nails were shorter, but that was not to be the case.
I gave it a little time, hoping it would sort itself out (bad idea), but instead the problem got steadily worse until he wasn't using his back legs at all (he was scooting himself around with his front feet), and then he stopped drinking or eating anything but vegetables. Once I realized he wasn't eating, I started to get really worried, so my sister (who was home for fall break) took him back to college with her and brought him to the vet. The vet determined that he had no feeling in his back half. I believe she said that it could be a spine problem, like a slipped disk, or it could be a tumor pressing down on a nerve. She sent a nutrient supplement and and anti-inflammatory back with him (I believe the latter is for reducing the tumor if there is one--I heard all this second hand so I'm not sure of anything).
That was last night. We put him in his cage, made him a new house with three doors so he could get in and out more easily, lowered his water bottle, moved everything in his cage closer together. He lives in half of a 2x6 C&C cage with a barrier down the middle separating him from my other male guinea pig, Steve. They're good friends, but Steve couldn't respect Maple's valued personal space, so they didn't make good roommates. They've both got fleece bedding. (I don't know how much of that was relevant, but I figure some history might be helpful).
Steve was very happy to have his brother back, and Maple was happy to see Steve again after his days at the vet. He was also quite thirsty, and happily drank from his now lowered water bottle. Besides his back legs, Maple seemed none the worse for wear. We gave him some hay, some pellets, and a few pieces of celery (he ate the celery very happily).
So early this morning my mom and I took Maple out and tried to give him his nutrient supplement (Oxbow Animal Health, Critical Care Fine Grind), via a syringe-thing. He seemed eager for it at first, then he decided he didn't want it (which I can understand--it's weird-smelling, icky green goop). No problem, right? That's why they call it "force-feeding." Well, unfortunately it was much harder than expected. The syringe-thing (I don't know what to properly call it) had a rather short, wide-ish opening due to the consistency of the supplement, which made it very hard to get it in his mouth when he wouldn't hold his head still. All we managed to do was get green goop all over his face and the towel we were holding him with. Then we tried the anti-inflammatory and he totally freaked out, but I managed to get it into him by sheer will-power and a much thinner syringe.
Once he had calmed down we tried the supplement again, and again had no luck. So I tried piping some onto a stick of celery and offering him that. He was very excited until he realized what it was, at which point he tried chewing the edge of the celery without getting any supplement. When that didn't work he gave up and looked around for something else. So I put the celery into his cage with him in hopes that he would eventually get hungry enough to eat it.
Fast forward to this evening. I took away his house for awhile to encourage him to look around, and he walked (or rather, scooted using only his front legs) all the way to the other side of the cage for apparently no reason, which seems to me like a good sign. He's been drinking water fine, he's socializing with Steve, and he seems happy to see me when I walk in the room (probably hoping I have vegetables, because the poor pig must be starving). He ate a very little bit of the nutrient-celery, but I guess decided it wasn't worth it. He still has no interest in his hay or pellets. He's not using the bathroom very much, but I imagine that's because he's hardly eaten (I'm supposed to be monitoring that, because the vet said the paralysis thing could mess up his bladder and kidney functions).
So now I don't know what to do. The time is approaching for him to be fed again (or at least, I guess it is--the vet gave basically no instructions on that. *Throws up hands in exasperation*) and I have no idea how we're gonna get anything into him. And I just don't understand why he's not eating. I mean, I guess I wouldn't be interested in food either if I was paralyzed. But the really weird thing is that besides the not eating, he's way more himself than I'd think he would be under these circumstances. The front half of him at least is the exact same guinea pig I've known since I was 12. He's not lethargic, he doesn't seem depressed, he still loves celery, he socializes with Steve, and he's as stubborn as ever (hence we can't feed him).
So what am I supposed to do? I've tried all of the tricks I can think of. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Recently I realized that he was not using his back legs properly when he walked. I thought it was because we had put off trimming his nails for too long, and they were getting in the way of him walking. So my mom and I made trimming them a priority. That was quite the ordeal, and from how much he hated it (he always has), I am fairly sure he had at least some feeling in his back legs at that point. I thought he would start walking properly again once his nails were shorter, but that was not to be the case.
I gave it a little time, hoping it would sort itself out (bad idea), but instead the problem got steadily worse until he wasn't using his back legs at all (he was scooting himself around with his front feet), and then he stopped drinking or eating anything but vegetables. Once I realized he wasn't eating, I started to get really worried, so my sister (who was home for fall break) took him back to college with her and brought him to the vet. The vet determined that he had no feeling in his back half. I believe she said that it could be a spine problem, like a slipped disk, or it could be a tumor pressing down on a nerve. She sent a nutrient supplement and and anti-inflammatory back with him (I believe the latter is for reducing the tumor if there is one--I heard all this second hand so I'm not sure of anything).
That was last night. We put him in his cage, made him a new house with three doors so he could get in and out more easily, lowered his water bottle, moved everything in his cage closer together. He lives in half of a 2x6 C&C cage with a barrier down the middle separating him from my other male guinea pig, Steve. They're good friends, but Steve couldn't respect Maple's valued personal space, so they didn't make good roommates. They've both got fleece bedding. (I don't know how much of that was relevant, but I figure some history might be helpful).
Steve was very happy to have his brother back, and Maple was happy to see Steve again after his days at the vet. He was also quite thirsty, and happily drank from his now lowered water bottle. Besides his back legs, Maple seemed none the worse for wear. We gave him some hay, some pellets, and a few pieces of celery (he ate the celery very happily).
So early this morning my mom and I took Maple out and tried to give him his nutrient supplement (Oxbow Animal Health, Critical Care Fine Grind), via a syringe-thing. He seemed eager for it at first, then he decided he didn't want it (which I can understand--it's weird-smelling, icky green goop). No problem, right? That's why they call it "force-feeding." Well, unfortunately it was much harder than expected. The syringe-thing (I don't know what to properly call it) had a rather short, wide-ish opening due to the consistency of the supplement, which made it very hard to get it in his mouth when he wouldn't hold his head still. All we managed to do was get green goop all over his face and the towel we were holding him with. Then we tried the anti-inflammatory and he totally freaked out, but I managed to get it into him by sheer will-power and a much thinner syringe.
Once he had calmed down we tried the supplement again, and again had no luck. So I tried piping some onto a stick of celery and offering him that. He was very excited until he realized what it was, at which point he tried chewing the edge of the celery without getting any supplement. When that didn't work he gave up and looked around for something else. So I put the celery into his cage with him in hopes that he would eventually get hungry enough to eat it.
Fast forward to this evening. I took away his house for awhile to encourage him to look around, and he walked (or rather, scooted using only his front legs) all the way to the other side of the cage for apparently no reason, which seems to me like a good sign. He's been drinking water fine, he's socializing with Steve, and he seems happy to see me when I walk in the room (probably hoping I have vegetables, because the poor pig must be starving). He ate a very little bit of the nutrient-celery, but I guess decided it wasn't worth it. He still has no interest in his hay or pellets. He's not using the bathroom very much, but I imagine that's because he's hardly eaten (I'm supposed to be monitoring that, because the vet said the paralysis thing could mess up his bladder and kidney functions).
So now I don't know what to do. The time is approaching for him to be fed again (or at least, I guess it is--the vet gave basically no instructions on that. *Throws up hands in exasperation*) and I have no idea how we're gonna get anything into him. And I just don't understand why he's not eating. I mean, I guess I wouldn't be interested in food either if I was paralyzed. But the really weird thing is that besides the not eating, he's way more himself than I'd think he would be under these circumstances. The front half of him at least is the exact same guinea pig I've known since I was 12. He's not lethargic, he doesn't seem depressed, he still loves celery, he socializes with Steve, and he's as stubborn as ever (hence we can't feed him).
So what am I supposed to do? I've tried all of the tricks I can think of. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.