Apples
Junior Guinea Pig
Another update about Mara (and Bonkie...). It's a long one, but I like to have it all written down together so I can look back and see how things are progressing, so why not do it here. Things are going well with Mara. The day after my last post she stood waiting by the cage bars in the morning for her pellets. That evening she used her paw to scratch her ear (sort of), and was eating well again.
Day 5 after surgery we had a check-up at the vet. We started a little exercise then recommended by the vet (moving her paw up and down, and massaging her limb to keep the muscles from going stiff). Her poos were not yet back to normal, so we got some new supplies of ciseral and emeprid (and of course novacam for the pain).
10 days after surgery, we switched to ciseral and emeprid only 1x/day, and a few days later stopped completely. She then dropped a bit in weight, but her poos went back to normal so the gut seemed to stabilise.
12 days after surgery I noticed she used her paw sometimes when moving forward a single step. When walking longer distances, she would not use it though. One day later, I also spotted her eating poos "straight from the exit" again, instead of her having to turn around and eat them from the floor.
We're now almost 4 weeks post-op. She is still only using her paw for those single steps forward, but not for walking longer distances. She is having some larger or smaller poops sometimes, but mostly normal poops so probably some pain that is causing this. I do notice some small improvements still though: she is now instead of leaving her leg dragging behind her, positioning it under her body when she has reached where she wanted to go. I also caught her standing up on her hind legs to snatch some lettuce off the top of a hidey yesterday. And very subtle: she must be putting a little more weight on it, because the first few weeks the underside of her paw was very "pale", and it is now returning to a more normal colour. So my theory is that she is using it more causing better bloodflow through her paw.
The vet would have liked her to have improved a bit more by now, but since I am still seeing some (slow) progress, I do want to see where things go. It is taking a lot of energy from Mara though, and I noticed some minor things telling me her body is having a tough time: she has an irritated eye sometimes (typical Mara issue when "something is off"), and she has torn 2 nails since the surgery (she never used to have issues with her nails). So when I was at the vet yesterday we discussed this and have now started syringing some critical care again for some extra nutrients.
Yes, we were at the vet yesterday again, not for Mara but for Bonkie. Bonkie has been losing weight recently, and started squeaking when peeing. The vet recommended to see what would happen if I gave Bonkie painkillers, she then kept squeaking but also getting sludgy/gritty urine on and off. So she had an ultrasound yesterday. Surprisingly her bladder is completely clear of stones or sludge, just a slightly thicker than normal bladder wall but not worrisome, and her kidneys were textbook examples of healthy kidneys. Turns out her uterus is probably the issue, but it isn't pyometra but something else (possibly an infection of only the lining of the uterus, and there may be an ovarian cyst involved if I understood correctly). The vet is going to discuss it with a colleague on Monday. Until then I've got antibiotics and more novacam.
All in all mixed feelings now: part of me is relieved that it isn't Bonkie's bladder that is causing issues because I was really getting desperate. First Dumpty with his bladder issues, then Mara with her stones and then Bonkie with sludge in her pees all within 12 months... I even went as far as getting their hay analysed for nutrients and minerals because I just couldn't understand what was causing the bladder issues. But now that it isn't a bladder issue with Bonkie, and with Mara's underlying hip problem I feel relieved that it isn't something that I am doing wrong that is causing these problems. It is all just unrelated bad luck it seems... Another part of me is now just worried about what will happen next with Bonkie.
Day 5 after surgery we had a check-up at the vet. We started a little exercise then recommended by the vet (moving her paw up and down, and massaging her limb to keep the muscles from going stiff). Her poos were not yet back to normal, so we got some new supplies of ciseral and emeprid (and of course novacam for the pain).
10 days after surgery, we switched to ciseral and emeprid only 1x/day, and a few days later stopped completely. She then dropped a bit in weight, but her poos went back to normal so the gut seemed to stabilise.
12 days after surgery I noticed she used her paw sometimes when moving forward a single step. When walking longer distances, she would not use it though. One day later, I also spotted her eating poos "straight from the exit" again, instead of her having to turn around and eat them from the floor.
We're now almost 4 weeks post-op. She is still only using her paw for those single steps forward, but not for walking longer distances. She is having some larger or smaller poops sometimes, but mostly normal poops so probably some pain that is causing this. I do notice some small improvements still though: she is now instead of leaving her leg dragging behind her, positioning it under her body when she has reached where she wanted to go. I also caught her standing up on her hind legs to snatch some lettuce off the top of a hidey yesterday. And very subtle: she must be putting a little more weight on it, because the first few weeks the underside of her paw was very "pale", and it is now returning to a more normal colour. So my theory is that she is using it more causing better bloodflow through her paw.
The vet would have liked her to have improved a bit more by now, but since I am still seeing some (slow) progress, I do want to see where things go. It is taking a lot of energy from Mara though, and I noticed some minor things telling me her body is having a tough time: she has an irritated eye sometimes (typical Mara issue when "something is off"), and she has torn 2 nails since the surgery (she never used to have issues with her nails). So when I was at the vet yesterday we discussed this and have now started syringing some critical care again for some extra nutrients.
Yes, we were at the vet yesterday again, not for Mara but for Bonkie. Bonkie has been losing weight recently, and started squeaking when peeing. The vet recommended to see what would happen if I gave Bonkie painkillers, she then kept squeaking but also getting sludgy/gritty urine on and off. So she had an ultrasound yesterday. Surprisingly her bladder is completely clear of stones or sludge, just a slightly thicker than normal bladder wall but not worrisome, and her kidneys were textbook examples of healthy kidneys. Turns out her uterus is probably the issue, but it isn't pyometra but something else (possibly an infection of only the lining of the uterus, and there may be an ovarian cyst involved if I understood correctly). The vet is going to discuss it with a colleague on Monday. Until then I've got antibiotics and more novacam.
All in all mixed feelings now: part of me is relieved that it isn't Bonkie's bladder that is causing issues because I was really getting desperate. First Dumpty with his bladder issues, then Mara with her stones and then Bonkie with sludge in her pees all within 12 months... I even went as far as getting their hay analysed for nutrients and minerals because I just couldn't understand what was causing the bladder issues. But now that it isn't a bladder issue with Bonkie, and with Mara's underlying hip problem I feel relieved that it isn't something that I am doing wrong that is causing these problems. It is all just unrelated bad luck it seems... Another part of me is now just worried about what will happen next with Bonkie.
