Guinea pig losing fur and messy bottom

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jul 23, 2019 8:23 am


Good advice! Moving around more should also help suspend any calcium deposits so they get peed out. Maybe a vibrating pad along with extra fluid?

amyfw

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2019 10:23 am


Update-

Butterscotch was placed on proin. .1 ml did not do anything to help the urination issues but at .2 I noticed she was totally dry. This was great news except that she began to appear very bloated and uncomfortable and was losing weight. I am trying to rest her tummy as best I can by taking her off the sodium citrate and everything else to see if I can narrow it down to see what is causing the problem.
I thought it might be the .2 of proin but if I tried to lower the dose she began to leak again. However, eating is also important so I took her off the proin yesterday to see if it will help. Also, she began drinking excessively Tuesday and a Wednesday so I thought taking her off proin short term to see if that makes a difference might be a good idea.
Her only meds at this point are Bactrim and meloxicam. I suppose they could be the culprits as well but wanted to see about the proin first since it seemed to get worse with the start of that.
I continue to feed her 3 times a day with critical care but it’s not enough to keep her weight up.
What do you suggest for weight loss or any other reasons she might be losing weight?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2019 10:19 pm


Does she show any signs of pain? If so, you could ask the vet about increasing the meloxicam. I wish I had some helpful ideas for you on the weight loss but other than increasing the hand feeding and dealing with any potential pain issues, I don't have any other ideas.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Aug 30, 2019 6:44 am


I can't imagine that either the Bactrim or the Meloxicam would be causing a problem. I would definitely try stopping the Proin for now and see if it makes a difference. Keep us posted.

Erinspigs

Post   » Wed Sep 04, 2019 1:21 am


Can you make her "work" for her food a little bit? Spread out peppers so she has to go get the pieces and at least walk some. Place some foods she likes in harder to get areas where she may need to dig a little, stuff like that.

amyfw

Post   » Sat Sep 14, 2019 12:26 pm


Hi everyone, I took her off the proin and she is leaking all over but much happier and eating much better. It’s just that now she is soaked all the time and always messy again.

Any advice with chronic uti’s ? Meds don’t seem to be work but I want to help her live as long as she can. She is still on TMS but none of the meds have worked and we are out of antibiotics to try. Does d’mannose work on these guys? Any herbs or supplements or just flushing her out with water?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:55 pm


If it were me, I would continue with the TMS but am surprised you are seeing no improvement. I take it the vet has ruled out pyometra (an infection of the uterus)?

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:25 am


Glad to hear that she's doing better, but the incontinence and chronic UTIs are concerning. Without reading back through, can you remind me what bedding she is on? I think I may have already mentioned that our paralyzed pig did better on paper bedding than on fleece in terms of staying dry. He was barely able to move towards the end, but he stayed fairly dry and did thankfully not have any issues with UTIs.

I have not found any literature to support the use of D'Mannose in either rabbits or guinea pigs to prevent or treat bladder issues. If anything, the few references I have found seem to suggest that it could cause digestive upset.

amyfw

Post   » Sun Sep 15, 2019 9:46 am


She is on fleece. I tried them with carefresh but when she got bored she tried to eat it. Yikes! I tried U.K. vet Ed and that was worse than the fleece. ShamWow was suggested by a vet and so I just ordered it. I am going to sew it into a pad and see if it helps.

We are pretty sure that passing so many stones with the initial sludge and uti may have damaged her sphincter so she just drips at this point. Having drippy, Unconcentrated urine means that the TMS can’t concentrate in her bladder and fully work. This means the TMS is not really working at full capacity. Lying in her pee where bacteria can grow doesn’t help either. Once again, yikes!

We definitely ruled out pyometra but it is possible that it has formed that. She seems perky and to be acting normally though which I am not sure if she would be if she had

We all are sort of at a loss over here. I mean, 5 antibiotics rotated continuously since January should have done something by now. It does help for a while but then gets worse again even while still on it. I’m starting to agree with internal medicine which found that whether on or off meds chronic uti’s sort of respond the same because it’s drug resistant so it doesn’t really help and might even hurt the G.I. in the process.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:03 am


Does she drink excessively?

What I found (years ago) was when my guinea pigs were on Bactrim (I believe this is TMS), the Bactrim was peed out and killed bacteria, resulting in no odor.

amyfw

Post   » Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:34 pm


She does drink a lot, yes and TMS is bactrim.

Erinspigs

Post   » Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:08 pm


There are a heck of a lot of "suspicions" going on. If it were me, Id treat for mites and see how she does. Everything you're saying indicates a mire problem with the possible exception of low heart rate - and not sure that may not have something to do with a sever infestation also. I've seen many pigs get diagnosed with so many different things at same time, then they re on so many meds, it never seems to work out. One things at a time, that's what I would do, and mites is the big one in my little experience. Good luck

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