Sick Pig?

Question
He was scratching and toppled over and needed help getting up... exactly! I watched him for a while now, and he IS scratching more than usual. He also is not as friendly as usual. After a little while, he wants me to leave him alone and go back home. He'll push my hand with his head. He has been getting some grey hair around his little face lately, like us humans do as we age. This is the longest I have ever had any guinea pig. The Vitamin C drops from the Halth Food Store is what I attribute his age to. You may think it's strange for a 50 year old woman to be attached to a pig, but I am, and I really don't want to see him go. I will keep you posted if there is anything else that I notice. I hope it is just that he needed some help getting up, but I never have experienced that before. Thanks for caring.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
My Pig is 7 years old. Today he was scratching himself, fell on his side and could not get up. That has never happened before. I give him Vitamin C by eye dropper, so he does not have a Vit C deficiency. I know this has to be a sign that he is going to die. What is wrong. Is there anything that I can try to do or check for, before I come home to a dead pig?
-----Answer-----
Hello Carol,

I'm a bit unclear on what happened. Did he just have an itch and topple over and then need help getting to his feet? Is he scratching alot? Or is he too weak to stand? I'm assuming the first, if I'm incorrect, please cntact me again with more details and I'll see what I can do. At 7 years old, your piggy is a senior piggy as I'm sure you already know. Just like most elderly creatures, including humans, they become a bit weaker. Guinea Pigs can also have arthritis, so you may want to have him checked for that. Over all though it is likely just his age catching up with him. I'm not going to say he should live a nice long while yet because he is very old, but him toppling while scratching isn't a sign death is going to occur in the next few days. If there are any other problems, please let me know though because then there ay be a problem. Just this instance by itself isn't much of a cause for concern, it's just part of getting older. You have obviously cared for him very well to have such an old little boy. He may take a bit of special care sometimes (help getting up for instance) but should be ok. Like I said if there are any other issues or if I have misunderstood the situation, please let me know so I can be more helpful. Also, as I said, it may be a good idea to have him checked for arthritis, especially if this keeps occuring. Good luck and good job taking such good care of your piggy.

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs

Answer
Hello Carol,

I don't find it strange at all. I wish very much that more people were more attached to their pets. If he's scratching excessively (he may scratch a little more during the winter because of the drier weather, but it shouldn't be an extreme amount of scratching), you should have him checked for mites. Particularly if his skin looks unhealthy, he's losing hair, and/or is sensitive to being touched. A bit of itching is normal but excessive itching is cause for concern and should be checked out. You have done a wonderful job caring for your boy whatever your secret and you should be proud. I hope he lives quite some time more.

-kkat