Yet again, I was having a quick browse through the gumtree listings, just to see who was advertising what, and to check for anything that needed attention - when I spotted an ad selling a 4 month old male and female guinea pig together. They looked ok in the pic, but the fact that they were together meant a high chance the girl was pregnant. So I made the call.
About an hours worth of negotiation later and I'd established the the girl had 'a bit of a skin condition' that was being treated with pet shop mite spray (the most ineffective, irresponsible 'medication' pet shops can stock in my opinion!). I explained what the guinea pig would need as proper treatment, and eventually negotiated to adopt just her.
This is what I found. The 'skin condition' is a full blown case of mange mites, with extensive hair loss, scabbing, crusting and weird skin thickening. I felt bumps in her belly, but no movement. I made the unfortunate prediction on my facebook page yesterday morning that she'd probably miscarry or deliver stillborns. Late yesterday evening this is just what happened - four partially formed, partially decayed babies were aborted. The smell alone was horrendous!
Thankfully, Tracey from
Perfect Angel Cavies generously offered to bring me around some antibiotics for Sahara this morning, and she's had her first dose. I don't know if she's managed to pass all the toxins from the decaying babies/placentas, but her best chance if there is still an infection is with the antibiotics.
It's just such a horrible situation - and I'm sure I've only just scratched the surface of her illnesses... It's just a wait and see situation now. If she can survive the next week, and we can kick the mange, she's got a good chance.
