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Snowy & Smudge off to the vets

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Caviesgalore (EPGPR)

Caviesgalore (EPGPR)

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Just a quick update on Snowy, my boar with bladder problems. Poor little love has taken a turn for the worse so off to the vets. He is obviously uncomfortable peeing again so things obviously haven't sorted themselves out - I fear the dreaded bladder stone :'(.

Little Smudge has similar problems so she is coming along too. I mentioned the other day that someone in the gang was passing pink wee, well I tracked it down to Smudge.

As some of you may remember I haven't been happy with my vet for a while (usual one off on maternity leave) so I am trying someone different that a member here and also my local RSPCA officer has recommended (thanks Kent Girl). Unfortunately the chap I need to see is fully booked today and tomorrow because he is then off on his hols (typical) but one of the nurses recommended one of the other vets and he sounds good - will let you know.

Please keep your fingers crossed for my guys, will let you know how we get on later.
 
Good luck at the vets. O0
 
Keeping our paws crossed for you

Sam :smitten: Rupert :smitten: Tom :smitten: and Jez :smitten:
 
Good luck O0 fingers and paws crossed :smitten:
 
Just about to go and snuggle the duo into a couple of carry cases. Thanks for your messages of support they help no end.

I am feeling physically sick at the moment - I guess the fear of the unknown and also what they are going to say :(. Will let you know how we get on a bit later. Bye for now.
 
Hi all, back from the vets and have just settled piggies for the evening.

OK where to start? Saw the new vet (not the one I had been hoping to see, but he was fully booked and then on holiday) and was impressed by how thorough he was. Both piggies had a full MOT which included general look over, eyes, ears, heart and then teeth check before he got down to the business of the bladder problem.

Interestingly he found that Smudge may have a potential for teeth probs later, they are fine now, but he has told me we need to keep a check on her bottom molars. He gave each of the piggies a very thorough feel, palpating their abdomens, feeling the bladder and he checked out both their "privates". He said both had some urine in their bladders, but they weren't over full and neither of them made a sound! Snowy looked somewhat put out and I was sure he was going to take a chunk out of the vet or my hand, however, he managed to behave himself :).

We were then all whisked out the back, through the treatment room, past the operating theatres and into the ultrasound room. I've never had a piggy scanned before, it was amazing. Both had to have their tummies shaved a little and I had to hold them up so that they were sitting on their bottoms, with their backs against my tummy. The vet then put a load of glop on the end of the scanner and ran it over their tummies. They were both SO good, not a sound and they didn't struggle either.

He said that he couldn't see any stones on the scan, but did think that the urine in the bladders of both pigs looked as if it was thicker than normal, indicating sludge. Both are now on a course of Septrin, 1ml twice daily, Smudge for two weeks (as she has only just started having problems) and Snowy for four weeks (because his has been hanging around a bit longer). I am to give them one drop of Metacam morning and night for a week and then drop it down to 1 drop a day for a week. He wants to see us back after two weeks unless we run into problems in the meantime.

I have got to increase both pigs fluid intake, Snowy was already receiving extra baby juice and water, although I didn't get so much down him over the weekend as I wasn't around as much as normal - had to take hubby to the airport and we got back really late. I do wonder whether this is why he seemed more uncomfortable today.

The vet also asked me about the types of fresh food I was giving, what dry food the gang have, what type of hay and what their living accommodatin was like. He even knew that it is best to avoid Alfalfa hay for bladder stone piggies!

The guys are now tucked up in the shed with their friends having their supper and giving me the "what are you looking at me like that for mum" look :). I feel a little better than I did first thing this morning and both piggies do look fine apart from when they wee :(. I know it is early days, but hopefully with all the meds and extra fluids they will begin to pick up.

Thanks again for all the support, it's really appreciated. :)
 
at least you saw a decentish vet!

hope it all goes smoothly for you now with the meds O0
 
The vt sounds thorough. Fingers crossed for a swift recovery. O0
 
Great that the vet you saw knows his stuff, hope all will be well :)
 
Give them lots of cucumber and melon helps dilute the wee
 
So sorry to hear Snowy and Smudge are still having problems.... fingers crossed that they'll soom be on the road to recovery. Glad the scans looked ok though - thats good news. O0

Its horrible being on edge like that.... I just hate the 'feel sick with worry' feeling. :( Bet you feel so relieved its the end of the day with a fairly positive result.
Awwww...and they were good as gold - bless 'them! :smitten:

Helen x
 
Glad you have a good vet now, is this the one that GBH use?

christine said:
Give them lots of cucumber and melon helps dilute the wee
Click to expand...
Be careful of overdoing Melon and fruit because of the Calcium:Phosphorus ratio :)
 
Hi Karen, no it's not the GBH vet - they are about 40+ mins from me. The vet I went to today was recommended by both Kent Girl and my local RSPCA officer. Thanks for the reminder, but don't worry about the cue and melon, I've got a print out of the calcium:phosphorus ratios posted on my frig!

I hope this vet proves to be as good as I've heard, it was becoming very frustrating at my old surgery and today I just had a gut feeling that if I went back I may come home without my babies :(. Keeping everything crossed that the meds and fluids do the trick.
 
That's brill news for the little uns O0 hope they're still improving :smitten: Well done you for finding a good Vet. There don't seem to be many here (Suffolk) that know much about guineas :'(
 
Much to my surprise Smudge and Snowy didn't hold their vet visit against me when I opened up the shed this morning, both came out to see me :smitten:. Neither are good at taking their meds, Smudge doesn't mind the actual Septrin, she hates the syringe! As for the fluids, not sure who had the most, them in their mouths or me all over my hands ;D. Managed to get a fair bit down them throughout the day and at tea time Smudge was right up at the front of the run climbing up to great me :) which she hasn't done for days. Keeping everything crossed.
 
sometimes worry that my piggies are getting too many veg as they wee an awful lot, but maybe thats why I have nener had any bladder problems
 
Re: Snowy & Smudge off to the vets - Snowy is worse

I'm sorry, but this is going to be a long post. Snowy has been taken very poorly, he is so unwell that I dread going into the playroom/piggy room to check on him. He usually lives with two other boars and they free range in my shed - they have a large hutch and half the shed to run around in. Snowy had problems with bladder sludge, but after a hefty dose of Septrin, probiotic and plenty of fluids he seemed to be back to his old self.

Things took a sudden turn for the worse last Wednesday afternoon. He and his companions are now indoors (he is in a separate cage), he was very lethargic, had lost a lot of weight and had crusty eyes. I immediately started him on Septrin, fluids, Science Recovery and probiotic and put him on white towels/vetbed with a heat pad. He was still weeing, but passing very little poo and it was quite mucousy. The vet could find nothing specifically wrong with him, but he is still putting up a fight so we have decided to try to see how he goes over the next few days. His teeth are currently ok, although I worry about them as he will still not feed himself, he is taking up to 10ml of Science Recovery 5 times a day (his weight is up a little), is on 0.7mls of Septrin twice a day, probiotic at each feed. Having had him on the vetbed/towels I can now see that his urine is slightly pink, although he shows no outward signs of discomfort when going to the loo (which he did before). I have some Uriflow, which I am thinking of starting Snowy on, but I am a little concerned about over loading his system at the moment.

He is looking a little brighter in himself, has started to poo again and will now come to the front of the cage to greet me, but he still won't eat for himself and only weighs around 900gm - the vet target is 1kg, he's never been a heavy piggy. I have tried him with favourite foods and he seems keen to have a sniff at them but then just pushes them around. When I tried to slot a tiny slice of cucumber into the side of his mouth he pulled it out with his front paws. We are due back at the vets on Tuesday, please keep everything crossed for my little lad.
 
yes i will be thinking of you, has he got a cut in his mouth, seems strange he pulled out the cucumber doesn't it, o i hope he gets better soon hun
 
Good luck Snowy, will be thinking of you and your mummy! :smitten:
 
Thanks guys. I don't think there is anything wrong with Snowy's mouth PB, but I am beginning to wonder if he is in pain (although he is not showing any outward signs like hunching or crying when peeing/pooing) so I have added some Metacam to his meds this morning to see if that might help - maybe if he is in pain this is stopping him from eating? He has just had a good helping of Science Recovery together with some Bio Lapis and is now snuggled down on his heat pad sleeping it off! I am off to do some work before my next feeding session. Thanks again for your thoughts.
 
Poor Snowy, so sorry to hear he's still not doing so well Sandra. You never know how to react if the vets cannot find a problem, is it relief because iot could be okay, or is it dread because you can't fix it if you don't know what it is! We know exactly how you feel, and hope that Snowy is on the mend soon, he's very lucky that he has such a great piggy mum. Thinking of you xx
 
I'm so sorry about your little Snowy...I am fairly new to this board. I wrote about my sick baby guinea pig last week and have had many wonderful people let me know how much they cared. Now I read your post and feel so sad for you and your little piggy. I pray he gets better and back to normal soon! I will cross my fingers for you and send wishes for Snowy to feel better soon. Good luck and keep us posted....... :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Only just caught up with this thread, I'm thinking of you Sandra and hope Snowy gets better soon, it must awful not being able to help him :( x
 
Hi everyone, just a quick up date on Snowy. We've been back to the vets today and the first bit of good news is that Snow has put on 50gm since Friday. He has also begun "talking" to me again! He is a grumpy old man at the best of times and has very little to say for himself, but he squeaked at me when I went into the playroom this morning and when I put him in the basket to go to the vets he had a good sniff around and made that little noise they make when exploring. :)

He is still peeing pink wee, but it isn't so bright now and he isn't squeaking when he goes to the loo. I am still managing about 45-50mls of Science Recovery a day, plus around 40mls water/probiotic in addition to his Septrin and Metacam. The only other concern Rachael and I had were that his front teeth (incisors) looked slightly slanted on one side. I mentioned this to the vet and he agreed, he checked his back teeth again and said they are fine. He trimmed his incisors slightly so that they are even to see if this will encourage him to pick food up. If he continues to only take the SR we will have to get an x-ray done to check his jaw/teeth roots.

The vet checked him over thoroughly again and is happy for me to continue as I am with the proviso I give them a call if he takes a turn for the worse. We have another vet check next week.

I have just given him some more SR and have tried to tempt him with some cut grass and a little sliced cucumber and celery - he's had a sniff, but isn't keen to try it :( Guess I have a few more sleepless nights coming up, it's like having a baby all over again!

Could Karen or Mary (or anyone else who might know) tell me how much Science Recovery I should be aiming to get down Snowy in a day, I seem to remember reading about 45mls somewhere, but I might be wrong. He is a skinny little thing currently weighing in at just under 1kg.

Thanks again for your good wishes, it's a comfort knowing you all know what we're going through.
 
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