Guinea pig poorly - urine sample!

pug_in_a_bed

Hello all,
My guinea pig is very poorly at the moment, started last week drinking loads of water then getting crusty eyes. Vet gave him some eye drops and noted he had lost some weight.

Took him yesterday, 6 days on as eyes didnt seem better and off his food. Has lost more weight

Anyway,vet thinks possible diabetes but we can't test it without a urine sample, I've been trying to get one since last week but placing him in his carrier when I think he wants to go, in the hope he will door the business and i can syringe it up.

Still no joy though! He's not eating and drinking much which isn't helping, he is on the rabbit recovery syringe feed - weirdly he's crazy for that, its like guinea pig crack lol, but not eating much of his cage food although he has had a little coriander and parsely which is all time favourite.

Any tips if anyone has managed the incredible feat of getting a pig urine sample?

I'm worried sick about him, he's the light of my life, daft as that may sound and he's feeling very sorry for himself. Poss back the vet in the morn if no improvement today.

Trying to move house at the same time which must be unsettling them, so not going well at the moment

devildog

You have got a job on your hands!!
The only thing I can suggest is to place g-pig in some sort of plastic box without any sawdust/newspaper/hay/straw etc (but with food/water) and when it has a wee syringe it up into a suitable container. Obviously it is not ideal as plastic is slippy but providing it is kept in a quiet corner and not frightened I do not see what harm it will do until you have got your sample.
Good Luck

Missy_Spud

Hiya, what an odd thing to try and gain, in all my years of owning guinea's ive never had to get a sample of urine from them (although recently my vet asked me to get a urine sample from my dog which proved very difficult also as she just looked at me like what are you doing, stopped weeing and walked off looking at me like i was stupid! lol)

I agree with the above, guinea's are always weeing so just pop him into a carrier which is plastic or sit him on some sort of plastic tray where you can watch him, and you should have a wee within an hour, most guinea's wee that very often.

You can buy some stuff called Critical care which is a good food substitute for ill guinea's and ones off their food/underweight it is quite expensive but so worth it, i used this when one of my guineas had over-grown teeth and she refused to eat anything even after they had been sorted out, but she loved critical care.

have you tried some mashed up banana or something to try and tempt him to eat? No pig can stick up their nose at coriander can they! or some grass, do you have a garden? just cut a bit of grass for him.

Have a google for Peter Guerney, he was a legend with guinea's illnesses ive got his book, have a look on his website at diabetes symptoms/treatment his advice is really good

pug_in_a_bed

well diabetes has been ruled out; vet put him out today to check there wasn't a problem with his teeth and checked his glucose levels which were fine. They were going to xray but decided not to as there was no sign of any unusal mass etc.

So, basically they don't know what's wrong with him, and have suggested I take him to an exotic vet in the area. He's not eating anything bar the recovery solution which I am trying to give him every hour.

I got up at 4am and fed him the liquid stuff so get up in the night again. Its weird because he is interested when I put food out, comes over looks and sniffs then walks away.

Stupidly i forgot to ask for some painkillers for him as I'm sure his eyes must be sore, as the rims are quite red.

Coriander is his fave and parsley, he's eaten a tiny tiny bit this morning but thats it.

I'm at my wits end.:(

Bornagain

Obviously you need to get him to a knowledgeable vet asap. I dont know if you have googled for guinea pig forums but it does sound to me from those that it may be a respiratory infection. Ask your vet who you should take him to.

pug_in_a_bed

i think i'll take him to the exotic one, apparently he's good with gps.

Missy_Spud

A vet that has advised you to go elsewhere is clearly useless, make sure you keep you bill/receipt because if the new vet finds something this vet checked for id be wanting a refund, he may just have a simple cold that won't shift, or resp probs does he sound wheezy at all? One of my pigs was an ill piggy, I was always at the vets with him he used to lose weight quite quickly, become a bit sniffly and look under the weather, baytril used to perk him back up fine, has he had any antibiotics? If they offer to put him under to check his teeth then thats a sign of a vet who is not worth going to, they can check their teeth with them awake, ive had a few of mine checked just sat there whilst I hold them, they use a buccal pad to have a look.

How old is your guinea pig?

have you tried grating up some carrot? when i noticed one of my pigs (who it turned out did have teeth problems) wasn't managing to eat properly i decided to grate the carrot up for her and she was able to eat it then as it was easier for her.

Have you changed his bedding recently and what is he bedded on? if its sawdust you prob want to get him off that straight away, could be why he is getting crusty eyes/poss resp probs its not good for them, i use newspaper to line thier cage and fill with lots of hay.

Is he inside in a room with a radiator which is on a lot? or in a room with any damp? or anywhere that sprays get sprayed, deodorant/air freshner etc as these can make a pig quite ill.

have you tried offering him cucumber/melon/celery? as they are nice and watery if he is drinking a lot he might welcome them

Hope this helps, let me know how you go on at the other vets

KVet

I dont agree with what the above poster has said. I think it's great that the vet has advised you to go to an exotics specialist as us normal GP vets really don't have much knowledge regarding birds/reptiles/small furries at all! I'd be happier (as a client) with that rather than them getting more money out of me and not having a clue what is going on! I have referred many complicated bird cases to the local exotics specialist and the owners are usually very happy with this.

Also regarding the checking teeth under anaesthetic, you can examine them conscious but it is nowhere near as accurate as examining them under sedation/anaesthetic and every GP is different and not many I know will allow you near their mouths!

The only other thing I can suggest is Lymphoma which I have heard of happening in a few GPs and that can cause PUPD (which is what he has). Good luck!

tankgirl1

KVet wrote: »

I dont agree with what the above poster has said. I think it's great that the vet has advised you to go to an exotics specialist as us normal GP vets really don't have much knowledge regarding birds/reptiles/small furries at all! I'd be happier (as a client) with that rather than them getting more money out of me and not having a clue what is going on! I have referred many complicated bird cases to the local exotics specialist and the owners are usually very happy with this.

Also regarding the checking teeth under anaesthetic, you can examine them conscious but it is nowhere near as accurate as examining them under sedation/anaesthetic and every GP is different and not many I know will allow you near their mouths!

The only other thing I can suggest is Lymphoma which I have heard of happening in a few GPs and that can cause PUPD (which is what he has). Good luck!

I agree with this. Most good 'GP' (as in the term for doctors) vets will look for any obvious causes that could be sorted without costing you loads of money (ie teeth, and have heard of a few pigs with diabeties), but if further investigations are required then a referral to an exotic specialist is in order.
Good luck with your little one, let us know how you get on!

pug_in_a_bed

Thanks for all replies.

Unfortunately Martin died yesterday morning, he had gone rapidly down hill over night, wouldn't take any liquid feed.

I had got painkillers from the vet the night before which I'm very glad of.

Luckily I had sat up with him and he was nestled into my neck and my hoody which is where he liked to sleep; was very glad he wasn't on his on. He was three but had obviously gotten poorly very quickly and just gone down hill as they tend to do.

My vet was very good, tried lots of things and I made it clear money wouldn't be an issue if they could do anything/find anything.

My regret is that I didn't pick up that he was ill sooner, although I know probably nothing could be done. I suspect it was some form of cancer, although he had no lumps etc or perhaps he had an ongoing issue.

I'm heart broken, had him since he was three months old; he was incredibly tame, spent his evenings on the sofa in luxury lol, was more of a little ginger dog than a gp. He was spoilt rotten! The two girls had kept away from him over the last few days obviously knowing he wasn't well. They are both fine though.

I know people think its a bit silly over what they may see as a rodent, but I feel as sad as I would over any other pet

Missy_Spud

oh im so sorry to hear he passed away *hugs* im always heartbroken when one of my guinea pigs goes to rainbow bridge, I lost my 7 1/2 yr old GP morgan last year it was awful.

RIP Martin xxx