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Poorly Mara

Apples

New Born Pup
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Hello,

My Mara is unwell unfortunately... She was diagnosed with a UTI after I noticed some squeeking when peeing. This was three weeks ago. We completed a 14-day course of antibiotics on Monday without any trouble, and took a urine sample to the vet on Tuesday which was declared perfect so I was very relieved!

Then on Wednesday Mara had soft poops, but still with some texture and she seemed happy so I assumed a late side-effect from the antibiotics. In the evening though the poops got watery and bloody and she was grunting with pain when pooping (in between the poops she was running around happily and eating hay and pellets and a tiny piece of veg to keep her hydrated and occupied while the others had their meal). I called the out of hours vet for advice and started the antibiotics and novacam up again, and called my own vet the next morning as Mara was more poorly. She was admitted to the clinic for the day and was found to have a low body temperature so they made sure she warmed up and gave her two injections to stimulate her gut. I was able to pick her up late that afternoon as she seemed on the mend and her poos were firming up again, and medicate at home with ciseral and critical care. The vet also suspected a late response of the gut to the antibiotics and that she should continue to recover.

The next morning (Friday) Mara was poorly again, and I took her to the clinic to be admitted again. She was again given two injections, an ultrasound showed no strange things in her belly, and she seemed to be getting better again, eating a little on her own, so I could pick her up in de afternoon again and continue with the ciseral and now add emeprid as well.

Unfortunately Mara deteriorated during the night again. I could only get in about 1ml syringe feed per session which lasted an hour each. I called the out of hours vet on Saturday morning for advice. Because Mara is still young (only 2 years old) and the vet is quite a drive away we discussed our options and decided to alter the medication a bit (take out the emeprid, add in novacam and antibiotics, keep syringe feeding critical care even if it is only 1 ml per session, and add some additional water because she was dehydrated). And then hope for the best and at the very least make her comfortable at home with her friends. She drifted away further and further during the day, I expected her to pass away any moment. As there were no pees the suggestion from the emergency vet that there might be kidney failure seemed to make sense.

In the evening I decided to switch back to ciseral and emeprid 3 times a day and cut out novacam and antibiotics (thinking the novacam might have made her nauseous and the antibiotics not really making sense to me). Around the same time she seemed to perk up a bit again and peed for the first time that day. I noticed her body felt warmer than during the day. During the night I was able to feed her more critical care in each session building up to 2 and 3 ml, and my last session this afternoon just now we finally managed 4 ml critical care in just half an hour. That makes 20 ml in the last 24 hours, spread out over sessions every 2-3 hours. She still isn't eating any hay or pellets on her own, but she is "present" again, aware of her surroundings. I feed her a very small piece of lettuce or cucumber about 4 times a day (think stamp-sized piece) which she will eagerly take and even come running to the fence for. She does have some infrequent but significant sized pees which are an orange colour and smell quite a bit (concentrated pees from the dehydration?). I managed to test one pee as she peed on the floor while syringe feeding: the combur strip said negative for blood.

Over these past 2 days she has been having very small poops that dried out very quickly after coming out (which isn't strange I think from eating less, being dehydrated, and her gut being slow?). Just now she had 1 normal and a few almost normal sized poop in a group of small poops (see photo).

I am so confused what is happening. I know that if she makes it through today and the night I will be calling my own piggy-savvy vet in the morning tomorrow. But I just don't know what to think: is there any hope left since she is showing small steps, or is her body giving out because it is taking too long? What is causing all of this? How long before I should start seeing her eat on her own? And to add to all the strangeness: there is no significant weight loss (she is usually between 1010 and 1030 grams on her weekly weigh-ins and has been a steady 980-990 grams since Friday evening whether I weigh her in the evening or during the day).

I've only had piggies for little under 3 years now, I am hoping some more experienced owners might be willing to share some experience? I have read a lot of the guides on here and they have helped me a great deal over the past few days, which I am very grateful for!

Also a photo of her with her friends Bonkie and Anna, and Mara on the right just as I often find them in the morning when I get up
 

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I hope Mara continues to improve. I can't give you any advice but hope a health and illness expert will be along soon.
 
Thank you for the support! ❤️

I took Mara back to the vet this morning, she had x-rays taken and these showed bloat and a stone stuck in her urethra. She has had surgery this afternoon and the stone was removed. She is waking up at the vet right now accompanied by Bonkie and if everything goes well I will be able to pick her up by the end of today!
 
I hope she gets better ❤️
 
I took Mara home yesterday and she is clearly so relieved the stone is gone! The vet managed to get it out through her urethra without incisions. She started nibbling hay quickly after waking up and continued doing so when we got home. Today she was slower than usual, but still eating some hay regularly which is a huge improvement from ever since Thursday.

Each time I see her eat is such a relief to me, and then I stress again when she goes back into a hidey to sleep even though I can reason she is probably tired from having so much pain these past days. And of course there's this whole chemical cocktail of all the meds she's had these past days and even weeks with the antibiotics beforehand.

There's practically no poop output at the moment, but the vet explained this isn't strange seeing as she was so poorly with her bloat. Again my head can make sense of this (what doesn't go in can't come out) but I would be so happy to see her poop.
 
Another update... Mara was doing well up until Saturday, when she wouldn't eat on her own anymore. We went back to the vet, but everything seemed alright except for her showing some sensitivity when feeling her bladder, which isn't surprising considering the stone removal.

On Sunday she was losing blood. Not just pink-tinged pees, but leaving drops of blood on the fleece. Strangely enough, she did feel better than Saturday! This continued on Monday, when I discussed this with the vet. We decided to try antibiotics again (if I understood correctly, her theory is that the bladder and urethra wall were damaged by the bladder stone and its removal, new tissue was then formed but something in her body went wrong causing things to open up again and possibly get infected). On Tuesday and Wednesday she was feeling markedly better, still bleeding, but bright, active and eating on her own.

Today no blood loss, but she is feeling worse again... I don't know if there's a connection, but she had some difficulty passing poops earlier this evening, and after that she seemed more relaxed than she has been all day and started happily eating hay again.

It is such a rollercoaster and I am not sure if I am doing the right thing by continuing down this path, but for now I want to give her a chance. She's the youngest of my herd...
 
Another update... Mara was doing well up until Saturday, when she wouldn't eat on her own anymore. We went back to the vet, but everything seemed alright except for her showing some sensitivity when feeling her bladder, which isn't surprising considering the stone removal.

On Sunday she was losing blood. Not just pink-tinged pees, but leaving drops of blood on the fleece. Strangely enough, she did feel better than Saturday! This continued on Monday, when I discussed this with the vet. We decided to try antibiotics again (if I understood correctly, her theory is that the bladder and urethra wall were damaged by the bladder stone and its removal, new tissue was then formed but something in her body went wrong causing things to open up again and possibly get infected). On Tuesday and Wednesday she was feeling markedly better, still bleeding, but bright, active and eating on her own.

Today no blood loss, but she is feeling worse again... I don't know if there's a connection, but she had some difficulty passing poops earlier this evening, and after that she seemed more relaxed than she has been all day and started happily eating hay again.

It is such a rollercoaster and I am not sure if I am doing the right thing by continuing down this path, but for now I want to give her a chance. She's the youngest of my herd...

I am very sorry. Is she on painkillers?

Bladder trauma can happen in the wake of a bladder operation, depending on the extent of damage the stone has made when being banged into the walls with every single pee. Some stones can be a lot scratchier than others. The pain can be quite considerable, as can be the bleeding, as I know from my own experience, racing a heavily bleeding sow to the vets 10 minutes before they closed... The vet did stay on specially for me and Taffy made it through a rather anxious night to recover fully.

Can you check the area just above the genitalia on the tummy side which is where urethral stones fetch up in sows whether there is a problem there?

Are you giving glucosamine? If not, I would recommend it. It will help to replenish the natural and rather beleaguered insulating glucosamine coat on the walls of the urinary tract that prevents highly corrosive pee from coming into direct contact with raw tissue but it also does help with general comfort. It is not classed as a medication but as a food supplement and is therefore not prescribed by vets.
I would recommend that you look online for Feliway cystease cat bladder capsules; they are easiest to give. Cats are the other pet species prone to urinary tract problems.
 
I am very sorry. Is she on painkillers?

Bladder trauma can happen in the wake of a bladder operation, depending on the extent of damage the stone has made when being banged into the walls with every single pee. Some stones can be a lot scratchier than others. The pain can be quite considerable, as can be the bleeding, as I know from my own experience, racing a heavily bleeding sow to the vets 10 minutes before they closed... The vet did stay on specially for me and Taffy made it through a rather anxious night to recover fully.

Can you check the area just above the genitalia on the tummy side which is where urethral stones fetch up in sows whether there is a problem there?

Are you giving glucosamine? If not, I would recommend it. It will help to replenish the natural and rather beleaguered insulating glucosamine coat on the walls of the urinary tract that prevents highly corrosive pee from coming into direct contact with raw tissue but it also does help with general comfort. It is not classed as a medication but as a food supplement and is therefore not prescribed by vets.
I would recommend that you look online for Feliway cystease cat bladder capsules; they are easiest to give. Cats are the other pet species prone to urinary tract problems.

Today seems to be a good day again thankfully, she wasn't interested in pellets or her critical care this morning but has been eating quite a lot of hay and is very relaxed when sleeping. I tried to check her underside and didn't notice anything obvious but have to admit it was quite difficult with her squirming. Is there anything in particular that I should look for?

She is on 0,65ml novacam dog (1,5 mg/ml) twice a day (+ antibiotics, and emeprid twice a day and ciseral once a day for as long as she is not eating/pooping as usual).

Thanks for the tip about the glucosamine! In hindsight the stone might have been there for ages so there may be quite a bit of damage: I got Mara from the rescue April last year and she has always had a slightly wet belly most days, but not anymore since the stone came out! So maybe the stone has been there for well over a year.
I can't find those capsules around here, but have ordered some from abroad now. Let's hope they arrive soon! From what I understand it's a powder in capsules? Do you take the powder out and mix it with some water or syringe feed? And how much do you give?
 
Today seems to be a good day again thankfully, she wasn't interested in pellets or her critical care this morning but has been eating quite a lot of hay and is very relaxed when sleeping. I tried to check her underside and didn't notice anything obvious but have to admit it was quite difficult with her squirming. Is there anything in particular that I should look for?

She is on 0,65ml novacam dog (1,5 mg/ml) twice a day (+ antibiotics, and emeprid twice a day and ciseral once a day for as long as she is not eating/pooping as usual).

Thanks for the tip about the glucosamine! In hindsight the stone might have been there for ages so there may be quite a bit of damage: I got Mara from the rescue April last year and she has always had a slightly wet belly most days, but not anymore since the stone came out! So maybe the stone has been there for well over a year.
I can't find those capsules around here, but have ordered some from abroad now. Let's hope they arrive soon! From what I understand it's a powder in capsules? Do you take the powder out and mix it with some water or syringe feed? And how much do you give?

Hi

Great that things are settling down and are hopefully healing now. What pain medication and antibiotics is she on and in which dosages?

Sorry, I didn't realise you were from the Netherlands. I am sure that you have a comparable local brand. This is a pretty standard cat supplement that you will find in most countries.

Mix the contents of 1 capsule with 2 ml of water. Wait until the powder is fully absorbed and then shake well (a small medicine bottle is ideal). You can give the whole lot once daily or give 1 ml twice daily. It is not an instant treatment; the glucosamine will need a few weeks to fully build up but it will help with the long term repair and comfort if you work your way through the bottle. This will then gradally allow the bladder to relax again somewhat.
It's just that cutting and grinding up tablets eah day and then mixing them with a multiple of the needed ratio of water is much more labour intensive, not to mention that the carrier powder tastes a lot nicer and goes down a lot better. ;)

Please keep monitoring her weight on your normal kitchen scales first thing in the morning, so you have a better idea whether she is eating enough to keep her weight or whether she needs a top up. Just watching the hay intake (which makes over three quarters of the food intake) by eye can be really deceptive. This half-half stage is often the trickiest to manage.
This helpful guide explains the different ways of weight monitoring and what each way brings to the table:

I would also recommend that you review your diet although since you are much likely to live in a soft water area (much of the UK is hard water) you have a bit more leeway than we have over here. I am sure that Mara is on a much better diet now, poor girl, and will feel so much better when her insides have had a chance of healing up.
There is a soft spot in the diet where the calcium intake is balanced but because the water and pellets/pellet amounts (the two food groups from which most of the calcium comes) differ quite a bit, this soft varies locally so there is no ideal diet that works everywhere. Too low in calcium can lead to calcium pees and stones as much as just too high.

PS: If you are interested, we have got quite an extensive information resource, which you may find helpful and fascinating when you browse, read and re-read at need. Coming up towards 20 years of forum existence with literally tens and tens of thousands of questions and practical experiences going back in some cases half a century have gone into our guides.
If we recommend something, we really, practically know that it works; if we don't, then bad experiences are behind that - no matter how popular they still are in the online collection of magical tips guinea pig lore.
Here is the access link for bookmarking:

Wishing Mara all the best. I hope that she is over the worst bit now and that the healing process is kicking in now.
 
Thanks for your extensive reply @Wiebke !

Mara is clearly feeling better each day. She is maintaining weight or slightly gaining without support feeding (alright, she gets 2-4ml after her medication because she loves it 😃) and she's almost fully back to herself now again. Only three things now that are out of the ordinary: she is not yet stretching out fully when sleeping (still some pain/discomfort?), a few poops each day are very large (but most are perfect), and her pees discolour to pink. The urine tested negative for blood using some home-testing urine sticks though, but I will be calling the vet tomorrow as I am running out of antibiotics and painkillers so will ask about the pee as well.

She's on novacam dog for a 10kg dog twice a day (I think it is the same as metacam but a different brand), and an antibiotic similar to bactrim what I believe, also twice a day. And also ciseral (1x/day) and emeprid (2x/day). She has learned that she can spit out her medication though, and she hates those last two so I'm not sure how much of that is actually going in :xd: but as she is improving I'm not too worried about that.
 
Thanks for your extensive reply @Wiebke !

Mara is clearly feeling better each day. She is maintaining weight or slightly gaining without support feeding (alright, she gets 2-4ml after her medication because she loves it 😃) and she's almost fully back to herself now again. Only three things now that are out of the ordinary: she is not yet stretching out fully when sleeping (still some pain/discomfort?), a few poops each day are very large (but most are perfect), and her pees discolour to pink. The urine tested negative for blood using some home-testing urine sticks though, but I will be calling the vet tomorrow as I am running out of antibiotics and painkillers so will ask about the pee as well.

She's on novacam dog for a 10kg dog twice a day (I think it is the same as metacam but a different brand), and an antibiotic similar to bactrim what I believe, also twice a day. And also ciseral (1x/day) and emeprid (2x/day). She has learned that she can spit out her medication though, and she hates those last two so I'm not sure how much of that is actually going in :xd: but as she is improving I'm not too worried about that.

It is likely that there is just a small touch of a natural dye in the urine called porphyrine; this will typically cause the deep red (drying into maroon) pees that are characteristic for the onset of any of the possible urinary tract infections that tend to freak out owners. It is possible that there is just a little discomfort left. It's all wrapped around each other very tightly down there so what happen in one tract can quickly impact on the other.

Just continue with the full course for as long as prescribed. Nearly there is not fully there yet. But Mara will hopefully get there. I am sending the two of you my best wishes.
 
So Mara was doing really well the past few weeks, but I had to take her back to the vet today. :( I'm hoping that this thread might be useful reference to someone else in the future, as it wasn't a diagnosis I expected (and nor did the vet): her hip is malformed, causing pain and as a result she can't empty her bladder completely and sludge accumulates to form stones.

What has happened since this summer: Mara had not regained the weight she had lost since she was so ill this summer, staying at 940-950 gram, but since she was really active (even more than pre-stone) and used to be on the heavy side before she got ill, I wasn't too worried.

Three weeks ago on her weekly weigh day she was 20 grams down to 920 grams, last weekend again 920 grams, today at the vet 890 gram. The day before yesterday she was a bit jittery. This morning I found strange poops from her: the same soft, large poos she had that day in summer when she developed the bloody diarrhoea. She was eating okay, though less enthusiastic than usual, so to the vet we went this afternoon.

The vet's first thought like mine was a bladder stone again, so she took x-rays, which indeed showed a new bladder stone and mild bloat probably from the pain. We then got into how it could be back so soon, discussed her diet and concluded that it hardly could be diet-related.

She went to discuss things further with another vet in the clinic and he spotted something else on the x-rays: her hip isn't the way it should be. I'm hoping this makes sense as English isn't my first language and I struggle a bit with the medical terms. The socket is supposed to be like a bowl, but hers is more flat, causing the head of the joint to slip out and move against the socket. This in itself of course causes pain, and it damages the bone.

The vet offered two options: pts or an experimental surgery. I think it is called femoral head ostectomy and it means they remove the femoral head. Then scar tissue will form and create a sort of fake-joint replacing the function of the hip joint. They have performed this successfully on dogs and cats, but never on guinea pigs and never heard of it being performed on them either.

Now we're back home with painkillers and the all-too-familiar bloat medication to get through the weekend and think.... Even though I have seen the x-rays, it feels surreal now we're back home and Mara is running around their cage, munching hay in the haypile with her friends again, wheeking when I call her :luv:

It does explain some quirks though: her strangely formed body (more of a triangle or upward-pointing arrow rather than a round piggy when looking from behind), her being assymmetrical when viewed from above, sometimes squeezing her eyes...
 
I’m so sorry Mara is unwell. Sending healing vibes and hugs to you. ❤️
 
So Mara was doing really well the past few weeks, but I had to take her back to the vet today. :( I'm hoping that this thread might be useful reference to someone else in the future, as it wasn't a diagnosis I expected (and nor did the vet): her hip is malformed, causing pain and as a result she can't empty her bladder completely and sludge accumulates to form stones.

What has happened since this summer: Mara had not regained the weight she had lost since she was so ill this summer, staying at 940-950 gram, but since she was really active (even more than pre-stone) and used to be on the heavy side before she got ill, I wasn't too worried.

Three weeks ago on her weekly weigh day she was 20 grams down to 920 grams, last weekend again 920 grams, today at the vet 890 gram. The day before yesterday she was a bit jittery. This morning I found strange poops from her: the same soft, large poos she had that day in summer when she developed the bloody diarrhoea. She was eating okay, though less enthusiastic than usual, so to the vet we went this afternoon.

The vet's first thought like mine was a bladder stone again, so she took x-rays, which indeed showed a new bladder stone and mild bloat probably from the pain. We then got into how it could be back so soon, discussed her diet and concluded that it hardly could be diet-related.

She went to discuss things further with another vet in the clinic and he spotted something else on the x-rays: her hip isn't the way it should be. I'm hoping this makes sense as English isn't my first language and I struggle a bit with the medical terms. The socket is supposed to be like a bowl, but hers is more flat, causing the head of the joint to slip out and move against the socket. This in itself of course causes pain, and it damages the bone.

The vet offered two options: pts or an experimental surgery. I think it is called femoral head ostectomy and it means they remove the femoral head. Then scar tissue will form and create a sort of fake-joint replacing the function of the hip joint. They have performed this successfully on dogs and cats, but never on guinea pigs and never heard of it being performed on them either.

Now we're back home with painkillers and the all-too-familiar bloat medication to get through the weekend and think.... Even though I have seen the x-rays, it feels surreal now we're back home and Mara is running around their cage, munching hay in the haypile with her friends again, wheeking when I call her :luv:

It does explain some quirks though: her strangely formed body (more of a triangle or upward-pointing arrow rather than a round piggy when looking from behind), her being assymmetrical when viewed from above, sometimes squeezing her eyes...


BIG HUGS

I am very sorry for the diagnosis. This is very much a first for me, too - and we have literally had tens of thousands of piggies passing through this section. I have never heard of this kind of operation; it would be really experimental for guinea pigs.

My Nerys - the big teddy in my avatar (2008-16) was found to have a congenitally twisted thighbone (i.e. she was born with it). As a result, she wasn't able to run and her walk was just that little off; but she was never in pain and it didn't impact on her intestine and bladder from the bone head moving around and pushing on the neighbouring organs like with your poor Mara.

I cannot tell you which option to choose; it is either one big all or nothing throw of the dice or basically cashing your bank and bowing out. What a tough decision to make. :(
 
I have done a lot of thinking and spoke with the vet on the phone today after sending her a LOT of questions over the e-mail. I included some videos of Mara moving around at home, and she understood that I do not want to pts a piggy that is still this full of life. But now that we know what is going on inside of her, it is visible on those videos that she is not so much limping, but is compensating in her body indicating there is still pain even while she is on novacam. So something must be done about her hip.

They will probably be able to manipulate the stone out, which I found a relief because operating on both the bladder and the hip was quite worring to me.

I have found one reference of a piggy who underwent this same hip surgery. It was only a small side-note in another article, but apparently that piggy was doing much better after a week, and fully mobile 3 weeks after surgery, which does sound promising.

So Mara is now booked for surgery on Monday! Maybe they could fit her in on Wednesday already (which would be great as I am free from work this week), but she has to talk to the other vet (the orthopedics vet of the clinic) if he has time in his schedule too. It is a relief to have made a decision, but very nervous about the op and if all goes well the recovery period!
 
I have done a lot of thinking and spoke with the vet on the phone today after sending her a LOT of questions over the e-mail. I included some videos of Mara moving around at home, and she understood that I do not want to pts a piggy that is still this full of life. But now that we know what is going on inside of her, it is visible on those videos that she is not so much limping, but is compensating in her body indicating there is still pain even while she is on novacam. So something must be done about her hip.

They will probably be able to manipulate the stone out, which I found a relief because operating on both the bladder and the hip was quite worring to me.

I have found one reference of a piggy who underwent this same hip surgery. It was only a small side-note in another article, but apparently that piggy was doing much better after a week, and fully mobile 3 weeks after surgery, which does sound promising.

So Mara is now booked for surgery on Monday! Maybe they could fit her in on Wednesday already (which would be great as I am free from work this week), but she has to talk to the other vet (the orthopedics vet of the clinic) if he has time in his schedule too. It is a relief to have made a decision, but very nervous about the op and if all goes well the recovery period!

Fingers very firmly crossed!

Here are our post-op care tips:

Having a bladder stone out is always such a near instant huge relief for a piggy. All the best with the orthopaedic op. It is great that you have access to specialist vets.
 
An update from Mara: the surgery on Monday morning went well. It took about an hour, her bladder stone was nearly out already so they had no problem removing it. Her hip was in pretty bad shape, but the surgery went well, and I was able to take home a very awake Mara late afternoon.

I discovered poos the same evening which very much resembled the post-op poos in the guide on here, so I was glad I had read that beforehand and knew what was going on! Yesterday she was a bit quiet but also regularly eating hay. Her weight the day after the surgery had dropped to 810 grams.

Today she is eating less, but her eyes look brighter. I worked from home today because she wasn't eating much so I could keep a close eye on her. She had a mix of small but firm, and soft poops this afternoon. After the soft poops and giving her meds, she started eating some hay again though. I spoke to the vet over the phone again today, and I should just keep up with what I am doing now and making sure some food goes in and her weight remains stable (today she was 810-820 still like yesterday).

More specifically about her hip recovery, hoping someone in the future can refer to this when faced with similar problems: when she is moving around Mara is sometimes just dragging her leg, sometimes holding it up. I should expect to see improvement in her walking after about a week according to the vet. Right now it's all painful: apart from taking out a piece of bone, there's also a lot of muscle around the hip which has to be damaged during the surgery to get to the joint.
I find it a bit scary to lift her up now after her surgery, afraid to hurt her or undo any healing in her hip. So I now lift a fleece tunnel with Mara in it from the cage, put a soft fleece blanket on my lap and coax Mara out of the tunnel onto the blanket. Her leg is then often sticking out sideways, I carefully rearrange her so that it is in line with her body again, and then wrap her in the blanket so I can give her her meds.
I had bought some vetbed, thinking it would be nice and soft for Mara, but Bonkie started to eat it :eek: so I now have vetbet with a fleece liner on top, and then pee pads and tunnels on top of that which I can switch out once or twice daily. I find Mara does seek out those extra cushioned spots to sleep.

Brave piggy:
Mara day 1.webp
 
An update from Mara: the surgery on Monday morning went well. It took about an hour, her bladder stone was nearly out already so they had no problem removing it. Her hip was in pretty bad shape, but the surgery went well, and I was able to take home a very awake Mara late afternoon.

I discovered poos the same evening which very much resembled the post-op poos in the guide on here, so I was glad I had read that beforehand and knew what was going on! Yesterday she was a bit quiet but also regularly eating hay. Her weight the day after the surgery had dropped to 810 grams.

Today she is eating less, but her eyes look brighter. I worked from home today because she wasn't eating much so I could keep a close eye on her. She had a mix of small but firm, and soft poops this afternoon. After the soft poops and giving her meds, she started eating some hay again though. I spoke to the vet over the phone again today, and I should just keep up with what I am doing now and making sure some food goes in and her weight remains stable (today she was 810-820 still like yesterday).

More specifically about her hip recovery, hoping someone in the future can refer to this when faced with similar problems: when she is moving around Mara is sometimes just dragging her leg, sometimes holding it up. I should expect to see improvement in her walking after about a week according to the vet. Right now it's all painful: apart from taking out a piece of bone, there's also a lot of muscle around the hip which has to be damaged during the surgery to get to the joint.
I find it a bit scary to lift her up now after her surgery, afraid to hurt her or undo any healing in her hip. So I now lift a fleece tunnel with Mara in it from the cage, put a soft fleece blanket on my lap and coax Mara out of the tunnel onto the blanket. Her leg is then often sticking out sideways, I carefully rearrange her so that it is in line with her body again, and then wrap her in the blanket so I can give her her meds.
I had bought some vetbed, thinking it would be nice and soft for Mara, but Bonkie started to eat it :eek: so I now have vetbet with a fleece liner on top, and then pee pads and tunnels on top of that which I can switch out once or twice daily. I find Mara does seek out those extra cushioned spots to sleep.

Brave piggy:
View attachment 259754

If needed step in offering some extra feed to help her over the rawest bit when the operation cocktail has worn off but the healing process is not yet fully underway. Is she on painkillers?


All the best!
 
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