Paralysis
There is a kind of paralysis that can occur in guinea pigs
which is a great puzzle and no one has ever been able to give
me the answer to the question why. It happens very quickly,
over night as a rule. You will wake up to find the animal
down at the back, pulling itself along by it's front legs.
In all other respects it is alert, lively and as keen to get
stuck into it's breakfast as ever.
WARNING ALL OTHER FORMS OF PARALYSIS
NEED EXPERT ATTENTION.
By this I mean those that occur after falls, or accompany
other illnesses or ones that come on gradually.
The cure, and it invariably works, for the over night paralysis
are heavy doses of calcium, in the shape of Osteocare. One
ml night and morning for two days, slipping back to one ml
daily for the following three days. Usually within twenty
four to forty eight hours of beginning this treatment the
animal begins to recover mobility.
Calcium is a vital mineral for muscle contractions and the
nerve impulses that trigger them. Therefore I must assume
that somehow there is a deficiency of this in the animal's
system when it goes down.
Though myself and many other people have asked all the obvious
questions when coming across this paralysis such as has there
been a change of diet, has the animal been stressed or had
a sudden change of environment, invariably the answers are
to the negative.
We guess, but we have no scientific proof to back this up
with, that there has to be a gut absorption problem which
flooding the gut with calcium manages to put right.
The good news is that this phenomenon is a once in a lifetime
thing, it certainly is in regards to my own stock, though
I have heard of one other animal belonging to a friend where
it happen twice to the same animal.
