Glad to hear they are getting better! Some pigs drink a lot of water and some never do, it's down to the individual pig.
Urine oxidizes a brown colour, and that may very well be all it is. I've had several pigs that left brown urine stains, and some that didn't.
If they eat lettuce you can rinse that and leave it really wet so they get more water. I used to lay the leaves in a shallow dish of water so mine had to pull it out of the water to eat it. Cucumbers are watery as well.
Update. Doing great! The bigger one started wheeking when he hears bags opening. They don't eat a ton of hay still but love pellets and veggies. Big guy craps in huge piles, makes me wonder if he was litter box trained?? The pee stains haven't returned but they do pee a lot for pigs who don't drink much water
Very, very happy to hear they are doing well. If they are peeing they are getting their water somewhere so whatever you're doing it's working. Thank you very much for giving us updates on these little guys, they have been on my mind.
I do have a concern for their behavior I didn't want to make a new thread about. The big/younger one Bruin will sometimes corner Little Bear in a house. I will HEAR Little Bear scream once and then the altercation is over. I have yet to witness this happen in person, I am always somewhere else when I hear it. After Little Bear cries, Bruin will leave him alone. I don't see any wounds or blood on Little Bear. Aside from these events (happened maybe 4 times), they don't display a whole bunch of dominance behavior. There are 2 houses for them, but Bruin does have significant and sometimes moves the house around with him.
You've got houses with only one door, right? Those are a big no-no in a guinea pig pen. They're just invitations for one pig to trap another and get its face slashed in the process.
Either cut another door in all the houses, or take them out and replace them with fleece strategically placed across the cage.
I'm worried about the big/young one Bruin. He is breathing hard and not being a normal piggy. His older brother is eating and running around but Bruin is hiding and not eating much. I don't think he peed today at all (he stays in his house and the bedding isn't wet). He goes to the vet tomorrow.
Please let us know how Bruin is doing!
Our appt isn't til 7.30pm tonight (weird time I know) and there's no other vet open on a Sunday of course. Bruin hasn't gone potty much, altho he will eat some veggies and water. His older brother Little Bear is running around and having fun but Bruin rather hide. Twice today I heard him (assuming it was him) make this loud cough or gag like he is choking. Not sure how to describe his breathing other than heavy and his nostrils are flaring. Sometimes he makes little clicky sounds as he breathes.
It sounds like an upper respiratory infection, and the clicking isn't great news. I'm glad you're getting him in tonight and getting him the help he needs.Originally Posted by ChicoAndAmigo
The vet thinks he has CHF or pneumonia or both. We did xrays and she showed me a normal pig xray compared to Bruin. Bruin's lungs are full of fluid. She couldn't see his heart. He also unleashed a huge gag I had been hearing on occassion but couldn't pinpoint it to anyone. Prognosis isn't good. Vet recommended CHF meds and an antibiotic but she admitted she didn't have full faith in the meds and he may need to be put down or he just won't live long. I decided to do the antibiotic and no chf meds (cost) and see what happens. He is still eating veggies and going to the bowl of pellets, so he doesn't want to die yet. I've never experienced this with guinea pigs and am very overwhelmed.
Bruin is still alive this morning and acting as he always has. Other people have recommended Critical Care to me but Amazon looks to be sold out for a few days. He had green peppers for breakfast. I'm just going to watch him day by day and give him the meds, and see how it goes. If he gets better, great, if not then I'll put him down. But right now I don't feel like euthanizing him is the right choice. I can hear him breathing from where I sit about 7 feet away.
It's hard to distinguish between CHF and pneumonia at first glance, and if it is CHF the vet is right, his time is limited.
You will need either Critical Care or a pellet slurry to hand feed him, as the antibiotic is likely to mess with his stomach. Do you weigh him on a regular basis? If not, you should and it's especially critical now.
You'll also need a probiotic to give him 1-2 hours after his antibiotic. The BeneBac pet gel seems to be the go to and I myself have used it, but in a pinch you can get a bottle of acidophilus capsules and use that.
You SHOULD start to see an improvement in Bruin's condition in a couple of days or so, if it is pneumonia. Keeping him up on his meds, and making sure he eats and stays hydrated are critical.
With careful tweaking of CHF meds, he can live quite a long time. They're not terribly expensive, and if I could, I'd give them a try.
The first thing he needs is a diuretic to get that fluid off his lungs -- that in itself is very detrimental to heart function. There are some links here about other treatments: http://guinealynx.info/heart.html
I think I am going to go back and get the meds. The vet gave him a poor prognosis anyway. We talked about euthanasia. I just can't put him down after him being abandoned. It isn't right and he doesn't deserve it. He is eating and moving around and pestering his brother. He is easy to give meds to. The meds will be about $100. I spent $300 or so at this visit. They want a follow up visit and xray in a week if we do the meds. So another $300. I don't have a ton of money for him but I can't let him down while he still shows a will to live.
They want to give him metacam, furosemide and ...thyophylline? Not sure on spelling. That one has to be compounded to a liquid. I checked Chewy but the prices are not much cheaper so it isn't worth wasting time to find it cheaper.
The vet was very grim about his lifespan. She feels like I'll be back soon to say goodbye. Same with coworkers at the vet office I work at.
I have to say...... I admire your dedication to this little guy. I'm very proud and happy to know people like you are out there. YOU are giving him a fighting chance that someone else just dumped him off and gave them no chance at.
The metacam is an anti inflammatory and as such can have pain relieving properties. The furosemide is for his heart and the fluid around his lungs and theophylline is a bronchodilator medication to aid his breathing.
Regardless of what happens with Bruin, you gave him the chance. Thank you for that. My fingers are crossed, and Leo and Simon send their wheeks and purrs of encouragement and comraderie.
You can do this, Bruin. You have the fight.
Best of luck to you, I hope he pulls through. We have a dog recently diagnosed with CHF and he is taking furosemide. It works very quickly to eliminate fluid in the lungs so I hope you see improvement soon. The antibiotics might put him off his food, so as someone else advised, Critical Care and some syringes are important to have on hand.
I dont know where to get critical care. Amazon is back ordered and the vet doesn't have it. Regardless he is eating all right for now and I looked up how to make a mush if he needs force feeding. I got some syringes from work in case I need them.
I got the meds and gave them to him around 10am or so. He is now moving around more and pestering his brother. I saw him at the water bowl (they wouldn't use the bottle when I first got them) and he's eating his vitamin c treats, eggplant, and nibbling at hay. The internet says these meds start working pretty fast.
I noticed the past few days and before we went to the vet that he wasn't going potty much. His house was pretty much spotless while his brother's is loaded with crap. Still the same story now, I noticed some mushy poop but not sure if it was from him.
My main concern for him is all these meds! They are getting better about being shy but they don't like being picked up and run from hands (most of the time). I sit him on my lap and we slowly take the meds. He gets a little so he can chew it and then he gets a little more til it is gone. Very tedious. He doesn't struggle much but after a while he gets tired of the syringe in his face
I know all the meds are daunting. Believe me, I've been there and so have many, many others here. It's for the best for Bruin at this point and I'm very much hoping that it all brings him around to a happy, healthy pig.
Unfortunately, giving a pig meds is and usually will be a tedious process. Late last year when BOTH of my boys were seriously ill at the same time, Feeding each pig took an hour to and hour and a half EACH. Three hours to feed two pigs, and that was happening every 4 hours. Between my wife and I we got it done, but it was exhausting and emotionally taxing to say the least. We operated like that around the clock for over a month.
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