• 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

Poor Crunchie Is Ill Again

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Adelle

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 24, 2015
Messages
3,205
Reaction score
8,427
Points
1,525
currently a good 1hr or so drive without traffic from my usual vets as I'm running my friends boarding kennels whilst shes on holiday. I had to bring my 2 oldies with me, as crunchie is on yet another round of antibs and anti inflammatories for her bladder issues, and fudge is on a ton of meds for her heart.

Monday night crunchie seemed off, and i knew something was brewing so booked an app with my vets for friday morning when I'm home. Yesterday, she gradually started eating less and less, and lost 50g over night. I stepped in with syringe feeding, which was tough as I'm working morning till night looking after 15 dogs, a resident dog and cat, 6 hens and 2 ducks.. And fudge. Theres been a power cut, and an accidental double booking at the kennels- its been majorly hard work.

Crunchie then seemed to be painful, so i upped her metacam from once daily to twice daily- she perked up and was picking at veg.

Then last night she became mildly bloated- so i stepped in with gripe water, metacloprimide, zantac and massage. I managed to get rid of the gas and its stayed away with continuing some of those meds.

This morning, she'd lost a little more weight, and seems to have difficulty chewing (shes bobbing her head when trying to eat hay).

I dont drive and am running the kennels on my own- i cant leave for the severeal hours it would take me to get crunchie to the vets and back.

Phoned the vets earlier and asked that, if i can get crunchie to them tomorrow morning, will they admit her for a few nights and do investigations and any treatment needing done.

I dont want to do this, but feel it is in crunchies best interest. She will be going alone, as fudge doesnt need the stress of an unnecessary vet stay. My friends mum runs a pet ambulance (part of the same business) and she will be taking crunchie for me in the morning whilst i book in a few dogs. The vet is going to take crunchie home st night to syringe feed, so she doesnt need to be transferred to the emergency vets.

Crunchie had a dental last month- and suffered a bad anaesthetic reaction. Took us a week to bring her round fully and get her eating for herself. She had spurs burred down.

If she needs a dental, i will give it one last try. But no more than that if we cant find the cause as i cant keep putting her through this.

Sounds horrible, but i was hoping she had a dental abcess develop- that way once its gone, she shouldnt have anymore dental issues. I fear this is going to be a losing battle, and i wont let my girl suffer.

She is still bright and comfortable now shes on double pain relief.

PLEASE all send your good luck vives this way- we're gonna need them!

Here she is relaxing earlier- clearly its only me thats worried!

image.webp
 
Big hugs to you and Crunchie - what a stressful little holiday it is turning into for both of you.

But secondly can I just saw I am IN AWE of the medical supplies you went armed with!
Seriously if even one of those things happened to my pig I would be banging on the door of the late night pharmacy, but you had a full vet's supply of stuff with you.
Once all of this is over and Crunchie is back home and well again I would like to officially request that you write a post entitled 'The Essential Guinea Pig First Aid Kit'.

Please tell Crunchie that someone in Switzerland is cheering her on.
 
Wow, what a lot going on. I hope Crunchie's stay at the vets is short and fruitful. Hugs all round x
 
It's just sods law isn't it that it happens while you are away. Keeping everything crossed that all goes ok and her dental issues can be resolved.
 
Swissgreys said:
Big hugs to you and Crunchie - what a stressful little holiday it is turning into for both of you.

But secondly can I just saw I am IN AWE of the medical supplies you went armed with!
Seriously if even one of those things happened to my pig I would be banging on the door of the late night pharmacy, but you had a full vet's supply of stuff with you.
Once all of this is over and Crunchie is back home and well again I would like to officially request that you write a post entitled 'The Essential Guinea Pig First Aid Kit'.

Please tell Crunchie that someone in Switzerland is cheering her on.
Click to expand...

I'm glad i brought all the stuff that i did, i couldnt forgive myself if i needed one of the meds and something bad happened because i didnt bring it! I'm sure there is a sticky on here for a first aid kit :-)

Thank you for your support x
 
helen105281 said:
It's just sods law isn't it that it happens while you are away. Keeping everything crossed that all goes ok and her dental issues can be resolved.
Click to expand...

2 weeks of antibs so far, the blood in urine is gone but testing 4+ protein now (which she wasnt before treatment.) so it may well be her bladder thats the route of her issues- going to request her kidneys be checked though, as she is on metacam alot and constant protein in urine sets alarm bells off! :-(
 
Sending lots of love to Crunchie. She will be in the best place at the vets. Please keep us updated on her
 
Oh so much stress, always on mom. Baby Crunchie doesn't look too stressed at all, keep us posted I hope it all goes well and isn't anything too major
 
Adelle said:
Thanks everyone. She was driven over to the vets this morning, the vet isnt assesing her until late afternoon so wont hear back until later today :-( xx
Click to expand...

Thinking of you both x
 
Update on crunchie- they xrayd her abdomen and face yesterday and found nothing, bladder clear of stones or masses. She now has spurs again, 1 month after her last dental, but they think the problem is shes not eating enough due to another issue, causing spurs rather than her teeth being the primary issue. She went home with the head nurse last night who handfed and syringe fed her, she still lost another 50g overnight though. She however is still bright and eating hay she said. Today they scanned her bladder to find it thickened, which it normally is during a flare- but this time its extremely thick. Still no stones or masses present. They scanned her left kidney which was normal, but couldnt see the right one due to gas in her stomach. They have upped her dose of zantac and metacloprimide and are re scanning the kidneys tomorrow in the hope that the gas has shifted. They said if they dont get answers from the second scan, they will give her an opiate injection to make her sleepy and will take bloods, as well as burring those spurs down. We are reluctant to do an anaesthetic due to nearly losing her from a bad reaction last time. The nurse is taking her home again tonight, shes been great but already has a poorly piggy of her own so i feel bad! We discussed fudge as she had a heart piggy too, who she lost in november.

Its looking like her bladder is the issue, and as she is already on antibs and metacam, the only thing i can do is try and cut out EVerything from her diet that could potentially be a trigger. I'm contemplating taking her off pellets but cant do that until shes well in herself.

Please keep her in your thoughts and pray we find a solution!xx
 
Update on crunchie- they xrayd her abdomen and face yesterday and found nothing, bladder clear of stones or masses. She now has spurs again, 1 month after her last dental, but they think the problem is shes not eating enough due to another issue, causing spurs rather than her teeth being the primary issue. She went home with the head nurse last night who handfed and syringe fed her, she still lost another 50g overnight though. She however is still bright and eating hay she said. Today they scanned her bladder to find it thickened, which it normally is during a flare- but this time its extremely thick. Still no stones or masses present. They scanned her left kidney which was normal, but couldnt see the right one due to gas in her stomach. They have upped her dose of zantac and metacloprimide and are re scanning the kidneys tomorrow in the hope that the gas has shifted. They said if they dont get answers from the second scan, they will give her an opiate injection to make her sleepy and will take bloods, as well as burring those spurs down. We are reluctant to do an anaesthetic due to nearly losing her from a bad reaction last time. The nurse is taking her home again tonight, shes been great but already has a poorly piggy of her own so i feel bad! We discussed fudge as she had a heart piggy too, who she lost in november.

Its looking like her bladder is the issue, and as she is already on antibs and metacam, the only thing i can do is try and cut out EVerything from her diet that could potentially be a trigger. I'm contemplating taking her off pellets but cant do that until shes well in herself.

Please keep her in your thoughts and pray we find a solution!xx
 
Update on crunchie- she is home, but only until monday :-( she has dental spurs again, 1 month after her last (and first ever) dental. They think the spurs are due to another condition, causing her to eat less. Crunchie was diagnosed with bladder issues 1 year ago after developing ovarian cysts (shes now spayed) and suffers from a flare of thickened bladder, painful bladder and blood in urine around every 4-6 weeks. Her bladder is now extremely thick, and what they think to be the route of her issues. The chronic cystitis has been tough on her bladder and its now suffering the damage from it. Shes had 2 xrays and 2 scans, bladder is clear from stones and masses. Left kidney is normal, right one couldnt be seen on 2 different scans a day apart due to the position of it, and gas. They couldnt get the gas shifted, although she definately isnt bloated so it must be a positional thing. She is still on double dose metacam, septrin and zantac/metaclop for her guts. Her urine has been sent off for culture to see if theres anything we can treat with a different antibiotic. I am now trying her on cranberry juice, cystease, strict timothy hay only, IC veggies as usual... And have made the decision to take her off pellets altogether, with me supplementing vitamin c twice daily whilst this is the case. Her bladder issues are now so severe, that if we dont get on top of them she will need a dental every month and partially syringe fed for life- i wont do that to her, especially since she reacted so bad to an anaesthetic last time.

Its looking like she will be on metacam for life, and she is having a mild sedation on monday where they will take bloods (to make sure there isnt another underlying health issue) and will burr down her spurs. I'm throwing the kitchen sink at her with regards to her bladder issues, but it needs to be done if she stands a chance at a happy life again. In saying that, shes taking her syringe feeds well, eating all her veg and shouting like the little madam shes always been. Heres hoping monday goes smoothly, and we get ontop of her bladder issues quick enough that her teeth dont grow long again!
 
Oh, poor Crunchie. She is lucky to have such a dedicated slave and such decent veterinary care to be able to identify the "chicken and egg" situation that is causing her so many problems. Here's wishing her a lovely weekend back with Fudge and all the best for Monday.
 
Poor thing :no:
Hope you can do something about the bladder issues. Sending love x
 
VickiA said:
Oh, poor Crunchie. She is lucky to have such a dedicated slave and such decent veterinary care to be able to identify the "chicken and egg" situation that is causing her so many problems. Here's wishing her a lovely weekend back with Fudge and all the best for Monday.
Click to expand...

She is very lucky.. She has two vets working on her case atm! Her usual vet who is excellent and another more piggy savvy vet too. By the time i paid last night (fudges prescription was due too) and ordered stuff online that she needs.. I'm £220 lighter and probably another £100-£150 on monday. In saying that, crunchies bill alone was actually half the price i expected with a 3 day stay, 2 xrays and 2 scans so i cant complain really! Thank you for your well wishes!
 
From what you are describing, this sounds like completely normal dental issues. The fact that the spurs have returned after a month is exactly what would be expected. This is the very reason that Simon starts off re-checking and tidying up the mouth again after a week or two, after the first dental, and then expanding the time between treatments as the mouth starts to look more normal again. If you keep on top of the spurring and not wait until it is bad again, it will resolve over time, in most cases.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
From what you are describing, this sounds like completely normal dental issues. The fact that the spurs have returned after a month is exactly what would be expected. This is the very reason that Simon starts off re-checking and tidying up the mouth again after a week or two, after the first dental, and then expanding the time between treatments as the mouth starts to look more normal again. If you keep on top of the spurring and not wait until it is bad again, it will resolve over time, in most cases.
Click to expand...

Crunchies bladder is very badly thickened, and very painful on palpation. She eats more the more pain relief she has on board.. This is why the vets think her bladder is the main issue, and her spurs are growing back due to lack of eating (her weights reflected this). She had an extremely bad anaesthetic reaction last time, so we are hesitant to do another hence why she is being mildly sedated for bloods and burring of the teeth.

Do you think the teeth are the primary issue? We are trying to get ontop of her bladder problems, in the hope that, once her teeth are burred, they wont grow back as she'll (hopefully) be eating better once her bladder pain is under control? Thank you for your input, it all helps x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top