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Bladder sludge

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Harley is still a bit dozy and has not eaten much today apart from the odd nibble of veg and hay. Think we must have every variety of veg in the fridges here trying to tempt him. We've had cuddles this evening and he decided he liked the fluffy pillow on the sofa and nodded off with his head on it whilst I quietly saw to the other piggies :)
Gave him some mashed pellets and water earlier...I'm still really concerned about him as all he seems to want to do is snooze :(
Picked him some grass which he has eaten most of...he's pooing normal poops so can see his gut is moving but really need to get more into him.
He's comfy on a little bed of soft hay on his upper level atm and we're keeping a real close eye on him, just praying he will be a little more alert tomorrow. Apparently the Opoid pain relief he had yesterday can slow his gut movement down and cause drowsiness for 24 hours :(
Would move the earth to see him pottering around rather than just sleeping.
 
Hope Harley feels much better tomorrow x x
 
Hope he's feeling better when that pain med is out of his system. When I had opioid pain relief after surgery all I could do was sleep too!

Glad to hear he is eating bits ok, best wishes for a more active day for him tomorrow :)
 
Thanks guys - Harley is not well at all, refusing to eat so we're syringing Critical Care now which he's taking.
He's so weak and just wants to sleep. Tiny amount of hay and a piece of cucumber is all he has taken voluntarily so we've made him a veggie soup in the blender which I'll syringe later with his CC. He's having approx. 20mls per feed and water after every few mouthfuls, going to be a long night but have to keep him going.
I'm really worried for him, he's holding his weight atm and we're watching for poops which are small and scarce.
I cannot believe this has knocked him around so much and we've had really ill piggies before that have pulled through so was confident he would be ok in a day or two but it's 48 hours now - never expected this in a million years.
Has anyone had any experience of piggies having Buprecare after procedures for pain - he had two injections of it ?
Scratting for info and reassurance I suppose really as I'm totally in bits.
 
Aw hun, i have been following your thread on and off. Poor you and Harley, i have no experience with his problems, but all i will say is my boar was very poorly last year (dental abscess) he lost ALOT of weight, and he would not eat and just wanted to sleep, he was very poorly, i was syringe feeding CC, mushed pellets, porridge oats and banana (high in calories and gave him energy) and after 3 - 4 weeks, lots of AB's, lancing and draining he fully recovered, but without the syringe feeding it would have been a different story, i was in tears a few times trying to hand feed him, he was so weak he gave up fighting me, and i almost gave up on him, i thought i am just prolonging this, its unfair on him, thank god i didn't! He is now the picture of perfect health, he never did put all of his weight back on, but he is nearly 5, so that is to be expected.

Carry on as you are. Bug hugs xxxxx
 
Hi trace, Sorry to hear Harley is struggling :(

Have no experience of Buprecare had a quick google and found its drug name buprenorphine, had a look on GuineaLynx http://www.guinealynx.info/analgesics.html it's listed under Opiates halfway down.

Sounds like you are getting food into him so well done, if his poo's are scarce it will be worth speaking to the vet about getting some gut stim like emeprid (metachlopromide) to help spped his system up. Lots of love to Harley and hugs to you, hoping he starts to recover soon. x
 
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He hates the syringe and had to battle to get his abx and Metacam in before his washout was performed - now he just allows me to do it, almost like he's too weak to fight. Easier for me to feed but it's absolutely heart breaking to see our boy like this :(
Not expecting miracles but it's just not the outcome we anticipated. A few hours after his bladder stone op in 2011, he was running around like a loon.
Thank you for your kind words - Harley and his brother are the first piggies we had so are a wee bit special x
 
The thing i learnt is to vary what i was feeding him, i am sure he will like the veg smoothie you've made, if he likes banana that would be a really good thing for him to eat, either on its own or mashed in with some CC or mushed pellets, fruit smoothie etc. Parsley was also a fav that didn't get refused, even if it was only one little sprig. Have you tried grass?

I also gave him the odd bit of bread which he enjoyed as it was soft and high in calories.

xx
 
Best thoughts & wishes to Harley xx

All I can think is as he is an older chap & his digestion etc is a bit sluggish just now, the opiates might be taking a long time to leave his system. Keep going with the syringing & let's hope he picks up soon. Our baby Bertie had major surgery in October & was very slow & sad to behold for a few days, sometimes it really does take it out of them & seems to affect them differently. We have had other pigs who are up & about after GA like nothing had happened.
 
He's not keen on banana or sweet stuff apart from watermelon, he's not interested. Have put broccoli, cucumber, baby plum tomatoes and a selection of salad leaves in his smoothie, all of his faves. He had a little grass last night and we've desperately been searching for dandelion leaves with no luck :(
He doesn't have parsley because of the calcium and his bladder issues but have tried a sprig of it sneaked into his veggies but still not interested.
I just feel so awful keep having to disturb him but know it's for his own good :(
I have some porridge oats so will try those - quite a concoction of stuff prepared for his 6pm feed x
Thank you :)
 
Oh poor Harley :(

When Jerry stopped eating two weeks ago because of his awful antibiotic intolerance these are a few things that I did:
- Give fresh grass. At one point it was the only thing that he was eating on his own. I was giving him two big bowls a day, and finding that after he had finished the grass he would at least make some effort at eating something else (even if it was only a piece or two of hay)
- Gut stimulants twice a day. I'm positive that the combination of Emeprid and Zantac really helped him turn the corner. The Zantac especially seemed to act as an appetite stimulant.
- Corn on the cob. Will he eat it? It really helped keep Jerry's weight up.
- Syringe feeding Recovery 15ml every three hours.
- Keep him moving. Like you, I felt really bad about it. But I found that a gentle nudge to get him to move around really kept his gut moving.
- Adding probiotic to his water bottle
- Changing his hay. I bought in a different bag of hay that he hasn't tried before and the new smell seemed to encourage him.

I'm sure you've already tried most/all of those. It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job with him, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time until he perks up again xx
 
Thank you Jerrybelly - Harley has just had another 25mls of CC and 2.5ml of mashed banana, fluids etc. Had a small amount of the veggie smoothie mixed in too so think he has had a decent amount for this evening, will give him more CC either later or will set alarm for around 1am. Just wish he'd poo !
Tried him with coriander and parsley but he didn't want to know. We've got so many variety of hays here but he doesn't seem interested :(
I have some Zantac suspension from the Vet so will give him the prescribed dose to see if that helps, I gave him a little Fibreplex earlier with his 2nd CC feed.
It's almost like he can hardly walk far, a few steps... :(
I believe the older the piggy, the longer it can take for them to recover from a GA, Harley is 3 in July so still a relatively young piggy.
Both myself and OH are really upset and are praying he'll begin eating for himself soon x
 
I just thought of the Burgess Excel Fresh Forage, the grass one to try for Harley. Our guineas go mad for it but they only get a little bit as it's not as high in fibre as hay but it might be worth a try if you have some in.

Sending healing thoughts & hoping he will be brighter in the morning x
 
shiny said:
I just thought of the Burgess Excel Fresh Forage, the grass one to try for Harley. Our guineas go mad for it but they only get a little bit as it's not as high in fibre as hay but it might be worth a try if you have some in.

Sending healing thoughts & hoping he will be brighter in the morning x
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Thanks for that hun - we have this is and he still didn't want it arrrgh :(
He's asleep under his tunnel with his heat pad so am leaving him for a few hours...still no poo's :(
Think we've a got a battle on our hands here but I don't give up :) x
 
Guinea pig slave said:
Thank you Jerrybelly - Harley has just had another 25mls of CC and 2.5ml of mashed banana, fluids etc. Had a small amount of the veggie smoothie mixed in too so think he has had a decent amount for this evening, will give him more CC either later or will set alarm for around 1am. Just wish he'd poo !
Tried him with coriander and parsley but he didn't want to know. We've got so many variety of hays here but he doesn't seem interested :(
I have some Zantac suspension from the Vet so will give him the prescribed dose to see if that helps, I gave him a little Fibreplex earlier with his 2nd CC feed.
It's almost like he can hardly walk far, a few steps... :(
I believe the older the piggy, the longer it can take for them to recover from a GA, Harley is 3 in July so still a relatively young piggy.
Both myself and OH are really upset and are praying he'll begin eating for himself soon x
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Jerry had his bladder flushed last May - he was three years old in the August - so almost the same age as your Harley. Jerry had a vetergesic injection as a painkiller, and some more to be given orally for a few days afterwards. He was already on Metacam, so we just continued with the same dose. He was given Bayrtil for a week to ward off any potential infection from the operation, in addition to Emeprid for three days to keep his gut moving.

I remember syringing him through the night immediately following his operation, and again the following today. I don't think I got up with him for a second night as he was eating relatively well on his own. He was certainly not himself though for a long while afterwards.

It is still very early days yet after the operation, and you are doing a fantastic job with him. I've got everything crossed for you that he'll pick up soon.

Hugs for you and Harley. I know how worrying it is x
 
Oh Trace, i'm so sorry to read this about Harley. He is in the best hands though with you, keep up the hard work. You've been in this situation before with Sheila and she pulled through, you can do it :) huge hugs x
 
Thank you - he really has had us worried for the last two days as he wasn't eating and fighting the syringe feeds so not getting as much into him as I'd like.
Last night, Harley seemed to be at his worst when I fed him at 4.00am (I'm feeding him 3-4 hourly during the night) but was eating small amounts of hay.
This morning, he had a tiny piece of Romaine, dill and two baby spinach leaves (not allowed but I broke the rules...) and he perked up a little.
OH hunted down some dandelion leaves which were washed really well and he gobbled them up and took around 15ml of syringe food which we've changed to Recovery Plus - he hated the Oxbow CC so thought we'd try something else. He's eating voluntarily but only small amounts and has had a few of his pellets :)
We know he's still not out of the woods but his eyes seem brighter - had him on the sofa for a little run around which I'm hoping will move his gut...we had around 15 small but formed poops during his feed and he wee'd on me...Still only giving him a small amount of Metacam and he's on abx along with AviproPlus.
Whatever it takes to build him up, we're doing and he's currently under his ramp on double vet bed, his heatpad and nomming on some dandelion and green oat hay between naps :)
Early days but I am feeling a little better about him today and OH has learned how to syringe etc. for when I'm at work. Was proudly greeted by a piece of kitchen roll with tiny poops last night when I got home from work so know he's in good hands :)
 
I'm really pleased to hear he has made some positive progress Trace! Keeping everything crossed it will continue, keep going Harley! x
 
Well done Harley, hopefully it's a step in the right direction. You are doing so well Tracey. Love to your little man x
 
I'm so relieved to read this. It's wonderful that he's making a little progress. Fingers crossed for a swift recovery from now on x
 
How is Harley this morning? X
 
Hoping Harley had a good night & is ok today :)
 
Thrilled to bits as Harley has vastly improved over the last 24 hours xx>>>
He's eating much better for himself and pottering around (still a bit wobbly on his legs) looking for noms last night - still giving him the Recovery and mashed banana for now to build him up and will continue to do so until I'm 100% certain he is eating enough voluntarily.
He was sitting eating his pellets this morning when I got up then jumped into the hay basket and was walking fine so think we may have turned a corner...lots of normal poops :x
Quite an experience for us and has been awful not knowing if he'd pull through but seeing his little face this morning all bright eyed and alert has reassured me he's feeling more like himself :(|)
Harley even faced off to his brother Chops as he was trying to sneak under 'his' tunnel...:(|)
My nomster monster will be getting an extra cuddle later and maybe I will have a good nights sleep ;)
 
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