New piggies Snickers & Toffee

[Daedalus]

Hi everyone! I'm a new cavy owner as I just got my two female piggies about a week ago. Their names are Toffee (white&tan, red eyes) and Snickers (tri-color). I believe they are maybe a few months old, but am not really sure.

Unfortunately I had to get them from a local petstore hmy:. The closest rescue (about 1 hr. away) was closed after hurricane Katrina, so I was left only to get a pair at a privately owned store. Serves me right, one of them is pretty sick. Toffee is scratching and sneezing a bit excessively already, so I need to take her to a vet as soon as possible as it might be something serious (URI, mites?).

Both seem to be pretty happy though, and love the large 2x4 CC cage. They run around alot, especially at night, which is rather bothersome when I need to sleep. I think they are more comfortable in the dark. I now put an air machine on to create some ambient noise, so I don't know if this helps or hurts their sleeping. They like to play chase, and sometimes I can't tell if it's fun or if their fighting when I think they nip each other.

I have a question too-ever since I got them both, Toffee seems to eat much more than Snickers. It's not that Snickers doesn't eat, it's just not as often. Is it normal to have fairly different appetites in pigs? She doesn't eat any vegetables, whereas Toffee is always willing to give it a try.

Pictures of cavies & cage:

(broken link removed)

(broken link removed)

I'll probable show some more pi(g?)tures soon.

Thanks for any replies, and it is nice to meet you all!

 

[Ruby77]

Hi there, I am new too, although I have had my piggies for about 2 years.
I love your pics, and your cage looks great.
I would take your piggies to the vet asap, it could be all they need is some meds for mites and the vet can tell you if they have a URI, remember piggies can go downhill quickly, so the sooner you get them to the vet the better.
As for eating, some piggies do eat more than others but just make sure that the one than doesn't eat alot isn't getting bullied by the other one. Do you have 2 bowls of food in there just in case?
Let us know how you get on with them!

 

[jdomans]

Toffee is identical to my Doolittle!! WOW. Please go ahead and take both girls into the vet as Snickers has been exposed to Toffee who has whatever! The mites go without saying treat them both.
the girls are too darling.
Here is Doolittle

 

[fairysari]

Hi, welcome to the forums. This is a great place to learn all about your piggies.

I hope you take your pig to the vet soon. The sooner the problem is treated, the better chance they have of recovering quickly. Also, I would suggest buying a kitchen scale, and weighing your pigs. That way you can monitor if Snickers is losing weight.

Good luck with you vet visit, I hope Toffee feels better soon. My first pig had a URI when I first got him, and he recovered quickly on bactrim.

I really like your cage. Very smart to leave the coroplast so high against the walls. I wish I'd done that with my cage.

 

[C&K]

Please upgrade ASAP to now or tommorow morning!! It is often not known by new guinea pig people, but they can go downhill very quickly. Pigs don't get better on their own, but infections such as this are very easy to treat in most situations. Please visit the medical care guide at www.guinealynx.info it will give you a list of effective treatments and meds for both URI's and mites.

Good luck. In the future if you are looking for pigs, post here and give it a little time, you will be surprised at how the homeless pigs come out of the woodwork! There never is a time when your only option is to buy from a petstore!

Also, get a digital scale, and weigh them daily while they are sick. Weightloss is often the first indication of a problem, and the only way to tell (as opposed to volume) if they are eating enough or not! When they are healthy, weekly weighings should be good enough.

Lynx at Guinea lynx has a great cavy health record book I would suggest ordering too.

 

[Daedalus]

Nice to meet everyone.

It appears that I was a bit quick in my "diagnosis". I think it's allergies. I was just cleaning my cage out today and had my piggies out for floor time. Toffee didn't sneeze once. I actually had them out for at least two hours, as I had to wash the towels I put under my Carefresh bedding. If I ever go visit my piggies for over 30 minutes, its almost certain Toffee will sneeze during that time (in her cage). Soon after I put Toffee back in the cage, she sneezed. It doesn't really seem that she is at all bothered by it either, as she just carries on with her business.

So I'm soon to be testing what her allergies could be; I will test different hay, bedding, and such untill I find what's suitable. I can't find the thread where I read about someone who had similiar problems, but I think that is what it is. We don't have any good guinea pig vets around here, so I am also afraid I will just pay a sum of money for the vet just to get some worthless info.

Will post when I have new discoveries.

 

[Daedalus]

Oh, and cute (and familiar looking) cavy by the way jdomans. Probable an adult version of Toffee .

 

[Ly&Pigs]

It appears that I was a bit quick in my "diagnosis". I think it's allergies.

Please don't "diagnose" your pig yourself. They are great at hiding illnesses and it very well could be a URI. Sometimes in the earlier stages, you may only see one sign of illness. Pigs rarely suffer from allergy problems.

 

[HowietheGreat]

Taking your new pigs to the vet (especially if they came from a pet store) is a must. Even if it does end up that they are perfectly healthy, a well check up is never a bad idea. Plus it allows your vet to become familar with your two. They are very cute and you did a great job on your cage. Welcome

 

[My Baby Mu]

Welcome to the forum.

Toffee is scratching and sneezing a bit excessively already
It appears that I was a bit quick in my "diagnosis". I think it's allergies

My pig did not scratch excessively when we had a vet confirmation on allergies. Please don't diagnose you pig yourself, expecially when you are a new pig owner. Guinea pigs rarely get allergies. Take your pig to the vet ASAP.

 

[JennG]

Ditto to what Ly and jdomans said. I'd still take them both in for a check-up if only to have a peace of mind. And welcome to the forum.

 

[Daedalus]

Well, I took them to the vet a few days ago. After looking at both of them, inspecting for mites and such, the vet said that they were both healthy. She gave them each a Bordetalla vaccine shot to be on the safe side and boost immunity to help them get over any illness they might have. She also told me how important vitamin C is, bedding risks for wood shavings, and other info I already knew. So I bought myself peace of mind knowing that in fact they aren't sick or won't be for long.

 

[fairysari]

I thought that a bordetella vaccine sounded strange so I searched for it on GL, and found this thread: https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/...der=asc&highlight=vaccine+bortadella&start=20

Apparently the vaccine isn't good for pigs? Maybe you could ask for more info at GL.

Edit to add: I realized I spelled it wrong, so maybe just searching around while spelling it correctly (bordetella) might be helpful... Sorry.

Edit again to add: This thread has some info: https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13624&highlight=bordetella+vaccine

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Your vet didn't dose for mites anyway knowing they were from a pet store? Sounds like you may need a more cavy savy vet.

 

[PiggieMom]

You can't see mites on the skin at all.
https://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html

They can be easily treated by you with ivermectin. Even if they don't have them it is safe, inexpensive and easy to treat as a precaution.
https://www.guinealynx.info/ivermectin.html

It doesn't sound like your vet is too cavy savvy. I would check their credentials: https://www.guinealynx.info/vet.html

 

[khairulhazman]

oh so sweet... what things used as a bedding in this pics

 

[Daedalus]

She was about to order Ivermectin to use, but kept saying there was no sign of bad scratching on the skin and she looked good. Now I wish she just went ahead and got it...

She looked it up and saw that the vaccine was safe for guinea pigs, so she gave them that. She was probable the most cavy savy vet in my area, that's why I was hesitant to go to the vet in the first place...I should have told her to use the ivermectin anyway though, so it's my fault I guess. She asked me where they came from, and when I told her I choose "Adventure Pets" ((broken link removed))instead of Petsmart she said that was really good, because they run a much better operation than Petsmart.

 

[Daedalus]

Oh, for bedding I have newspaper, towels, a generous amount of Carefresh in the corners of the cage and along the outside edges, and a fleece blanket in the middle. I might switch to aspen though because $20 for Carefresh is a lot.