Sick 3 year old GP moving weirdly, in ICU now

[mekalika]

Yesterday morning at 6:45 AM I gave my two guinea pigs, Charlotte and Hunter ("Hunger") their pellets. Hunter came out of his hidey hut but only managed to get halfway across the 2x4 cage before collapsing. His movements were strange and jerky, and he couldn't stand up properly at all. I called for my husband and when my husband came down, Hunter managed to get back into his box to hide. I immediately got a 10 AM appointment with the exotics vet. In the meantime, we were able to handfeed him some veggies and pellets. After a little while he turned his head away and appeared to sleep, before waking up again and accepting a few more pellets.

Video of his movements (taken at the vet's office):
https://youtu.be/1JtdgSSrnTg

The vet initially thought his heart sounded irregular so she did an ultrasound to check if he had fluid around his lungs, which he didn't. She got a second vet to take a look at him and it didn't sound like his heart was irregular anymore. He said that Hunger felt cold, which I had noticed too. They took an x-ray and it did appear that he had some irregularities in his lungs. We left him in the incubator for the day, where he received oxygen, fluids, antibiotics, and warmth.



We came back in the evening around 8 PM. His movements were no longer twitchy like before, but he was still lethargic, and wasn't eating any food, even favorite treats from home. He was a little more energetic in that he actually hid in the pigloo in the incubator instead of just lying outside. We decided to transfer him to another branch of the animal hospital that had overnight staff. We paid $364 for the tests and treatments in the first branch.

After driving him there, another exotics vet saw him and thought his stomach looked distended in the xray. That vet suggested we give him an IV catheter if we wanted to be aggressive (which would cost $500-$800), but that we could still just leave him in the incubator overnight to see how he did. He also suggested that the prognosis wasn't really good and that we might want to start thinking about euthanasia. He also said inserting the catheter is very difficult and might not be successful anyway. While we were discussing and deciding, a nurse (tech?) held a tube that blew oxygen in front of his face:



The catheter scared me, but my husband really wanted to do everything we could for Hunger, so we gave the go ahead for the catheter insertion, setting down a $500 deposit. Hunger was put into another incubator to prepare, and we went home. The office said we could call at anytime for a status check, and they would call if anything bad happened, so no news is good news.

My husband couldn't sleep and I woke up at 4 AM worried. I dreamt that Hunger came home healthy and he could even fly!

I have to go now but will update more soon. I hope this post can be informative to others. Please keep Hunger in your thoughts!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Poor Hunter.

He seems pretty big. Is he a cuy? He has the coloring, and cuy don't live as long as normal guinea pigs, being bred specifically for meat.

I'm not sure about the "shaky" movements. Is it a loss of mobility? Or something neurological?

 

[sallyvh]

Poor guy, I unfortunately don't have any medical advice that I can offer on this case. I just wanted to wish you, your husband and Hunter luck, hopefully he pulls through and makes a full recovery!

 

[mekalika]

Thank you!

He usually hovers around 2.9 to 3 pounds. I feel like he must be at least half cuy since he has the right coloring, but he's not super large. He also doesn't have a cuy personality at all - he's totally laid back, accepts pets in his cage, and is easy to handle. I wasn't aware that cuy don't live as long as regular guinea pigs! He's definitely my husband's favorite pig...
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Continuing the story - this morning we called the hospital and asked how Hunter was doing. The tech said his breathing was regular now but he still wasn't eating anything. They also said that they weren't able to insert the IV catheter so were giving him critical care. We headed over with some treats but he didn't eat any of them again. I picked him up and he was all limp. When I put him down he looked like this:



Another vet spoke with us and said it was common for them to stop using their back legs for some reason. We brought him his favorite toy and he climbed right in:



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We just visited him again now in the evening. The vet saw us and said his temperature seems steady now so they turned off the heat in the incubator. They'll keep monitoring his temperature and turn the heat back on if necessary. He seemed a tiny bit more energetic than before, being able to lift his head a little and not laying quite as flat. The vet said he was doing a great job taking the critical care, but still wasn't eating. I picked him up and my husband offered him a piece of salad and he ate it! We were so happy. We spent the rest of our visit handfeeding him salad and a few blueberries. He didn't accept any pellets or hay, though. He was also sitting with his head quite close to the ground so a lot of the vegetable was getting smeared onto the towel:

[video=youtube_share;yEPXA2sXMQ0]https://youtu.be/yEPXA2sXMQ0[/video]

So he's not quite normal yet, but this is a great sign. The vet hopes if he stays stable and starts eating more, we can take him home! The vet said he won't try to insert the IV catheter again since Hunter seems to be getting better. Good news for my wallet!

We will visit him again tomorrow morning with more treats, and maybe hopefully by tomorrow evening he'll be home and I will be reading about how to do aftercare. We're feeling cautiously optimistic.

 

[mekalika]

I thought I would also share these xrays of him since I got a copy. They're pretty neat looking!

 

[lissie]

Hope he gets better soon.

Did they know what's wrong with him?

Looks like we're in the same area. I guess you took him to Adobe Animal Hospital?

 

[lisanjake]

oh poor boy!! I really hope they can fix him up soon! xxx

 

[mekalika]

@lissie: Yes, we first went to the Los Gatos branch where we saw Dr. Blackwolf. Dr. Nakamura also took a look at him. Then we took him to the Los Altos branch where he's mainly been seen by Dr. Cote. We also spoke to Dr. Metzger yesterday morning. I feel like they don't really know what's wrong with him. Dr. Cote thinks maybe a lung infection led to the GI stasis. Dr. cote said he's pretty much been giving Hunter all the antibiotics.

Dr. Blackwolf's notes on the case transfer: "presented flat and twitchy this am. did rads, bloodwork. sl. changes in lung fields. very intermittent arrhythmia. no fluid in abdomen or chest. less twitchy, sl more responsive (went into hut, responding to owner) but very lethargic."

@spy9doc: Glad to hear Chester & Maya are still with you! We don't know what we'll do without Hunter - Charlotte is only 2.5 years old now.

Yes, we've been very impressed by the facilities at the animal hospital here. It's surprisingly sophisticated. I always feel like I'm playing make believe with my little furbaby at the doctor.

This morning we visited Hunter and he ate one leaf of salad and one piece of KMS bluegrass hay we brought, and nibbled a blueberry. The tech said she had just given him Critical Care an hour ago, and since he'd been taking it so well (seemed to be chewing and enjoying it), she gave him a little more than necessary. So maybe he was just full. (But he's never full normally!) Dr. Cote doesn't come in until later in the morning, so we didn't speak with him. We'll visit Hunter again in the evening. I feel nervous since he ate a whole little bowl of veggies yesterday night but wasn't so interested now.

 

[poop_patrol]

Great pictures and videos. Best of luck to you.

Have you considered posting your story and x-rays over at the Guinea Lynx forums? There are several members with extensive experience there who may also have useful advice.
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/

 

[poop_patrol]

Go easy on the blueberry or eliminate that altogether until he is back to normal. You don't want to feed sugary fruit to a pig experiencing bloat or stasis.

 

[mekalika]

Thanks for the tip poop_patrol! We'll be careful with the blueberry or just give them to Charlotte, hehe. Or I'll eat them myself!

I reposted on Guinea Lynx: https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=72078

 

[mekalika]

Yesterday evening we took Hunter home from the clinic. They had turn off the oxygen blowing in his incubator since about noon and his breathing was still normal, so he wasn't receiving anything at the hospital that he couldn't get at home. They did another xray and it didn't seem like his lungs or stomach were any different. Dr. Cote thinks his lungs weren't the problem, and that that's probably just how his lungs look, and that the issue is GI stasis, but we don't know the cause yet. It could be a dental problem, or maybe it just happened?

Dr. Cote gave us instructions on how to care for him. We would be giving him Cisapride (a prokinetic), Meloxicam (for pain), Baytril (antibiotic), Simethicone (an anti-gas medication), and liquid Vitamin C. We were also instructed to syringe feed 12 ml Critical Care 3 times daily.

It took a while to get everything from the in-clinic pharmacy. CVS didn't have liquid Vitamin C but luckily Walgreens did (it was late at night already). We were tired, but when we got home we got started on the the first medications, syringe fed him 2.5 ml of liquid vitamin C and maybe about 9 ml of Critical Care before we called it a night. We put Hunter into his cage and he made little squeaks of happiness! He usually makes that sound when I put in his favorite toy. He spent the rest of the night lying around and changing positions around the cage.

This morning he didn't seem any different, still very tired. When he heard me coming downstairs to bring breakfast, he came out from behind the box and ran across the cage to the Kitchen section of his cage. Then he just lied down there and didn't do anything. I picked him up and we gave him meds. I syringe fed him some water in addition to 2.5 ml of Vitamin C and we succeeded in finishing 12 ml of Critical Care.

Should I be giving him more water along with the liquid vitamin C? We're supposed to give Hunter 7.5 ml of liquid Vitamin C daily. I think I read somewhere that 10 ml of water a day is best, is that in addition to the liquid vitamin C?

I'm feeling pretty worried about him since he just seems so tired...

 

[mekalika]

Would like to add that his bill for Tuesday and Wednesday at the clinic, including prescriptions and Critical Care totaled to $533.20.

 

[pinky]

Would like to add that his bill for Tuesday and Wednesday at the clinic, including prescriptions and Critical Care totaled to $533.20.

Considering how much they've done for him, I think that's reasonable.

 

[mekalika]

Yes, it includes $85 for sending the xrays to radiology, $95 for second set of xrays on the last day (which I approved), about $70 for prescriptions and Critical Care, and $143 for each day spent there w/ syringe feeding. Phew...>$900 so far including the over the counter stuff and it may not even be over yet. Luckily it's not a problem financially for us, but I'm glad I resisted the urge to get a third pig last year. These guys can be expensive!

 

[barbaramudge]

Aww, he looks so much like my Pappy Papperson that it makes my heart hurt.

I hope all goes well for him.

 

[caballo303]

I really hope he pulls thru. My wife and I lost our favorite and most feisty/energetic piggy on May 25 2015 memorial weekend at the young age of 3 he had just turned as well. He came Down with a freak respiratory infection our vet declared. We are still devastated and heart crushed as we feel as sad as if we lost a family member. that feeling won't change for a very long time so I hope you don't go thru that instead I hope he makes a full recovery and you get to enjoy a happy healthy friend for years of love and enjoyment. I will pray daily and often for him and the two of you

 

[mekalika]

@spy9doc: Yikes, I hope Chester heals well from his dental work! Thanks for all the tips. The liquid vitamin C bottle from Walgreens is huge, so I think it should be more than enough for a while. The hospital gave us this 12cc syringe for the Critical Care. We cut off the tip and it seems to work well: https://www.amazon.com/Monoject-Cur...&qid=1438324446&sr=8-2&keywords=12+cc+syringe

I will probably still buy the 35cc syringe from Lixit you recommend because it would be nice to have another syringe for water/Pedialyte. We picked up Pedialyte today and have started giving it to Hunter!

@barbaramudge: Pappy Papperson is soo cute! I am very partial to piggies with a stripe.

@caballo303: Thank you for the well wishes! I’m sorry you lost your pig. We have been so scared for Hunter, but luckily he seems to be improving.

——

We went home from work early and syringe fed some more Critical Care, water, and other stuff over two feedings, one right after work and one late at night. Hunter made us very happy by eating 35 KMS Hayloft pellets over these two feedings. We had to put the pellet right in front of him, but he really ate them! I estimate that maybe 90 pellets are a whole days worth, so he did a great job. He also ate salad, and my husband snuck him a blueberry when I wasn’t looking…I’m really delighted he’s started eating dry food. Now he just needs to start eating more hay.

The second feeding of Critical Care tonight was also really easy for some reason. He stopped dodging me, which was excellent. Here’s hoping it’ll last.

For some reason Charlotte and Hunter chatter at each other and Charlotte chases Hunter whenever we put him back in the cage. So between the two feedings tonight, we let him just sit on a towel outside the cage with his favorite toy so he could just relax and not worry about her. They seem to calm down and ignore each other after maybe half an hour though. I think Charlotte is trying to challenge Hunter, which isn’t surprising given her feisty personality.

 

[caballo303]

I really hope he pulls thru. My wife and I lost our favorite and most feisty/energetic piggy on May 25 2015 memorial weekend at the young age of 3 he had just turned as well. He came Down with a freak respiratory infection our vet declared. We are still devastated and heart crushed as we feel as sad as if we lost a family member. that feeling won't change for a very long time so I hope you don't go thru that instead I hope he makes a full recovery and you get to enjoy a happy healthy friend for years of love and enjoyment. I will pray daily and often for him and the two of you

 

[mekalika]

Hunter had been steadily recovering and seemed almost completely normal since the weekend (August 8), and we stopped all his medications. He hasn't really been gaining or losing weight, but his poos seem normal in size and quantity haha.

This morning he seemed a bit off. I filled the pigs' bowl with pellets and he didn't come out of his box - just sat there with a dopey expression on his face like his brain was turned off, which looked pretty cute actually. The dopey look isn't too unusual, but he's been running out to eat pellets lately so not coming out is unusual. I decided to bring out the veggies. When I opened the tupperware (which usually would trigger lots of excitement, he still had the same dopey expression on his face and didn't come out. He did eat veggies when I gave them to him, and finally came outside for more then. But after the veggies were done, he didn't have any interest in the pellets and went back to his box. I tried to give him a pellet directly but he turned his face away.

I had to go then, but my father in law is visiting now so I texted him to try giving Hunter a piece of hay or grass from outside to see how he responds. I can get home in about 4 hours if I need to, but I'm not really sure what to do, if anything. Hopefully my father in law will report back soon that he's normal again...