any vets here? i need some advice with my guinea pig!! (janetmichel3009)

I'll email you the email address of a friend of mine -- she's done piggie rescue for over 10 years and she's in vet school now, but she's the most knowledgeable person I know about guinea pigs.  I already emailed her that I was sending her email address to you.

I wouldn't feed the rabbit food...if you're feeding sufficient amounts of timothy hay and fresh veggies you can get away with not feeding pellets, which I would do until I could find some Guinea Pig pellets. Do make sure he/she is getting enough vitamin C.

 It would be helpful to know if its a male or female..females can get illnesses/tumors of the reproductive organs that can make them fairly sickly.

thanks a lot callie!

i got him to drink some water, although it was a painful process... and gave it some pellets that i softened up in water. he seemed at least interested, so i gave him some privacy. hope he eats it! otherwise i will get a proper seringe tomorrow, which i can use with the food... i'm using a dropper i have for giving water...

it's about bed time here and i'm contemplating if i should get up at night and give him some more water, or just let him rest... hmm, what do you think?

also forgot to mention, if you can look into his mouth, see if his back teeth are overgrown. It shouldn't cause diarrhea, but tooth issues can cause lots of issues for wee pigs

callie, thanks again. i just emailed her!

grab01. if not feeding pellets how do you suggest hand feeding for now? you think just mash up some veggies? not really sure...

about the gender: trust me, i've tried myseld MANY times over the years. i couldnt even guess... completely 100% clueless.. lol. i tried with a description in a book, and just now again with a different description i found online. still not sure.. trust me, it's buggin me...

If its a boy, it should be fairly easy to find a recognisable pinkle.  So if you can't find one, it may well be a girl.

Give her lots of hard stuff to gnaw to prevent teeth overgrowing

hehe... yeah, that's what i thought for a while... then again it didnt like the picture of "girl" parts at all. plus it would fight with the old guinea pig my sister had and i read somewhere that females usually dont fight... oh heck... i really dont know. i called it she for a while, then he again... then for a while it was "it"... confusion...

the teeth are definately not overgrown. i check them regularily and it was the first thing i looked for... and he/she/it always has lots of hard stuff to chew on. just also providing some soft and mushy stuff in hopes of getting some food in there...

ETA: it's 4:30 am now, so i'm off to bed... (no worries, tomorrow is some sort of holiday, so i can sleep in...) keep the suggestions coming. i will check back tomorrow.

http://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy_orig.html#sexing

 There's a page that tells you how to sex guinea pigs. 

janetmichel3009

hehe... yeah, that's what i thought for a while... then again it didnt like the picture of "girl" parts at all.

Hold the pig on his back and gently press his lower tummy... if he IS a HE his wotsit will pop out.  Not to put too fine a point on it.

Also, I disagree with the PP that said no rabbit food... the only difference I can ascertain between rabbit food and g pig  food is the added vit c that pigs need (which the food does not always contain in sufficient amounts anyway if it has been a while since manufacture).  Also, its important for your little guy to eat SOMETHING and rabbit food is certainly better than nothing at all, obviously.

Hope your piggy feels better soon :) 

yes. i tried the pooping out. as well as what this site said. i was there yesterday, right after checking the health thing the sexing part was the next place i checked... still not really sure... nothing "pops up" when i press the tummy, but it also doesnt look like the female part... maybe i'm looking too closely... i'd say MAYBE it's a female.... am i just stupid?

that's the reason by the way, i'm not getting a second guinea pig. it seems it's always recommended. but without being 100% sure, no way!! lol.

yeah, i just got up. still in jammies. out to the pharmacy and supermarket.. fingers crossed...

It's better to supplement vitamin C via veggies like bell peppers instead of an actual supplement.

Pellets are actually more of a supplement to a good diet of fresh veggies and hay, but it's important that you feed timothy-based food, not alfalfa-based. Timothy is a grass; alfalfa is not, and it's high in calcium. Alfalfa is better for young gps and pregnant females, not so much so for adults. Also, rabbit food is fot ormulated for the digestive needs of guinea pigs so it's better to switch back to a better quality gp food.

Hope this helps some.

yeah, trust me, as soon as i *find* some guinea pig food again, i will be feeding that. but it's all i got right now.

i did finally find a vet that says he treats GPs. i went (and determined that it was indead a female) but he seemed, uhm, less than throrough to me. i have no idea what he actually said (he had SUCH a strong accent) but i do have her records with me, so i will find someone to try and translate them for me.

hand feeding is NOT going well. will try some more now....

oh and, yeah, i bought some vit c rich veggies as well, and will try to get some into her now. pellets didnt work well...

oh i am SOO mad! the medication that the vet gave me to give at home: the main part of it is amoxicillin! that's first on the list of medications NOT to give to GPs!! i'm glad i checked. i hope the injections poopsy got administered are ok... ERGH!!!

it may not be available there, but I believe it is Oxbow that has something called Critical Care herbivore..it's a sort of powdery product that you mix with water and can offer to little creatures like Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, and the like and offer in a bowl or via oral syringe. It can offer some much needed extra calories to ailing critters

yeah, i read about it online, but if i cant even find normal GP food...

anyways, she's already doing a little better i think. not completely refusing to eat when i hand feed anymore... finally got some food into her. i hope that's a good sign...

fingers crossed!