guinea pig acting strangely

Question
Hi!  We have a 2 year old pig named Allulahbelle.  Two nights ago she started throwing herself around the cage and actually was jumpng up the sides.  This did not last long but since then I've noticed she's sticking to one corner of her cage.  She is eating and drinking, just not as enthusiastically as usual.  When I hold her she snuggles in as usual.  I always give her veggies at night and for the past 2 nights she has not touched her lettuce.  Last night I held it up to her nose and she backed violently up doing that warning sound.  She loves lettuce and this symptom has got me the most worried.  The first day I thought her eyes looked a little watery but last night they appeared fine.  Any ideas would be much appreciated.  Thanks!

Answer
HI Nancy,

As her behaviour has changed quite drastically, I would suspect she may be ill in some way. Refusal of food  - especially a favourite food - is often a sign of ilness.

Throwing herself around the cage and jumping up the sides coudl be a sign of intense irritation and pain - usually from mites. It could even have been a seizure, although she would have been a little disorientated and have a slight tilt if this was the case.

Mites are microscopic so cannot be seen - symptoms are scratching a lot, having sores or scabs on the skin, redness of the skin, hair loss (especially localised hair loss), "pimples"/bumps on the skin, jumping and squealing a lot when being handled. In extreme cases, seizures have been reported.

Some pigs have very few symptoms. I suspect that Allulahbelle (gorgeous name!) may have been throwing herself around the cage and jumping up the sides trying to ease the irritation from mites.

An alternative suggestion is that she was popcorning (leaping, twitching, twisting, running around, jumping into things, rolling) and maybe hurt herself a little. So she could have just been having fun in her cage, and then maybe bumped into something a bit too roughly and caused herself a bit of an injury.

While she is still eating and is not losing weight, I would simply keep a very close eye on her. Check her over thoroughly and look for symptoms of mites, and for any injuries. If you find either, then you will need to go to the vet. If she loses weight, won't eat, or develops any other symptoms (i.e. lethargy) then get to the vet sooner rather than later.

I hope I could help!

Best Wishes,

- Laura