Guinea pig losing fur and messy bottom

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:49 pm


Meloxicam is widely used for guinea pigs. Some vets prescribe it to be given once a day, but many of us have found that pigs in pain do better if you divide the dose in half, increase it by just a bit, and give it twice a day. I know the literature says it will keep pain at bay for 24 hours, but it just won't do that.

I'm glad you got in at Cornell. Can you use them as your regular vet, or will you have to use another? If so, I'd find a different one than the one who refused to treat for mites.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Apr 23, 2018 10:17 pm


There is a sticky in the medical forum on arthritis. It might be in the master sticky.

I am glad they finally chose to treat for mites! It is unconscionable that they waited so long! Revolution will treat a number of parasites.

amyfw

Post   » Wed Apr 25, 2018 8:13 pm


I agree that mites should have been considered a LONG time ago. I missed the signs at first but once I heard about the under the skin mites I asked and asked with no se cuss. I kept being told they did not see mites and if they had mites the pigs would jump when touched. So glad we finally got into Cornell.

Yes, I can make Cornell my main vet. Butterscotchesccage mate ( her son) is a patient there since he was neutered in 2015 and now that she has been seen by them we can return. They make me a little nervous because they have the students do a lot of the exams and procedures so I do like my other vet for nail clippings and things like that.

Also, my usual vet did fins,my agree to rest for mites. It just should have been done from the get go maybe or at least when our measures to fix their "dry skin dandruff" failed when humidifiers, vitamin c and skin and fur vitamins did not work.

How do you know when a piggie needs metacam? Cornell thought at her age (4) and due to extreme obesity she may have arthritis but this was not,confirmed by X-ray as thy suggested. Instead, they offered a 2 week trial to see how she responds. I am not sure she needs it but they thought due to the pee around her bottom that she may be in pain and therefore not moving away from her pee. I support this idea but want to make sure it's a good idea first. I read up on metacam but still was hoping some seasoned metacam users would chime in.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Apr 25, 2018 9:33 pm


I wouldn't hesitate to try it.

squeaky3

Post   » Sat May 26, 2018 4:22 am


As long as the cysts are present, the hair loss will be. They could easily be the root of all her problems, they can even interfere with thyroid function, metabolism, blood pressure and heart rate. I had one elderly sow who had big ones most of her life, when she was around 5-6 years old, she was spayed. All her *hair grew back and she seemed much happier, but she died of old age about 9 months later. Spaying is a major surgery and she had some digestive issues for a few weeks after it because everything had to be 'moved around' and then had much more space to spread out. Meloxicam is an NSAID frequently used for pain relief and as an anti inflammatory, some guinea pigs do well on it, others seem not to do so well, how did she do on it?
Last edited by squeaky3 on Sat May 26, 2018 4:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

squeaky3

Post   » Sat May 26, 2018 4:23 am


I said fur... I meant hair!!

amyfw

Post   » Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:17 am


Butterscotch has regrown all of her hair. The vets at Cornell still see cysts on her ovaries on ultrasound but suspect they are not hormone dependent since her hair grew back. She continues to have .25 of metacam a day. That seems to be the secret number in terms of a dosage that keeps her bottom from getting so messy. We did a trial of her off the meds for two weeks and as suspected, she acted exactly the same, same food intake etc. BUT her bottom became covered in urine again. The suspicion is that she has posturing problems related to arthritis so we put her back on the meds even though she has no signs of arthritis. Basically, without metacam she gets covered in urine but with metacam she is able to be cleaner. Will keep people updated with changes.

amyfw

Post   » Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:10 pm


UPDATE July 2019-

My 5yp female guinea pig has been dealing with incontinence and a uti since January. She has been seen during this time weekly or bi-weekly continuously at Cornell Vet Hospital and has been on 4 different antibiotics. Nothing is helping. The UTIs are causing stones and I have tried everything to help her dissolve them (see med list below)

At this time, we are out of options. The vets have prescribed proin syrup to help the incontinence with the hope that it will help with the uti as well but they have no experience with using proin in guinea pigs and I am worried about giving it to her after reading countless horror stories by dog owners and the fact that it was used in humans but recalled and is now banned for use in the US.

Does anyone have experience with treating drug resistant UTIs or using proin syrup to treat incontenence? Any suggestions? I have tried d-mannose and numerous other otc supplements as well as the prescribed meds she is on.

Current med list-
TMS antibiotic
Doxy antibiotic
Sodium citrate
Meloxicam
Tramodol as needed
Probiotics
D’Mannose
Cystease
Pet uti free supplement
Shilingong
Renalvive

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jul 14, 2019 10:39 pm


Unfortunately, nothing has been proven to help dissolve bladder stones in guinea pigs. Antibiotics, and in particular SMZ, is generally effective in treating UTI, but this sounds more challenging due to incontinence. Have stones in the urethra been ruled out? Probably a long shot, but a stone or stones stuck in the urethra could cause dribbling of urine.

You may find something useful in this thread (Propalin is mentioned further down, which I think is the same thing as Proin):
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36615

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jul 14, 2019 10:59 pm


Also meant to ask...what kind of bedding are you using?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:22 pm


I wouldn't give d'mannose. It's a sugary carbohydrate, and guinea pigs just aren't engineered to process sugar. You can wind up with major digestive upsets with sugars.

I agree with sef that nothing is likely to dissolve the stones. I wouldn't even try. If they're small enough she might pass them, and the shilintong might help with that. But if you don't get rid of the stones, the incontinence is probably not going to stop, and you could wind up with a full-on emergency.

I'm also not sure why she's being given sodium citrate. It's used to make the urine alkaline, but guinea pig urine is alkaline to begin with. It may have no effect at all. Renavive is another unproven product that's not likely to work in herbivores.

Is there some reason you haven't had the stones surgically removed?

User avatar
Catie Cavy
Supporter 2011-2020

Post   » Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:52 am


The only other things I can think of are to give extra fluids (by syringe, giving high water content fruits and vegetables, and wetting vegetables) and try a sedative. Sedatives like Ativan or Valium can act as a muscle relaxant to help pass stones. They have worked for a few of us here.

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