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Mollie Has Cystitis

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biscandmatt said:
i think you're right.. no point going too quickly after working all this time to get to this point. a week per reduction seems that little bit too quick for her i think. i'll hold off for now, monitor her more closely this week still, and then perhaps ask the vet what he thinks then if i still feel the same. thanks for your reply x
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I think it's a good idea. They are so delicate at times with their piggy eco-systems. Please deposit a Mollie cuddle for me x
 
i got a letter from the insurance to explain why the spay wasn't covered. it's been worded as though i wrote to them and asked which i didn't so that is weird! :blink: they even said previously that spays weren't covered even for medical reasons so i never thought anything of it.

they said they have confirmation from the vets that the urinary issues and spay are two separate conditions and therefore the spay isn't covered. but that's weird because it makes it sound like it would have been covered if the vets said they were related conditions! plus, the vets did do the spay because her bladder issues weren't clearing easily! so if that isn't related then what is?! :roll:
 
They did something similar with my Pebbles they claimed her UTI wasn't linked to her lymphoma it was and was a secondary condition, I spoke to my vet and contested it and they reviewed there decision, although as the spay isn't covered I guess there's no point.
 
flintstones said:
They did something similar with my Pebbles they claimed her UTI wasn't linked to her lymphoma it was and was a secondary condition, I spoke to my vet and contested it and they reviewed there decision, although as the spay isn't covered I guess there's no point.
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it makes no sense does it. because like you say, if they aren't covered for any reason, why would that need explaining to me! and when i didn't even question it. i've just emailed the insurance to see what they say!
 
ok, so found out it was the vets who queried the decision not to cover the spay. the insurance said because mollie's urinary issues didn't clear completely after the spay, that it isn't covered. bit daft because her urinary issues improved a massive amount afterwards and obviously meds can't just be stopped, it takes weeks and months to reduce them :roll:

the insurance said the vets told them that they are two separate conditions, which makes no sense because if they vets thought that then they wouldn't have asked them to review it again :roll:

anyway, without saying too much, the insurance confirmed that they would include spays as part of medical reasons/other conditions at their discretion. but not in my case. but i won't appeal or anything because i can sort of see where they are coming from, and if they've spoken with the vets again and decided it's not covered, i doubt they'd change their minds now. like i said though, i thought it was all done and sorted. i paid for it a while back so wouldn't have thought anymore of it if they hadn't sent a letter :))
 
so after the two week delay, mollie started her next reduction yesterday. she's been much brighter these last few days, her body seems to have settled well, and she's up in weight (925g) - so she's down to 0.2ml cerenia once a day now and we will re-assess in 7days :)
 
mollie says ''pop'' (translation ''hello'') and thank you for all the support for me :)

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:luv::luv::luv:
 
flintstones said:
What a cutie! :) Xx
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thank you :D she's so funny - she really cracks me up so much and just from being herself. she takes her meds directly from the syringe in the cage now and always licks the cage bars afterwards and it's so funny - her tongue is soooo long! :)) she's too adorable :love::love::love:
 
mollie's reduction should have started sunday but once again, i've decided to delay it slightly. just feel one week is a bit quick for how her body handles the changes, but she will be having the reduction in the next day or so. it will be her last cerenia reduction can you believe! :blink:
 
mollie started her last reduction the day before yesterday... but i'm sure i heard her squeak this morning.. nothing since and she does a similar noise sometimes when benjie stands right behind her :roll: ... i hope i'm wrong but i'm feeling it was a toileting squeak..
 
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flintstones said:
Good news, does this mean she's medicine free? :)
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well the 0.1ml cerenia is meant to be for a week but i'll probably do ten days at least, or maybe a bit longer depending on how she is doing. but after that, she will be off cerenia!

she's still on the same metacam and diuretic though but if she does well off cerenia then the metacam will be the next one to be reduced. whether she can come off it completely, i'm not sure, and the vet isn't either. but we'll take it a step at a time and see how we go.

the diuretic is longer term than the other meds aswell.

so she's still on meds for a while yet :)
 
well mollie definitely squeaked whilst toileting, about half way through the reduction. we put her back upto 0.2ml again and made an appointment but managed to speak to the vet instead so luckily didn't have to go all the way there (i would if he had said to of course) - we came to the conclusion that because she is so close to being off it, to give her one last chance, let her body settle, and try again. so we did and started again yesterday. unfortunately she has done some squeaking today. it's odd because she is bright and behaving normally - eating, drinking, moving around, stable weight etc, but she definitely squeaked, and hunched. o/h saw her do it aswell.

i don't feel like she will manage this last reduction so she's once again been put back up to 0.2ml whist we contact the vet and see what the best thing to do is. i assume she will be switched to something else instead, but we'll see what he says.
 
Maybe Mollie is squeaking because she is expecting the pain to be there, even if it isn't, if that makes sense? Hugs to Mollie Moo
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
Maybe Mollie is squeaking because she is expecting the pain to be there, even if it isn't, if that makes sense? Hugs to Mollie Moo
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we did wonder if that could happen. the anticipation of it maybe. or if she feels anything slight in that area, she automatically thinks pain is coming perhaps? x
 
biscandmatt said:
we did wonder if that could happen. the anticipation of it maybe. or if she feels anything slight in that area, she automatically thinks pain is coming perhaps? x
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I remember hearing this sort of thing, can't remember where otherwise I'd have shown you the link of it! Will do some research :)
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
I remember hearing this sort of thing, can't remember where otherwise I'd have shown you the link of it! Will do some research :)
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i seem to remember hearing it mentioned as a possibility a few times over the years. very odd if it is. but if she even felt a twinge in that area, i'd imagine her mind would automatically relate it to possible pain. or things are not quite controlled enough with this dose and the inflammation has started/is still there, and will continue to increase again. will be interested to hear what the vet thinks. hopefully he will get back to us tomorrow and then we'll see whether he wants me to take her in. x
 
so i've spoken to the vet and he thinks the best thing would be to keep mollie on cerenia at 0.2ml once a day. this will be for the next 2-3 months approx. this will give her body time to completely settle and for her to feel comfortable all the time and therefore she will hopefully learn that she isn't going to feel pain when she toilets (like she starts to when she is reduced lower)

he said of course it may be that she can feel something still, but he's heard it alot of times over the years where owners think the piggy is doing well overall yet still seems to squeak occasionally, almost like they do it because they expect pain. so he doesn't think that can be ruled out. and it seems to happen especially when the animal has had the issue going on for a long time, like mollie's has.

in terms of the data available for cerenia - although there isn't any long term data available yet, he feels it will be safe for mollie to be on it longer term, especially because the dose is very very low. research has shown that cerenia works the best out of anything for bladder wall inflammation, so for mollie's issues, there really isn't anything better she could be switched to anyway. so even if she had cerenia twice a day, the chances are that it would be very low risk anyway, so the fact she is on once a day and very low makes it even more likely to be safe.

so the plan now is to keep her on 0.2ml once a day for 2-3 months. if she stays stable then we can try the reduction again to completely take her off it. if she seems to begin squeaking more then we still have room to increase the dose a little to keep her comfortable. obviously if squeaking increases alot, she begins to drop weight, or has any other symptoms then i'll have to take her in to discuss things again.

the vet wasn't sure whether mollie would ever beable to come off meds, and for the moment it doesn't look like she can. but aslong as she is comfortable and happy, that's the main thing. and if that takes three meds then it takes three meds... so same diuretic, same metacam, 0.2ml cerenia and we'll see how we go :)
 
he also mentioned that it's thought that stress could be the cause of these long term bladder inflammation cases. i think i've heard that mentioned on here aswell. so it is interesting. he asked if she was definitely happy with benjie and i said yes because i truly think she is. he annoys her at times haha, but they popcorn together, groom alot etc so i think she is happy with him.

some of you know the awful year she had the year she came to us though and i always wonder if that amount of stress could have triggered something in her. for those who don't know, she witnessed losing her sister to a dog attack, she then lived alone for a while, came to a new home with us, bonded with eddie but then watched his illness and passing from kidney disease. so she went through a really tough time.
 
Poor little girl such a hard life, so pleased she has such a caring mom and Benjie to be with. Thanks for the updates x x Continued vibes sent
 
sport_billy said:
Poor little girl such a hard life, so pleased she has such a caring mom and Benjie to be with. Thanks for the updates x x Continued vibes sent
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thank you. she had the same friend and routine for three years and then suddenly all that happened, so it must have had some effect on her - if not physical then emotional definitely. whether it triggered something with the bladder issues, i don't know. obviously she has the calcium salts issue aswell.

i'll be paranoid now watching their relationship! he does pester her a bit at times. he needs alot of attention. but she doesn't seem overly stressed by it. it sounds like a normal piggy relationship from reading other people's posts on here. they groom and popcorn together, sleep side by side aswell, so i hope that means she is relaxed and happy with the relationship and not getting stressed by it.

it's also a bit worrying that she is already on the best thing for her particular issues aswell, because if she does get worse, what then. but i'll try and just take it as it comes really. like i say, she's bright within herself on these doses so that's the most important thing.

this thread will be soooo long! thanks for the continued support :) x
 
Aw bless, she certainly doesn't sound stressed. Sleeping together and grooming is a sure fire sign of enjoying each other's company.

Try not to think what next because there's every possibility it won't get worse. She can easily be maintained on her current dose.
 
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