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Confused & Depressed, Possible Bloat

PiggyPoppa

PiggyPoppa

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 21, 2023
Messages
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Location
Florida
Hey all was looking for advice for our female piggy. She is 4-5 years old we think and a few weeks ago we noticed her poops were a lot smaller than normal and there seemed to be some blood and other stuff (urine was white on fleece) in her cage. Her stomach seemed to be sticking out more as well. We took her to our normal vet who examined her and did an X-Ray. She said that she has a bladder stone and prescribed some Metacam and Trimeth/Sulfa for pain and to help clear up if there was an infection. The plan was to treat the infection and then start giving her some potassium citrate and another medication in hopes of shrinking the stone so she could hopefully pass it. The vet also said she had a small gas bubble but was not overly concerned with that. She seemed to be doing well for a day or two but after a couple days we noticed there was still some blood but now in addition to that she was not eating much hay or drinking water and the way she walked was different she was almost hopping. She was also very lethargic. So a week ago we took her to another vet since we could not get into our regular vet. They recommended cutting out all fresh veggies and feeding her Critical Care every couple of hours. In addition to that I stopped giving her the antibiotics prescribed a week prior as I was worried that could have been the cause of her more recent issues. The new vet also gave us some Metoclopramide to give her every twelve hours and we have kept giving her Metacam as well but at a smaller dosage. After a few days she perked back up and has started eating hay again and drinking water, her poops even look normal aside from the rare small one here and there. Also her energy level and walking are normal again. So at our follow up appointment today we were expecting to hear good news and progress and instead the vet said they are even more concerned. They are now worried that she has fluid outside of her abdomen or a mass because on the X-Ray it looks kinda cloudy in her tummy. So they recommend to stop all the meds she is on and see how she does and says the next step is to look into more advanced imaging, either a CT scan or ultrasound. We are so worried and nervous and it has not been easy because we have gotten conflicting messages from the two vets so we really do not know what is right. Was wondering if anyone has dealt with similar issues? Any help is appreciated. I am uploading the X-Rays from a week ago as well as today for comparison.image1 (6).webpimage2 (1).webpimage3 (1).webpimage0 (8).webp
 
What a worry this is for you. I’m not an expert so unqualified to give you any answers but hopefully one will be along in due course - although it maybe a few hours as it’s the middle of the night. Hoping all goes well for your piggy.
 
I'm so sorry @PiggyPoppa What a difficult time for you and your piggy. I'm not qualified to say anything really and I can't read an x-ray.
What I do question is the advice you've had to cut all meds! I would certainly NOT cut out a pain medication!

As Janey says, a lot of mbrs including those with medical knowledge who check threads like yours are in the UK and it's the middle of their night, but I'm sure somebody with knowledge will get back to you tomorrow morning (UK time).

Keeping fingers crossed for you and your piggy.
 
I’m so sorry to hear this.

Unfortunately there is nobody on here who can read x rays but we can see that things have got cloudier.
Perhaps the more advanced imaging will help.
I am really surprised you’ve been told to stop the pain meds.

If she does have stones - Potassium citrate will not help existing stones, it wont shrink a stone or break it down. Any existing stone needs to either already be tiny enough to pass (potasssium citrate won’t make it smaller). If it isn’t already small enough to pass then removal via surgery is needed. Potassium citrate may slow down the rate at which new stones form but it isn’t a miracle medication

Sending hugs to you
 
BIG HUGS

I am so sorry. Unfortunately, we are an owners forum and not a medical one. We support our members with the home care side but we cannot (and are legally not allowed) to replace any vet care.

Like @Piggies&buns I have concerns about stopping any pain medication with severe bloating. I would also strongly recommend you to not put all your hopes on the potassium citrate - we have so far in nearly 20 years not seen much in the way of success with using it.

You can give the clinic a call and ask whether the advice was also covering any pain medication for the severe pain your girl was in.

A fluid build in the body cavity would unfortunately mean that the bloating and/or what is causing it is impacting on the heart so much that it can no longer properly work. :(

It is very hard when it comes to make or break time but please try not to run away from the very real possibility that your piggy may not make it. She could die very quickly at any time now or you have to call it shots as an emergency but it is going to make it much tougher for you to deal with the fallout afterwards if you close your eyes and grasp at straws, and then fall over the edge of the cliff into a black hole emotionally. :(

I am not happy at all having to say this but you are very much in the zone where I have called it shots for piggies of mine in comparable situations, whether the bloat was primary or secondary. The bloating is very advanced (based on pictures that have been posted on here over the years or that I have had from piggies of mine, as I am not trained, either, and can only go on personal experience) and it is sadly highly unlikely to disperse on its own; it is only going to get worse. :(
There is unfortunately very little and not very effective gut medication for rodents with their very long, much larger and thinner gut and with steroids being fatal for any oral treatment. And that is not even tackling what could be behind it. :(

I truly wish I had better news.

This is not a link I like to parse into any thread but I feel that you may find it helpful, seeing the very difficult position you are in and that there are no easy choices for you anymore.
A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
 
Thank you everyone for the support and information. It is a really difficult time made more so by the fact that she seemed to be doing better for the past few days. This morning she seems to be walking differently again so my guess is that is not a good sign. We are going to call an emergency vet and see what they say. I think it is even more difficult here in the states as it is hard to find an exotic vet let alone an exotic vet that knows their stuff, we have gotten conflicting/wrong information on a number of occasions and is why I turn to this forum in need of advice. Thank you @Wiebke for the post, unfortunately we have been through a similar situation before with another piggy who sadly did not make it. I will restart the Metacam for pain when I get home. Just not sure if I should restart the Critical Care since she is drinking water and eating hay?
 
PiggyPoppa said:
Just not sure if I should restart the Critical Care since she is drinking water and eating hay?
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I'm not an expert by any means, but I can't think of any reason not to continue with Critical Care even if she is drinking water and eating hay. You could even offer it to her in a little bowl and see if she eats it on her own, because some piggies do. As far as I know, it can be used as a top-up to what she's taking on her own and is not damaging in anyway.
 
PiggyPoppa said:
Thank you everyone for the support and information. It is a really difficult time made more so by the fact that she seemed to be doing better for the past few days. This morning she seems to be walking differently again so my guess is that is not a good sign. We are going to call an emergency vet and see what they say. I think it is even more difficult here in the states as it is hard to find an exotic vet let alone an exotic vet that knows their stuff, we have gotten conflicting/wrong information on a number of occasions and is why I turn to this forum in need of advice. Thank you @Wiebke for the post, unfortunately we have been through a similar situation before with another piggy who sadly did not make it. I will restart the Metacam for pain when I get home. Just not sure if I should restart the Critical Care since she is drinking water and eating hay?
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Hi

Please offer her the critical care since you cannot control the hay intake by eye and with the bloated intestines weighing is no help. A reduced poo output/smaller and especially thinner poos is a sign that she hasn't eaten enough over the previous two days - that is how long it takes for food to make its way from one end to the other.
And especially now that she is not having any medical relief - it is frankly just speeding up what is going on, but in guinea pigs you are going from fast forward to very fast forward.

I am ever so sorry that you are in this situation again. It is a horrible place to be in and I don't wish it on anybody. :(
You are clearly a very caring owner. You and your precious girl are very much in my thoughts.
 
Ok I will give her Critical Care and Metacam when I get home. My girlfriend said her poops looked normal this morning, they have only really been small for a few days a couple weeks ago when all this started. I read on here that charcoal can be good is that a possible temporary solution does anyone know?
 
PiggyPoppa said:
Ok I will give her Critical Care and Metacam when I get home. My girlfriend said her poops looked normal this morning, they have only really been small for a few days a couple weeks ago when all this started. I read on here that charcoal can be good is that a possible temporary solution does anyone know?
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Hi

Charcoal is only good in certain circumstances, which I don't think are present in your case.
 
Ok thank you everyone for the support. I returned home gave her some Critical Care and Metacam. She is still eating hay and drinking water and moving around her cage. I am taking her in for an ultrasound tomorrow so we will see what they find
 
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