Very old guinea pig

Question
Hi.
Can guinea pigs get arthritis? If so, how do you help the symptoms? My guinea pig will be 7 at the start of next year. She's recently started bunny hopping around her cage and holding both back legs at strange angles, sometimes dragging one of them and so on. One of her front feet has got very swollen too, she still walks on it but carefully. She's got very thin too despite eating and drinking loads. Are these typical signs of aging or something to worry about?
Thanks
Kat

Answer
You've done something very right for her to live so long. That's nearly two years more than expected.

What you are seeing are the signs of old age. As their time approaches they often begin what we call a "wasting syndrome" that is characterised by weight loss, less energy and appetite and difficulty moving.

I don't honestly know if arthritis has ever been diagnosed in cavies but I have no reason to believe that they would be exempt from it. It affects every animal and human we know at some time in their lives, so it would be foolish to assume they can't be victims of it as well.

The swelling on the front foot is most likely something called bumblefoot. It's a severe swelling of the foot pad and is painful to the pig. I've never seen it on the back feet as it seems to be limited to the front pads.

It's unknown what causes it and it's pretty much untreatable. I have two old sows right now with it, one of whom I have to be extremely cautious with as it will easily bleed and when it does it bleeds profusely. I've not found anything that seems to make it better or to prevent it.

The excessive drinking could be a sign of renal failure, but again it's part of the aging process. I would just keep her as comfortable as possible until her time comes. The tough part is there's no predicting when that will be. It could take another year for her to reach that point, or it could take her in a few weeks.  

That's the hardest part of having and loving our animals, having to face the reality that they leave us too soon.