PLEASE HELP OUR GUINEA PIG!!

Question
Hi, we're Natasha and Inasha. We really need your help. Our guinea pig, Maria, is sick. She isn't drinking or eating, which is very strange. Today she woke up with white gooey stuff around her eyes. She is very weak and won't move from her corner of her cage. We gave her a bath and kept her warm. Before this, she was also sneezing and coughing. She hasn't eaten for two days and has been thinning. We took her to the vet but they were closed. We called them and asked for advice, they told us to keep her warm and force-feed/drink-feed. We now are seeking for more advice from you. How do we keep our dear Maria alive till tomorrow when we see the vet? Please help us, we love Maria so much. We really don't what to do, without her and your help.
Thank you.

Answer
This is one of those questions that is painful to answer because the news is not good. Typically when a cavy is very sick they show the symptoms that Maria is showing. The gooey white stuff is from stress, not infection. It also happens in healthy pigs and causes no harm. But it is a bad sign when coupled with weight loss, refusal to eat and staying with her head in the corner.

Because guinea pigs don't often show they're ill until it's too late we are seldom able to turn them around when they get to this point.  When they refuse to eat or drink they go into system failure. Breeders all acknowledge the same phenomenon: once they put their head in the corner and refuse to come out they have given up the will to live.  

I realize how incredibly hard it is to hear this, but you need to know what you're facing. She is gravely ill and at this stage there is little that even a vet can do. We've tried over the years to reverse this process by administering IV fluids in an attempt to rehydrate a sick pig but it generally fails. Unfortunately it's almost always a losing battle.

You did not say how old she is. If she is over five this may just be old age. The life expectancy of a cavy is around 5, although I've had pigs that went over 7 years before they passed on. And some show symptoms of old age as young as 4.

I'm sure you're asking yourselves, "What did I do, or what could I have done to prevent this?" The answer is, you did nothing wrong. These things sometimes happen suddenly and without warning.  

I am so sorry I cannot give you any advice that will change the inevitable. I know you came here for help in making her well, but I am afraid this is a losing battle at this point. You have my sincere sympathy that Maria is so ill. Losing a pet is the most difficult thing about having one.