[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Waffles appears to have a cold
warmbreath at comcast.net
warmbreath at comcast.net
Tue Dec 22 06:46:44 EST 2009
You need a vet trip quick, this can become pneumonia or URI. Also guinea
pigs can get the H1N1 flu as can cats and dogs. Short term your problems are
to keep him warm, well fed and well watered. Like us with a cold or
pneumonia he will need meds for pain, Metacam and infant ibuprofen or
Rimadyl are most commonly used. The vet is needed for antibiotics and the
pain meds except Ibuprofen. My Manny came down with this very suddenly and
by the time he called me to side his altered immune status had allowed him
to be over-run with mites, he had an anal impaction, and green mucus
starting to build up around his nose, he had seemed fine the night before. I
had all the meds on hand thankfully as it was a Friday night but by the
time he saw the vet on Monday morning he was already terminal and he died on
Wednesday. He did not have H1N1, just some cold or infection that got out
of hand at light speed so please get him to a knowledgeable exotics vet or
rodent tomorrow or today depending on where you live. Use thin pellet mush
to hand feed by spoon or needless syringe, his whole digestive system is
designed for constant eating and if he goes off feed he can go into stasis
or tract shut down very quickly. Depending on the bug this is very fixable
with proper treatment or very deadly, plus the complications I mentioned so
it just cant be ignored or home treated.
Your vet will give you Critical Care an important food for hand feeding,
its like pellets but has more Vitamins. If you aren't already supplementing
him with Vit C give him 50 mg of Vit C crushed and dissolved in water twice
a day while ill and for a couple weeks after, then cut back to 50 mg per
day. You can use the chewable type if you can get him to eat them, you eat
the first half then see if he will eat the other half, or place smallish
pieces in his mouth behind the front teeth but not so far as to make him
choke, he will eat it if correctly placed. The Oxbow Hay Company who makes
the Critical Care also makes a gp version of Vit C, find them online. They
are a fine source of various hays and pellets for gp's too! Their shipping
is hi though for the heavy stuff.
for reference see www.guinealynx.org they tell you what antibiotics are OK
for piggies as many are deadly, and how to hand feed to keep up his strength
if he stops or cuts down on eating. The cold or virus he has is
transmissible to Smores so be very careful, and watch her carefully. if you
can weigh them both daily to catch a decline quickly. Keep in touch with us
all. Hopefully they will both be well and can come sailing with us on the
Black Pearl
Good luck and Merry Christmas Sandy and Shipwreck Sam, currently sailing.
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