Lethals Please give advice on a possible lethal.

[Mamabear27]

Piggies were born on 12/28/13 and they seemed to be doing just fine until last night. The biggest piggie, solid white with pink eyes, was flopped over on his side last night kicking and flopping and having a ton of trouble. I didn't know what was wrong (I thought choking) but I sit him up and tried to just keep him from flopping so much he hurt himself. After maybe just a few seconds he was fine. Remained fine all night and this morning he was still fine but I stayed in there longer than normal and one of the others started doing the same thing. I helped her and she was fine after a few seconds. I was trying to check them out and I noticed something was wrong with his teeth, i initially thought he broke one. I called the vet and took them all to the animal ER. She was researching as I was there (rural town not a lot of options) she was as helpful as she could be. we are fairly certain he is a lethal. but it doesnt explain the 'flopping' episodes in the other. I brought them home and put them back in the cage with mom and within 10 minutes the girl that was 'flopping' this morning was doing the same thing again. The vet said it can be choking, a seizure, she isn't sure. The white piggie did not have a broken tooth, his teeth were too long and had to be trimmed. We are also fairly certain he is pretty much blind I don't know what is happening with them or what to do for a lethal... Anyone know what is happening to the piggies or have any advice for me please?!

 

[bpatters]

I don't understand. Do you have one lethal, or two? Can you describe what they look like -- size of the eyes, whether or not they can see and/or hear, coat color, etc.

Seizures in two of them could be caused by something they've eaten, or they could be very inbred. Do you know anything about their history?

Unfortunately, most lethals don't live very long. Their intestinal tracts are very immature, and they often are unable to digest food. It sounds as though your pig is having seizures, which would be consistent with neurological damage. Can you possibly get him to an exotic vet? If not, the kindest thing might be to put him down.

 

[muddygrl]

It sounds like seizures. I don't know anything about lethals though. I had a guinea pig that had seizures in her old age and that's what it looked like, she laid on her size and kicked and acted weird.

 

[Mamabear27]

I don't know much about their history. I got them from a teenager who was going to take them to the animal shelter (they would have put them down). I separated them as soon as I figured out she was pregnant. A bit more information on them and there are pictures here https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/95123-So-many-questions-about-pregnancy-and-delivery of the babies and the parents. I have two that are having the same type of "flipping episode" for lack of a better description. I don't know what is happening then but a seizure seems very plausible. I believe only the one to be an actual lethal teeth issues and mostly blind. He can hear as he calms down to the sound of my voice (the vet noted and brought tears to my eyes). We have a vet that treats birds and reptiles but he doesn't "specialize" in guinea pigs and honestly I have no confidence in them. The place I took them is reputable but she didn't pretend to know everything about them. I don't know what to do. I hate the thoughts of having the little guy put down but I won't allow him to suffer. I don't know how to know if he is Why couldn't they have both been girls. I had to tell my son, I would rather prepare him gently that shock him.

 

[bpatters]

Can he eat? Have you been hand-feeding him?

 

[Mamabear27]

I am researching hand feeding right now, the vet gave me some syringes. I have been watching him and I think I have figured something out about him... it may sound weird but I think he has been eating poop, I know piggies do that (no matter the age) but i think he has been doing it a lot to sustain himself. He could eat when he was born he was the first to attempt eating hay. She didnt explain hand feeding to me though so I dont know what or how to do it. I have to order critical care so all I have are pellets and hay. I am hoping to find a pet store with more supplies tomorrow. I have had guinea pigs for 75 days and I have researched like crazy since I got them but I don't know what info to trust. The piggie are 10 days old... the one who hasn't had any trouble, Vanellope, weighs 169 g, Dash the one who has two "episodes" (from what I have read and found videos it appears they are seizures) weighs 123 g and Kirby (all white with bad teeth and mostly blind) weighs 116 g. If these are seizures, Dash and Kirby have both had 2 today THAT I KNOW OF. They are so quick I have no clue for sure. I know I am all over the place with these posts but I have to keep running back to the piggies every time I hear a noise and then I think of something else. I'm driving myself crazy. Can someone please give me a quick how-to for hand feeding?

 

[Inle_Rabbit]

Here is the link you want for handfeeding:

https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

 

[bpatters]

You can use a pellet slurry until you get Critical Care -- just grind them in a coffee grinder, blender, or food processor and mix them with water. If the mixture is runny, it'll be easier to load the syringes.

You need one large syringe and several 1 cc syringes, none of them with needles. Cut the tips off the 1 cc syringes with a knife, right at the end of the barrel. If there are sharp edges, hold them in a flame for just a few seconds until they've smoothed out. Pull the plungers out of the 1 cc syringes and load them with the larger syringe.

If he's eating nothing else, he needs 40-50 cc of the slurry or Critical Care per day, broken into 5-6 feedings. If he is eating, you can decrease that amount accordingly.

If I were you, the only two sites on the internet that I'd pay attention to are this one and Guinea Lynx. There are some others that have some good information on some topics, but none that I know of that have the number of users with the depth of experience needed to handle medical problems like these. Save yourself the time and effort of chasing around all over the place -- as you've already discovered, you'll find conflicting information. These two sites will give you the best info you can find.

There are a few people on here with lethals. I can't remember who they are at the moment, but if someone else does, maybe they'll post the user name and you can PM them. The user MildredM at Guinea Lynx has maybe the world's most famous lethal --- you can read about her at www.fairymagic.me.

 

[bpatters]

Yes, jacqueline does, but she's relatively new to lethal ownership. There's someone around who's had them quite a while.

 

[spudsthepiget]

Doesn't @RodentCuddles have a lethal?

 

[Soecara]

Yes, RodentCuddles had a lethal, but unfortunately precious passed away in august of 2013. Here is the thread about precious on guinea lynx https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=68574&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0.

 

[Mamabear27]

Thanks everyone. I will send some PMs now. Does the piggie have to be all white to be a lethal?

 

[spudsthepiget]

Yes. Lethals are always white.