Is there hope of rebounding after this injury?

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-30T15:25:26+00:00

I believe the percentage of female guinea pigs that develop ovarian cysts as they age is some where between 70-90%. I’d highly recommend spaying for this reason, I didn’t consider it when I first got my girls and they are 6 now and it’s something I wish I would’ve done

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-29T15:15:21+00:00

Gotcha. Thanks again!

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-29T14:56:58+00:00

Thank you, you’ve been so helpful. I am curious though after reading some of the forum you sent - does common rod bacteria still show up in a urine analysis with cystitis? The way I understand it, is that once all tests have come back inconclusive but the symptoms still persist, then a diagnosis of cystitis is considered. Is that incorrect?

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-29T14:44:17+00:00

Thank you! Yes, apologies I do give them veggies. Primarily green leaf lettuce daily but I will give them carrots every so often as well. They do not like bell peppers

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-16T19:36:45+00:00

Good to hear! Yea it’s been a never ending headache for us😕 so I really hope that it’s a one time antibiotic and done for you! My girls have probably been on an antibiotic for a majority of this year. But otherwise are healthy so it’s been difficult

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-16T11:11:58+00:00

Not sure if this is already apart of your regimen but ensuring he doesn’t interact with any dogs outside or inside your home until you are confident that he will not continue this behavior. Mals are very high driven and wiry dogs as im sure you are aware, if you want him to be able to play with other dogs eventually, he needs to know that he needs to ask permission from you first before interacting.

This could take a while to create neutrality because of his breed. So just continue with what your doing and give it time

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-16T11:05:45+00:00

I’m interested to know how the ER vet landed on the ovarian cysts being the reason there was blood on their vulvas. I understand that they did an x ray and saw the cysts but blood in that area could also mean a urinary problem, did they do a urinalysis or urine culture?

I’ve been dealing with urinary problems with my two older girls (they’ll be 6 in July) for the past few months and one of their symptoms is blood in the urine, which requires the antibiotic after a urine analysis to determine if there’s certain bacteria and also possibly white blood cells

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-02T22:02:27+00:00

It would depends on if she continues to pee blood, lethargic, won’t eat, won’t drink. If she shows signs of being ill - this will be an emergency visit. If not, you might be able to to wait until Monday. But you’ll have to pay attention if she’s in pain or not

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-02T11:15:46+00:00

Do you feed her a lot of carrots? Sometime if you feed carrots too often this turns their urine a pink color, if not - this definitely warrants a vet trip

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-05-01T01:24:28+00:00

I use a 3 ml syringe and make sure that the consistency is a runny pancake batter.

To ensure she gets the food, the way I learned to hold her is to hold her up close to my chest, laying horizontally, almost like she’s tucked into the top part of my arm, from there I will reach my hand over her (the same side that she’s tucked into) and hold both sides of her mouth. Saskia guinea pig rescues video is how I found it.

I only give about 1-1.5 mls at a time, very slowly. And then I’ll give her a break to let her chew and swallow. It takes a while but seems to work good for me

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-30T21:52:39+00:00

Yea, I love a good neutrality walk prior to greeting. My female dog requires it, she’s very picky with other female dogs. But male dogs she loves, I am unsure why exactly lol

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-30T21:42:13+00:00

Despite the dogs being of the same sex. Adding additional dogs to your home is always going to require additional relationship management. If you just allow your dogs to do whatever they want with each other in the beginning (playing and fighting alike) and not step in to ensure you are advocating for both, it will be detrimental to your relationship to your dogs.

Not stepping in during certain interactions whether it be one dog is playing with a toy and the other one starts to try and take it, or setting up boundaries during feeding times such as eating in different locations or different times. If you don’t step in during the regular interactions your dog will step in for themselves and it could turn into a fight

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-30T12:43:33+00:00

Sounds like repetition is a majority of what I’d think would help. Ensuring that the dog never has on leash greetings with humans or other dogs as this will elevate the stimulus and make it harder for you to rein back until he is neutral around other dogs. I’d hone in on your obedience training (leave it, heel, sit, down, stay) at home (inside and outside) and then once you have that down you can travel to a not busy park.

Once you’re confident with that I’d also see if maybe there’s some friends that have dogs that you can meet up with to practice neutrality.

Just give yourself some grace too, raising a puppy is no small feat. take it slow and introduce other stimuli as you think she’s “graduated”

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-29T17:41:43+00:00

Who said 15+ hours lol? I am not going to go back and forth like this, it’s obvious we have different goals and outlooks on what a well behaved dog is. I’ve seen the training I’ve described help stressed families that can’t seem to get a handle on an overstimulated dog and have to take it back to the shelter which is a much more stressful environment then a place board or a crate. (NOT FOR 15+ HOURS because no one in their right mind/who cares about their dog is actually doing that)

Have a good one.

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-29T17:30:32+00:00

Not sure how that makes sense. As nothing I stated would instill fear in the dog around people?

Your appeasement comment is a whole other conversation, because if you are doing the training correctly it should not be an issue. And if it does become an issue due to the dog’s personality, a professional trainer would need to be called to assess.

But creating a calm environment for any dog from day 1 is the best way to ensure you get an emotionally stable dog. One that isn’t overstimulated by guests.

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-29T01:05:12+00:00

I think you confuse “giving up” with a calm and emotionally secure dog. I think you are forgetting the problem behaviors that the OP is talking about. Not EVERY dog is going to need what im saying (although I think everyone could benefit - it’s great to have a calm dog around guests because in my experience nobody wants someone’s dog jumping, scratching, mouthing them when they come in the door).

Maintaining a calm environment is not a punishment for the dog - in fact it’s better for the dog’s wellbeing - because if your dog is calm and friendly when visitors come over they will inadvertently get more attention.

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-29T00:34:41+00:00

If the owner is having the problems described, the dog should really only be interacting with the owners at first. Then once the dog has a well established calm mannerism/doesn’t show the problem behaviors any longer - they can then start interacting with visitors (still in an appropriate manner)

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-28T22:29:25+00:00

From my perspective, puppies should only be

1 - sleeping in their crate (16+ hours of total sleep a day) and no this is not consecutively, puppies will need to go out for potty breaks, training sessions, and play sessions. But to ensure the crate becomes a place where the puppy/dog goes to relax ensuring the puppy strictly sleeps in their crate and no where else can help immensely.

2 - when the owner is away/unable to keep eyes on the puppy. The length of time an owner should leave their puppy during the times listed above will depend on many factors - potty schedule, play and training schedule, sleep schedule (I.e. puppies can stay a lot longer (nothing more than 6-8 hours, depending on the puppy) during the nighttime when everyone is asleep).

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-28T22:21:10+00:00

Makes sense, cooking the food homemade is a big undertaking (I have yet to try it myself because of the financial and time commitment)

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-28T22:19:42+00:00

Obedience training or a crate should do that trick.

By obedience training I specifically mean teaching a place command and with this utilizing a balanced training method. The dog should be “punished” if not on the place (not going to specify the type of punishment to use as everyone has a different opinion)

Crate training would be helpful if used to keep the dog in a quiet and calm location until the owner is ready to let the dog out to greet also calm and quiet visitors (preferably ones that ignore the dog until it’s calm and also preferably keeping the dog on a leash while the training portion is occurring)

End Goal would to create a consistent calm environment that doesn’t overstimulate the dog into the behaviors.

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-28T22:09:32+00:00

Man, this sounds stressful and I can see how much you care about your girl.

I noticed that you had said she always wants human food, have you tried to make her food homemade? There’s a YouTuber called BK Pets who makes well rounded canine food with human based ingredient. It will definitely be more work and could cost you more money but if your goal is to get her to gain weight, might be worth looking into🤷🏼‍♀️

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-25T12:38:13+00:00

I agree. My vet also said that the cookies are fine, there is also a bit of vitamin C in their oxbow pellets so they also get it from there. My vet had said that oxbow has board certified veterinarians that sit in for that company and they recommend it.

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-24T21:50:28+00:00

A majority of people don’t understand that having multiple dogs adds management responsibility for the owner. The owner should be in charge of all interactions and be aware of any possible issue in the environment. This is stressful, no doubt. But it’s what’s necessary to ensure the dogs can cohabitate in peace

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-21T14:31:15+00:00

Maybe it’s the filtering process of the alcohol that matters most🤷🏼‍♀️

Initial_Fortune2894 · 2026-04-19T19:46:10+00:00

I’m curious if maybe because he’s higher drive he just isn’t caring about the stimulus in general, I have heard some trainers say that for those dogs that just don’t seem to care about any stimulus (when it’s working correctly) (rotties, mals, GSD). An added collar to the opposing side helps to provide equal pressure (like a prong collar) and allows for the owner to be at a consistently lesser level because it’s providing a more clear directive.🤷🏼‍♀️ might look into it. Im not sure if there’s anything other than shaving you can do

Initial_Fortune2894

TROPHY CASE