Feet Back legs dragging.

[failur3byh3art]

Lately my sushi has been dragging her back legs. When she walks it looks almost as if she's swimming on the fleece. She IS active and eats normally but... I've heard multiple things on what may be the case. I've been told she may be overweight which is of course, a surprise to me considering she is a cuy and she weighs around 1500g. She has lost a bit of weight lately but I've also read that it can be caused by a deficiency. I need to get my girls Vitamin C other than bell peppers as a source of course. My girls get enough bell pepper each day but I want some extra Vita C. What would you guys recommend?

 

[bpatters]

I use Oxbow Daily C, but Oxbow is discontinuing it. Any plain vitamin C tablet will work. If you can find one that's flavored, she may just eat the tablet. Or you can crush a plain tablet and sprinkle it on her veggies.

 

[failur3byh3art]

I think she may be able to eat the tablet completely. Sushi is one of those girls that is absolutely curious about anything, if not, everything you give to her. She eats very well. I recall seeing Oxbow Daily C tablets in a store near us as well as in the Vet I take them too. If she takes the tablets, is it one full tablet per day?

 

[bpatters]

Yes, that's right. Mine will take those tablets from my hand, but when they're no longer available, I don't know whether they'll take plain ones or not.

 

[failur3byh3art]

Since they are discontinuing the tablets would their new Natural Science - Vitamin C product be any good?

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=10829

 

[pigger123]

The Natural Science ones only have half as much C as the Daily C. In order to get the same amount, you'd have to give them 2.

 

[ClemmyOddieIndy]

My Odette would have neurological episodes where she would start dragging her back legs. At first they thought it was blood clots, but after a neurologist saw her they determined they thought she had lesions on the brain.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

You can give human Vit C tablets. Buy the children's 100 mg and quarter it. If she's a big girl you can give her half.

Sometimes dragging back legs can be a calcium problem.

 

[failur3byh3art]

Calcium problem as in too much or too little? Sushi was never like this ~7 months. At times she'll use her back legs but the majority of the time she drags them and like I mentioned before, looks as if she's swimming across the fleece. Even when she's standing up you can slowly see her legs slide until she's completely flat.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

She's 7 months old? I was thinking of osteodystrophy but it usually happens to older pigs.

I also knew a guinea pig who had a bladder stone that caused her to be paralyzed.

 

[ClemmyOddieIndy]

Have you taken her to the vet?

 

[failur3byh3art]

Oh, no I meant she wasn't like that when she was 7 months and below. She's currently a year old since June 20th.

 

[failur3byh3art]

Have you taken her to the vet?

Yes I have. I've taken her mostly for some congestion and small URI that she had. However the last visit wasn't from my normal vet since he wasn't there on that day. The doctor said she may be a bit overweight as she does look quite large. I may end up recording a video and showing pictures for everyone so you all can get an idea of how sushi is.

 

[failur3byh3art]

I want to post an update as sushi had her appointment today. To start off she's having a bit of a cold/URI once again. He took an x-ray and said she has infection and fluid. Sushi was prescribed Septra which im sure is bactrim just in another name. The Septra is 200mg/40mg/5ml and she's supposed to take 0.5 mls every 12 hours. Does this seem right? Usually in the past she was given baytril. She was also given something new that I'm unfamiliar with. She was given Lasix Syrup 10mg/m1 and to take 0.4ml every 12 hours for 7 days. Also the doctor mentioned that sushi may have to lose weight in response to her back legs. He pinched her to see if she had any reaction in which she did. But I can show you a quick picture of sushi on how she currently is (Taken after i got home so she was in the box at the time)




I put her in a box when I take her to the vet but of course I comfort her. She's never feeling lonely. She likes to lay like that alot even in the cage. But I quickly took a picture before I put her back in. Also that isn't blood on the box, (as my grandma thought). I gave her bell pepper but rinsed it so the water drip'd down.

 

[bpatters]

Lasix is a diuretic, which will make her excrete any excess fluid that may have accumulated in her lungs/abdomen/wherever.

1500 grams is not overweight for a cuy.

Bactrim is the drug of choice for urinary tract problems -- it works much better than Baytril for that.

 

[failur3byh3art]

Is Bactrim the viable choice for fluid in the lungs though? Sushi did gain weight, she's around 1640g. but I have followed and read threads on "overweight pigs" and I have my doubts at times that sushi is "overweight". If she does need to lose weight however, what would I need to cut out of her diet? Should I just eliminate pellets? She gets plenty of veggies. I'm also going to be giving her more floor time than the others for the time being. But like I said the x-ray determined that she has infection and fluid in her lungs, and through her chest to throat.

 

[bpatters]

No, the lasix is for the fluid, as I said. The Bactrim is for any infection.

How do you know she's a cuy? She doesn't have the typical cuy coloring, and at 1500 grams, she's very lightweight for a cuy, but overweight for a normal guinea pig. However, the fluid in her lungs will make her weigh heavier than she really is. You need to get that cleared up first before you address any possible weight problems.

Is this an exotic vet?

 

[failur3byh3art]

Yes it's an exotic vet. We were told that she was a cuy at the time of adoption. She was in a cage with her mother whom was a huge guinea pig. She was bigger than the normal sized guinea pig. But the rescue told us that she was a cuy mix. I know Yuna was definitely a cuy before she passed as she was already sushi's size at 5 months and still growing. Sushi and Yuna were very skittish. Sushi toned down a bit after her "Head stuck in the cage" incident when she was younger. The vet I'm going to was recommended and on the list on guinealynx for SoCal and on there was Dr. Ridgeway. Also, are both medications safe to take at once? The doctor mentioned giving sushi one and waiting 12 hours to give her the other.

 

[bpatters]

If the vet suggested giving them at different times, that's what I'd do.

Cuy mix makes sense. She looks like a large but not particularly overweight regular pig.

Like [MENTION=13918]foggycreekcavy[/MENTION], I think the symptoms might suggest osteodystrophy. She's not that old, but cuy live much shorter lives than regular guinea pigs, so it might be a possibility.

 

[failur3byh3art]

If she is just a mix but not full cuy, I'll consider giving her much more floor time. She used to be so tone but got rather big. When she was much younger and smaller we used to always comment on her legs because it seemed like she had really long legs. We used to call her a rabbit because she was capable of jumping over the C&C bars. Thus, why she got her head stuck in the bar when she was 3 weeks. She can still jump but not as high as she used to be able to. So far she's responding well to both medications as I just gave her the second. At first she scared me as last night she was anti social and in the corner but now she's eating, drinking, pooping, and acting normally.