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Guinea pig losing weight and blood in urine

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jpjless

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Hi my beloved 7 year old guinea pig Pippa has been losing weight and has blood in her urine. The vet has not run any tests but says she feels a mass in her bladder/uterus area. Pippa is passing blood continuously and continues to lose weight, but is eating and drinking, though less active now. She is getting 0.13ml Metacam in the evenings.

My question is, how will I know when her quality of life is such that she should be PTS? Of course on my own account I desperately don't want to say goodbye to her, but also I feel reluctant to go down this route while she is still responsive essentially. I know it is difficult to know when a gp is in pain, so any advice from others whpo have been in this situation would be very much appreciated.
 
Aw, I feel for you! Our 7 year old Fudge had exactly the same issue! Cystease seemed to help a bit but in the end she was very down and even with the metacam squeaking in pain so we knew it was time :( I think you'll just know x
 
I agree with @Merrypigs Sanctuary, I think you'll know, still breaks your heart but you can just tell when they're ready.
I had the same with my 4yr old boy Sheepy, came on here to ask the same question in 2013.
He lost his friend, had a suspected stroke, UTIs, on meds for ages (antibiotics and metacam) and I was syringe feeding, all that and he had cataracts so couldn't see either.
He'd have good days and bad days but after a few days of him being very unhappy, not interested in playtime and not even wanting his fave fruit or veg I decided it was best for him (with lots of help on this great forum). Very hard decision but he pretty much told me.

If she's still happy then enjoy lots of special time with her and spoil her rotten! :) xx
 
jpjless said:
Hi my beloved 7 year old guinea pig Pippa has been losing weight and has blood in her urine. The vet has not run any tests but says she feels a mass in her bladder/uterus area. Pippa is passing blood continuously and continues to lose weight, but is eating and drinking, though less active now. She is getting 0.13ml Metacam in the evenings.

My question is, how will I know when her quality of life is such that she should be PTS? Of course on my own account I desperately don't want to say goodbye to her, but also I feel reluctant to go down this route while she is still responsive essentially. I know it is difficult to know when a gp is in pain, so any advice from others whpo have been in this situation would be very much appreciated.
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Hi!

I am very sorry. it is always tough when you come to the end of the line.

However, as long as she is eating and has interest in her life, she doesn't need to be pts yet. You will know when the time has come to give her that last, most loving and most heart-breaking gift that we can give a beloved pet. Until that time treasure every moment and make sure that you say and do everything you want and have to. That is the one huge bonus that comes with knowing that our time with a beloved is limited - we can make sure that there is no unfinished business and that there is the inevitable pain of the loss, but no regrets or guilt. ;)

7 years is a grand old age. Sadly we can never choose when or what from our piggies die, but it is generally not simply by passing away in their sleep. :(

Can you please specify which metacam your vet has given you, dog or cat and what weight your girl is? They have prescribed in any case the absolute minimum, so you can give a lot more as guinea pigs cope with metacam a LOT better than cats and dogs. they also have a much faster metabolism, so you need to give it twice daily. It is in my experience fully absorbed within 10 hours and should given every 12 hours.
 
Thanks everyone for your very kind replies.

Wiebke, when Pippa saw the vet, she weighed 630g. The vet gave her an initial dose of 0.25ml, and prescribed 0.13ml each evening.
 
jpjless said:
Thanks everyone for your very kind replies.

Wiebke, when Pippa saw the vet, she weighed 630g. The vet gave her an initial dose of 0.25ml, and prescribed 0.13ml each evening.
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Hi! That is still too low, even with dog metacam, which is three times the strength of cat metacam (hence my question).
my 9 year old Calli, who was a comparable weight, was on 0.15 ml dog metacam twice daily for her arthritis. ;)
 
Yes, my chinchilla is on dog metacam twice a day and he's over that! So a pretty low dose, he's just under 500g!
 
Sorry I can't be more specific at the moment as I am at work and don't have the medication with me. I shall make an appointment to see the vet tomorrow to discuss this.
 
Hi, I'm sorry to hear your little one is poorly.

If she where mine, my first port of call would be to determine what the actual problem is and treating accordingly rather than just providing pain relief. The fact she is passing blood from either her urinary or uterine system and is steadily loosing weight, and given the medication is for inflammation/pain relief then realistically I wouldn't expect her to rally round from this and will most likely continue to deteriorate.

Given the vet can feel a "mass" in this area, it would be best to determine what this is. It could be a bladder stone Or, if in her womb, could be a cyst or tumour. An ultrasound can be done consciously on your piggy to determine what is going on and then puts you in a better position to move forward.

Obviously there's a high chance that the problem would be something that would require surgery to correct, granted the vet felt this was a feesable option with your individual piggy. Surgery is massive for any guinea pig, especially elderly ones, but with a good piggy savvy vet and a possible cure with surgery this may be something to consider granted she is currently in a position where she's unlikely to recover spontaneously. My 8 year old sow was spayed due to problems with her ovaries and uterus. Fudge was 18 months into a congestive heart failure diagnosis at the time, of which she was given 2 weeks to live as her heart failure was advanced. I managed it with medication and despite a bumpy road she had an excellent quality of life. Her ovaries and uterus where causing bleeding and pain, and although her surgery was going to be massively risky given her heart failure alone never mind her age, i went for it as if she where to pass away with the anaesthetic, it would be painless for her. However if I left her without treatment, she would of slowly and painfully declined before my eyes where I would of had to have her euthanased. Fudge sailed her surgery and lived another 7 months happily and well until her heart gave up the fight and I let her go at 8.5 years old. I don't regret doing the surgery as she had those extra 7 months with a good quality of life, and her demise was unrelated to her surgery.

Please don't think I am trying to sway you into pursuing risky surgery for your piggy- I wouldn't dream of that as I am fully aware every single piggy is different with their needs and coping mechanisms and my situation wasn't the same as yours. However if your vet is willing to carry out a painless, conscious ultrasound on her it should put you into a better position with options rather than not treating her. Of course, I'm not saying that's the wrong thing to do either- sometimes it's best for the individual pet to be managed on pain relief and monitored until a decision needs to be made, no single situation is the same.

I hope your piggy can stay happy and comfortable for as long as possible. Thinking of you x
 
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