Jess

Hi all,

For the past week and a half I have noticed a change in my 4 year old male desexed, fully indoor cat, Podrick.

He usually loves jumping up onto the countertop and other areas of the house but lately we noticed he has been lacking confidence with his jumps and either jumps but his back legs trip up on the counter, or he looks like he is going to attempt the jump, but then after a few butt wiggles, chickens out.

He is still eating and drinking normally and is not lethargic (hes running around destroying the loungeroom as we speak haha.)

But he has also been vomitting twice in the past 2 days and chokes on his food, however he does scoff it down at an extremely fast rate. I should also mention we gave him his worming tablets but he only hace about 3/4 of his dose.

We do not know if any of these things are related.

We took him to the vet last Sunday when he was knocking his back legs on the counter, and the vet checked him over and said probably a soft tissue injury and gave him a meticam injection (he said like ibuprofen for humans) that was meant to give him the ability to jump normally, but there was no change. In fact he seems to have gotten worse the past week as now he wont jump at all and chickens out as I mentioned before, however he is still jumping on couches and the bed with no problems.

We are taking him in to the vet again today but I am wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this and what you think it may be.

Thanks xx

Hi all,

My fiancé and I are going to buy a place on the central coast (aus, nsw) and we are having trouble estimating costs of utilities to see what sort of mortgage we can afford.

Our combined income is $1100 p/w which is a fair amount of money, but when we try to estimate living costs it seems like nothing.

We are only looking for a small unit for the two of us, we don't have any children, between 200000 - 250000.

Neither of us are big spenders or material. We save a lot of our money as it is.

We would like to know from other Aussie couples similar to ourselves what kind of bills they face for elect,water, council rates, and groceries, and any other things I have missed. Our current estimates are:

Bills-$150 p/w

Food - $150p/w

Pets - $40p/w

Petrol - $130 p/w

Savings -100 p/w

Leisure - $75p/w

Mortgage - ??

We don't want to struggle, will we get by comfortably with our income?

Thanks in advance and no rude comments please.

Hi All,

My guinea has little red marks on his back footpads which are normally solid black. It is on both hind foot pads, but the skin does not seem broken at all or as if it has ever been broken - it is not like a sore, there are no scabs or puss - it looks almost like carpet burn or wearing of his skin on his feet.

My guinea pigs normally have hay and newspaper as bedding but I am thinking of changing this to recycled paper kitty litter which I have heard to be very absorbent and soft.

My other guinea pig is showing no signs of foot problems and they live in the same cage.

What could this be and how do I help my guinea pig?? Does it sound like bumblefoot? All the articles I've read about bumblefoot look and sound nothing like what my guinea pig has on his feet.

My exotics vet is 2 hrs away and while of course I will take him if necessary, I would like some thoughts on what this might be or if anyone has had similiar experiences with their guineas first before I drive for 2 hrs and pay $80AUD just for the consultation, to find out that he's just got a new layer of skin on his foot or something. haha

He isn't showing any signs of pain or discomfort, is running around as normal (not favouring one foot over the other) and is eating and producing waste all normally.

The marks dont look infected, but they are a reddy-pink colour - it almost looks as if it has callussed, and now the callus has fallen off leaving new pink skin behind that is yet to pigment.

What could this be and how do I help my guinea pig?? Does it sound like bumblefoot? All the articles I've read about bumblefoot look and sound nothing like what my guinea pig has on his feet, or is this the very early signs of a bumblefoot infection?

Thanks :)

Hi All,

My 1 yr old guinea pig had his teeth ground down 3 days ago because they were overgrown despite having a diet that ticks all boxes e.g adlib grass hay, 1 cup of fresh vegies per day and guinea pig complete diet pellets, and adlib fresh water of course. Not sure how it happened, but unfortunately it did.

I had him seen to by an experienced Exotics Veterinarian who performed the procedure and prescribed oxbow critical care 4-6 times daily and 1.6mg of Metacam every 8hrs. (Meloxicam)

My question is, can the Metacam cause nausea and turn my piggie off his food???

At first (before procedure, when I first realised he had trouble eating) he accepted the critical care and enjoyed the feed, but then, as directed, I gave him his painkillers and since then the past few feeds I've had to force feed him and he's seemed to take some interest in food, just doesn't want to go as far as to eat it.

I gave him his painkillers this morning, and it would have worn off this afternoon, when I offered him vegies and hay and he tried eating them and did quite well and seemed to be having a great time, still, I knew it was not enough to fill him up, so I needed to give him critical care as well which i mixed in with half a poop from my healthy guinea pig , crushed in warm water and mixed into the critical care as I have read it promotes probiotic gut flora and keep things moving, improve his appetite and help him feel a bit brighter - I assumed this was also safe to try because guinea pigs eat their own and their cage-mate's poop if they're feeling a little low. While he didn't take the critical care on his own, he was less reluctant to be force fed.

While I do not want him to be in pain, I have a feeling that the pain-killers are putting him off his food and making him feel a bit down - he seems to be making more progress and seems brighter and happier without them, but I do not want my piggy in pain.

What is the general view on this?? i have read that Metacam is generally safe and majority of guinea pigs have no problems, but maybe my pig is unsettled by it. He has not had his next dose and does not seem to be in too much pain or discomfort - if any, but guinea pigs hide those signals well and it would have been a big and traumatic experience for the little guy, I am sure it has affected him to some extent.

Has anyone had a similiar experience or have any advice on whether to continue the painkillers or not??

No silly answers - I'm asking for help.

I have read that guinea pigs are able to catch human colds and flus and that it may actually kill them if they do. For this reason my parents have helped me prep their food and feed them so I reducew the risk of spreading germs to them.

I have not handled them in a few days but they are seeming a bit lonely and missing cuddles and I was wondering how long until it is safe to cuddle my piggies again without making them sick??

My two male guinea pigs are about one year old and have never really fought before.

I have had them since they were young and they have always got along great apart from the odd tiff here and there.

For their birthday I decided to have a little party with my cousins guinea pigs (boys and girls). They all ended up fighting over dominance and the girls, so we seperated them.

My cousins guinea pigs are gone, but now my guineas won't stop fighting with each other over who is dominant and who is passive from now on. The guinea pig that was passive, now seeks dominance, but the dominant guinea is standing his ground.

I have tried all I can think of - cleaning their cage with vinegar, introducing them on neutral territory, and also I bathed both of them to remove both of their scents and scents of the other pigs.

The fighting has improved a lot since it first began, but there are still small tiffs over the dominance. Rummbling, cooing and a bitt of teeth chattering and mounting as well from the originally dominant guinea pig, but the passive guinea pig is also teeth chattering and fighting back as if to say "back off dont push me around".

Will they end up forgetting about it in a few hours or days, or will this now be an issue.

Since they are now back on neutral territory, after a few tiffs, will the guinea pig that was dominant before, just uptake his regular position and my passive pig will adjust and follow?

I dont think it's due to their age because theyve been mature for a while and haven't fought at all until today - not like this.

I want to know what else I can do and if they will ever be normal guinea friends again.

I live in Australia and summer is coming up soon. It is already spring and temperatures are between 19 - 28 degrees Celcius (66 - 82 degrees Farenheit).

Summer is expected to have temperatures as high (or higher) than 40 degrees Celcuis (104 degrees Farenheit), which means a genralised summer temperature between 28 - 37degrees Celcius (82 - 99 degrees Farenheit) and I am worried that they will suffer from heat stroke and as I work during the day, they cannot be regularily supervised.

Their main hutch is outside, I do have a play pen for them for inside where the air con is, but this cannot be a regular event as it is too large.

I have covered their hutch with a tarpulian for shade, with one side open for plenty of ventalation, but I am worried that the plastic will lock in heat and turn it into a sweat box. I have already removed their little plastic pigloo from their cage for this reason. Could towels be better than the tarp at creating a shady hutch for my guineas??

I plan on getting a tile for them to lay on, but im not sure which tiles stay cool, and some ice blocks, I thought perhaps an icecream container with the lid on filled with water, then frozen and covered with a damp towel placed in their hutch to help keep them cool. And also to have cool water for them changed twice a day.

Is heatstroke caused by dehydration, or just being too hot??? Could watermelon (seedless) and cucumbers and wet romaine lettuce leaves help with my piggies coping through the summer months??

I read that having a spray bottle and gently misting the guineas is a good idea, but wouldnt this cause them to be wet and get a cold? And also dipping their feet in cool water, because this is access to their skin without drenching them and can help keep them cool. Is this a good idea??

Its mainly the shade im worried about, and the heat itself....

I need some help in figuring out the safest and most practical way, if i have to have my guinea pigs outside most of the time, what will prevent them from getting heatstroke? And if they were inside, can aircon upset them or make them sick??

Sorry about all the questions, Its my first summer with my little guys and I love them dearly, I would be devastated if anything happened to them.

Thanks everyone :)

Ok, so early this morning, i heard one of my guinea pigs make a noise which sounded like a guinea whimper.

It was similiar to cooing in volume, except it went on for a few minutes and i thought "they have food, they're probably just happy and having a chat" but it did sound fairly different and when it went on for another few minutes, I was worried because he doesnt normally do this to my knowledge, and so i picked him up and held him against my ear and it sounded like it was coming from his lungs, and was in timing with his breathing, but shortly after giving him a cuddle, it stopped.

It sounded like wheezing, but only I heard it, he hasn't made the noise since and his breathing is regular and his lungs seem clear. No crackling, no laboured breathing... no wheezing..

He's eating and drinking normally (like a pig, actually :-P) and is running about like his normal little self, nothing seems wrong now. Wee n poop are both normal too.

No discharge or crustyness from the nose, no drooling, no crusty or dull eyes, they're bright and sparkling. None of his habits have changed recently, or since I got them a few months ago really.

I havent heard the noise since early this morning and its been about 7hrs n he still seems normal, he's out in his hutch having a run about, but what should I do???

I honestly feel like I want to take him to the Vet to be sure, i just dont want to fork out $50 if there's nothing to diagnose because Ive done that twice already out of fear and my mum's getting pissed off. lol.

Moneys not the issue though, since i dont have a job at the moment, my mum is happy to foot the bill for him and his brother if they needed to see a vet, but whats everyones thoughts and views about my guineas behaviour this morning?

To go with the last name Simpson.

Please rate each name from 1 - 10

For girls:

Hazel Winter

Emma Rose

Haileigh (or haylee/hayley) Louise

Hayley Summer

Summer Rose

Kaylee Belle

Lilly

Alaney (pronounced A-lay-knee)

For Boys:

Tyler

Eli

Cody

Elijiah

Sasco

(All boys names as a first or middle name)

My bf thinks all my names are stupid... some of the boys names are.. but i love the names i have picked out for girls...

Im a Jessica, so I want my children to have names that aren't called out 3 other times during rollcall.

I want them to have unique names.

He especially hates Sasco. Theres a reason for it, its because I saw the word "sasco"on my whiteboard. and i liked it as a name. He thinks its bad because i'd be naming my child after a whiteboard. hahaha which is kinda bad.. I still like the name though.

What do you guys think??

One of my guinea pigs seems to do this thing where he'll be running around little a little maniac like normal, then mid-run, he'll start kicking out everywhere and jumping all over the place and twitching.

Is this a seziure?

He doesnt curl up or lay on the ground or squeak orany of that, in fact, other than these twitches hes completely normal, squeaking happily, eating, drinking, running about with his guinea brother, everythings normal except for these weird twitch fits hes been getting, im not too sure if they phase him either.

He also seems to jump from place to place, and jumps in a 360 as if something has startled him, but for no reason that I can see, so im wondering could this be popcorning??

Hes well fed and cared for, and only about 4-5mths old, but both guineas are scratching, so im thinking maybe they have mites.

What does everyone else think?

btw. Yes, i will be taking them to the vet if it continues, im just trying to find out what im up for.

Is it ok to leave the leafy top of the strawberries on and let them nibble away, or is it best to cut the leafy parts off before giving it to them?

Also, do i offer them kiwi-fruit with or without the skin on the portions??

Thanks :)

Hi, I know its not my fault that this person decided to do what they did, but I was answering a question on here for her about her hampster, and from her description, her hampster was definately sick, and i knew it needed to see a vet, so i suggested that she took it to the vet ASAP.

A little while later, she posted another question "im going to kill my hampster."

And in the question she went into detail saying how she's put panadol in the hampsters water to kill it, because she cant afford to take it to the vet.

I feel absolutely horrible... and so sorry for the poor hampster, that would have been a horrible way to go.

I feel so full of guilt, even thought its not my fault at all - but I told her that she needed to take it to the vet.. and she couldnt.... so.. she decided to kill it.

She could've taken it to a shelter and had it put to sleep, but no... she didnt.

Now i feel that the hampster is dead partially because of me, and it makes me really angry because ill bet that hampster was a beautiful little animal, full of love and life had it not been sick.

Please help me feel a bit better...

I took my guinea pigs to the vet today, they're both happy and healthy.

Niether of my guinea pigs eat pellets, I offer them everyday, the guineas just dont take to them.

The vet told me that having grass hay avaliable 24/7 and giving vegies daily is bad for them and that i should cut out the veges and just stick to pellets???

I dont think this is right because guineas need VIT C from fresh fruit n vege everyday.. just pellets doesnt cut it, even if they're specialised.

And guinea pigs also need to graze quite frequently on grass hay to keep their digestive tract in good working order.

The vet thinks that my guinea pigs are sneezing because of their grass hay... and suggested i used straw instead for their bedding, which can actually be quite dangerous around their eyes, offers no nutritional value and isnt very absorbent at all.

Im very confused.. this all sounds so backwards..

What should i do??

Any advice?

My Two male guinea pigs Giraffe and Freddo recently have been sneezing a little.

Ive only noticed in the past 2 or 3 days, Its not constant, only about once or twice a day max and behaviour is otherwise not sluggish or anything like that, they seem relitively normal.

Would I be able to tell if they were actually sick? What are some tell-tale signs I could look out for?

I dont think they have an allergy to their grass hay which i use for their bedding, because i've used this since i got them about a month ago and they havent sneezed until now, they love the grass hay as far a I know, they nibble to their hearts content and love nuzzling and hiding underneath it.

They dont seem sick, however, Freddo isnt eating very much, but he never really has - giraffe is the guts.

Freddo's the submissive guinea, he eats food that my dominant guinea giraffe has gnawed on first and he does eat after he's prompted and seems to enjoy a good feed quite a bit..

He's particularily fond of cucumber at the moment.

Is this behaviour normal for a submissive guinea? Is it like 'permission' to eat?

Freddo used to be very very shy and didnt wheek or move anywhere, now he's come right out of his shell, and wheeks happily with a peice of carrot, runs about, and loves a cuddle!

While being the submissive guinea pig, Freddo has also recently started teeth chattering at Giraffe, normally over food or personal space (Giraffe likes to climb all over freddo and gets very jealous if freddo is getting attention, no matter how much attention I give to giraffe)

They dont break out into fight, because im with them and seperate them, and 10 seconds later they're back best friends again.

Giraffe also seems to get really upset and squeaks like crazy for what i can see no reason for.

He just gets really jumpy and skitty for no reason. ESPECIALLY if im holding Freddo.

But whenever I go to give giraffe a cuddle, he squeaks n wriggles away anyway, so what can I do to make him happy?

Am I doing something wrong??

Ive recently introduced capsicuim (bell peppers) and orange segments to them, and they liked the green capsicuim the first day i gave it to them, now they dont, and they dont like red either.

Im really trying to get their Vit C up, so im stuck cos they're only little and cant eat a whole banana or anything like that.. I'm not giving them vitamin drops, they're toxic.

They also refuse to eat pellets.. which is really annoying because i know how they need their pellets for protein and other nutrition.

Im not sure what to do, im worried that even though im doing my best to feed them properly, they're not eating what they're supposed to, and i dont want them to get sick.

I just wish they could understand that they need it to stay healthy.

They regularily eat a variety made up of 3 - 4 of the following, i like to mix it up for them.

carrot, broccolli, cucumber, banana, apple, orange segments, cucumber (bell peppers)

I just want to make them both happy and healthy, I love them both so much.

Please let me know your thoughts. Are they just becoming more comfortable with me?

No stupid comments please, because i am worried about my pets I love very very much, its not a joking matter, even if im over-reacting a little.. Ive only had them a month n im still learning their personalities.

I bought 2 guinea pigs today, both males, both about 14wks old, and one of them (giraffe) seems to eat carrot, pellets, meadow hay and grass and is roaming around exploring the hutch, but the other guinea pig (freddo), wouldnt take to carrot or any other foods from what i could see, he's just hiding under the ramp. Both were bought from different pet stores as well, could this be a problem? They seem to be getting along fine with each other.

Freddo has a very glossy coat, his teeth seem healthy too. What could be wrong with him? Do you think he could be just adjusting to his new home and not eating cos he's a bit anxious, or is he sick?

Also, its coming into winter now, and im not too sure how to keep them warm.

Their house is off the ground and filled with hay for them to snuggle into, but will this be enough??

I cant take the hutch inside my house either, its far too big. I want to make sure they are definately warm enough for winter.

Please help. I love my guineas, i'd hate for them to get sick or be sick without me knowing.