Girlfriend's Guinea Pig Limping
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Girlfriend's Guinea Pig Limping| Ralph |
Posted: Apr 2 2008, 11:42 PM
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Fishy Member  Group: Full Members Posts: 59 Member No.: 2,564 Joined: 23-March 08  |
My girlfriend has a guinea pig, Guido, who's a little over two years old. Recently, he seems to be favoring one of his legs and limping slightly. He didn't sustain any falls or anything, and it seems to have happened a bit suddenly. She plans on taking him to a vet (her first choice of vets, the one who specializes in rodents, says she's allergic to guinea pigs
 ). Does anyone have an idea of what it could be? |
 
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| Robyn |
Posted: Apr 3 2008, 06:40 PM
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 Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 9,649 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-September 03 |
Few people are truly allergic to guinea pigs but more are allergic to their bedding. Guinea pigs aren't technically rodents.
A piggy who is limping may have gotten injured even without a fall. He may have simply twisted his leg. Or, there could be a growth in or on the leg that is affecting movement. I hate to mention the C word. It could be arthritis. It could even be neurological damage, especially if the piggy is tilting his head to the side too. A vet should be able to help. I hope it was just a temporary minor injury! -------------------- Robyn, Former Analytical Chemist, Zone 6/7, Maryland
Servant to 4 cats, 2 rabbits, 3 guinea pigs, 3 chickens, 1 redbellied turtle, 3 freshwater aquariums (65, 50, & 20 gallons), 2 saltwater aquariums (6 and 12 gallon nano cube reefs), 7 outdoor ponds (1800, 153, 50, 30, 20, 20, & 12 gallons), 1 indoor pond (50 gallons, winter only), crickets, mealworms, six-spotted roaches, and hundreds of fish (of about 18+ species), amphibians, snails, shrimp, corals, crabs, worms, and so on in those aquariums and ponds. A mostly full list of my current animals is at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/animals/animallist.htm   http://www.fishpondinfo.com http://www.pondshowcase.com |
 
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| Ralph |
Posted: Apr 3 2008, 10:55 PM
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Fishy Member Group: Full Members Posts: 59 Member No.: 2,564 Joined: 23-March 08 |
Thanks for the info Robyn! I'm really hoping it isn't a tumor or something else serious.
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| Route3drummer |
Posted: Apr 4 2008, 05:12 AM
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 Fishy Connoisseur Group: Senior Members Posts: 1,217 Member No.: 1,681 Joined: 10-August 07 |
Hope the little guy gets better. I have to admit I know nothing about them....other than not to wrap a piece of lettuce around your finger and stick it in their cage!
Best of luck though! Derrick -------------------- Derrick......no Ma'am, we're musicians.
100 gallon pond connected to 900 gallon pond by stream/falls housing 14 Gold Fish/Shubokuns/Sarassa/Comets. 29 gallon tank housing 4 albino cory's, 2 pepper cory's, 8 glow light tetra's, 4 black neon tetras, 6 black skirt tetras, 1 dwarft guarami, 3 platy's and 1 huge mystery snails. 5 gallon tank housing 1 male betta and 3 pepper cory's. |
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| Ralph |
Posted: Apr 4 2008, 01:02 PM
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Fishy Member Group: Full Members Posts: 59 Member No.: 2,564 Joined: 23-March 08 |
Thanks Derrick.
I was thinking this morning, is it possible her guinea pig has scurvy? She feeds him mostly pellets and I wonder if the vitamin C in them has degraded (they've been there a while). |
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| Robyn |
Posted: Apr 4 2008, 06:37 PM
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Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 9,649 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-September 03 |
If the guinea pig only gets old pellets, then he may not be getting enough Vitamin C. If he goes a long time without Vitamin C, he can get scurvy. One of the symptoms is bad joints.
You can buy Vitamin C pills for him but it's also important to get a fresh, good quality guinea pig pellet. Vitamin C is not stable for long. I test for it at work. A solution I make one day (of just ascorbic acid) is basically completely gone in a week without some preservative or alternative stable form. Your friend should also feed him foods high in Vitamin C like oranges, kale, and so on. See http://www.fishpondinfo.com/cavies/pigcare.htm#food These are the pills I used to buy for my pigs: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product...CJ61HL7BE4X48K2 -------------------- Robyn, Former Analytical Chemist, Zone 6/7, Maryland
Servant to 4 cats, 2 rabbits, 3 guinea pigs, 3 chickens, 1 redbellied turtle, 3 freshwater aquariums (65, 50, & 20 gallons), 2 saltwater aquariums (6 and 12 gallon nano cube reefs), 7 outdoor ponds (1800, 153, 50, 30, 20, 20, & 12 gallons), 1 indoor pond (50 gallons, winter only), crickets, mealworms, six-spotted roaches, and hundreds of fish (of about 18+ species), amphibians, snails, shrimp, corals, crabs, worms, and so on in those aquariums and ponds. A mostly full list of my current animals is at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/animals/animallist.htm http://www.fishpondinfo.com http://www.pondshowcase.com |
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