Grace's medical thread
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- For the Love of Pigs
Grace has been acting strange this morning. I'm going to pass this off to my daughter since she's the one taking care of Grace:
The same day that her sister Carly died, Grace stopped eating. We took her to the emergency vet, who decided it was GI stasis due to pain from her cystitis. She prescribed half a tablet of Baytril twice a day (22.7mg per tablet), metacam, and .5 ml of metoclopramide twice a day for motility. Yesterday she was slowly getting better, and by the end of the day she was almost normal again, eating and squeaking at me.
This morning she is acting very strange. She is acting unexpectedly aggressive towards her cagemate Emma. She frequently forgets what she's doing in the middle of doing it and just stares into space. Sometimes me petting her will be enough to remind her, and she goes back to normal, but other times she just keeps staring into space. She almost walked straight off the couch while I was holding her, something she's never done before. She's also pacing around the cage without stopping to eat, drink, or sniff anything, and only stops when Emma gets in the way or I stop her.
Could this be an effect of grieving her sister, or could it be an effect of her medications?
The same day that her sister Carly died, Grace stopped eating. We took her to the emergency vet, who decided it was GI stasis due to pain from her cystitis. She prescribed half a tablet of Baytril twice a day (22.7mg per tablet), metacam, and .5 ml of metoclopramide twice a day for motility. Yesterday she was slowly getting better, and by the end of the day she was almost normal again, eating and squeaking at me.
This morning she is acting very strange. She is acting unexpectedly aggressive towards her cagemate Emma. She frequently forgets what she's doing in the middle of doing it and just stares into space. Sometimes me petting her will be enough to remind her, and she goes back to normal, but other times she just keeps staring into space. She almost walked straight off the couch while I was holding her, something she's never done before. She's also pacing around the cage without stopping to eat, drink, or sniff anything, and only stops when Emma gets in the way or I stop her.
Could this be an effect of grieving her sister, or could it be an effect of her medications?
Last edited by Bookfan on Sun Oct 11, 2020 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- For the Love of Pigs
Bookfan again - I assume they didn't have liquid Baytril & that's why they gave her tablets instead.
Husband now with more info:
I just gave her the usual lunch: a slice of green pepper. Usually she attacks it immediately, with gusto. Today she wasn't interested. She just sat with her head stuck in the corner of the cage. Instead of nibbling at the green pepper she nibbled at the little ledge at the base of the cage -- ???
Our daughter picked her up and put her on the couch, with the green pepper. Eventually she started working on it, but she seems to be more interested in tossing it around than in actually eating it.
Husband now with more info:
I just gave her the usual lunch: a slice of green pepper. Usually she attacks it immediately, with gusto. Today she wasn't interested. She just sat with her head stuck in the corner of the cage. Instead of nibbling at the green pepper she nibbled at the little ledge at the base of the cage -- ???
Our daughter picked her up and put her on the couch, with the green pepper. Eventually she started working on it, but she seems to be more interested in tossing it around than in actually eating it.
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- For the Love of Pigs
She's been chewing on the edge of a litter box. Daughter brought her up to give her cc which she's taking pretty well. Chewing on non-food is not normal for her. Neither is being aggressive toward a cagemate - never happened before. Daughter moved her to a different cage for the time being. We may take her to the emergency vet later.
I just put my hand close to her nose so she could sniff me & she nipped me instead. Weird.
I just put my hand close to her nose so she could sniff me & she nipped me instead. Weird.
I was thinking the same thing. Teeth clicking, irritability and lethargy are all signs of being in pain or discomfort. BJ used to sit there clicking his teeth when he was itchy from his mites. He would also bite if you touched his itchy spot.
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- For the Love of Pigs
All of the weird behavior stopped late afternoon. All of it. Yeah, pain/discomfort would work as an explanation for some of the behaviors. I don't get her pacing around the perimeter of the cage over & over (with Emma close on her tail & Grace paying no attention to her). Husband just said before she was doing that she was making small circles near the water bottle - both clockwise fwiw. Did not notice any head tilt.
- Sef
- I dissent.
That is very strange. Definitely thinking pain, here, as those are all classic signs. Do you know her weight and how much Metacam she's on? I'm sorry if I missed it, but did they do x-rays? I also wonder if at least some of it could be tied to the passing of her sister. The timing is interesting. :(
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- For the Love of Pigs
She weighs 1lb 13oz after losing 3 oz since Carly died Fri. night. Loosing weight's been an issue with her for a long time. Metacam ongoing: .15ml/ cc. ER vet sent her home with 22.7 baytril tab which has to be halved,crushed & mixed with water. 1st sign of a problem on Friday was she wouldn't eat her lettuce at dinner. Later at the er vet all they did was examine her & do a urinalysis which was ok, no x-ray.
Daughter is also wondering about grief playing into the situation. This morning she wouldn't eat hay in the cage but would eat hay in a litter box that probably still has Carly's scent. We've seen pigs act depressed after the loss of a cage mate, but the ones that have another cage mate left seemed to transition better & Grace still has Emma (new last Dec.). Of course, Carly & Grace were sisters & had been together all their lives.
Daughter is also wondering about grief playing into the situation. This morning she wouldn't eat hay in the cage but would eat hay in a litter box that probably still has Carly's scent. We've seen pigs act depressed after the loss of a cage mate, but the ones that have another cage mate left seemed to transition better & Grace still has Emma (new last Dec.). Of course, Carly & Grace were sisters & had been together all their lives.