• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Joe Has His Operation Tomorrow

Status
Not open for further replies.
JackJack1

JackJack1

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Sep 3, 2014
Messages
266
Reaction score
253
Points
430
Location
Nottinghamshire
My lovely Joe has his operation scheduled tomorrow. He is 5 1/2 and has been found to have a urethral stone, so he faces a very tricky operation tomorrow and I am really scared for him.
The vet has told me that if they cannot flush the stone back into the bladder and retrieve it from there, then they will need to put him to sleep on the operating table. Tonight and tomorrow are going to be very difficult indeed. He is my lovely boy and my heart is breaking to think that tonight may be the last I have with him, if they cannot sort him out.

Can everyone send Joe some healing vibes and keep fingers crossed he will come through. Any support will be much appreciated.
 
Fingers crossed that all goes smoothly and huge hugs to you, I know how nervous you'll be tomorrow! He can do this, come on little Joe!
 
I'm sending you healing vibes AND hugs. My boar Max had a stone removed from his urethra . It's such a worry to go though this. Max is OK now .
 
PiggyOwner said:
I'm sending you healing vibes AND hugs. My boar Max had a stone removed from his urethra . It's such a worry to go though this. Max is OK now .
Click to expand...
Thank you for your message. It really helps to know that someone has gone through a successful operation and come out the other end. I know the vet was trying to be realistic and not giving me any guarantees, but it helps to know this operation can be successful.
 
Very best wishes and healing vibes to Joe. Hugs to you, it's a very difficult time for you so I won't say don't worry, just remember you are doing the very best for Joe you can, no one can do more.
 
Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support for Joe and me. They have really helped get through a very difficult time.

I can report that Joe has had his operation, which turned out to be quite a big operation. The bladder was filled with tarry sludge which had made his bladder inflamed. This had built up behind a large stone stuck in his urethra. However, the vet managed to take the stone out of the urethra by going in through the bladder. She was unable to flush it back into the bladder as it was stuck. I have seen the stone and there is no wonder poor Joe was in a lot of pain. I have been to see him at the vets and spent 20 minutes talking to him. He was on strong painkiller Vetergesic, so was really dopy. He was however, starting to eat a bit of critical care food. The vet said I could take him home, but I asked if I could leave him overnight so that he can get the intensive care from the night staff he needs. Because of his age and the operation being tricky, I felt it was better for Joe to have all the professional care he needs, after his operation, including heated pad, pain relief of the correct strength and feeding throughout the night. There is night team to look after him including a vet on night shift. So if he needs immediate care, he will have it immediately on hand. So providing he is still making progress tomorrow, I will be able to collect him after work tomorrow and start to nurse him.

So Joe has started on the long road back to recovery. The vet said he is not out of the woods yet, as they need to make sure that his gut is working after such a major shock/operation. However, I believe he has the best chance of recovery where he is with all the vet team to look after him.

I will keep everyone updated as we go.
 
Awwww so glad he got through the op. You must have been worried sick all day? At least he's in good hands. Hugs x
 
I'm sorry for not seeing this thread yesterday, but I'm very glad that he's had his stone successfully removed.
Sending healing vibes to Joe, and hope he makes an excellent recovery. x
 
i am so pleased to hear that he has come through the op and that the stone has been removed successfully. i hope he has a restful night and you can bring him home tomorrow. x
 
Thank you for the update. Poor lad! Sounds like he's been through the wars. Hopefully now on the road to recovery! I have my fingers crossed that his recovery is smooth, he's in the best hands. Come on little Joe! x
 
Fingers very firmly crossed! Poor Joe; that sounds like a major op, but it is great that your vet has been able to get it all out and that Joe is still there. ;)

Hopefully, he is going to perk up from sheer relief once his body has settled from the operation. The bladder is likely to stay tender for quite a while and the thickened walls will remain. I would talk about cystease/glucosamine or pearl water water to help coat the inflamed bladder and urethra walls with your vet when you pick him up. I am sure that your vet is going to give you some painkiller to use at home to help with pain and the inflammation.

Have everything to top him up with syringe feed in the first days and make sure that he gets plenty to drink to keep the bladder flushed, as much as he will take in one go.
 
Sending lots of healing vibes to him. Make sure you have pain medication to give at home of appropriate strength. If they give you an opiate like vetergesic to give at home I would advise asking for some gut stimulant too like emeprid (from experience) as opiates can slow the gut a little. Sounds like he is in great hands with your vet and obviously with you when you get him home.

Love to Joe
x
 
Just as a further update. I brought Joe home today. He is on Cisapride 3 x a day, Baytril 2 x a day, Metacam 2 x a day. He has had Emeprid injections yesterday and today
He did have Vetergesic, but was given Emeprid injections as well. My husband has tomorrow off to look after him, I have Friday off to look after him and need to take him back to vet on Friday as post-operative check. We are then into weekend when I can look after him all weekend.

The vet nurse showed me his scar and although it is a fair size, it looks very neat as they have glued the wound, so it is clean.

He is currently being kept warm and 8 o'clock is his first round of drugs which we have to administer at home. We will be feeding critical care to make sure he is getting food going through his gut whilst he is currently still spaced out from the vetergesic.

Not out of the woods yet, but taking each day, one day at a time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top