[Gpdd] HEALTH: Dink's paralysis

[Luita Spangler]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to give a few tips about paralysis in
piggies, although I am not by any means an expert. My first experience
with paralysis was with my first piggie, Dobben, when I was 12 years old
and basically there was no quality veterinarian care available for
guinea pigs. He lost the use of his back legs after a fall, and the vet
said, "Yes, he's paralysed," and that he would or wouldn't regain the
use of his legs. One helpful thing the vet finally  did say was that
Dobben still had feeling in his legs, so it was possible that his spine
had just been
bruised and that he would regain use of his legs someday. I kept him as
clean as possible, keeping him on a towel as much as I could, or in the
grass on our lawn (Southern California). When I noticed that he could
twitch his legs a little, I allowed him to socialise with some female
pigs, and his efforts to keep up with them worked like physical therapy.
He did eventually regain the full use of his legs, though his rear end
was always a little slower than his front end, and when he ran, he
wobbled a bit.

My second experience was several years ago with an older piggie,
Cassandra, who eventually lost the use of her legs through severe
arthritis. She lived a good quality of life for 6 months more without
the use of her hind legs. I washed her rear end in lukewarm water every
morning, gently moving her hind legs in the water to maintain some level
of flexibility, and drying her thoroughly afterwards. I kept a great 
deal of hay in the cage to act both as a
cushion and a urine absorber, and moved her around the cage throughout
the day, always making sure that she had easy access to her pellets and
water. When the piggies had floor time, I put her on the floor on
newspaper surrounded by goodies, so she continued to be in the midst of
her friends (She also lived in a cage with her companion, Amber, who
enjoyed all the extra hay). In the evening I put her in a narrow little
carton with low sides and carried her around the apartment with me, so
she could watch and participate in everything as usual. She had pain
medication that I gave her when she seemed to need it, but for the most
part she seemed fairly comfortable. What I found most important about
her care was keeping her spirits up - when she was first unable to move,
she became very depresssed, but perked right up with the attention and
care. She was definitely a high-maintenance piggie, but worth every
second of care, which she deserved like any other member of the family.
I know that people have designed "wheelchairs" for paralysed dogs and
cats, and I imagine that designing something for smaller animals like
guinea pigs would be quite possible. Does anyone know if such things
exist? Cassandra would certainly have enjoyed such mobility during her
floor time. Unlike Dobben, she was simply too old and weak to move
around using only her front legs.

Happy holidays to all, and may our new year be a great deal more
peaceful.

Luita
Bert and Ernie