Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

[Lilly]

Peanut Butter seemed to be doing great, then his weight started to plummet again & grunting in pain despite the Tramadol. Rushed him to the vet. She is devastated. She removed his fat pad along with the testicles because that reduces chances of an abscess and she said she has neutered many pigs an no abscesses yet.

Until PB that is! Yep, he has a suture abscess.

I comforted her by saying it's not her fault, it's just PB. It's been drained & he is on an anti-biotic called Doxycycline now. On the positive side his yeast infection has gone thanks to the Nystatin. We're gong to continue with the Nystatin while he is on the new anti-biotic to try & prevent the yeast re-surging. This was all on Friday. Because of the hols coming up he was back in to the vets yesterday for a quick check-up & she drained the abscess again as there was still some pus there. But he has already gained weight since Friday so good sign. He will still be on his anti-biotic on Christmas Day Fortunately my son's new home, where I am going for Christmas, while not as close as where he lived before, is still close enough for me to pop back home as needed.

In all the fuss completely forgot to get his toofies checked. Will have to keep a close eye on their growth. Cannot have him stop eating because of that. The vet is not back until Saturday but she did say she is staying close to home so can come in for emergencies.

 

[Wiebke]

Poor PB - nothing is easy for him! I hope that he does well on the dxycycline. If he isn't you could ask your vet to switch to Zithromax (azithromycin), which has saved piggy lives with bad and/or stubborn abscesses here in Britain. All the best for making it through Christmas!

 

[sport_billy]

Oh Lilly I am so sorry Poor PB he is really suffering with this. Your vet sounds amazing and supportive, that must be a real help. Am keeping your beautiful little boy in my thoughts as hope he starts to pick up over the next few days. Huge hugs to you, I think you are doing an amazing job.healing vibes to PB, c'mon little dude x

 

[helen105281]

Oh no Lilly, poor boy. It is great that both you and your vet are so on the ball though and brilliant that the Nystatin has helped.

 

[Lilly]

Poor PB - nothing is easy for him! I hope that he does well on the dxycycline. If he isn't you could ask your vet to switch to Zithromax (azithromycin), which has saved piggy lives with bad and/or stubborn abscesses here in Britain. All the best for making it through Christmas!

He was on the Zithromax last year when 2 other anit-biotics failed to shift his UTI after 3 months, so that anti-biotic is always a the top of my list as a final resort. And it's thanks to this forum I learnt about it.

Oh Lilly I am so sorry Poor PB he is really suffering with this. Your vet sounds amazing and supportive, that must be a real help. Am keeping your beautiful little boy in my thoughts as hope he starts to pick up over the next few days. Huge hugs to you, I think you are doing an amazing job.healing vibes to PB, c'mon little dude x

Thank you so much. I am ever so grateful for this forum because it is only the advice & experience of this place that has made me able to help my little boy.

 

[sport_billy]

You are a wonderful piggy mummy. Fingers and paws crossed here for him x

 

[Lilly]

Oh no Lilly, poor boy. It is great that both you and your vet are so on the ball though and brilliant that the Nystatin has helped.

Yes, that Nystatin has been a life saver. From now on, whenever one of my piggies is on anti-biotics I will be getting them checked for yeast & put on the Nystatin as needed.

 

[JackJack1]

You are doing a great job and PB is very lucky to have you with all the help and support he is getting.

 

[Chief Guinea Pig]

Poor PB, sending piggy hugs and vibes.
Xx

 

[Lilly]

It looks like we have finally turned the corner with Peanut Butter & hopefully it is all steps forward now. He was back in to the vet's Tuesday after weight plummeting again, grunting in pain despite pain relief & not finishing his dish of freshly cut grass. The vet agreed not finishing fresh grass was a bad sign! I knew his incisors were at a length he did not find comfortable but the abscess on his scrotum seemed bigger again as well.

So, his incisors were trimmed, his abscess opened up & drained, he was put on Zithromax at my request & I've been cleaning the area with watered down Betadine at the vet's suggestion twice daily. As of Wednesday what a difference! Eating for Australia he is! He is finishing his vegies well ahead of Hazelnut. Every time Hazelnut has his head in his bowl PB is right there beside him in his own bowl. I'm so happy to see two heads bobbing in unison once again.

PB had a vet follow-up on Friday, no signs of pain or the abscess. He still has a few days of the Zithromax to go & I know an abcess can come back but I think we finally have a winning formula.

 

[JackJack1]

It looks like we have finally turned the corner with Peanut Butter & hopefully it is all steps forward now. He was back in to the vet's Tuesday after weight plummeting again, grunting in pain despite pain relief & not finishing his dish of freshly cut grass. The vet agreed not finishing fresh grass was a bad sign! I knew his incisors were at a length he did not find comfortable but the abscess on his scrotum seemed bigger again as well.

So, his incisors were trimmed, his abscess opened up & drained, he was put on Zithromax at my request & I've been cleaning the area with watered down Betadine at the vet's suggestion twice daily. As of Wednesday what a difference! Eating for Australia he is! He is finishing his vegies well ahead of Hazelnut. Every time Hazelnut has his head in his bowl PB is right there beside him in his own bowl. I'm so happy to see two heads bobbing in unison once again.

PB had a vet follow-up on Friday, no signs of pain or the abscess. He still has a few days of the Zithromax to go & I know an abcess can come back but I think we finally have a winning formula.

Great news! Isn't it wonderful when they start to get better and all your hard work and care pay off!
It makes you feel so happy. Hope PB is now on the road to fully recovery!

 

[sport_billy]

This is great news! Well done Lilly you are a credit to your little man. C'mon PB! x

 

[helen105281]

Brilliant news Lilly. Am so pleased your vet is so receptive to ideas, it makes you a great team.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

It sounds like you have a great vet. The wonderful Zithromax has worked its magic again.

 

[Freela]

I'm glad he's doing better... he has certainly been through a lot and deserves to have something go his way! You've done a great job caring for him, he's lucky to have someone who is willing to go the distance with him!

 

[Lilly]

I'm glad he's doing better... he has certainly been through a lot and deserves to have something go his way! You've done a great job caring for him, he's lucky to have someone who is willing to go the distance with him!

My 16 year old granddaughter just recently said PB was lucky we chose him as someone else might not have put in so much effort. I pointed out I reckon he very wisely chose us!

We were looking at the baby boys in rescue & had picked one out as a possible friend for Hazelnut. The volunteer went to pick him up when suddenly another piggy darted out of the pigloo that we had not realised was inside. My 2 granddaughters & I all immediately cried out "No we want that one!". Within a month of having him vet visits became a feature of his life & we're 3 years down the track now.

I reckon his mad dash out of the pigloo at the last minute was a "pick me, pick me!" moment as if he knew he was going to have trouble in his life & we were people who would take good care of him - well, that's what I like to think! I've never regretted it as despite his health problems he has been such a treasure. When he's laying flat as a pancake on my lap making his happy little chirpy noises while I stroke his back it just makes it all worthwhile.

 

[JackJack1]

My 16 year old granddaughter just recently said PB was lucky we chose him as someone else might not have put in so much effort. I pointed out I reckon he very wisely chose us!

We were looking at the baby boys in rescue & had picked one out as a possible friend for Hazelnut. The volunteer went to pick him up when suddenly another piggy darted out of the pigloo that we had not realised was inside. My 2 granddaughters & I all immediately cried out "No we want that one!". Within a month of having him vet visits became a feature of his life & we're 3 years down the track now.

I reckon his mad dash out of the pigloo at the last minute was a "pick me, pick me!" moment as if he knew he was going to have trouble in his life & we were people who would take good care of him - well, that's what I like to think! I've never regretted it as despite his health problems he has been such a treasure. When he's laying flat as a pancake on my lap making his happy little chirpy noises while I stroke his back it just makes it all worthwhile.

It sounds as though he landed on all four paws when he picked you too. What a lovely thing to read when someone gives such good care to a poorly little one and gets all the love back. It brought a tear to my eye!

 

[Freela]

My 16 year old granddaughter just recently said PB was lucky we chose him as someone else might not have put in so much effort. I pointed out I reckon he very wisely chose us!

We were looking at the baby boys in rescue & had picked one out as a possible friend for Hazelnut. The volunteer went to pick him up when suddenly another piggy darted out of the pigloo that we had not realised was inside. My 2 granddaughters & I all immediately cried out "No we want that one!". Within a month of having him vet visits became a feature of his life & we're 3 years down the track now.

I reckon his mad dash out of the pigloo at the last minute was a "pick me, pick me!" moment as if he knew he was going to have trouble in his life & we were people who would take good care of him - well, that's what I like to think! I've never regretted it as despite his health problems he has been such a treasure. When he's laying flat as a pancake on my lap making his happy little chirpy noises while I stroke his back it just makes it all worthwhile.

That's so sweet! I feel much the same about Sundae. She hasn't had the problems that Peanut Butter has had, but she has had chronic bladder issues, dental issues, and a huge facial abscess that took a year and a lot of care to completely heal. When we got her, she was the last pig left (and she was adorable, so we didn't regret not having more choice!) I'm SO thankful that we were the ones who got her, as I'm not sure that she would have gotten the medical care she needed with anyone else (especially since in Canada, a lot of the time guinea pigs do not get vet care at all. They aren't seen as a pet that 'needs' vet care.) I like to think she was hiding in there, waiting for us!

 

[Lilly]

That's so sweet! I feel much the same about Sundae. She hasn't had the problems that Peanut Butter has had, but she has had chronic bladder issues, dental issues, and a huge facial abscess that took a year and a lot of care to completely heal. When we got her, she was the last pig left (and she was adorable, so we didn't regret not having more choice!) I'm SO thankful that we were the ones who got her, as I'm not sure that she would have gotten the medical care she needed with anyone else (especially since in Canada, a lot of the time guinea pigs do not get vet care at all. They aren't seen as a pet that 'needs' vet care.) I like to think she was hiding in there, waiting for us!

Oh that's lovely to hear Sundae's story! She was waiting for just the right people to take care of her! How is she now?

 

[Freela]

Oh that's lovely to hear Sundae's story! She was waiting for just the right people to take care of her! How is she now?

She's doing really well (knock on wood!) Her face eventually healed from that really deep abscess, her teeth have been good since we managed to get the underlying infection to resolve, and her bladder issues are under control with low-dose antibiotics three times a week. When she first started having issues she was about 18 months old, and I remember thinking that she probably wouldn't have a long life, but I wanted to try to give her a good life... now at 4.5 years she is still going strong! She has a lot of people on her side... my vet is amazing, I have learned so much about wound care and such with her, and she is a real trooper, she always fights to get well and struggles to eat even when it was clearly painful for her. She has never given up, so we have never given up on her! She's the lighter pig on the right in my avatar, my little trooper!

 

[Lilly]

She's doing really well (knock on wood!) Her face eventually healed from that really deep abscess, her teeth have been good since we managed to get the underlying infection to resolve, and her bladder issues are under control with low-dose antibiotics three times a week. When she first started having issues she was about 18 months old, and I remember thinking that she probably wouldn't have a long life, but I wanted to try to give her a good life... now at 4.5 years she is still going strong! She has a lot of people on her side... my vet is amazing, I have learned so much about wound care and such with her, and she is a real trooper, she always fights to get well and struggles to eat even when it was clearly painful for her. She has never given up, so we have never given up on her! She's the lighter pig on the right in my avatar, my little trooper!

She's done wonderfully well as have you & your vet. I'm sure both our piggies are having happier & longer lives for having had the wisdom to choose us as slaves!