# Skinny pig possible parasite



## AmandaNicx (Mar 29, 2020)

Hi guys, this is my first post on here but I am seeing some odd signs in my skinny pig, Piggy(male). He is about 4 years old and has started acting different recently :
He has been more tired,
Sneezing a few times a day, and while holding him, (felt my hand get wet), 
Plopping down and just resting with his eyes open on me most of the time 
but, I have seen these small things moving under his skin near his lower half, I have seen this for a few years and felt it while holding him, but we always chalked it up to his digestion, just thought I would add that in there. Another thing, a few weeks ago, he wouldn’t even touch his favorite treat, chard (red cabbage) and was kinda just falling over to one side(ish) and was “gagging” and at one point alittle some kind of liquid came up, but I stayed up with him through that night and next morning he was completely back to normal. He has had some new changes, but none recent; we have a normal guine pig, Bugsy who is a female and we’ve put their cages next to eachother. We moved them together about 3/4 months ago and they are always chewing on their cages to see eachother( separate cages). Anyways, his poops are fine, he seems to be eating and drinking like normal but these few signs are making me kinda nervous. With this quarantine, we cannot bring him to the vet so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

you can still phone the vet and describe the symptoms
the vet will then decide whether you need to bring him in or not
the present situation IS NOT an excuse to avoid caring for your pet in every way possible
we can only guess at what might be wrong
and any guesses could be way out in left field


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## AmandaNicx (Mar 29, 2020)

mrs phas said:


> you can still phone the vet and describe the symptoms
> the vet will then decide whether you need to bring him in or not
> the present situation IS NOT an excuse to avoid caring for your pet in every way possible
> we can only guess at what might be wrong
> and any guesses could be way out in left field


I'm not avoiding caring for my pet? My plan was to call the vet on top of this. Please do not imply things when you don't know what is being done. My post on this forum was simply me asking for any extra help I could get.


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

AmandaNicx said:


> I'm not avoiding caring for my pet? My plan was to call the vet on top of this. Please do not imply things when you don't know what is being done. My post on this forum was simply me asking for any extra help I could get.


That's not what you said
In fact you specifically said that you couldn't take him to the vet because of the present situation
No where did you say you were going to call the vet,
But
You specifically asked for help from a forum, not even a guinea pig forum, of which there are plenty, and with a great deal more experience of cavies than most here
But, a general forum at that
So I went from your post, not being psychic, I had to go on what you had presented
Also
You had plenty of time to take him to the vet before all this happened
You been seeing movements under his skin for a few years!
Why not be worried over those years?
Better to take him and find out it's nothing than be wrong
Why not take him, or at least talk to a vet, when he was gagging?
Guinea pigs can't vomit, therefore you're lucky he didn't die, either from choking or aspirating liquid into his lungs

If you weren't caring enough to at least speak to a vet, those times
Why should I, or anyone else think you're caring enough to talk to a vet now?

With that I will leave you
Hopefully someone will come along
But
Either way you need to talk to a vet


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## AmandaNicx (Mar 29, 2020)

AmandaNicx said:


> Hi guys, this is my first post on here but I am seeing some odd signs in my skinny pig, Piggy(male). He is about 4 years old and has started acting different recently :
> He has been more tired,
> Sneezing a few times a day, and while holding him, (felt my hand get wet),
> Plopping down and just resting with his eyes open on me most of the time
> but, I have seen these small things moving under his skin near his lower half, I have seen this for a few years and felt it while holding him, but we always chalked it up to his digestion, just thought I would add that in there. Another thing, a few weeks ago, he wouldn't even touch his favorite treat, chard (red cabbage) and was kinda just falling over to one side(ish) and was "gagging" and at one point alittle some kind of liquid came up, but I stayed up with him through that night and next morning he was completely back to normal. He has had some new changes, but none recent; we have a normal guine pig, Bugsy who is a female and we've put their cages next to eachother. We moved them together about 3/4 months ago and they are always chewing on their cages to see eachother( separate cages). Anyways, his poops are fine, he seems to be eating and drinking like normal but these few signs are making me kinda nervous. With this quarantine, we cannot bring him to the vet so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!





mrs phas said:


> That's not what you said
> In fact you specifically said that you couldn't take him to the vet because of the present situation
> No where did you say you were going to call the vet,
> But
> ...


i have talked to vets multiple times. Especially when he was gagging and once it stopped they said he was completely fine. Regarding the movement under his skin what I've seen online it is nothing to be concerned about, I just put every possible bit of information I had in. I cannot take him to the vet because every exotic vet within the vicinity of my is CLOSED because of the virus. You don't know where I live so do not assume things. I went on this forum because most of them deal with guine pigs, not my specific breed. Don't think you are all high and mighty because you are not. I had already called a vet hotline online and he told me that this is not a problem, only if other signs pop up. You are extremely rude and very unhelpful in my time of need. Check yourself.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I would ring a vet this morning for advice.


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## Engel98 (Oct 7, 2018)

Ugh. First I will say vets are open as they're a necessity. It's like you saying your child is ill but can't take him to the doctor because it's closed. Pet shops are still open so it's a tad silly that you claim the vets are. Seems odd don't you think? Anyway, I'll try and point you in some direction but note my knowledge on cavies is limited.

He clearly isn't well. Going off food is a massive worry. That coupled with lethargy and plopping down, sounds like a resp issue and may need antibiotics.

I'd be a tad concerned about your vet saying everything is fine concerning the gagging. Pigs shouldn't gag. What are his back teeth like? Do they need to be filed? Are they wearing down at a weird angle? What do you feed him? 

Movement in his tummy could be digestion. You can see and feel it in dogs too. Intestines always contract in sections to move food along the gut. 

From the pics he looks in good health. Skin seems clear and any hairs look fine too. I'd ring around different vets in your area for advice. May need meds. Again, I'm not a professional, I don't claim to be and I have limited knowledge on cavies. I don't own, nor have I owned pigs.


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## AmandaNicx (Mar 29, 2020)

Engel98 said:


> Ugh. First I will say vets are open as they're a necessity. It's like you saying your child is ill but can't take him to the doctor because it's closed. Pet shops are still open so it's a tad silly that you claim the vets are. Seems odd don't you think? Anyway, I'll try and point you in some direction but note my knowledge on cavies is limited.
> 
> He clearly isn't well. Going off food is a massive worry. That coupled with lethargy and plopping down, sounds like a resp issue and may need antibiotics.
> 
> ...


Hi, thank you for your response! He is doing better, I gave him extra vitamin C, through oranges and his energy went up a lot, gave him more water and he has been acting a lot better. The sneezing has stopped, maybe the blanket I was holding him was washed with a detergent that his nose did not like, I have to go check them. Unfortunately I live in a secluded area In which there are only 2 exotic vet offices and they are closed, and the store we got him from is almost a 3 hour drive, and I tried calling them got no answer. His teeth look normal, are not cracked/ broken or anything, if you would like a picture I could go get one, not too sure what I'm looking for with his teeth anyway. But thank you again for your response and I will post if he has any negative changes !


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## AmandaNicx (Mar 29, 2020)

Engel98 said:


> Ugh. First I will say vets are open as they're a necessity. It's like you saying your child is ill but can't take him to the doctor because it's closed. Pet shops are still open so it's a tad silly that you claim the vets are. Seems odd don't you think? Anyway, I'll try and point you in some direction but note my knowledge on cavies is limited.
> 
> He clearly isn't well. Going off food is a massive worry. That coupled with lethargy and plopping down, sounds like a resp issue and may need antibiotics.
> 
> ...


I also forgot to put that he is fed normal pellets, always has fresh Timothy hay and he gets different veggies/ fruits daily (Of course I always check what is safe for him to eat). With the gagging since it went away the vet said that it was okay, it wasn't really gagging, it was different but I'm not sure what it was exactly but that's the closest thing I could bring it to, he only did it a few times and has never done it since


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