Dana, 7yo, just seems to be slowing down

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Mon Sep 28, 2020 3:45 pm


Thanks guys :)

She’s back to normal along with her poop today which is a relief. I did provide their usual greens mix in the evening and this morning. Now she is remaining active and eating hay, drinking plenty of water, etc. Fingers crossed.

As for the back lesion the cream appears to have softened up the thickened skin and a good bit of it has fallen off. I will post an update photo next time I take her out for meds.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Mon Sep 28, 2020 4:11 pm


Very good!

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Mon Sep 28, 2020 5:40 pm


Good news.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:58 pm


Thank you! What key words did you use to find it?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:29 pm


I remembered part of the user name. I knew it started with "wen" but couldn't remember the rest of it. But with the asterisk in the name search field, it turned up right away.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Sep 29, 2020 9:42 am


I do recall my reluctance to add it to the sticky list - so that means I am slightly poop averse too.

Anyway, getting over this - I will go add it to the master sticky sticky.

EDIT: I actually did find this in the Cavy Chat master sticky but just added a link in the Medical Forum master sticky to the Cavy Chat master sticky and that particular topic. So I guess I was somewhat brave ;-)

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Sep 29, 2020 10:02 am


LOL, Lynx!

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Mon Jul 05, 2021 4:16 pm


Hi all,

Adding to Dana's thread as she is once again having some issues. She is now approximately 8 years old.

Thursday evening we discovered her severely bloated and lethargic in the cage. Weight has dropped from ~900 to 730 grams over the last two months. She was still pooping so I gave her water and Critical Care which seemed to stimulate her GI tract. The bloating went down a good bit overnight.

Friday morning we visited the exotics vet. She had a slight heart murmur that could have been secondary to dehydration. X-ray showed plenty of gas. Her heart is 'slightly rounded' and her lungs cloudy per the vet. They wanted to do bloodwork but considering her age/condition I refused as sedation would be much too dangerous IMO. They did administer some IV fluids for us. Vet prescribed Cisapride, Periactin, and simethicone (0.5mg twice daily). She has been taking Metacam since August, dose was adjusted down to 0.24mg due to her weight loss.

Over the last couple of days I saw a great deal of improvement--bloating went down, she was active in the hay area of the cage eating/drinking/pooping unassisted. I am continuing twice daily supplementation of Critical Care to see if we can get her to gain some weight.

Today she has bloated up a slight amount--not nearly as bad as Thursday--and was hiding out in her pigloo again. She took an Oxbow digestive tab from me and ate it. I decided to take her out and put her on a heating pad which perked her up a bit. I could feel her tummy rumbling. She pooped one very normal poop as I stood up to take her back to the cage (she was getting antsy, my pigs have always refused to poop during handling time for some reason!).

Vet has been made aware of the bloating and will be calling me back if they want to adjust dosages. I am also going to pick up a vibrating heat pad tonight to see if we can get some more gas out.

My guess here is that this is all secondary to something else--maybe heart or lung related--but my goal is just to keep her comfortable and not subject her to anything seriously invasive at her age. Hopefully that's the right call.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Jul 05, 2021 11:43 pm


I will reread this in the morning and see if I have anything helpful to add. I am falling asleep at the computer and not much good at the moment. So sorry

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jul 06, 2021 9:54 am


8 years is a great age!

I think the direction you are going in is reasonable. I hope you can get the bloat completely under control as it is extremely painful. I know you are looking at quality of life. The vibrating pad may help. Are you giving any probiotics? You might also look into Bio-Sponge for its ability to help control the bad bacteria that often cause the bloating.
https://www.guinealynx.info/diarrhea.html

I do not have any other ideas for other directions to examine given what you have described except for possible malocclusion. If she can eat hay at a normal rate, that is a good sign.
https://www.guinealynx.info/malocclusion.html

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:42 pm


Thank you so much, Lynx.

I have Bene-Bac on hand, I’ll look into the Bio-Sponge as well.

Today she is still a little bloated but continues to eat hay and veggies along with her Critical Care. We have a follow-up at the vet next Friday so we’ll see how things go.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:24 pm


Have you read the links on the emergency page about bloat? If not, they may be of help.
https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html#bloat

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