Guinea Pig
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| Well, once I took a (free) gerbil into the vets because it was in the corner of its cage with foamy blood. She duly x-rayed it; it duly passed away during the procedure. She was distraught, we were sad as was our son. The receptionist was kind enough not to laugh out loud when we checked in and told her the gerbil's name was "Spitfire" (our son was 4 at the time and in love with a book with pictures of old fighter planes). This was probably at least 25 years ago: I think we spent about $15 on the vet bill. I also spent a lot more than that on antibiotics a few years later, dosing his brother who had a sinus infection, which looks a lot like a stroke in a gerbil.
Here's what I think: either spend the money, if you can or else have the poor thing euthanized. Either is a kindness. Do whichever you think is best and be at peace with it. Letting it starve is not an option. |
| Our last guinea pig lived to almost 12 years old.
5 is usually an average lifespan, if not close to the end of it, but they can live a lot longer. Anyway, if you don't think it will survive I would at least have it PTS, not let it suffer. |
Thanks to all you Guinea Pig lovers for the support. Letting it suffer is not an option. We are going to have the procedure done regardless of the cost (that what VISA's are for). This Pig has given us so much joy, hopefully she will live to be 12 too.
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| She has the coloring of a mini-Sheepie! I do love g. pigs. Please keep us posted at to her condition. |
| I love piggies I have 2 at the moment. Our last one lived to about 4 years old...keep us posted please |
| Aww she's cute, what exactly is the problem? Overgrown teeth? |
| You have to do what you think is right and take advice from your vet. |
| Yes, overgrown teeth. Her bottom teeth grew so long they went up into the upper gums and killed the roots of the upper teeth. We weren't even aware this had happened until we noticed she was losing weight. She became depressed after her friend Vanilla passed in January 08 and stopped chewing. The vet trimmed the bottom and suggested we have them removed. Otherwise we would be in the vets office every 6 weeks. Thanks for your interest and will keep you informed. |
| Years ago one of our local vets was the horse and guinea pig (Cavie?) vet, her husband did dogs, cats and goats. I think she loved the Cavies more than the horses......LOL She was less than 5 feet tall, he was 6'4"
Cavies are adorable. |
| Well, I must admit that I am not a huge fan of members of the rodent family so my opinion is a bit jaded. BUT, I think when you take a pet into your house you are assuming the responsibility of doing all you can for it's well being. Sooooo, if you can afford it I would do it, if you cannot I would do the kind and gentle thing.
Good Luck!!!!! |
Tasker's Mom wrote: I think when you take a pet into your house you are assuming the responsibility of doing all you can for it's well being. Sooooo, if you can afford it I would do it, if you cannot I would do the kind and gentle thing.
Good Luck!!!!! Yeah, what she said.  |
Mony & Laci's Mommy wrote: Yes, overgrown teeth. Her bottom teeth grew so long they went up into the upper gums and killed the roots of the upper teeth. We weren't even aware this had happened until we noticed she was losing weight. She became depressed after her friend Vanilla passed in January 08 and stopped chewing. The vet trimmed the bottom and suggested we have them removed. Otherwise we would be in the vets office every 6 weeks. Thanks for your interest and will keep you informed.
I wonder how she'll eat though if you have them removed? GP's need to be able to chew, so I'm not sure how that would work unless it was willing to eat the alfalfa cubes more and not rely on pellets. Once they learn to eat a certain food though it can be difficult sometimes to teach them to eat only something else. |
I'm asking everyone to think of our guinea pig today, as she is having her bottom teeth removed. Her surgery is at Noon. Send us all your good thoughts that she gets thru this. Paprika thanks you.
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| Sending healing thoughts and vibes to Paprika. Get well soon, little piggie! |
| Good luck, Paprika! |
| I hope little Paprika did well.
My granddaughter Breanna's little piggie Princess sends GP good wishes to her. |
| Paprika has made it thru her surgery. I am so relieved. For the next two weeks we will be syringe feeding her along with giving her antibiotics. Thanks to everyone who showed support. Paprika thanks you too. |
Yay! So glad it went well 
I hope her recovery goes well too |
Yay to Paprika!!  |
| Love the name my piggies get boring names like Rusty and Squeak, and I named them!! |
KTB wrote: Love the name my piggies get boring names like Rusty and Squeak, and I named them!!
Paprika is a real cool name. Bre's GP is named Princess, and she named her. Bre is 5 yrs old - and very into anything "princess". When we were at the pet store, the sales girl asked her if she wanted to look at the boy or girl GP's. Bre's response was: "well, I want to name it Princess, so I guess I need to look at the girls". We all laughed, then told her she was right. |
Where do I start? We were told by the vet that Paprika's top teeth would NOT come back. Guess what? their back. My daughter took her back to the same vet who told us this and when my daughter mentioned what she had said, the vet denied ever having said this. At this point, my daughter lost it and insisted loudly that she had. Why else would we had risked the pigs life having the surgery if it was not absolutely necessary? Needless to say this visit did not go well. The vet ended up trimming the teeth. My daughter is taking Paprika to the Surgeon today for her advise. I told my daughter to have "Rikas" records transferred to this other Vet (Surgeon) so maybe at that time we can see the records and what the #*(%# had dictated during that first visit. I'm also considering filing a complaint against the vet.  |
| WOW..... I didn't know they would come back so that is news to me. I'd be upset too especially when we go to vets with the trust that they are giving us the best information.
Hope all works well and hope Paprika likes her new (shaved down) teeth. |
| Oh, poor Paprika.
I hope you have much better luck with the new vet. |
| Looks like Paprika will need more surgery to remove the top teeth. The new vet asked us if the other one had taken xrays before advising us to have the bottom teeth removed. As soon as I get my hands on her chart, I'll know. My daughter does not think so. This may have saved us the first surgery on the bottom teeth. |
| Hoping all goes well for Paprika |
| I'm asking that you all think about little Paprika again. She is having surgery to remove her top teeth this am. The anesthia is the enemy. Send us good thoughs. Thanks |
| Thoughts and good wishes sent to Paprika. Anesthesia can be scary, for people and piggies! |
| All went well with Paprika and her teeth extraction. Thanks for the good wishes. Glad that over with. |
| Oh, I am so glad everything went well, please keep us posted on her recovery. |
| Yay for good news.
Does she have dietary restrictions now? She just has bottom teeth now, right? She is just like a sheep in that regard!  |
| Yay Paprika! |
| So glad to hear she's ok!!!!
I love guinea pigs- my family's had many throughout the years! One of them needed surgery as well, but not for her teeth (she had a cyst in her uterius & had to have a hysterectomy). However, she did not make it thru her surgery. If Paprika does get her teeth back again, you can always try chew sticks (they'll have them in any pet store) They're just little pieces of wood for them to knaw at, that will keep they're teeth trimmed down. |
Paprika has had more bad luck in the health department. She was not eating so my daughter made an appointment for her. The afternoon of the appointment, my daughter calls me hysterical telling me Paprika has diarrea and is not acting like herself. I left work, picked them both up and took her to the vet. They took xrays and blood work and found Paprika has BLOAT. Her stomach was 4 sizes bigger then it should have been and she was having trouble breathing. The vet released the air from her stomach while she was 'under' and sent us home with antibiotics and told us to get the antigas medication you give to colicie babies. Now, 11 days later, Paprika is eating everything in sight, her poop is solid again and she is 'bitchy' as ever. Glad BLOAT doesn't kill guinea pigs as it does dogs.  |
| Wow, good thing you caught it in time.... |
| This poor guinea pig has been through hell and back! Paprika is really lucky to have you guys. |
| Once again, yay! for Paprika.
How old is she now?? Granddaughter Bre's Princess is just over a year old - and healthy so far. I do need to bring her more of our hay next time I visit. That is grandma's role - hay provider! |
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