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Gems

Gems

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I know it's been a while since I've posted on here but I could do with some advice please. I noticed this absolutely awful smell suddenly come on, it smelled like a combination between rotten eggs and dog food ( I blamed hubby to begin with ) so went to look to see what would be causing such a smell and found that athena had passed this horrible pinkish white gunk ( I honestly don't know what it is, never seen anything like it ) and it absolutely stinks. She's been fed and is running round but obviously I'm concerned but theres no vets near me open and the roads are flooded so I'm not sure I can get to a vet tonight.

Has anyone come across this before? I really dont know what it could be.

She's sitting eating hay at the moment so isn't off her food but obviously I know how quickly they can go down hill.

I've got no car after tomorrow morning until Thursday either as hubby is away with work. I dont know what to do
 
No idea but maybe a photo would help as there are some very experienced people on here who can identify stuff in photos.
 
I've cleaned it up but if she passes anymore I'll try to get a photo. There's just been no symptoms or anything leading up to this. Just got sookie over an abscess on her eye and she's now on antibiotics for a URI and now Athena has this :(
 
Get her to the vets as soon as you can, you can always call the emergency out of hours vet for advice.

You say 'passed' is it poop/diarrhea of some sort do you think? Is there any bleeding around her back end? How are her poops now? Does she squeak when urinating/blood in urine? Is it gritty at all (I'm thinking UTI/bladder stones)? Is there any chance she actually has a small abscess somewhere that you've overlooked and it's burst (pus)? My other thought is pyometra in which case pus/blood would be coming from the vulva. Sorry, for the barrage of questions just things to consider really.

If she's still eating and drinking and otherwise being normal I wouldn't panic but prompt veterinary attention is the best course of action.
 
Nearly at vets now will update when we're back sorry on phone so difficult to reply
 
The rotten eggs smell is indicative of a serious bacterial infection.

VETS PRONTO - and I mean tonight if you can identify a reasonable emergency vet.

She needs antibiotics and I wouldn;t suggest baytril in this case - however if you can;t get to a vets tonight give her some baytril anyway to kick-start the process.

Save the "gunk" in a sterile pot/jar/syringe barrel if you can and take it in to the vets with you and discuss whether trying to get a microbial culture/sensitivity testing from it is a viable option. I would also consider getting an ultrasound done in order to aid diagnosis.

HTH
x
 
I see you;re on your way. I'm around and if you want to post from your mobile while you;re at the vets and have any questions then please do so.

I'll also PM you my phone number if you want to chat instead (your vet may prefer that)

x
 
Still waiting to be seen. battery nearly dead on phone as well so might have to wait until I'm home to update again. Thanks for the well wishes though
 
Vet suspects pyometra which is what I was worried about. Given her baytril injection and told us to go to our own vets tomorrow to get marbocyl as they only have baytril here. Not sure the antibiotics will help but want to give her a try as she's not given up yet
 
Make sure she keeps eating - syringe feed or gvie mushed pellets on a spoon if necessary....she shuld be eating 20ml of foodstuff every 2-4 hour min.

Good call you taking her tonight.....

Healing hugs
x
 
Tomorrow you need to discuss with your vet
a) appropriate antibiotic
b) appropriate pain relief - metacam or tramadol
c) appropriate gut stimulants as her gut will already be slowing down (cisapride/emeprid/or metoclopromide ......PLUS zantac/ranitidine)

With appropriate care and antibioitic - this is recoverable provided you have got it early enough (which it sounds like you have)

HTH
x
 
Just got back now, exhausted :(

I don't think we have anything to worry about her eating wise, she's ran straight to the hay and started eating but will top their dry food up as well. She's only 850g and she's normally between 900 - 950g so has definitely lost weight ( her weights up and down a bit now with her being 5.5 years old. I'm really trying to prepare for the worse as I know how serious this can be, it's just hard to think that way when she's running round muttering to herself as I type.

I'm really going to struggle to get to the vets tomorrow, hubbys driving to kidderminster tomorrow and isn't back until Wednesday night and my dad who I would normally ask under the circumstances is at work too. He could take her for me in the morning maybe but I want to be there as he doesnt know what to ask etc I just don't know what to do, there's no-one else I can ask and there's no public transport I can use to get there as I live in a small village.
 
Not sure if this will work and it's not a great pic but got this before we went to the vets so you can get an idea of what it was she was passing ( Not with poo or wee, this stuff was just coming out )

IMG_20121126_210351.jpg
 
If I remember rightly - these vets know you quite well.
If you're able to send your dad as proxy then do consider it- because it doesn;t stop you ringing the vet in advance and having a long conversation with them on the possibe ways forward/symptoms etc prior to them seeng her with your dad to confirm they are happy to prescribe what you;ve already discussed on the phone.

I spend more time on the phone with my vets these days than I do in their surgery - we have built a relationship of mutual trust.... and I believe you have something similar with your vets.....?

HTH
x
 
Certain vets there do, I do have a habit of telling them what I think it is and what treatment I think they should use ( I was the one that brought up septrin or marbocyl tonight and when she only had baytril said I best get her on probiotics as well lol she said well I think you know what you're doing then! )

I'm going to ring the vets in the morning when they open to see what time I can get an appointment, if I can get one at lunch time I could see if I could work from home for the afternoon and steven could maybe take me before he sets off for kidderminster. Failing that I'll have to see if my dad can go and write a note to the vet maybe.

I lost my dog last month and don't know if I can face losing another pet so soon after :(
 
Maybe you could print put pebbles information and send it with your dad also? Poor athena.

I'm sorry about your dog x
 
Sending you lots of love, hope Athena will be ok x
 
Thinking about you and little Athena. Hope she will be ok. :laluot_29:
 
Well I've managed to get an appointment at 12.10 so I'm going over then just going to work from home this afternoon and then I can also keep an eye on her. Athena seems well this morning under the circumstances, was wheeking for her breakfast and ran straight down to tuck in so at least she doesn't appear to be in too much pain.

I will ask for metacam while I'm at the vets in any case, to help with any discomfort and as an anti inflammatory and will see what antibiotics they suggest. I'm not sure really if there's anything that can be done though if it is Pyometra, I know Layla recommends Easyvets for neuterings but I don't know if I want to put her through that kind of invasive operation at her age or whether it's kinder, if it is her last few days, to let her live them out in as pain free way as possible.
 
Good luck at the vets, you must be so worried!

If it is pyometra, it's the "good" kind. There's open (where the pus leaks out via the vulva) and closed (where the pus doesn't escape the body and just builds up an up in the uterus). Open is the best kind to have!

Good luck at the vets, let us know how she gets on!
 
I have no advice or experiences to add, but just wanted to send your girl some healing vibes.

Good luck at the vets, fingers and paws crossed here.

xx
 
Back from the vets, she hasn't had any more discharge so I showed her the vet the photo I posted on here and she's pretty confident its pyometra but as you said it's open which is good and she can't feel a mass of it or anything. She's given us some marbocyl and metacam but obviously said that if this manages to clear it up theres a high possibility it'll come back so if we want to spey her it's better to do it now while she's healthy so she's got a better chance of pulling through. She did say they haven't got a huge amount of experience doing that procedure on guinea pigs though so if we do decide to go down that route I'll take her to a different vets I've used in the past.

So I'm just going to start her on the antibiotics from tomorrow morning ( she got the baytril injection at about 10.30 last night so have to wait 24 hours ) and monitor her over the next few days then make a decision what to do next on Thursday when Stevens back I think.
 
Ok I'm now confused about what dosage of metacam Athena needs. The label just says dose for 2kg (?) once per day. I've read through the leaflet thing and can't understand how much that is, can anyone help? ( Its the cat metacam I have, not the dog one )

Thanks
 
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