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Questions about UTI's....

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How are you and Emily doing today? Did you manage to get anywhere with the Vet?

Having just read through the thread, I think Stinklepig is referring to Pyometra. Pyometra is an infection of the lining of the uterus and can be brought about by hormonal changes. It's a serious condition that needs urgent treatment, but not normally one that a Vet would miss or misdiagnose I would hope.

The symptoms may differ slightly depending on where she is in her cycle (cervix open or closed), but they would include a red brown discharge, increased urination, swollen tum, messy back end, diahorrea, lack of appetite, listlessness and a high temperature. If her cervix is closed it might be more difficult to diagnose as there would be little if any pus at the outset of the infection, however a scan or xray would soon clear up any doubt. A set of swabs would also help.

The problem is when our piggies are poorly and present us with a batch of symptoms, if you look hard enough you end up convincing yourself they have everything wrong with them all at once! If only they could talk! Reading through your post there are a lot of symptoms that fit Pyo, but that would also fit a number of other illnesses, so if you can speak to your Vet asap and see if they can take a swab or give her an ultrasound it would help either rule out this possibility, or enable her to start the correct course of treatment, which in the case of Pyometra would probably mean a full spay.

Fingers and Paws crossed for you and Emily from all of us here.
 
Susie, any news? Fingers crossed here, let us know how she is when you can. x
 
I have had a sow with same problem. The whole of the uterine lining was shed, initially I thought it was a prolapse.
The lining was a "Y" shape as per the shape of the uterus itself.
Apart from giving her Feroglobin for a couple of days I did not treat the condition and she was totally unconcerned about what had happened.
I have managed to find the polaroid photo I took, it was in February 1996, when she was 3 years old. It looked like a piece of raw meat, for want of a better description, about 4cm by 2cm. Unfortunately I cannot scan and post the photo.
She died in September 1997.
 
Regarding off topicness. All I have to say is - goodness.

I am also very grateful for everyone's healing wheeks - so far they seem to have been working. I shall now update everyone, as up until now I have not been able to do so.

Throughout yesterday Emily became less and less interested in the world around her, and her diarrhea got worse and worse. A black, foul smelling liquid was just pouring out of her. We went back to the vets and he prescribed critical care, fluids and as much probiotic I could get into her as possible. He said to stop the metacam, but keep going with the baytril. Since she had already had a dose of 0.2ml that morning, I did not give her anymore. He aldo gave her a shot of aprrox. 0.4ml of vit C. (I only got to peer at the syringe) He also told me to seperate her incase it was something infecticous.

Throughout the evening I did as prescribed, feeding approx. 2-3ml of critical care and as much fluid as she would take, with lots of probiotic dissolved in it every half hour (half hour from when I stopped feeding her so she could rest.) As the night went on her motions varied greatly, but the horrible black liquid gradually became lighter in colour, firmer, and less smelly. I stopped feeding her every half hour at around midnight, and then through the night every 2-3 hours. (It was a zombie state, I have no idea how often it really was). Her poops continued to solidfy and she began to pass them less regularly. During this whole process she began to perk up, nibbled one or two bits of parsely and celery leaves (although I must've been sleeping when she did this!)

This morning feeding every half hour resumed at 7:30am, and she was much more alert. She would toddle into the hospital cage (with the top down) by herself, and would wriggle around in the towel. She now needs to be towel wrapped to be syringe fed. We went back to the vets, and he was genuinely suprised to see Emily I think. He gave her another shot of vit C, and a shot of baytril. I didn't want to give her more orally as her poops were still pretty big and liquidy, and it seemed I was winning the battle of getting a "good bacteria" balance back in her gut. He agreed, but did say it would still affect her gut. He wants to keep her on the baytril incase there is some sort of nasty anerobic bacteria in her stomach causing all this. He also gave her another vit C shot, said to keep up with the fluid and feeding but to try and encourage her to eat on her own, and adjust the feedings accordingly.

So, throughout today too, them has been getting critical care pushed down her (which she still protests) and liquids with probiotic in them (which she accepts more readily but lets me know when she's fed up). At about 3 o'clock she ate half a leave of romanine lettuce, and actually showed a proper interest in it. Since then she has eagerly eaten grass, Dill and coriander. Everything else she shows little intrest in, but I have left her with hay, her dry food mix, some pepper and celery in with her. For this evening I plan to feed her hourly, in the hope that she will become hungry and perhaps feed herself properly with her hay. (And so far I have not seen her take water herself). When offered her poo (which was squish) orginally, she refused to eat it, but throughout the day she has eaten two when offered, and just at six oclock there she produced a poo that looked almost normal! It was only a tiny bit runny and deformed, but most definatly had shape. I have never been so happy to see poo.

Throughout this whole ordeal, she only lost weight overnight, where she went from 1115g, to 1095g. She is now back up at 1115g. I am putting her...large size down to helping her survive this.

She is more and more alert, and acting more like my cheeky Emily pig. There has been no more blood, but I have noticed that in the last hour or so she is becoming tender around her abdomen again. For now I am not going to give her any pain killers as she is still interested in fresh food, and shall consult with the vet tomorrow.

Thank you stinklepig, Nox, and Hels for mentioning Pyometra. My vet has not mentioned anything of the sort, but Emily has had babies (they were born 23rd Dec) so it could be a possibility. I shall bring it up with him tomorrow, but since there has not been any blood since monday I am not sure about anything that has gone on with my Emily! He seems to be just as flummoxed as everyone else.

I would also welcome any suggestions about what fresh food to give her as this is all she seems to be interested in, but obv. I do not want to give her diarrohea or bloat!

Thank you everyone for your very kind support - it really is very reassuring that there are people out there who are willing to help. x>> x) I was in tears last night (as Hels can testify) at the thought of losing my Ems, but I am feeling much better now she's showing such fantastic signs of improvement, and with all of your support I can go back to giving her all the best care i can! (Time for some more crit care them!)
 
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That great news Emily is picking up. I have been thinking about you both all day. A big handful of fresh grass should get her appetite going again.
 
Just another quick update - Emily seemed to have become a little constipated, but over the last hour she has passed several poos - all formed but still fairly squishy. She's tucking into more grass and made a valient escape attempt when I tried to syringe some water down her. The little madam!
 
susie_q said:
Throughout this whole ordeal, she only lost weight overnight, where she went from 1115g, to 995g. She is now back up at 1115g. I am putting her...large size down to helping her survive this.
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Out of interest, roughly how many hours between weighs?

It is very approximate of course, but I really have seen an average of 10g per hour of not eating/ drinking for themselves. I don't know where they get all of that weight to lose, but somehow they do! Good that she's got the weight back on though :)

She is more and more alert, and acting more like my cheeky Emily pig. There has been no more blood, but I have noticed that in the last hour or so she is becoming tender around her abdomen again. For now I am not going to give her any pain killers as she is still interested in fresh food, and shall consult with the vet tomorrow.
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I was talking to Nox earlier when I went round to do a Pimple fresh run (and try giving her some pig time with Trembles, which didn't pan out), and she was explaining how the symptoms can change a little as the piggie comes into and goes out of season. Something to do with the nastiness being backed up when the cervix is closed, then draining out when open, as the piggie cycles. A huge concern *if* it is pyometra (which Nox said wasn't quite the same thing as what Hels asked me, but isn't too disimilar either I think.. Not my strong point sorry!), but I think regardless of the cause, her picking up a bit in herself is positive. They can of course fight these things off themselves with lots of luck, but often luck isn't on their side and that's where we need vets, medication, nursing care etc.

Thank you stinklepig, Nox, and Hels for mentioning Pyometra. My vet has not mentioned anything of the sort, but Emily has had babies (they were born 23rd Dec) so it could be a possibility. I shall bring it up with him tomorrow, but since there has not been any blood since monday I am not sure about anything that has gone on with my Emily! He seems to be just as flummoxed as everyone else.
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I am a touch worried he seemed to go straight for the UTI diangosis (and moreso given the dribble of an antibiotic that is generally less effective than Septrin as a cure!), but then he's the one that looked at her, we're just trying to base ideas on what's written here. I hope he doesn't get too flummoxed to be open to changing diagnosis if symptoms don't follow the condition he believes she has! Given the date of her babies this could still be related to her pregnancy/ labour, although the condition (if it is what's wrong with her) can flare up whether there's been babies or not of course.

I would also welcome any suggestions about what fresh food to give her as this is all she seems to be interested in, but obv. I do not want to give her diarrohea or bloat!
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I'm a huge fan of dill. It's the natural source for the stuff I can never remember, which is the active ingredient in Gripe Water. Other than that, probably nothing too sweet/ sugary, and nothing too gassy (such as cabbage, cauliflower leaves, etc). I don't think basil would be a bad thing if she'll eat it, and I do tend to go more down the herb route than veg with a sick piggie after having some success with Treacle when she had bad guts due to dental issues.
 
Wow, what a time you to have had, you poor things! Well done for keeping your little girl going; your dedication is ultimately what has brought her through this so far. Keeping fingers crossed here that she continues to improve (and lets you get some sleep!). x
 
Oh my goodness Susie, I've been wondering about Emily all the time I've been at work and the first thing I've done is log on to read it. I am so pleased she is improving, I am proud of you hun to put in as much effort as you have for this girly x>>:)
 
Emily is much, much, much better! Last night she actually nipped me when she was fed up being handled (great improvement) and this morning was up at the bars when breakfast was being dished out. She also ate most of it.

We went back to the vets today and he is much more pleased - we don't have to go back unless she's gets worse, but we've to continue with the baytril orally until about monday just as a precaution. There is no pain in her abdomen, she is weeing normally without any pain, and while her poos are not as often as I would like, they are almost back to normal. She back in with her cage mates and having a nap - I hope their presence will encuorage her to eat more hay on her own. I've to keep supplementing her with critical care, just to keep fiber in her, but not nearly as often as before.

The vet said today he suspects it was enterotoxaemia. Although before that when asked what he thought it was he said "scary".

So we're not completely out of the woods yet, she could still suddenly change, but she is much healthier and much happier.

Thank you again everyone for your advice and well wishes. :)

Oh! And Stinklepig - the weight loss was 1115g - 1095. I mistyped it in that post. mallethead That was over the course of about six hours with only one feed.
 
Great update, I hope she keeps improving and is back to normal very soon! x
 
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