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Help I Think Coco Is Dying

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I'm not sure where in Scotland you are but if I can help out with transport in any way please don't hesitate to ask. I live near glasgow but I'm happy to help if you're further afield xx
 
Hey, yeah i'm alright & she's still with me.
I've been avoiding the forum the past few days because I feel like it makes me more hysterical and panicky sometimes, lol.
I was on the phone to pebble until like half 3 in the morning the other night and she calmed me down from having a breakdown, haha.
I've been advised by everyone (Including Glenn who i spoke to over the phone) to sit tight and wait for the results of the poop samples and just do everything I can in the mean time because nothing can be done until then.
I can't keep jumping vets, because I'm a kick in the bum away from being labelled a vet hopper because of this & i'm really trying to avoid it because apparently vets really don't like it, lol.
So not alot I can do just now..

She's being treated with septrin just now....which i know has even less chance of working than the baytril if she does have an abbcess.
The vet now is sure it's one eye that is sunken rathen than the other one bulging....I can't see it at all anyway, but i'm assuming if I still can't see it, it hasn't got worse.
But she's a wee star and is waiting it out well.
I feel bloody useless. She was so ill on wednesday I booked her in to be pts that night because I just feel like this will never be resolved and i'm just torturing her, then chickened out just after leaving the house and came home with her (glad i did now)
Her weight is still about 640g with me syringe feeding her, so thats good :) & the diarrhoea is intermittent instead of constant now, so thats good too.
I'll hopefully be able to post something a little more positive when the poop results come back. Fingers crossed.
 
I'm so skint just now, I'm living on beans on toast cause I have literally spent every single penny of my wages & bursary on her and have spent like £30 on myself for food & everything else......I'm gunna be so malnourished i'll end up with scurvy before pay day, LOL.
 
I'm the same hun, I've just spent my last £100 on vet bills and some more Frank stuff. Now I'm starting to hit that stress/break down wall I think.

Roll on 20th aye?
 
I'm so glad coco is still with us. We were worried! I hope glen can get to the bottom of whatever is affecting her, poor girl. Well done for keeping up the syringe feeding, a stable weight is good.

Hang in there!
 
@The Furry Godmother Aw poor you and Frank. I think that day when i nearly took her to the vets to be pts has calmed me down alot...which is wierd, maybe it's because i feel like anything's easier to deal with than actually losing her forever, idk.
Ohhh, i get paid on the 16th. ;) haha, won't be so smug on the day but, I owe £100 of it out already and it's only the 3rd.
When coco's better, I should send her and Luna round the doors offering to cut peoples grass for them for £10 a garden.. they'd love that job. Wouldn't miss a single blade! haha

@Piggly sorry i didnt reply for so long. I know. Wish these samples would hurry up and come back though. Now it's the easter weekend i'm assuming i'm gunna need to wait until at least Tuesday to hear anything. Blegh. To have her seen by glen I need to completely transfer her care over to him permanently apparently, which is crappy. I like having the vet so close by because it means I have access to a vet 7 days a week. With glen, I'm limited to weekends really because by the time I travel to a Falkirk after work he'll be closed unless I can get a lift. :/
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@The Furry Godmother Aw poor you and Frank. I think that day when i nearly took her to the vets to be pts has calmed me down alot...which is wierd, maybe it's because i feel like anything's easier to deal with than actually losing her forever, idk.
Ohhh, i get paid on the 16th. ;) haha, won't be so smug on the day but, I owe £100 of it out already and it's only the 3rd.
When coco's better, I should send her and Luna round the doors offering to cut peoples grass for them for £10 a garden.. they'd love that job. Wouldn't miss a single blade! haha

@Piggly sorry i didnt reply for so long. I know. Wish these samples would hurry up and come back though. Now it's the easter weekend i'm assuming i'm gunna need to wait until at least Tuesday to hear anything. Blegh. To have her seen by glen I need to completely transfer her care over to him permanently apparently, which is crappy. I like having the vet so close by because it means I have access to a vet 7 days a week. With glen, I'm limited to weekends really because by the time I travel to a Falkirk after work he'll be closed unless I can get a lift. :/
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I'm jealous. Then again it's all going to go on rent and bills when I get it!

Haha yes! Get the pigs working for the money!
 
I'm jealous. Then again it's all going to go on rent and bills when I get it!

Haha yes! Get the pigs working for the money!
Thats not including bills or anything, thats just money i've mooched off my sister & OH, haha
Ano, bout time, little freeloaders! ;)

@Piggly Ugh, it's my own fault because i start searching like mad through threads trying to see if i can find anything out and get myself in a tizzy, so I just made myself come off it for a while. lol.
 
Thats not including bills or anything, thats just money i've mooched off my sister & OH, haha
Ano, bout time, little freeloaders! ;)

@Piggly Ugh, it's my own fault because i start searching like mad through threads trying to see if i can find anything out and get myself in a tizzy, so I just made myself come off it for a while. lol.

Piggies break the bank!

Also, I've done the same before, mashes your mind, think what you did was a good decision x
 
I'm still here if you want another chat.

Very often with guinea pigs you have to diagnose by a process of elimination and it can be a long, expensive and nail-biting process.

You;re in that unenviable position of having to sit tight for the next set of results.....all you can do at the moment is keep food going in and poos coming out....and as long as Coco is prepared to swallow (even if you have to hold her tightly to get the food in her mouth in the first place)...then she is still fighting!

What is also clear is that she does appear to be stabilising somewhat- so whilst the septrin might not ultimately "cure" her - it's certainly stopping any bugs from spreading so that is a good thing.

See what the culture results say and then go back to Glen for a full oral exam under GA to explore retrobulbular abcess and other dental suggestions..and zithromax
@Harry&lloyd has kindly offered to help with transport....(thank you from me)
@flintstones has confirmed from her own experience that Glen is the best for piggy teeth in Scotland

On the financial side - I don;t know what your credit rating is like but in the past I have taken out a new credit card with 0% purchase deal for 12months + - which means as long as I pay the minimum payments by DD each month I get interest free credit.....but be advised that you do have to be aware of when the deal is up and either pay the balance in full or balance transfer ("tart") the outstanding amount to yet another new 0% credit card...(and timing is of the essence to avoid penalty charges).

Stay strong - big hugs
x
 
@Harry&lloyd I know, thanks so much, can't believe how kind you people are sometimes. :)
@Pebble That's exactly what my plan is:
> Wait for vet to phone me with poop results
> Explain to her that I'm really really grateful for everything she has done for me and the pigs cause she really has been so brilliant. And ask her to fax further up to date treatment notes forward to Glen and explain that I want to try him again for a while because her and I seem to have run out of ideas & hopefully he will be able to find out something new.
> Phone Glenn and ask to book an appt with him to get the GA done

In the mean time try stuff her face as much as I can, cross my fingers she holds up as well as she has been & prepair to beg for lifts back and forth to him.

Question: Once this treatment is over and if cokes is cured from whatever is going on, will it be easy for me to transfer care back to my own vet?
I don't want to have to go to Glenn from now on, as this will restrict cokes access to a vet from being 7 days a week to only weekends, as by the time I finish work and travel to falkirk, the vets will be closed.
 
P.s, when it comes to the pigs, i'm always able to find money from somewhere. I just hate borrowing it, but as long as i know I'll be able to pay it back on payday it's alright and I'm about £250 away from being unable to pay it all back on the 16th. lol.
 
Question: Once this treatment is over and if cokes is cured from whatever is going on, will it be easy for me to transfer care back to my own vet?
I don't want to have to go to Glenn from now on, as this will restrict cokes access to a vet from being 7 days a week to only weekends, as by the time I finish work and travel to falkirk, the vets will be closed.

It should be easy to transfer back as you consulted Glen on a particular condition - but he may not wish to see you in the future
Given Glen's experience I would consider brokering a deal with him that you use your vets for routine stuff (and in the vent of an emergency) but that you will commit to him with all the travellling etc that entails on the more serious issues requiring his knowledge and experience.....
x
 
Thanks @Pebble :)
I've been avoiding writing this because i dont know if i'm only noticing it because I'm hyper vigilant just now and aware of every sound they make, but I've noticed that Luna is coughing alot more than I've ever noticed before. I've heard her do little chokey coughs more than i'm comfortable with and it's starting to make me edgy...
god i hope i'm talking rubbish, lol.
 
I have just noticed this thread and just want to say that I hope little Coco pulls through. I know it can be a nightmare switching vets as I have had to do it myself recently and you do feel kinda awkward but at the end of the day we have to do what best for our piggies! I see everyone talking about a vet called Glen.. I take it he is the man to go to for any dental concerns in Scotland? This would be good for me to know as I also stay in Scotland :) x
 
she has been doing this ALL day!
& its snot that's coming out i think. not tons of mushed pellets like it usually is.

 
Oh poor angel. Is she on any antibiotics still? Are you going back to Glen?
 
Shes on septrin while i wait for the poop samples to come back.
I just caught the end of it there, but it she does it for like 10 minutes straight every hour. it's happened like 10 times today.
It's never been so frequent.
I'm gunna take her back to Glen when the poop samples come back, nothing can be done until then apparently.
:'(
 
Would snot be linked to what is going on with her poo though? I would also ask for Bisolvon as it helps clear mucous.
 
@helen105281 I have no idea about animal medical illnesses eccept the total basics, I'm completely dependant on what the vets are telling me now.
She has only become all mucousy recently i think, unless it was just mixed in with the mushed food before and i didnt see it.
Her breathing has been quite bad again the past two days though, awful gurgly/crackly.

Ah, ok, i'll ask.:tu:
She's such a tortured wee soul these days, I feel so horrible that I cant seem to fix it.
 
If this snot is a new development I would speak to your vet again before the results come in or give Glen a call as it needs looking at as soon as possible. In my opinion she needs a stronger antibiotic like Zithromax, Doxycycline or Marbocyl as the Septrin is not helping. You could also ask about diuretics though I suspect the crackling is due to the mucous.
 
I'm now positive it's her right eye that is sunken.
I can see it now & she weighs 607g
Is choking on all food now, including syringe feed, medication, and water.
I can't get anything into her.

I don't think she'll be here much longer and she's suffering so much now.
I'm considering having her pts tomorrow.
 
I'm sorry to hear she is not getting any better. The choking on al food/water/meds is worrying.
I would suggest getting on the phone to Glen to get an appt for tomorrow as an emergency. Also talk to your other vets about the poo sample results (which should have come in by now)

If you think the best thing is to help Coco to the Bridge now then, as difficult as this decision is, you have our full support.

Sending you lots of hugs at this difficult time.
x
 
I am so sorry to hear that Coco is now so very poorly. I still think there could be something of concern behind that eye. Bearing in mind Coco's very low weight, sunken eyes would be what I would expect, so the eye that is not sunken could be because there is something behind it. I had a piggy come here to TEAS with very sunken eyes due to being very anorexic, and as he got better his eyes became normal again

What you are describing with Coco sounds very like what happened with a piggy of mine. Wilfie had a retrobulbar abscess which appeared to resolve without needing his eye removing. However after a number of months it returned and very quickly it started to obstruct his nasal cavity too. He would desperately try to eat but would choke and he also had a nasal discharge. Wilfie was helped over the Rainbow Bridge when he reached this stage.
 
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