• 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

Piggy going under GA

E

Emma85

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jul 29, 2016
Messages
106
Reaction score
54
Points
245
Location
Frampton Cotterell
So my 3 year old piggy hasn't eaten properly for a week and has lost weight. We were given a liquid feed for him. Back to the vets today with little to no improvement.

Vet has said his gut is silent and when examining him inside his mouth, his mouth was full of the recovery paste. Vet was unable to see any teeth problems or look into his throat further due to the amount of food in there, despite using several cotton buds to remove it for a closer look.

She gave him ranitidine to help his gut and pain killer.

Vet said we could chose whether to go ahead and treat him under general anaesthetic (£150) and depending on the treatment, there will be further (potentially dental) fees to pay. We have already paid over £100 for pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs and today the ranitidine.

Vet said unless he has the treatment, it could be fatal as his gut will shut down, or we can chose to put him down. We've taken him home to decide what to do.

We love him to pieces and money shouldn't come into it but £250 (Likely to be more) is a lot of money to us.

Don't know what to do ☹😢😭
 
What does the vet need to give a general anaesthetic for? Have they suggested surgery of some kind? Ranitidine is very good and it just saved my piggy's life but I would be questioning how good the vet is if they need to anaesthetise for anything except surgery... ours do back teeth checks and xrays without anaesthetic... sorry if I missed something there, and hopefully the ranitidine will do the trick!
 
She has suggested GA to clean and remove all food in his mouth so she can look properly to see what is going on. She tried removing the paste from his mouth today, and odd bit of food but my piggy was squeaking very loudly and clearly in distress. Due to the vet not being able to see inside his mouth she isn't sure if it's dental treatment needed, a throat problem (possibly something obstructing his throat and stopping food going down), until his is under GA, she won't know what is going on with him.
 
Poor piggy, I hope he gets well. Could the vet not just sedate him rather than a full GA?
 
I’m sorry you’re having to go through this, vet bills can be very difficult. I’ve just spent nearly £500 on one of my piggies and he isn’t insured so it can be very challenging.
Maybe explain your money concerns to the vet and ask if there is any possible way that investigation can be done without a GA - I don’t think euthanasia should be an option without finding out what is wrong first as it could he easily treatable. Good luck x
 
I agree with Leah, once you know what your dealing with, you can see what you can do. I suppose Simon is to far. You wouldn't regret it. I don't think GA would be an option. My thoughts are with you & your piggy.
 
I would try and get to Simon if you possibly can, it really is worth the it, fingers crossed for your little chap x
 
Simon Maddock is a vet who specialises in Guinea pigs and their dentistry, he is based at the Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton. He is a very experienced vet who deals with lots of guinea pigs each week which include dental issues. This included my Ted who Had dental problems, made worse by local vets. I took him To Simon who filed his molars and he was eating after 10minutes, and no GA needed! Can’t recommend him enough! Ted has never looked back since, just glad I found out about him from this wonderful forum, and the support of Debbie at TEAS forum member who runs a piggie rescue for special needs and dental piggies (she uses Simon) otherwise I think we would have lost him.
Really worth the journey! Good luck for your little piggie, let us know how you get on
 
Mean’t to add the cost was amazing, less than £50, vetinary experience is not necessarily related to price! Your costs seem very pricey even with GA! I had these meds from my original vet and they cost around £20?
 
I was thinking that too, we paid £89 this weekend for an emergency appointment (nurses waiting with meds on arrival and seen by the vet within half an hour), an xray, urine tests, full examination, opiate painkillers, subcutaneous fluids, and a week's supply of ranitidine and metacam...
 
Definitely recommend you get an appointment with Simon Maddock. He sees piggies from all over the UK and is by far the best for dealing with anything dental. He will be able to check your guinea pigs mouth and teeth and do any dental work needed, without the use of GA. Your piggy looks very unwell and I would think that a GA would be very risky. I have included the link for the Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic, if you wanted to see Simon or Kim Maddock.

www.catandrabbit.co.uk
 
Thanks everyone. He is 2 hours away though, I'm not sure I could do it, with work and taking children to school and picking them up again 😲
 
We travelled 6.5 hours from Cornwall and an overnight stay in hotel, it was stressful, but I wouldn’t hesitate to do it all again if needed. I know it’s very difficult, I had to wait a couple of weeks, Simon was on holiday first week and elderly mother had hospital appointment, it never works out smoothly does it. we all have different circumstances, either children, grandchildren or elderly parents to look after, is there anyone who can take him for you, or look after your children? Sorry I can’t help, I live in the back of beyond! Good luck I hope you manage to get there!
 
Thank you, but I think I will have to go with our original plan. I'm not sure he will last much longer unless he has the work done and to leave him would just be cruel. Going to put my faith in the vets tomorrow.

I'll update with progress.
 
Good luck tomorrow. Do you use Highcroft? They are very pricey but I have found their exotic vets Sonia or Jemma very knowledgeable.
 
No we use vets4pets. We've had a much better experience with them that Rowe who we were with previously.
 
I've not heard of Rowe. Can recommend Highcroft, I use the Whitchurch one. No exotic appointments at the moment though as they are booked right up for a couple of weeks. I saw a general vet this week very helpful and kind.
 
Bill & Ted said:
Mean’t to add the cost was amazing, less than £50, vetinary experience is not necessarily related to price! Your costs seem very pricey even with GA! I had these meds from my original vet and they cost around £20?
Click to expand...
Same here, mine wasn’t a piggy savvy vet either. I thought that was a bit pricey. The most expense was an X-ray that they did with gas and air to sedate my piggy think that cost around £70 but that included the medication as well.
 
Your message has worried me and I have read it many times.

The vet has not implied to me that a GA for Graham could be risky. I would like to think the vet would be honest of there were any potential implications whilst he is under GA and receiving treatment. Please could you explain what risks he may be up against? Thanks.
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Your piggy looks very unwell and I would think that a GA would be very risky.
Click to expand...
 
You mention your piggy has barely eaten this week and also say he seems very lethargic. I worry that it will be risky to anaesthetise a weak and undernourished guinea pig. All GA's carry risk! Please discuss with your vet when you drop him off tomorrow.
 
Emma85 said:
Your message has worried me and I have read it many times.

The vet has not implied to me that a GA for Graham could be risky. I would like to think the vet would be honest of there were any potential implications whilst he is under GA and receiving treatment. Please could you explain what risks he may be up against? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Any general anaesthetic carries a risk and that risk increases with smaller animals. When an animal is unwell with a lowered immune system the risk increases further. Basically, no vet can ever 100% guarantee that any animal will survive a GA. The more knowledgeable and experienced the vet with small animals/exotics the lower the risk.

Simon is the only one who does conscious dentals and I have travelled to him twice for that reason. Other than that I drive over the city (anywhere between 20 mins and 60 mins) in order to see a vets practice who are excellent with small animals and who refer on to specialists quickly if they know thats what is needed
 
Most vets would explain the risks of a GA before suggesting one? Especially for a guinea pig, and really definitely for a sick guinea pig... never mind pricing it up before explaining the risks or suggesting any alternatives...
 
I see.

Thank you for explaining. I will need to speak to the vet tomorrow when I take him there.

I am hoping to get some critical care into him in the morning.

Soon after visiting the vet this morning (whether it Was the pain killer helping him) he did eat some spinach leaves that I offered him. Whether he has been able to swallow the leaves is another matter.

Thank you for your advice. I will be clarifying everything, including the risks with the vet tomorrow. I also want to know whether it can be done through sedation rather than GA.
 
She suggested the GA, it was me who asked the price.

The vet is legit, I absolutely trust them.

To be clear, we as a family care deeply for Graham who has been a very well cared for and cherished member of our family.

The vet absolutely seems to know what she is doing. I was there for the entire treatment/consultation. Graham was squeaking very loudly and clearly was in some pain when she was clearing his mouth of food so she could use the light to look inside his mouth and into his through. 8 cotton buds were used to scoop out uneaten food, and actually mainly the recovery liquid feed that I have spent the last 3 days giving to him, with great difficulty. Even with this she was unable to see anything as there was more food obstructing her view. She felt, like I did, that it would be unfair to continue to remove the food while he was conscious because of the distress and discomfort he was showing.

She gave him ranitidine for his gut, including a second ranitidine for me to give to him in the morning, along with a painkiller.

It was me who asked the price for the GA. I have a husband who understandably, like me, would like to have some idea as to how much the treatment will cost us.

I personally can not see what the alternative would be here quite honestly. No, risks were not discussed, the vet was matter of fact about needing to find out the cause through as little discomfort for him as possible. I agreed to it. It was horrible seeing him in so much distress while a pile of food was removed, it almost felt cruel to continue, the vet felt the same way.

I dont see that there are any other alternatives. We either try to give him a better quality of life by finding out what is wrong with him via GA with the risk of him passing away, or the alternative being that he will die anyway because he cant/won't eat. I'd rather attempt the GA thank you very much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top