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Advice on Spaying a six year old piggy

I don't blame you for the rant.
If any vet suggested that my old lady Merab wasn't worth the effort I think I would go ballistic.
Good for your mum complaining to the receptionist.
I know from my vet that they're aware that people who bother to take guinea pigs to the vet and shell out lots of money for them - as you have done for Honey - are going to be very good and caring owners.Sounds like someone in the wrong profession.

Anyway - hope Honey begins to improve
 
Merab's Slave said:
I don't blame you for the rant.
If any vet suggested that my old lady Merab wasn't worth the effort I think I would go ballistic.
Good for your mum complaining to the receptionist.
I know from my vet that they're aware that people who bother to take guinea pigs to the vet and shell out lots of money for them - as you have done for Honey - are going to be very good and caring owners.Sounds like someone in the wrong profession.

Anyway - hope Honey begins to improve
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My poor mum I think kind of froze with some of the things the vet was saying, she started thinking of all the things to say afterwards, had I not had volunteering today I would've been with her 😪

Whether Honey is old or not, when taking her as my pet, I made a promise to myself and Honey (and all my animals) to do whatever I can for the animal until the day they are no longer on this earth... "just because she's old" does not mean I'm going to accept that and do nothing to help, that's a form of animal cruelty in my opinion... my mum said the vet also was implying that I'd made a mistake by getting her spayed at her age and how she will probably continue to decline from this point because of the surgery... and I just said to my mum, the fact is, even if this is the point of declining, she is so much happier and lively since the spay, and I know I done the right thing, and the vet that did the spay would not have done it if she thought it was wrong 😡 I'm just so angry! How dare she insinuate all these things based on seeing Honey once, and not even seeing me at that appointment ARGH! 😡 I'm so sorry 😩
 
We make the best decisions for our pets based on what we know of them and veterinary advice.

Merab is going to be spayed later this month - like Honey she's over 6 years old, but to me she's worth it. My vet recommended it as the best thing for her ovarian cysts.
So I do fully understand your ire - I would feel exactly the same.
Don't apologise for being angry - it's justified.

I would also do as @Lady Kelly suggested and report this to the practice manager
 
Merab's Slave said:
We make the best decisions for our pets based on what we know of them and veterinary advice.

Merab is going to be spayed later this month - like Honey she's over 6 years old, but to me she's worth it. My vet recommended it as the best thing for her ovarian cysts.
So I do fully understand your ire - I would feel exactly the same.
Don't apologise for being angry - it's justified.

I would also do as @Lady Kelly suggested and report this to the practice manager
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Wish you and Merab all the luck with that! Hopefully it's a success and a quick recovery!

I may write a complaint to the guy who started the chain of Companion Care, then it should filter through to the appropriate people and hopefully she won't get locum work there again 🤞
 
What an awful experience for your mum and Honey :( I hope that the vet practice do not have this locum back again. I once saw a locum who was lovely and diagnosed my late Emma with cataracts. Although she wasn’t my usual vet who I adore, I was kind of sad when she left.

Honey sounds like a very loved and happy guinea pig. Oh, and I’m 37 and my mum and dad still take my piggies to the vets for me sometimes 😂
 
dannif_piggies said:
Wish you and Merab all the luck with that! Hopefully it's a success and a quick recovery!

I may write a complaint to the guy who started the chain of Companion Care, then it should filter through to the appropriate people and hopefully she won't get locum work there again 🤞
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I would go to the practice at the same time, it will take too long to filter down
 
Thanks everyone for the support, I'm pleased it's not just me overreacting 😂
 
Update: they asked for a urine sample yesterday, so for that done a took it yesterday afternoon, they called to say that it was slightly alkaline based which implies a water infection but apart from that it was all clear (including no blood) I wasn't too sure why this was thought to be done but at least it's found something that can no be treated easily... would a water infection make her loose weight if she had it for a while without knowing? Or is the weight loss still something else?
 
Betsy said:
I used Pro-C its about a fiver from Pets at Home. I put a pinch in a bit of water and then syringed it in. Both Christian and the Ever Beautiful Betsy loved it. Betsy loved Baytril too (she is a straaaaaaaaange piggy). Christian gave me a look of "wtf was that?!?!?!" when I first had to give him Baytril and then only tolerated it cos he knew he was getting Metacam after it (he is def a Metacam junkie!)
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Heyah bringing this post back up, I got hold of some pro-c the instructions are 1 scoop per 200ml of water, when you say a "pinch" did you measure anything out of just hope for the best?
 
I hoped for the best! Just a pinch (the tiny amount you pick up between finger and thumb) in a bit of water is enough and syringe it in. I gave the pro c about an hour or so after the antibiotics.
 
Brilliant! Thank you guys! Ive actually had a look on other feeds on here and decided to sprinkle over the veggies, this way it's less stressful for Honey (she isn't a fan of the syringe) and this timing works well with the antibiotics too... should I be giving this twice a day though as I have to give her antibiotics twice a day? Or would the once be enough to sustain her?
 
I'm sorry guys I'm probs boring you all now with this thread but I thought it just easier keeping everything honey health related to this one thread so I don't go making loads of others.. but Honeys weight is still a concern, this morning she was down to 783g, Ive just weighed her and she's up to 829g, is this amount of fluctuation in weight normal throughout the day? 783 is the lowest she's been but 829g is in line with her post op, I'm just pleased she's not getting lower in the evenings 😊
 
She could easily gain 40grams with veggies and a full bladder. It's good she's not losing anymore weight but I'd definitely weigh her at same time. I like to do it first thing in the morning before veggies.
 
I'm not sure how much is considered normal fluctuation. Is there a possibility that the scales had gremlins in when taking the lower read?
 
flintstones said:
She could easily gain 40grams with veggies and a full bladder. It's good she's not losing anymore weight but I'd definitely weigh her at same time. I like to do it first thing in the morning before veggies.
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I have been weighing first thing in the morning, veggies about 4, then weigh again about 9 just to make sure that she isn't going lower :)
 
Lady Kelly said:
I'm not sure how much is considered normal fluctuation. Is there a possibility that the scales had gremlins in when taking the lower read?
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I do hope so 😂😂 she has got another vet appointment on Monday with Kate (the one that did her op) because I'm just sl confused why she's loosing weight, she's got such an appetite, eating more of her veggies than Willow, running over to the hay all the time, drinking normally, eating pelettes, and just to top up her fibre she's got fibreplex with just a bit of pro-c on her veggies now, fingers crossed that after a few days of the pro c it starts getting on her system and helping out out a bit 🤞
 
GUYYYSSS I'm SO HAPPY! Honey has maintained the weight of 829g this is the first morning weight gain she's had in about a week! And there were zero soft poops in the cage this morning and she wasn't covered in her own poops for the first time in around 2 weeks! I'm now just preying this continues!

Here's a photo of them enjoying their morning treat, neither of them tried watermelon before, so they had this slice to share and they loved it 😅
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IMG_1258.webp
Still keeping Honey separate for veggie feeding tonight's feeding is, little gem lettuce, carrot, pepper green and yellow, cucumber, celery and a small treat of apple which is a very rare occasion for them... Honey has pro-c sprinkled over hers to just try and help her out a little more, and her weight seems to be stable at around the 800g mark, hopefully as she continues to heel her weight may incline a little more
 
dannif_piggies said:
GUYYYSSS I'm SO HAPPY! Honey has maintained the weight of 829g this is the first morning weight gain she's had in about a week! And there were zero soft poops in the cage this morning and she wasn't covered in her own poops for the first time in around 2 weeks! I'm now just preying this continues!

Here's a photo of them enjoying their morning treat, neither of them tried watermelon before, so they had this slice to share and they loved it 😅
View attachment 96611
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Any type of melon is like guinea pig crack! They'll even polish of the rind too! Mine love a bit of melon skin!


Melon? Yes please
 
Betsy said:
Any type of melon is like guinea pig crack! They'll even polish of the rind too! Mine love a bit of melon skin!


Melon? Yes please
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They went crazy over it! Was quite handy I got a tiny snack pack of it in the reduced section of the super market for 22p, so even if they didn't end up liking it, it was next to no loss, but it was a success!
 
Honey has come on leaps and bound the past day or so, I don't wanna speak to soon, but her poops are finally single drops, and the normal size and shape, they can still be squashed when she stands on them, however this is the first day in a month that she has gone without me needing to clean off the poop every time I can... he weight this morning was also 833g, which is the highest she's been in the morning for a while! (This is usually her evening weight after veggies) could not be happier! Hopefully this is the first signs of a complete recovery from my little OAP 😅
 
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