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Late Sunday night/early this morning, our sweet, elderly guinea pig passed away We'd been expecting she'd leave us soon ... but I was not ready. And my husband wasn't here to say goodbye to his piggy girl.

Then, this morning my BO called. She never calls unless something is very wrong.

Maia came in with swollen, sore teats. By the time I got to the barn, they were oozing, and she was running a 104.3 fever. Like the rest of the US, it's stupid hot here right now, so that's not helping anything.

Called the vet, then cold hosed for 30 minutes. By the time the vet arrived Maia's temp had reached 105. Yay. Vet administered IV banamine and IM antibiotics, and I followed up with an ice bath a few hours later. Managed to get her temp down to a reasonable 100, but fully expect it will spike again as the banamine wears off, so I've got fresh paste on hand. Vet will run bloodwork tomorrow.

Maia's a maiden mare, so mastitis isn't the most likely culprit. She does have a history of crazy high fevers -- spiked at 106 when she had pneumonia as a 2 month old -- and does not handle heat well. So, more ice baths throughout the next few days, plus I added another fan to her stall.

So sorry to hear that your guinea pig passed away

Hope Maia is ok, I wonder why she has an infection in her teats? Hope the ABs do their job and she feels better soon.

Oh I'm really sorry to hear this and wonder what the heck it could be. Yes, the heat here in NJ is horrible and I know where you are is even worse. My friend's horse ran a high fever about a month ago and ended up in the clinic for that and some other thing. They never did find out the cause of the fever. He was in that clinic for a week on antibiotics. My old gelding spiked a fever of 105 two years ago, also with no diagnosed reason. He also ended up on antibiotics with the vet having to come every day to give it IV and it costs me a ton of money. His Amyloid A test was over 1,000.

Did the vet take blood? Could it be that an insect caused an opening in the skin and she developed a bacterial infection? The big worry with high fever is laminitis, as I'm sure you know.

Oh I am so sorry about your baby girl pig. Huge loss. I have pigs. I adopt as many as I have room for from a rodent rescue. They live for years and it is so bad to lose them.

Good luck with your mare. I hope she recovers quickly.

I’m sorry about your piggie. They leave such a hole in your heart. Sending positive vibes to Maia.

My piggie sends love to you on the loss of yours. I am sorry for your loss.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your piggy. I've had several over the years. Their little noises are so cheerful.

Sending good vibes for Maia. I hope she turns around quickly and it okay.

Sending you hugs for all you are going through right now.

Jingles for Maia that she is feeling better and you figure out the cause of this sudden fever.

So sorry about your g-pig too.

Wishing a speedy recovery for Maia. I'm so sorry you lost piggy.

Jingles for poor Maia and so sorry about your piggy. Also jingling this stupid heat finally breaks!

I'm so sorry you've lost your sweet guinea pig. Sending my jingles and positive vibes with everyone else's for a quick recovery for Maia.

So sorry about the pig! I have had many over the years and have a little group of four right now. It's always so sad when they leave us.

Healing vibes for you mare and a quick recovery.

Maia, please get better soon! jingles to your lovely girl.

I'm so sorry about your pig loss, too.

Fingers crossed, but we seem to be out of the danger zone. Maia's temp had dropped to 100 by midnight, 99 by breakfast, then creeped back to 99.4 by 10 (3 hours in a stall by then). The swelling is nearly gone on one side, and reduced on the other, so she's moving a touch more comfortably. And all of the in/out systems seem to be operating as normal

She's been fantastic about soaking her feet in an ice bath, and was quite happy to have me sponge her undercarriage with ice water this morning. I'll repeat in a few hours.

No results yet from the blood tests.

The little piggy girl has left a huge hole. The boys have been sitting near her favorite napping spot since Sunday night

Such good news for Maia and you!

And so sorry about your little piggy.

More jingles for Maia. Glad for the update.

Hope the little piggy boys are hanging in.

Oh so so sorry. I hope M is improving.

Bloodwork is good, and Maia seems better. She laid down yesterday afternoon (her normal nap-time routine), after allowing me to give her teats a icy sponge bath. And temps are hovering in the safe range (99.3-100), no more fever spiking.

So sorry about your piggy:(

Glad Maia seems to be on the mend. High fevers scare the crap out of me!

Im so relieved that Maia is on the upswing. And sorry about your little microswine. The littlest pets still leave such big holes.

Sorry your lost your sweet piggie.

Were he tweets filled with pus? My mare, not maiden will occasionally get swelling in hers for no reason and no temp. A few times she's come in with the slobbers from clover and her tweets are swollen too. Could just be a coincidence or the clover could have caused the swelling.

Mares!

Glad to hear your girl is in the mend. So scary when you don't know what it is.

We're now worrying about colic. Fever is down. Swelling is down. And she's drinking water (plus grain and hay) as normal. But poop is dry and small. Oy.

Since we had a good handle on water intake (normal), BO and I decided to put her out with the herd so she'd move around. That didn't help gut motility enough. So, now, we're adding probiotics per the vet's okay (yay for vets who text in between visits <3).

Teats were pussy on Monday, and have given off clear liquid the past two days (now that we can touch them!) Not much clover right now -- it's too hot and dry.

Vet will be back on Saturday.

Ugh, Heddy. Following along with my fingers crossed for you all.

Jingles that this passes and she keeps improving!

Can you soak her hay for a couple of days?

Jingling!

Instead of cold hosing, dunk a baby diaper fully in cold water, (or multiple diapers) and put them in the freezer until they're good and frozen. then hold them against her swollen bits. it wastes less water, isn't as messy, won't attract bees, and wont soak her hooves. Sorry you're having a tough time

For what it's worth - my guy had a mild colic a few weeks back in this extreme heat. Besides the vet addressing the colic with medications - we also gave him some oral paste electrolytes which really increased his water intake. I give now on occasion after a very hot sweaty ride as a precaution. I realize you are dealing with the mastitis issue but this may address any colic concerns. Wishing a speedy recovery. These illnesses cause so much stress to horse and owner.

When my mare had mastitis after her goal was weaned. I had to be care not to over drain or pump the teets as it could start the milk production again. Her mastitis came 4 months after weaning...

I'll say it again. MARES.

I had a long response typed. Suffice to say, we've done paste electrolytes, skipped soaking hay (baby Maia said "WTF?" to wet hay last time we were in this situation and refused to eat), always feed wet grain (history of choke), water consumption is at/above normal, and I've added additional fans. Once the fever dropped, I quit with the vet-ordered ice bath for the feet PLUS icy sponge bath, and moved to strictly an icy sponge bath -- all ice, bit of water, sponge, repeat.

Maia burst from the the barn this evening with her normal vim and vigor -- slammed into her mama at full speed, bounced off the fence, into two other horses ..... she was feeling good!

The piggy balance has recovered. My husband returned, and the boys are talking again at mealtime. I've decided he was the linchpin, since they weren't even purring at me. We're still all raw, but it's a bit better.

tl;dr: mare still improving; vet tomorrow.

It looks like we're in the clear!

As of today, nothing has shown up in either the blood culture or teat fluid culture, fever is gone, and most of the swelling is gone. Since Maia is maiden, and there's no other obvious cause, the vet is guessing a false pregnancy caused the mastitis.

Great news! Glad to hear it.

That must be a relief, so glad she is doing well!

StraightForward wrote:That must be a relief, so glad she is doing well!

I'll be getting back on her tomorrow. Keep me in your thoughts. She is feeling better

She nearly flattened the BO's HUGE Friesian/draft mare on her way out to the pasture tonight!

Great news! Great!