sick piggie

[porkchopsmom]

Our little Porkchop has been with us for 1 month. She came to us with an upper resporatory infection that took several vet visits. Now she has a problem around her left eye. At first it looked like she had scratched it and then it got irritated, then the hair started to come off. I took her to the vet and he took a skin scraping(Oh, did she squeal) He thinks since she was sick she developed a bacterial infection. Dr. gave us a shampoo to use until the culture gets done. He will call me Monday. Since I have never had a cavie before I was wondering if this is unusual or we going to have problems all the time. I truely love the little girl and baby her a lot. If you have any comments I would greatly appriciate them. Thanks for reading.

 

[TheQueen]

First, congrats on your new friend. And good luck with her eye! Where did you get her from? If she was from a pet store, then it's pretty normal for her to have a few problems. Pet stores don't take very good care of their animals. About your other question, no, it's not usual for pigs to have problems all the time. If you take care of her, once her eye gets cleared up, you shouldn't have many more problems. Also, guinea pigs thrive on companionship. Are you thinking about adopting her a friend? I'm sure she would love it. What kind of cage do you have her in? Perhaps you will build her a C&C cage? Good luck with everything, and enjoy your new friend!

 

[RubyPiggie2]

Skin scrapings are useless and do not determine anything, while putting the piggy into great pain. Is your vet an exotic vet? I have no clue what it is, but maybe a piece of hay got caught in her eye or something. What kind of hay do you have? Best of luck to you and your piggy. Hopefully her eye heals.

 

[porkchopsmom]

I did get her from Petsmart. They had the best looking ones. I didn't know where I could adopt any. The problem isn't her eye, its the cheek area and over her eye. She is in a 3 foot round plastic form childrens pool. She has all kinds of toys and makes a racetrack of it. We have a great time watching her. As to hay, she has timothy hay that I buy at Petsmart. She gets floor time daily and thats fun to watch. She also likes to sit under my neck and watch t.v. Her problem doesn't seem to be changing- better or worse- so I will have to wait till Tuesday sinse the 4th is a holiday. Thanks for the replies. Any more suggestions let me know.

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

How did they treat the URI? It may not be completely gone and causing the discharge. If it is recurring, it may be a sign of something else like a heart problem.

Have you read over www.guinealynx.info? Perhaps you should post there under medical.

Are you weighing her? Sometimes teeth problems like elongated roots can cause eye problems.

Why did they do a skin scrape? Do they think she may have mites (probably does if she is a pet store pig), if so she should not be bathed. It will irritate any parasites and stress her out.

Is the discharge white and milky?

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

By the way, I hope you are submitting all your vet bills to Petsmart. They should not be selling animals, esp. sick ones. Make it unprofitable for them.

 

[porkchopsmom]

The vet here in town isn't an exotic Dr. so he gave her a tetramiocin? shot. She still sneezes and coughs sometimes but not like she was. The vet I took her to for the eye (skin) problem said he couldn't find any mites when he looked at her under his magnifying glasses. But, he thought she might have a bacterial infection. Now there is no discharge or anything and I think her hair is growing back from the scraping sight. The skin is dry looking and gray. I think she is better. She is eating and drinking well. Playing with her toys. Petsmart said I could bring her back and they would give me a new one but they didn't have anything to do with vet bills. Next time I decide to adopt I will find a breeder. Thanks for all the comments and I will try the guinealinx site.

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

She is not better. I don't know about that shot, but she needs a course of ABs if she has a URI. You need a better vet. Mites are microscopic and burrow under the skin. You cannot see them. A skin scraping is useless.

Of course Petsmart will say that. It is cheaper for them to give you a new pig (which is merchandise to them) than pay for vet bills. You talk to the manager, write to corporate, make a big stink. They will pay.

Maybe you should read these: https://www.cavyspirit.com/petstores.htm and https://www.cavyspirit.com/breeding.htm#ResponsibleBreeder

You cannot adopt from a breeder or pet store. I meant a animal shelter or guinea pig rescue. (broken link removed), www.petfinder.com and (broken link removed) . First get your piggie healthy.