anyar.dris
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I don't post here as much, but this forum has helped me in the past, even as a guest. Anyway, a few months ago, I posted here about some of my problems when we adopted Timmy so the girls, Deedee & Meemee, will have a very active male companion. They did all get along fine eventually. http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...-a-new-piggie-to-my-2-current-piggies.114967/
After a month of having Timmy, he became ill and we took him to the vets and found out he was bloated. We did managed to get him back to his health but the problem did reoccur for the last 3 months. We did everything to make him healthy, i.e. changed his diet (we singled out every food that might cause him the bloat, but even if he was already just in the hay diet, it was still happening), changed the bedding (we used to use wood shavings and after we found out that there was a piece of shaving inside his sack, we replaced it with Megazorb brand of bedding), we even bought him some massage pillows and go on some occasional drive to help him relax his tummy. We have given him regular medications for 3 months after going back and forth to 2 different vet surgeries (a total of 5 vets have seen him, who all really don't know what's going on with him, 3 xrays, and plenty of meds). The longest time that he hasn't had any bloating problems at all was only 10 days. He would get the bloating problems usually every 3/4/5 days and we had always end up syringe feeding him.
Last week, Timmy went bad again. On Monday, he suddenly refused eating what we were syringe feeding him. We had to rush him to the vet to have an enema in case there were blockages. The vet (the 5th vet) told us that there wasn't any blockages at all and that he injected him with pain killers. That same day, he went to his good self and started playing with the girls. But the following day we had to rush him to an emergency vet (the 6th vet) at night to give him again pain killers because he was in a very bad condition. He told us to take him to Birch Heath Vet Surgery in Tarporley, Chester because he is definitely sure they will find out what's wrong with him. So on Wednesday, we immediately made an appointment and took him there.
Upon arriving at Birch Heath, the vet surgeon (his 7th vet) informed us right away that Timmy has not much chance of survival. She was actually surprised that we managed to keep him alive for 3 months! They took an xray (they sedated him so they can take xray of different angles) and they found out that there were unnecessary fluids around his intestines that was causing the gas blockages. The only way to know why it was happening was to have an operation. So we went ahead with it. After 2 hours in the theatre, the vet told us that what happened was a part of his intestine got stuck in a U-shape in the hole/place where his testicles were removed when he was neutered. That has caused all the blockages up to his intestines and thus not functioning properly. Timmy did have proper poops, hence the vets were surprised about the condition. We had to leave him overnight so the vets (his 8th vet) can monitor him. Apart from him being weak and drowsy, all his vitals were working properly. She did say that his chance of survival increased before the operation but it's still 50-50 because of the major operation. We took him home yesterday since the vets believed we can manage to take care of him and medicate him properly.
Yesterday, when he arrived home, he has perked up a bit after smelling the familiar location and seeing the girls. We put them on the sofa to eat grass, although Timmy wasn't eating, he was moving a bit to be near to the girls. We managed to syringe feed him throughout the afternoon. During night time, that's when he started to get worse. He refused the food that we were feeding him. Hubby and I had to take turns of holding him and feeding him just so that he would be comfy enough and eat again. But he just got weaker. At around 10:30 pm, we noticed that his breathing became erratic. Hubby also had to search online how to make him pee since he hasn't peed as much. At around past 11pm, I carried him to the living room (he was in our bedroom so he can be on the heated blanket) and he started moving a lot and shaking when he saw the 2 girls in the hutch. At around 11:15 pm, he had his last breath while I was holding him. It really broke my heart because we were expecting him to survive. He has been a fighter after all that has happened to him.
We think what happened last night was that his intestines must have shut down and the bloating happened again. We noticed that his tummy got big again. He probably had a heart attack coz hubby said the way Timmy passed away was the same with one of his past piggies. We did all we could for the past 3 months to prevent him dying like that. But he still ended up having a heart attack because of the bloat. Because of a complication after his neutering, my Little Timmy is gone now. Would Timmy survive if we've seen it earlier and had the operation? I don't know. What we know was he might have died earlier if we haven't adopted him.
We buried him under the trees of our garden, along with the past piggies of my hubby. I have been crying since he started getting very bad on Monday. We also have spent probably around £1000 on him since he started getting the problem. I'm in a very sad position right now, but I'm still glad we have made him happy for the very short 4 months he's been with us. We spoiled him a lot (you just tend to do it when you know the piggie has some illness). I've always carried him whenever he feels sick. I usually call him a ninja because on his good days, he runs so quick back and forth (in one second, he can dash from the run on the floor to their hutch at the other side of the room) and he also squeaks and jumps like a mad piggie! Oh all the things that I'll miss seeing and doing for him. But at least now he is pain free. We're just thankful that he managed to be with us and the 2 girls yesterday to say his goodbyes. He also had a few of his favorites, grass.
Sorry for the very long post. Here are some photos of him (with the girls).
Left to Right: Timmy, Deedee and Meemee
After a month of having Timmy, he became ill and we took him to the vets and found out he was bloated. We did managed to get him back to his health but the problem did reoccur for the last 3 months. We did everything to make him healthy, i.e. changed his diet (we singled out every food that might cause him the bloat, but even if he was already just in the hay diet, it was still happening), changed the bedding (we used to use wood shavings and after we found out that there was a piece of shaving inside his sack, we replaced it with Megazorb brand of bedding), we even bought him some massage pillows and go on some occasional drive to help him relax his tummy. We have given him regular medications for 3 months after going back and forth to 2 different vet surgeries (a total of 5 vets have seen him, who all really don't know what's going on with him, 3 xrays, and plenty of meds). The longest time that he hasn't had any bloating problems at all was only 10 days. He would get the bloating problems usually every 3/4/5 days and we had always end up syringe feeding him.
Last week, Timmy went bad again. On Monday, he suddenly refused eating what we were syringe feeding him. We had to rush him to the vet to have an enema in case there were blockages. The vet (the 5th vet) told us that there wasn't any blockages at all and that he injected him with pain killers. That same day, he went to his good self and started playing with the girls. But the following day we had to rush him to an emergency vet (the 6th vet) at night to give him again pain killers because he was in a very bad condition. He told us to take him to Birch Heath Vet Surgery in Tarporley, Chester because he is definitely sure they will find out what's wrong with him. So on Wednesday, we immediately made an appointment and took him there.
Upon arriving at Birch Heath, the vet surgeon (his 7th vet) informed us right away that Timmy has not much chance of survival. She was actually surprised that we managed to keep him alive for 3 months! They took an xray (they sedated him so they can take xray of different angles) and they found out that there were unnecessary fluids around his intestines that was causing the gas blockages. The only way to know why it was happening was to have an operation. So we went ahead with it. After 2 hours in the theatre, the vet told us that what happened was a part of his intestine got stuck in a U-shape in the hole/place where his testicles were removed when he was neutered. That has caused all the blockages up to his intestines and thus not functioning properly. Timmy did have proper poops, hence the vets were surprised about the condition. We had to leave him overnight so the vets (his 8th vet) can monitor him. Apart from him being weak and drowsy, all his vitals were working properly. She did say that his chance of survival increased before the operation but it's still 50-50 because of the major operation. We took him home yesterday since the vets believed we can manage to take care of him and medicate him properly.
Yesterday, when he arrived home, he has perked up a bit after smelling the familiar location and seeing the girls. We put them on the sofa to eat grass, although Timmy wasn't eating, he was moving a bit to be near to the girls. We managed to syringe feed him throughout the afternoon. During night time, that's when he started to get worse. He refused the food that we were feeding him. Hubby and I had to take turns of holding him and feeding him just so that he would be comfy enough and eat again. But he just got weaker. At around 10:30 pm, we noticed that his breathing became erratic. Hubby also had to search online how to make him pee since he hasn't peed as much. At around past 11pm, I carried him to the living room (he was in our bedroom so he can be on the heated blanket) and he started moving a lot and shaking when he saw the 2 girls in the hutch. At around 11:15 pm, he had his last breath while I was holding him. It really broke my heart because we were expecting him to survive. He has been a fighter after all that has happened to him.
We think what happened last night was that his intestines must have shut down and the bloating happened again. We noticed that his tummy got big again. He probably had a heart attack coz hubby said the way Timmy passed away was the same with one of his past piggies. We did all we could for the past 3 months to prevent him dying like that. But he still ended up having a heart attack because of the bloat. Because of a complication after his neutering, my Little Timmy is gone now. Would Timmy survive if we've seen it earlier and had the operation? I don't know. What we know was he might have died earlier if we haven't adopted him.
We buried him under the trees of our garden, along with the past piggies of my hubby. I have been crying since he started getting very bad on Monday. We also have spent probably around £1000 on him since he started getting the problem. I'm in a very sad position right now, but I'm still glad we have made him happy for the very short 4 months he's been with us. We spoiled him a lot (you just tend to do it when you know the piggie has some illness). I've always carried him whenever he feels sick. I usually call him a ninja because on his good days, he runs so quick back and forth (in one second, he can dash from the run on the floor to their hutch at the other side of the room) and he also squeaks and jumps like a mad piggie! Oh all the things that I'll miss seeing and doing for him. But at least now he is pain free. We're just thankful that he managed to be with us and the 2 girls yesterday to say his goodbyes. He also had a few of his favorites, grass.
Sorry for the very long post. Here are some photos of him (with the girls).
Left to Right: Timmy, Deedee and Meemee
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At least you know you really did do all that you could to help him x He looks so pretty in the pictures, poor wee guy. I hope you and the girls will be okay.