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Desloralin Instead Of Spay ?

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Sarah-sore

Sarah-sore

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone. So as some may know Callie was losing a significant amount of hair. She was diagnosed with ovarian cysts. The vet and I decided a spay would be the best option(as she's only 3) but they put her under with the general anesthetic and her breathing became very heavy, cracky and wheezy. I told them to stop the operation right there and that was the end of that. When I went to pick her up the vet said she would like to look into Desloralin, which from what I understand is a microchip full of hormones. I'm just curious if anyone has ever used this or if they know anything about it?
 
Never heard of it, I've had the same injections as @helen105281 mentioned for Coco, but.. I don't think it's worked so she may need to be spayed however I'm worried she won't make it because she is a small sow. I also think her sister has them as well and will have her spayed, she's a nice size.

I hope someone can answer your question because I'd like to find an alternative for the girls.
 
It was for a pig with an ovarian tumour and not cysts but it gave us a whole extra year with her. There are lots of positive stories on here about Chorulon too. I will tag @GPTV who has used them too.
 
my elderly girly Ellie (6yrs) had an ovarian cyst approx walnut sized & the vet said her only option was a spay, although she wasn't prepared to do it as it was too risky at her age.

I suggested the HCG Chorulon hormone injections from research i had done on alternatives (mainly on here) & the vet contacted the drug manufacturers to see what they thought whilst i was there, it's actually a cattle hormone, i had to give my consent to use it on her.
she had 2 injections 7-10 days apart (squealed the place down-complete diva-then filled up with a handful of grass - munching happily during a cuddle!)
these lasted about a year before the cyst started growing again & she had another round of 2 injections.

After the injections she had the softest coat ever, her mood improved (although she was reasonably mellow really) the cyst reduced in size dramatically & most importantly the ongoing issues with her bleeding when urinating & pooping ceased.
(this was how we discovered the cyst as the vet wanted to get to the bottom of her constant bleeding as soon as the antibiotics stopped the bleeding would start again, that was when she had an ultrasound scan... fascinating watching it too).

i lost Ellie when she was about 8yrs from multiple health issues - the injections worked for her.
i think i would be inclined to start with those first, as the implant could move around or cause issues & would need removing again when it was of no use i guess?

would an anaethetic be needed to insert the implant? i'm guessing it would be painful to insert it.
there was somebody on here ages ago that had used the implant & i think it wasn't overly sucessful, i'll try & rack my brains to remember who it was.

saying that the chorulon works for some pigs & not for others.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

xx
 
GPTV said:
my elderly girly Ellie (6yrs) had an ovarian cyst approx walnut sized & the vet said her only option was a spay, although she wasn't prepared to do it as it was too risky at her age.

I suggested the HCG Chorulon hormone injections from research i had done on alternatives (mainly on here) & the vet contacted the drug manufacturers to see what they thought whilst i was there, it's actually a cattle hormone, i had to give my consent to use it on her.
she had 2 injections 7-10 days apart (squealed the place down-complete diva-then filled up with a handful of grass - munching happily during a cuddle!)
these lasted about a year before the cyst started growing again & she had another round of 2 injections.

After the injections she had the softest coat ever, her mood improved (although she was reasonably mellow really) the cyst reduced in size dramatically & most importantly the ongoing issues with her bleeding when urinating & pooping ceased.
(this was how we discovered the cyst as the vet wanted to get to the bottom of her constant bleeding as soon as the antibiotics stopped the bleeding would start again, that was when she had an ultrasound scan... fascinating watching it too).

i lost Ellie when she was about 8yrs from multiple health issues - the injections worked for her.
i think i would be inclined to start with those first, as the implant could move around or cause issues & would need removing again when it was of no use i guess?

would an anaethetic be needed to insert the implant? i'm guessing it would be painful to insert it.
there was somebody on here ages ago that had used the implant & i think it wasn't overly sucessful, i'll try & rack my brains to remember who it was.

saying that the chorulon works for some pigs & not for others.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

xx
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Thank you so much for that information! I'm not sure if she'll need to be put under for the injection. I know basically next to nothing at this point in time unfortunately. I'm going to contact my vet right now and talk to her about this.
 
I don't think it worked ok Coco, but I hope it helps your guinea pig. I'm not even sure what to do about Coco, not sure she'd make it through an op with her being so small and I don't even know her proper age with her being adopted.
 
Sarah-sore said:
Chorulon has been ordered in and I will have an appointment soon to talk about going about with this treatment and pricing. I will keep everyone updated.
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hopefully it won't be too expensive- i know veterinary care is dearer across the pond than the UK :( & my vets seem to be very cheap in comparison to others on here- although not an exotics specialist, its more a rural large animal practice.

Ellies was about £20 GBP for each injection (but some i know have been charged £50-£60 GBP per injection-although i think that was a while back & the meds are used more regularly now/advances in science etc)
plus the consultation fee for the first injection, then i think a cheaper follow up consultation fee for the 2nd injection (they may not have charged me that though- i cant remember for sure), although i'm not sure what that would equate to in $ dollars? (no idea on the exchange rate i'm afraid).

But Ellie was definitely worth it & they gave her a more comfortable, better quality of life, the first course of 2 injections lasted around 12months- the second seen her out & it was just a shame she had other health issues & i lost her at 8yrs :(

good luck with Callie & healing vibes being sent from the girls & I. xx
 
Personally i would opt for the Human chorulin gonadotrophin (HCG) injections, 2 injections 7-10 days apart and usually repeated in a year instead of the implant. I had an ovarian cysts piggy that had these injections and her problems went away and cysts shrunk- but she was spayed further down the line due to a seperate issue. My vet (at the time) and i done some research on the implant, including from the company that actually supplies them- there is no evidence at all that these implants actually work.

I would definately go with the HCG injections over the implant. The gp stays conscious throughout, its just an injection. X
 
We're going onto day 3 with no response from the vet and Callie is going down hill :( I called today and the receptionist seemed oblivious, rude and extremely unhelpful. Callie now has diarrhea and her bum was a little bloody (the reason I called.) I'm going to assume one of the cysts burst.
She's still eating and drinking and all that fun stuff but she's very inactive and is always hunched up with her head in the corner. How can they just leave her this long in pain!? I'm so upset for her. She's in a terrible amount of pain and I just can't do anything. I was told I was going to get a call on Tuesday and it's going onto Thursday. I'm not sure what to do. I can't have her in pain like this.
 
How is Callie now? Keep calling! If you where told tuesday and its now thursday then you have every right to call but especially if she is going downhill... Tell them she needs to see a vet! Good luck and keep us updated x
 
Sarah-sore said:
We're going onto day 3 with no response from the vet and Callie is going down hill :( I called today and the receptionist seemed oblivious, rude and extremely unhelpful. Callie now has diarrhea and her bum was a little bloody (the reason I called.) I'm going to assume one of the cysts burst.
She's still eating and drinking and all that fun stuff but she's very inactive and is always hunched up with her head in the corner. How can they just leave her this long in pain!? I'm so upset for her. She's in a terrible amount of pain and I just can't do anything. I was told I was going to get a call on Tuesday and it's going onto Thursday. I'm not sure what to do. I can't have her in pain like this.
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:rtm::cen: make yourself into the biggest pain in the arse customer & be an obsessive nuisance caller - until they treat her! tell the receptionist she needs a customer care course & she can start by sucking up to you & if she hasn't got any positive interpersonal skills or diplomacy to find a job as a politician or a job where she doesn't deal with customers! she sounds like she has the mentality of a plank with charisma to match!
tell the vet too when you see them that the receptionist was rude etc - they may not be aware & discuss/rectify the issue with her

tell them it's an animal welfare case as she sounds like she needs painkillers for one. have you got any probiotics for her you could put on her food/feed her? that may help with the diarrhea. hopefully its not burst or become infected as that complicates things somewhat, she may need antibiotics or unfortunately an operation if it has come to that.

is this the only vet you have that will treat her locally - i know its a bit few & far between for vets in Canada & the USA - could you get a second opinion/change vet or is it not possible?

:tu:its good that she's still eating & drinking though that is definitely a positive sign :nod:
just make sure she's eating enough continually if she is having lots of veg/greens this may make her diarrhea worse, but she needs to be eating, bit of a rock & a hard place situation :(
if she is eating plenty of hay & nuggets for the time being let her eat more of them if she will & gradually increase the greens again when her tummy is more settled.

fingers crossed & heaps of healing vibes for Callie.
keep us updated
xx
 
GPTV said:
:rtm::cen: make yourself into the biggest pain in the arse customer & be an obsessive nuisance caller - until they treat her! tell the receptionist she needs a customer care course & she can start by sucking up to you & if she hasn't got any positive interpersonal skills or diplomacy to find a job as a politician or a job where she doesn't deal with customers! she sounds like she has the mentality of a plank with charisma to match!
tell the vet too when you see them that the receptionist was rude etc - they may not be aware & discuss/rectify the issue with her

tell them it's an animal welfare case as she sounds like she needs painkillers for one. have you got any probiotics for her you could put on her food/feed her? that may help with the diarrhea. hopefully its not burst or become infected as that complicates things somewhat, she may need antibiotics or unfortunately an operation if it has come to that.

is this the only vet you have that will treat her locally - i know its a bit few & far between for vets in Canada & the USA - could you get a second opinion/change vet or is it not possible?

:tu:its good that she's still eating & drinking though that is definitely a positive sign :nod:
just make sure she's eating enough continually if she is having lots of veg/greens this may make her diarrhea worse, but she needs to be eating, bit of a rock & a hard place situation :(
if she is eating plenty of hay & nuggets for the time being let her eat more of them if she will & gradually increase the greens again when her tummy is more settled.

fingers crossed & heaps of healing vibes for Callie.
keep us updated
xx
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:agr:
 
GPTV said:
:rtm::cen: make yourself into the biggest pain in the arse customer & be an obsessive nuisance caller - until they treat her! tell the receptionist she needs a customer care course & she can start by sucking up to you & if she hasn't got any positive interpersonal skills or diplomacy to find a job as a politician or a job where she doesn't deal with customers! she sounds like she has the mentality of a plank with charisma to match!
tell the vet too when you see them that the receptionist was rude etc - they may not be aware & discuss/rectify the issue with her

tell them it's an animal welfare case as she sounds like she needs painkillers for one. have you got any probiotics for her you could put on her food/feed her? that may help with the diarrhea. hopefully its not burst or become infected as that complicates things somewhat, she may need antibiotics or unfortunately an operation if it has come to that.

is this the only vet you have that will treat her locally - i know its a bit few & far between for vets in Canada & the USA - could you get a second opinion/change vet or is it not possible?

:tu:its good that she's still eating & drinking though that is definitely a positive sign :nod:
just make sure she's eating enough continually if she is having lots of veg/greens this may make her diarrhea worse, but she needs to be eating, bit of a rock & a hard place situation :(
if she is eating plenty of hay & nuggets for the time being let her eat more of them if she will & gradually increase the greens again when her tummy is more settled.

fingers crossed & heaps of healing vibes for Callie.
keep us updated
xx
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Thank you so much. I'm glad someone agrees with my frustrations. The poor piggie is so sick and in pain (and no she doesn't have pain killers) and there very well could be infection because they mentioned mucus in her tubes. I'm going to call again today and demand answers.
Last night she was eating her nuggets and shes also munching on hay.

This is the only vet unfortunately that has the proper knowledge(or so I thought). When I was researching vets one actually called me from her car and she told me that while she doesn't have the proper schooling she'd be confident in doing a spay. I'm almost debating on calling her and asking if she could call in the medication. She even told me to keep her updated.
 
Sarah-sore said:
Thank you so much. I'm glad someone agrees with my frustrations. The poor piggie is so sick and in pain (and no she doesn't have pain killers) and there very well could be infection because they mentioned mucus in her tubes. I'm going to call again today and demand answers.
Last night she was eating her nuggets and shes also munching on hay.

This is the only vet unfortunately that has the proper knowledge(or so I thought). When I was researching vets one actually called me from her car and she told me that while she doesn't have the proper schooling she'd be confident in doing a spay. I'm almost debating on calling her and asking if she could call in the medication. She even told me to keep her updated.
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Take her in; say its an emergency- it sounds like it is! When u made your first post about her, i comented saying personally id opt for spay because of the mucous in there and could potentially cause pyometra. With her current symptoms this would definately be a worry for me and personally i would take her in and demand to be seen before she gets any worse and spay isnt an option.
 
Have u managed to get her seen yet?
Sorry not sure of the time difference
Between Canada &the UK.

Think I would camp out at the surgery for as soon as it opens &if it doesn't produce the answers or treatment you need for her then maybe the car calling vet may be an option. At least she sounds caring &conscientious.

The extra symptoms will need investigating before her jabs now though. The pain relief is a must now. Pain often stops piggies eating so this needs immediate attention before it causes more problems for her :(

Good luck &go kick some arse ;)
We're all routing for u both. You're doing well- keep it up &keep fighting for her :nod: :luv:
Xx
 
Okay so I definitely raised a stink. I talked to a bunch of people, including the vet. I'm being referred to a specialist in Toronto to try and get these drugs because I guess they have to ship them from the US and it's difficult and they don't know the paper work. I'm not sure. I'm going to do my research on this specialist. They can't be any worse than this one
Also I'm getting pain meds from my current vet today.
I'll keep you guys informed. Thank you once again.
 
Callie now has pain meds and I haven't once seen her pull on her hair since she's been on them thank goodness. And next Saturday I have an appointment in Toronto with a specialist to talk about hormonal injections. The appointment would have been this week but unfortunately I couldn't get a way up there till next weekend. I will keep everyone updated :)
 
On the way back from Toronto and let me just say that was a heck of a lot more professional. They actually looked in her mouth and took a look at her back teeth with a scope (the other vet didn't have the machine.) They felt that her ovaries were enlarged (the other vet only figured it out when they did the ultrasound) and most importantly, she right then and there got the injection but it was the lupron one which only have a 30% chance of working. I go back in 3 weeks for another injection. I will keep in touch.
 
Let's hope the injection works for her. She's lucky to have you on her side fighting her corner.
 
god I'm so sorry to hear this I'm in the greater toronto area and if anything happens to my pigs I'm also terrified of inexperienced vets and unprofessional treatment
 
Keiko The Pig said:
god I'm so sorry to hear this I'm in the greater toronto area and if anything happens to my pigs I'm also terrified of inexperienced vets and unprofessional treatment
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I'm originally in Peterborough and the vet here is awful. Never again. This vet I just went to tho, their name is High Park and they're on bloor. It was $90 for the consultation and then about $60 for the injection. I definitely recommend these guys if anyone in the area is looking!
 
I have a quick question if anyone knows the answer. What do I do if the injection doesn't work and she absolutely cant be spayed? I'd assume we'd try another injection but if that doesn't work is it game over?
 
Just a quick one my breaks nearly over. My ellie had 2 chorulon injections 7-10 days apart.
Some members have had 3 injections -would this be possible with her injections although I see its a different drug?

How long will it take to kick in?

Just wondering if the drugs were what was available at the time or the difference between the chorulon &yours. 30% seems a low success rate compared to the amount of positive results with chorulon.

Could she have these as a follow on if the current drug is unsuccessful?

My ellie was 6+ yrs &the vet wouldn't spay her as felt too risky.

I Had about 2yrs extra because of chorulon with ellie :)

Fingers crossed xx
 
GPTV said:
Just a quick one my breaks nearly over. My ellie had 2 chorulon injections 7-10 days apart.
Some members have had 3 injections -would this be possible with her injections although I see its a different drug?

How long will it take to kick in?

Just wondering if the drugs were what was available at the time or the difference between the chorulon &yours. 30% seems a low success rate compared to the amount of positive results with chorulon.

Could she have these as a follow on if the current drug is unsuccessful?

My ellie was 6+ yrs &the vet wouldn't spay her as felt too risky.

I Had about 2yrs extra because of chorulon with ellie :)

Fingers crossed xx
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It should kick in within a week or two
The only reason I didn't get the chorulon inject is because we have to ship them across from America and it's going to take a ton of time and paper work and it's going to be difficult.
 
i did wonder if it was an alternative due to availability. chorulon is a hormone drug for cattle originally, so i had hoped it would be more readily available for you.
But hopefully the lupron will work for her anyway :nod:
i think Ellies bleeding stopped within a couple of days & her lump from the cyst protruding went down within about 3-4wks from the 2nd injection.
healing vibes & speedy recovery to Callie :tu:
 
Good to know. Thank you!
I've noticed Callie is have diarrhea now tho, and I've cut back on her lettuce and watery veggies and it's still getting worse. Should I be concerned?
 
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