I think our guinea pig is dying

[Joy at Home]

We took dd8's first and favorite guinea pig to the vet a couple months ago to get his teeth clipped (long story) and we asked him about a small lump on him. He said it was a tumor and had a 50/50 chance of being malignant, giving us a handful of options (biopsy, remove it, do nothing). Because of the expense, we did nothing and honestly, kind of forgot about it.

 

It seems like overnight he has lost a large amount of weight (for a piggie) and lost his hair on both sides of his face. He looks very sickly and gaunt, really. He's eating and drinking, so I see no other reason for the weight loss. I have not talked with dd yet as I work all weekend and I want to be home for her when the realization hits that he's dying. She is so, so sensitive to animals. Has a very tender spirit when it comes to them and loves her piggies enormously.

 

I'm just very sad for her as I know it will be heartbraking to watch him wither away:sad:

 

Lisa

[JudoMom]

I'm so sorry. It's so hard to lose a pet.

[Denisemomof4]

I did some quick google searches for guinea pig facial hairloss, and personally, I'd treat this symptom alone first. It may or may not be related to everything else.

 

Can you tell me about the pig's diet? My dd's g-pig almost died. She lost TONS of weight rapidly and couldn't walk well with her back legs. I did my research and added good quality hay and half an orange to her diet daily. She's been going strong for a couple of years since.

 

Please give more information. The lump can't be treated, but the hairloss may not be related, and the weightloss also may not be. If she has cancer, I'm suspecting she's dying. But it's still worth it to try to save her, especially with Christmas right around the corner.

 

ANY other symptoms?

[Denisemomof4]

honestly, if the pig were dying of cancer, I seriously doubt it would be eating and drinking.

 

What do you give it besides pellets?

[Joy at Home]

honestly, if the pig were dying of cancer, I seriously doubt it would be eating and drinking.

 

What do you give it besides pellets?

 

Thanks for responding, Denise. The normal diet for all the piggies is pellets supplemented with fresh veggies and parsley (for vit c), although I think dd has been slacking on the parsley lately. We've been meaning to get chewable vit c tablets, but haven't yet. I'm eager to hear your guinea pigs reason for these symptoms. I would love to hope:)

 

thanks,

lisa

[Journey]

Pigs can lose their hair because of mites. Ours does. We just give her some Iermectin wormer (we use it for our horse too) you just give them a pin head size and shove it in their mouths. Please check with your vet first. If your pig is old, he could just be losing weight because of his age. You can also give them Tang in their water bottle.

[Joy at Home]

Pigs can lose their hair because of mites. Ours does. We just give her some Iermectin wormer (we use it for our horse too) you just give them a pin head size and shove it in their mouths. Please check with your vet first. If your pig is old, he could just be losing weight because of his age. You can also give them Tang in their water bottle.

 

Thanks, I plan on taking him to the vet this week. I didn't know about teh Tang. Is that for Vit C? The vet recommended chewable Vit C, but we weren't able to find it at our store. Tang sounds much easier.

 

thanks,

lisa

[rafiki]

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[i.love.lucy]

Be careful about too much vitamin c. Usually their food has c added already. Our pigs get the fortified food (pellets), plus fresh salad of romaine celery parsley carrots fruit etc. Whatever we have on hand. And plain water. And good timothy hay.

:grouphug:

I hope your piggie gets better soon.

Edited December 18, 2010 by i.love.lucy

[Evergreen State Sue]

Our guinea pig had stopped eating for about a week before she died. (I had taken her to the vet on day 3 as it was a weekend.) So I think that because yours is still eating that is a good sign. I think losing the hair is a separate problem too. I hope she feels better soon!

[Twinmom]

I hope your piggie gets better soon! If she can't, I'll pray she doesn't suffer...poor baby!

 

On the Vitamin C front, we give ours the chewable Oxbow vitamin C tabs with good results. They gobble them down!! I've been told that the kind you put in the water isn't all that great and not to depend on it. We also give free access to Oxbow timothy hay and pellets plus a fresh "salad" of whatever greens, carrots, oranges, etc. that we have on hand each day. (I'm following the guidelines I found on cavycages.com) So far, they've been happy and healthy! They are only about a year and a half old, however, so no major age related concerns yet.

[Catwoman]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

Cat

[Denisemomof4]

Our gpig was SO skinny that I thought she was going to die. I did some research and discovered it was likely she had scurvy. She wasn't walking right, either, but she did eat and drink. I gave her and her "sister" half a fresh orange every day and I sprinkled powdered Vitamin C on it. I followed recommendations for one of the sick guinea pig forums.

 

I did some reading earlier and there are a few different reasons which could cause hairloss, mites being one of them.

 

I just did a google search for guinea pig forums. There are quite a few. Please check them out, to see which have many members with good activity. I believe the forum I liked had the word "cavy" in it but I can't find it right now. I'm sorry, it's late here and I've had a LOOOOOOOOONG day. I was about to nod off in bed when I remembered that I had never checked back with you!

 

Please keep us posted. I hope your little gpig is feeling better soon!