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Specialist First illness and radiology report, sorry kinda long post

Beaniesbabie86

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I noticed my oldest guinea pig( we think he's about a year and a half) acting quite differently, very lethargic, not eating as much as usual, and not going crazy for his hay then I also notice a slight head tilt and found a vet asap, they said they thought he had an ear infection which I already had figured cuz I went in to research mode as soon as I noticed something wrong but they wanted an xrays to confirm, they couldn't get him to stay still so we had to bring him back so they could sedate him which I was very very concerned about but he did great and the medicine they gave us had already seemed to b working. Now I have this radiology report and I'm not sure what to make of it, so if I could get any thought, comments, or advice it would be greatly appreciated!
Findings:
Orthogonal skull and whole body projections for review (12).
The calvarium, incisors and cheek teeth are normal. There is an even occlusal surface of the cheek teeth, and mild points, but no
pathology of the mandible and maxilla noted. The heart and mediastinum are normal. There is mild sclerosis of the osseous sublime,
L>R, noted in the skull. The pleural space is normal. There is a mild, generalized interstitial pattern in the lungs. The liver is normal.
The kidneys appear normal. There is moderate gas distention of the stomach. The cecum and intestines contain gas and heterogenous
material. The urinary bladder is within normal parameters and no calculi are noted. No foreign bodies are seen. There are mild
enthesophytes noted in the stifles bilaterally.
Assessment:
Moderate chronic otitis externa, media and interna, based on the sclerosis noted in the osseous auditory structures. Left greater than
right, which is consistent with the clinical signs and head tilt. There is no lytic change noted to suggest tract formation through the skull,
however, with the chronicity of this issue and the abnormal shape noted in the bullae to chronic osseous reactivity, treatment may
require surgical intervention. CT of the skull would be the best modality to allow for full definition of these changes and help guide
treatments needed. Culture of any discharge noted may be very helpful for treatment, as many organisms that can cause this condition
show resistance to common antimicrobials.
Bronchointerstitial lung pattern, generalized. Differentials include bronchial pneumonia, cardiogenic or non-cardiogenic pulmonary
edema. Recommend consideration for clinicopathological assessment to determine if infection or inflammation is a concern,
echocardiography for cardiac changes that may be contributing to the pulmonary pattern present if this is a clinical concern. Culture of
any discharge from the nares may be helpful for treatment, as this species tends to get multi-organismal pneumonia and treatment can
require multiple medications.
The gas in the stomach is suggestive of a mild to moderate bloat and gastric stasis, which is likely due to the pulmonary pathology and
stress, or other clinical pathology that is occurring. This may also be due to dental disease, decreased fiber intake or metabolic
abnormalities or diet changes. Dental pathology often leads to sinusitis and ocular pathology, and can result in pneumonia in some
cases.
The changes in the supporting structures of the stifles (enthesophytosis) are a type of osteoarthritis and are common in a guinea pig of
this age and may cause clinical signs depending on severity and effect on range of motion at affected locations.
 
I noticed my oldest guinea pig( we think he's about a year and a half) acting quite differently, very lethargic, not eating as much as usual, and not going crazy for his hay then I also notice a slight head tilt and found a vet asap, they said they thought he had an ear infection which I already had figured cuz I went in to research mode as soon as I noticed something wrong but they wanted an xrays to confirm, they couldn't get him to stay still so we had to bring him back so they could sedate him which I was very very concerned about but he did great and the medicine they gave us had already seemed to b working. Now I have this radiology report and I'm not sure what to make of it, so if I could get any thought, comments, or advice it would be greatly appreciated!
Findings:
Orthogonal skull and whole body projections for review (12).
The calvarium, incisors and cheek teeth are normal. There is an even occlusal surface of the cheek teeth, and mild points, but no
pathology of the mandible and maxilla noted. The heart and mediastinum are normal. There is mild sclerosis of the osseous sublime,
L>R, noted in the skull. The pleural space is normal. There is a mild, generalized interstitial pattern in the lungs. The liver is normal.
The kidneys appear normal. There is moderate gas distention of the stomach. The cecum and intestines contain gas and heterogenous
material. The urinary bladder is within normal parameters and no calculi are noted. No foreign bodies are seen. There are mild
enthesophytes noted in the stifles bilaterally.
Assessment:
Moderate chronic otitis externa, media and interna, based on the sclerosis noted in the osseous auditory structures. Left greater than
right, which is consistent with the clinical signs and head tilt. There is no lytic change noted to suggest tract formation through the skull,
however, with the chronicity of this issue and the abnormal shape noted in the bullae to chronic osseous reactivity, treatment may
require surgical intervention. CT of the skull would be the best modality to allow for full definition of these changes and help guide
treatments needed. Culture of any discharge noted may be very helpful for treatment, as many organisms that can cause this condition
show resistance to common antimicrobials.
Bronchointerstitial lung pattern, generalized. Differentials include bronchial pneumonia, cardiogenic or non-cardiogenic pulmonary
edema. Recommend consideration for clinicopathological assessment to determine if infection or inflammation is a concern,
echocardiography for cardiac changes that may be contributing to the pulmonary pattern present if this is a clinical concern. Culture of
any discharge from the nares may be helpful for treatment, as this species tends to get multi-organismal pneumonia and treatment can
require multiple medications.
The gas in the stomach is suggestive of a mild to moderate bloat and gastric stasis, which is likely due to the pulmonary pathology and
stress, or other clinical pathology that is occurring. This may also be due to dental disease, decreased fiber intake or metabolic
abnormalities or diet changes. Dental pathology often leads to sinusitis and ocular pathology, and can result in pneumonia in some
cases.
The changes in the supporting structures of the stifles (enthesophytosis) are a type of osteoarthritis and are common in a guinea pig of
this age and may cause clinical signs depending on severity and effect on range of motion at affected locations.

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry but I do not have the kind of medical training you are looking for to understand more than the general gist of it.
From what I can see is that your piggy has got a chronic outer ear infection (hence the head tilt) and some signs of arthritis (which are normal for the age) as underlying issues but the heart and teeth seem to be basically OK with the teeth very slightly overgrown. Of concern is the respiratory tract and some mild bloating/partial GI stasis that may be secondary to reduced food intake (lack of fibre).

If your piggy is at home, then please switch to weighing once daily and step in with round the clock syringe feeding.
Follow the advice in this guide here: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

I hope that the other members may be able to throw more light on the result but please keep in mind that none of us is a trained vet and that we cannot replace a vet.

@Piggies&buns @PigglePuggle @furryfriends (TEAS) @Abi_nurse
 
Ok to summarise this from my understanding... piggy has an ear infection, fluid in the lungs, and bloat.
It seems the vet now wants to check if the fluid in the lungs is from a heart problem or from a respiratory infection.
I imagine the vet would probably prescribe antibiotics, gut stimulant medicine, and possibly a diuretic to help get rid of the lung fluid/reduce strain on the heart, in this situation.
Does this sound about right? What medicines was piggy prescribed? Hope they will be ok anyway, sounds like your vet was very thorough!
 
Ok to summarise this from my understanding... piggy has an ear infection, fluid in the lungs, and bloat.
It seems the vet now wants to check if the fluid in the lungs is from a heart problem or from a respiratory infection.
I imagine the vet would probably prescribe antibiotics, gut stimulant medicine, and possibly a diuretic to help get rid of the lung fluid/reduce strain on the heart, in this situation.
Does this sound about right? What medicines was piggy prescribed? Hope they will be ok anyway, sounds like your vet was very thorough!
They said a pain medicine I can't remember what it was called and he had an antibiotic erythromycin I believe, he's doing much better! Back to wheeking for food and hay and nibbling on everything, he had been eating but hadn't evening wheeking for it for over a week had me scared, this was a first illness since I've owned guinea pigs.
 
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