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Callie Is Losing Fur And Becoming More Lethargic Everyday. Please Help Asap

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Okay so I just got home from the vet. We decided an ultrasound would be best. Tomorrow she goes back because I guess a doctor comes in and does it. If nothing comes up my vet was talking about blood work but she mentioned a small animal specialist and if nothing comes up thru the ultrasound I'll definitely consider the specialist before blood work. I should mention the specialist is about an hour or so away.
 
The ultrasound results came back and she does have cysts on her ovaries and she has a bit of mucus in one of the tubes. I'm going to get her spayed. The appointment is next Friday. Please keep Callie in your thoughts and prayers this week.
 
Sarah-sore said:
The ultrasound results came back and she does have cysts on her ovaries and she has a bit of mucus in one of the tubes. I'm going to get her spayed. The appointment is next Friday. Please keep Callie in your thoughts and prayers this week.
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Fingers very firmly crossed for her!
Here are our tips for post-op care: Tips For Post-operative Care
 
Thank you very much for the tips. Callie is going to be my 3rd piggie going into surgery. It never gets easier waiting for the day does it? :no:
Also, heres the diagnoses incase anyone was wondering.
20160415_163300.webp
When I get home from work tomorrow I'm going to buy a scale. Can anyone recommend a good one that they would sell in Canada please?
 
@Sarah-sore I have the same problem with my Connie. Atypical severe hair loss. Going in for scan and bloods (and probable spay) on Monday. It seems no time since I had Violet spayed for cysts, so I share your pain.
 
VickiA said:
@Sarah-sore I have the same problem with my Connie. Atypical severe hair loss. Going in for scan and bloods (and probable spay) on Monday. It seems no time since I had Violet spayed for cysts, so I share your pain.
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My last piggie, Allie, she had bladder stones and got them removed. She was fine, even off her meds until one night I went to check on her and she had passed away. It was the worse feeling ever. One of my first pigs(and first operation ever) was Rusty, she had a lump that she broke open and had to get it operated on. Which was totally successful and I didn't end up losing her till a few years later. Sti
I definitely will keep your Connie in my prayers @VickiA
 
Just a thought but if you're really worried about putting her through such invasive surgery - have u thought about hormone injections?
Hcg-chorulon is a cattle hormone. My Ellie had a walnut sized ovarian cyst & hers shrunk dramatically - it also stopped her bleeding which was why she had the ultrasound that discovered the cysts. She was 6yrs old &too old for a spay.

She had 2injections about 7-10days apart &then another course of the same about 12months
later.
Perhaps it may be worth discussingxwith your vet. Especially if u have any concerns about the experience of the vets surgery.
If the injections haven't settled her within 3months then she's still not too old for surgery at that stage anyway.
Healing vibes :)
Xx
 
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GPTV said:
Just a thought but if you're really worried about putting her through such invasive surgery - have you thought about hormone injections?
Hcg-chorulon is a cattle hormone. My Ellie had a walnut sized ovarian cyst & hers shrunk dramatically - it also stopped her bleeding which was why she had the ultrasound that discovered the cysts. She was 6yrs old &too old for a spay.

She had 2injections about 7-10days apart &then another course of the same about 12months
later.
Perhaps it may be worth discussingxwith your vet. Especially if you have any concerns about the experience of the vets surgery.
If the injections haven't settled her within 3months then she's still not too old for surgery at that stage anyway.
Healing vibes :)
Xx
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Thank you for that idea. After work I'll call my vet and ask her about that.
 
Glad you have a diagnosis! At least you can now make a plan to try and get her well again. I have used to hormone injections on my ovarian cyst piggie, 2 HCG injections 7-10days apart as mentioned above by @GPTV , my girl also had follicular cysts which are the type to have positive results with the injections. The cysts shrunk in her case and her hormonal aggression calmed right down, but she still wasnt right- her uterus was badly diseased so she ended up being spayed anyway. She was 4 at the time, had a smooth surgery and good, quick recovery. I would take into considering the fluid in the womb as this could indicate the very start of infection etc, so spaying may be worthwhile to prevent the forming of pyometra. Obviously the injections are alot less risky so by all means discuss them with your vet. I currently have a 16month old sow, mallow, who has unidentified tissue surrounding her ovaries, poss cysts or something more sinister, as well as hormonal behaviour. She has a week or so waiting period to see if she calms down and its not just been bad seasons, if not she will be spayed. My 7 year old heart failure sow (fantastic fudge!) has the vet on monday as her hairs thinning equally on both sides.. I hope it isnt anything nasty or cysts as she was given a death sentence last year and shes beaten all the odds. Surgery is a total no go for her, so if its cysts i will go for injections if theres no risk to her other problems.

Hope it all goes smoothly and u can keel us all updated xx
 
Thank you everyone for your input. I called the vet (I'm on break at work right now) and I'm going to get my vet to call me after school on Monday because that's when she's in next and I'll talk to her about it then. I have compete and total trust in my vet doing this surgery correctly (as she's done 2 other surgeries for me before that have ended well) I'm just worry about Callie not making it through the surgery or losing her afterwards (like I did with Allie.) This is the same vet that spayed my boxer puppy (who is also my baby and I love to pieces.) So I know these vets are capable I just can't help but worry
 
Unfortunately the vet office called me yesterday and the vet that was supposed to do Callies surgery can't because he isnt qualified. I'm going to get a call today from the vet that can do the surgery. Unil then Callie is booked in on May 5th. This is very worrisome considering they didn't even know the original vet couldn't do it. I'm talking to a guinea pig rescue from Toronto(about an hour away from me) and I'm going to ask them to suggest a vet.
 
Sorry I haven't updated. The surgery is tomorrow night. I'll drop her off at 9 am and then I'll have to wait until I get a phone call telling me if she's made it or not. Please keep Callie in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. Thank you everyone. You've all been extremely helpful.
 
Thank you guys. I just dropped her off. The surgery is going to happen this morning instead of night. I'll let you guys know when I get the call
 
Sarah-sore said:
Thank you very much for the tips. Callie is going to be my 3rd piggie going into surgery. It never gets easier waiting for the day does it? :no:
Also, heres the diagnoses incase anyone was wondering.
View attachment 45818
When I get home from work tomorrow I'm going to buy a scale. Can anyone recommend a good one that they would sell in Canada please?
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Even a cheap supermarket scale will do; what you are monitoring is relative changes from day to day, not absolute weights. If you wish to keep a close eye on her absolute weight, I would think that @Freela will be the best poised to help you!
 
I just got off the phone with me vet. They gave her the anesthetic and her breathing became bad. It was cracky and sounded fluidy so I called off the spay. We're going to talk about injections and medication and see if Callie will be up for the spay at a later time. I can hopefully take Callie home later today.
 
Sarah-sore said:
I just got off the phone with me vet. They gave her the anesthetic and her breathing became bad. It was cracky and sounded fluidy so I called off the spay. We're going to talk about injections and medication and see if Callie will be up for the spay at a later time. I can hopefully take Callie home later today.
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BIG HUGS
I am very sorry; not the news you wanted to hear! But at least it is better than being confronted with the fact that she would not have woken up from her op. It was the right decision. :(
 
Wiebke said:
Even a cheap supermarket scale will do; what you are monitoring is relative changes from day to day, not absolute weights. If you wish to keep a close eye on her absolute weight, I would think that @Freela will be the best poised to help you!
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I indeed just use a food scale- I think I bought it from Walmart years back. It's just as good as anything else!
 
The vet told me shes going to look into an implant called Desloralin. She needs to do more research and then she'll tell me more about it. Callie is home but she's very out of it and is super scared. I'm just trying to get her to drink some water but also just trying to leave her alone. Its one of the most heart breaking things ever.
 
I'm also trying to do some research on it. Would it be okay if I started a new thread labeled 'Desloralin' to get more direct help?
 
Sure, make a new thread here in health and illness, tag in the health specialist i think one is abi nurse or something of the sorts. I'm also in the GTA, i assume the rescue you mentioned is Piggles? Just go on their site if you haven't they have a list of the exotics vets in the GTA. You could maybe call around yourself inquiring about Desloralin and see if any of the other recommended cavy vets have heard of it. Fingers crossed for your precious little piggy!
 
Keiko The Pig said:
Sure, make a new thread here in health and illness, tag in the health specialist i think one is abi nurse or something of the sorts. I'm also in the GTA, i assume the rescue you mentioned is Piggles? Just go on their site if you haven't they have a list of the exotics vets in the GTA. You could maybe call around yourself inquiring about Desloralin and see if any of the other recommended cavy vets have heard of it. Fingers crossed for your precious little piggy!
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Thank you!
The rescue is indeed Piggles.I've been talking to one of the girls and she's been a great help. The only problem is I'm in Peterborough Ont. and she's closer to Toronto so the vets are going to be hard to get to. I definitely will call around though. Thank you so much for that idea!
 
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