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Healing vibes needed for Jerry

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Well done Jerry, keep it up! Love your new avatar Cath it really looks like him!

You have done an amazing job, hoping the corner is now turned and he will recover quickly. Hope the new vets can provide you with some answers and get him feeling well again x
 
Thats one cute piggy and a lovely piccy. Love his velvet ears xx
 
sport_billy said:
Well done Jerry, keep it up! Love your new avatar Cath it really looks like him!

You have done an amazing job, hoping the corner is now turned and he will recover quickly. Hope the new vets can provide you with some answers and get him feeling well again x
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Thanks. Me too.

I've also got plaques for Frankie and Marley, but I like to keep a pic of Jerry as my avatar to match my username :)

Jerry did a few wees when he was out in the kitchen earlier and all of them were dark orange. I convinced it's not blood though - I've seen lots of blood-tinged wees (unfortunately) and it's very different. Hoping that Jerry does a nice big wee before the vets tomorrow so that I can take them a sample.
 
We're off to the vets in a few hours. It's going to be quite an adventure as it's around 20 miles away through the middle of the city, I haven't driven there before, and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going!

I'm also praying to the wee fairies that Jerry will do a nice big wee before we go so that I can get a sample of his radioactive-looking burnt orange urine!

I've been weighing Jerry every day since this all started. I've just weighed him again. His weight has looked like this:
1 March: 1135g
2 March: 1133g
3 March: 1121g
4 March: 1140g
5 March: 1127g

I'm amazed and thrilled that despite a few days of barely eating anything for himself, and one day when he was almost entirely syringe-fed that he's maintained his weight so well. Those 3am feeds were entirely worth it! :)

I haven't syringe fed him at all today, but we did a small feed before bed last night. In between napping he has been foraging through his hay and he's even walked over to his bowl of nuggets twice. He hasn't eaten any nuggets yet, as he just stuck his head in and then changed his mind, but I'm hopeful that he's at least showing some interest. His appetite throughout the day will determine whether I feed him, this afternoon and this evening. I'm trying to get the balance right between feeding him to keep his strength up, but also holding off enough so that he seeks out food himself. I'm sure a nice big bowl of grass at lunchtime will help... :)x
 
That weight is brill.

Good luck at the vets. Maybe syringe some water and pop him in a bowl to make sure you have the glowing sample on hand to show the vets.
 
How'd the vets visit go?
 
This is the colour of the wee that I took the vet:

IMG00576-20130305-13082_zps6e62cc67.jpg



This is the colour that it turns when it comes into contact with the air:

IMG00578-20130305-20172_zps0207d01d.jpg


If I didn't see it happening in front of my eyes, then I'd never believe it!
 
As for the vet visit, gosh I don't know where to start! Well I'm very impressed with the vet, and I certainly won't be taking my piggies anywhere else from now on. She was very thorough (I was there for 45 minutes!), she listened to everything and is clearly very knowledgeable about guinea pigs.

The vet agreed that the Convenia was a very bad idea and certainly would never have worked for longer than a few hours. She was not surprised by the awful reaction that he had to it, but said that he is doing very well now, considering how he was just two days ago.

To deal with the continuing gut problems and lack of appetite I have to carry on with the Emeprid (three times a day) until he's eating fully for himself and pooing as normal. She's also given Zantac to stimulate his appetite (twice a day).

I've got Ace-High vitamin C supplement to try to strengthen his immune system again (one pinch, once a day).

She tested the urine sample and thankfully it didn't contain any sign of blood. The orange colour that it turns must be due to something else. She also looked at it under the microscope and was amazed by what she found - thousands and thousands of bacteria, at least two different kinds. Obviously some may have come from the carrier that he was in when I gathered the sample, but as there were so many she said its more than likely that they have come from his bladder.

As we don't yet know what we're dealing with the urine has been sent off to be tested. In the meantime he's got a twice daily dose of Septrin. She can't yet rule out a bladder stone either, or another problem related to his sludge as he was very sensitive when she examined him, but we'll wait for the results of the urine test and then x-ray if need be.

So Jerry is now on: metacam, dibenyline, cystaid, emeprid, zantac, septrin, pro- c probiotic and ace-high. What a concoction! I've got enough piggy drugs to open my own drug store! x
 
Gosh it is going to be difficult to give him all those drugs. Poor Jerry. I wonder what could be causing the bacteria. Very strange. It is great you saw such a good vet.
 
So glad you are getting somewhere... It's unfortunate that Jerry's problems have been made so much worse by your previous vet.
I can't believe that wee OMG. Sounds like you have found a very knowledgable vet now. Hoping your little man improves soon, septrin is good stuff when it comes to UTI's. Keep us updated on beautiful Jerry, will be interesting to know the result of the urinalysis.

Have just sent you a pm by the way x
 
The colour of the fresh wee is bad enough - I'm used to clear wee, or a slightly cloudy colour - certainly not a fluorescent yellow! The vet literally said 'wow' when I showed her! The colour that it turns, though, is just crazy!
 
It sounds like you now have a vet who really knows what they are talking about. What does worry me is that your previous vets were adamant that it was an appropriate antibiotic. I am really concerned that they will continue to prescribe it for guinea pigs who won't be as fortunate as Jerry, and that when they die it will just be attributed to the illness they were given the antibiotic for and not the antibiotic itself. I am not sure how this can be dealt with, but I would hate to think piggies could lose their life due to incorrect use of an antibiotic.

Anyway, back to Jerry, it sounds like he's doing well and having the zantac in addition to the emiprid is really going to keep things moving. He's a very lucky piggie to have such a devoted and caring owner. The result could've been so different. x
 
I'm glad you got there (and back!) ok... I was half expecting a call :))

Was it Jemma that you saw? I've not seen her with my pigs yet, as Maggie magically cured herself again, and Dave's problems have also been resolved :)
 
Amanda1801 said:
I'm glad you got there (and back!) ok... I was half expecting a call :))

Was it Jemma that you saw? I've not seen her with my pigs yet, as Maggie magically cured herself again, and Dave's problems have also been resolved :)
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I was so relieved that I found it! I thought at one point that I was going the wrong way, but then I saw the Tesco Express and remembered your directions!

Yeah it was Jemma. She was very thorough and definitely knows her stuff! I'm certainly thankful that I went along to that Piggy evening :))
 
oh blimey all those drugs, i dont think Oscar would talk to me ever again if i had to give all them!

Glad youve got somewhere with this vet, heres to a great recovery x
 
Really glad to hear the vet visit went so well. It's amazing the amount of piggy medicines you can end up collecting! Get Better soon Jerry! x
 
Just a quick update. I've now stopped hand-feeding Jerry altogether :) His appetite is still not as it was before, and he is still uninterested in his nuggets, but he's eating his hay almost continually through the day now, and he's drinking fairly regularly again. Last night was the first night that I didn't get up to check on him, and he greeted me with a little wheak this morning!

I'm monitoring his weight very closely, and if it starts to drop then I'll start topping him up with some feed again. I'm also continuing with all his gut stimulants. I have at least another day left of the Emeprid so I think I'll keep going until it runs out.

I've devised a medicine routine for him to try to keep track of everything that he's taking, and it's currently attached to the fridge! Some of the medicines he likes (Septrin and Metacam), but most he doesn't. Considering this though, he puts up very little fight and takes it all in his stride.

We're still taking it one day at a time, but each morning that I pop the light on in the piggy room and I'm greeted with his lovely little face peaking out of his house I breathe a sigh of relief :) x
 
It is wonderful to hear he is eating on his own now. Hay is so important for him.
 
Way to go Jerry. Keep getting better for your mummy x
So nice to see them in the morning isn't it.
 
Just had a phone call from the vet - the urine test didn't show any signs of an infection. She said that this wasn't necessarily surprising, as the Convenia would have killed everything (including all the good bacteria!)

The vet has advised that I stop the gut stimulants now, to see how he goes. But to keep the Zantac on hand, 'just in case'.

His wee is still doing the very alarming thing of being bright yellow, and then changing to dark orange on contact with the air. The vet said that she's never seen anything like it before in guinea pigs, but has heard of it in humans. She thinks it must be due to some 'weird and wonderful mineral' in his body. If anyone has any experience with anything like this, then I'd be very interested to know.

I'm not sure how I feel about the results. Obviously, if it was an infection then at least I'd have a reason for the original blood in his urine. As it's not an infection, then it must be due to something else and my worry is a bladder stone :(

I've just tested his wee with a dipstick and it's showing signs of blood (which were not visible to the eye), high protein levels and high PH. When the vet tested his wee there wasn't any blood in it, so its obviously intermittent.

I've been told to continue the ABs and supplements for a week and to retest the urine then. If it's still showing signs of blood, and is still looking radioactive, then the vet wants to run further tests.

So, I'm utterly baffled!
 
I'd get an x-ray to rule out stones. Then maybe look at it as cystitis...
Cookie is an enignma to us she has been xrayed for stones - no stones. Had a urinalysis no bacteria present in wee. No visible blood but blood is present on dipsticks and crys when she wee's. She had so many anti-biotics I've lost count. We've been treating her with an alternative treatment regmie, but lately it's been getting worse again. So are planning another x-ray again over next few weeks. I really understand how frustrating it is, it is horrible to see them in pain and nothing can be found

Lots of love to your handsome little boy

I'll drop you a pm later or tomorrow, when work slows down with some info x
 
Hi, so pleased to hear he is doing better. Funnily enough our Jem often has orange/red wee. He was put on antibiotics the first time, to cover infection, and that made him ill (but not as ill as poor Jerry) When I first saw it I was nearly sick with worry, but the sample came back as negative for blood or infection. He's been at the vets 2 or 3 times in the past and same answer, they don't know why! He is 2 years old now and fit as a flea. He doesn't appear to be in pain, is a happy little boy. It's odd isn't it?
 
Jerry has been steadily putting on weight over the past few days, and is now 40g heavier than he was two weeks ago! He is eating all of his veg, with the exception of cucumber which he won't touch (despite cucumber being his favourite until now!) He's eating around half of his nuggets daily, but hasn't quite managed to finish the bowl yet.

He is now just on Septrin twice a day, and a pinch of ACE-High (vitamin C supplement), in addition to his 'usuals' (Metacam, Cystaid, Dibenyline). He's got another week of Septrin left.

His crazy, radioactive wees are also becoming less frequent. He did a few wees yesterday that were completely clear, whereas until now they have all been bright yellow/dark orange. A dipstick on Friday showed a slight trace of blood, but one on Saturday and yesterday were clear.
 
Great news! well done little Jerry and well done to you to Cath, your a superb piggie mom. Hope he gets back to full health again soon x
 
sport_billy said:
Great news! well done little Jerry and well done to you to Cath, your a superb piggie mom. Hope he gets back to full health again soon x
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Thank you :)

It helps to have a very stubborn piggy. There was no way that he was going anywhere without putting up a damn good fight! :))
 
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