Vet X Ray, ultrasound, urine sample blood tests tomorrow- what to expect?

[LucyP]

Hi all

Hope everyone is safe and well today. I’m looking for advice about a vet visit please!

I’ve spoken before about my two pigs Betty and Winnie, both black rescue abys around one year old.

Betty has UTI type symptoms that haven’t responded to various ABs over some time now, so tomorrow she is going to our exotic specialist vets for an X-ray, ultrasound, bladder urine sample (as opposed to the basic wee sample she had before) and some blood tests. I’m just wondering what to expect in terms of:

Is this likely to be done under sedation rather than full on GA?

Will this take a long time? This will affect our decision to take Winnie along to hold her paw.

Will we get any results then or more likely have to wait?

Is there anything special we need to do before or after in terms of care?

I’m nervous about taking her for this and really don’t want her to be too stressed... but also want to get to the root of what’s causing her pain when she toilets, so we need to do this.

My vet’s great and she’s been really helpful moving her schedule to get Betty seen quickly so I don’t want to bother her with lots of questions and my main contact when arranging all this was the receptionist. So any advice from here would be hugely appreciated. I know you can’t advise on what might be wrong with Betty or exactly how tomorrow will go but if anyone’s been through similar tests it would be helpful to hear about your experiences.

Thanks!

 

[sport_billy]

I would ask the X-ray to be done with a whiff of gas not a full GA I would be aski the vet for this. There is no need to have full GA for x-rays at all. The vet will normally check the xrays then speak to you to discuss a course of action.

sending lots of healing vibes. X

 

[YvonneBlue]

We have ultrasounds done for Mavis without any sedation. Although I think it can depend on how well your piggy behaves.

We got a call with the results of the ultrasound as soon as the procedure had been finished.

 

[LucyP]

Thank you both! Very helpful. I know they do ultrasound without anaesthetic at my vets because they did this for winnie’s heart and lungs...but for X rays in that part of the body I think they said they generally use some anaesthetic- I will ask for minimal. Betty is an extremely wriggly and boisterous piggy, bless her, so they’ve got a job on their hands.

Thanks for your support and will let you know what the vet says- keeping everything crossed.

 

[YvonneBlue]

Hope all goes well for her. Fingers and paws crossed.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you both! Very helpful. I know they do ultrasound without anaesthetic at my vets because they did this for winnie’s heart and lungs...but for X rays in that part of the body I think they said they generally use some anaesthetic- I will ask for minimal. Betty is an extremely wriggly and boisterous piggy, bless her, so they’ve got a job on their hands.

Thanks for your support and will let you know what the vet says- keeping everything crossed.

A certain minimal amount sedation can be necessary, especially if your piggy has to be positioned specifically in order to locate a problem three dimensionally in the body in rather unnatural poses for best results.
Any tests that cannot be processed instantly at the clinic will have to be sent off to a lab, so there can sometimes be a waiting time.

Generally your vet will discuss with you initial results and propose how you go best from there. You are welcome to ask any questions. As long as you do so politely and respectfully, any decent vet will go through their reasoning with you.

 

[LucyP]

Thanks Wiebke!

Every time I see our vet I really appreciate her thoroughness and compassion, and can’t help thinking that some doctors could learn a bit from some vets about how to be with people! So I feel lucky, as I know lots of people don’t have easy access to vets who deal with piggies. Let’s hope they can help Betty.

The advice about what we might expect tomorrow is really helpful.

Debating whether to take her cage mate.. normally they do all their vet trips together (and sadly there’s been a few since we got them in October) but Winnie’s had her own health issues and only just back to normal so trying to balance her needs too. Tricky one.... Honestly, those of you with lots of pigs, I have no idea how you do all this!

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks Wiebke!

Every time I see our vet I really appreciate her thoroughness and compassion, and can’t help thinking that some doctors could learn a bit from some vets about how to be with people! So I feel lucky, as I know lots of people don’t have easy access to vets who deal with piggies. Let’s hope they can help Betty.

The advice about what we might expect tomorrow is really helpful.

Debating whether to take her cage mate.. normally they do all their vet trips together (and sadly there’s been a few since we got them in October) but Winnie’s had her own health issues and only just back to normal so trying to balance her needs too. Tricky one.... Honestly, those of you with lots of pigs, I have no idea how you do all this!

Companionship is always a weighing up of pros and cons with the frail and the very skittish. Generally it is a great stress reliever but you have to make that decision from case to case and according to the situation.

There are moments you could just sit and cry when every piggy decides to fall ill or die out of the blue at the same time; and there are times when you might as well rent a tent in the waiting room and hand over your purse because you are there so often!
Anybody who thinks that looking after a lot of piggies responsibly is easy or cheap should think again! It is isn't! I am constantly cage cleaning and washing and have several piggies to medicate at any time. There are great times and there are times you want to despair. But mostly it is just a surprisingly unglamorous daily slog.

 

[LucyP]

I can only imagine- it must be so exhausting. And then to help others on this forum too. I don’t know how you fit in anything else! Even more reason to say thanks for your advice! Your pigs and this forum are lucky to have you.

Thanks re the companionship query, i think i’ll sleep on it and see how they both seem tomorrow. Winnies been doing well and is as good a weight as she’s ever been so maybe worth trying but we’ll see.

Thanks again

 

[Wiebke]

I can only imagine- it must be so exhausting. And then to help others on this forum too. I don’t know how you fit in anything else! Even more reason to say thanks for your advice! Your pigs and this forum are lucky to have you.

Thanks re the companionship query, i think i’ll sleep on it and see how they both seem tomorrow. Winnies been doing well and is as good a weight as she’s ever been so maybe worth trying but we’ll see.

Thanks again

All the best for tomorrow.

I'll have to book an appointment for a spaying op tomorrow. Hapus is currently an absolutely pest again and her companion Heini is stressed enough to have another IC flare again. Oh the joys!

 

[LucyP]

Oh my days! You really have a lot going on all the time. I hope you can get the op booked in and it all settles down again soon, sounds tough on you all!

PS Thanks - will update after Betty’s trip to the vets.

 

[Idris]

When we took Idris for his x-ray and blood tests we took Crumble with him as we had to leave them at the vets for the day. Apart from the actual procedures they can be together. We were so relieved when he made it through the anaesthetic and was home for the night. . Sadly the tests were inconclusive for Idris and it took a few days for the blood test results.

Wishing you all luck .

 

[LucyP]

Thank you so much, this is very helpful to know. I think you were at the Beamont hospital too?

Also I hope you are doing ok after all you have been going through. Thanks for taking time to respond.

Take care
Lucy

 

[Idris]

Thank you so much, this is very helpful to know. I think you were at the Beamont hospital too?

Also I hope you are doing ok after all you have been going through. Thanks for taking time to respond.

Take care
Lucy

Yes, we were at the Beaumont. All the best - although we didn't have a happy ending, fingers and paws crossed for you all. Unlike with cats etc there was no need to do anything like withhold food. Stay positive.

 

[LucyP]

Thanks all for your advice. Betty is home now. The X-ray and ultrasound didn’t show anything so we’ll wait for the blood and urine results to see if that shows anything or not. She did have GA and is a bit quiet but is eating hay and veg. We have syringe feed on hand to top her up with too. We took Winnie along in the end and she seems ok.

Thanks all, will see what happens next.

 

[LucyP]

New update - she is making slightly grunting noises. I read on here that’s happened to other pigs after GA by the sounds of it, but is there anything I should be doing? Feeling a bit worried. She is still munching on hay, not her normal self good wise but slow and steady eating. Thanks.

 

[LucyP]

Hi again

Called the vet and he said to keep an eye on her and offer some metacam. It sounds more like a wheezing grunt than a pain one but hard to tell. I hope this clears for her soon, horrible hearing her make these little noises.

 

[LucyP]

She’s stopped making the hooting/grunt noises now - I think this could have followed a sort of throat clear. She had a wander round her house for a bit but now isn’t moving much at all. Is this just normal after GA? Thanks all.

 

[Idris]

Sorry I can't advise, Idris didn't have any noticeable problems from the anaesthetic and he was the first GP of ours to have it. There may be a phone number for out of hours you can call on the information sheet from the Beaumont.

 

[LucyP]

Thank you. We spoke to the vets on Monday night who advised metacam. The hooting seemed to stop once she cleared her throat and it only came back briefly today. So that’s much better.

A new concern today though (!) her lower body and back legs were soaked with wee this morning and it really smelt- can’t describe the smell but strong. She’s seemingly wasn't getting up properly to wee and she wasn’t moving as much as normal. Her eating was ok but not great so we topped up with emeraid. Spoke to the vets again today who suggested we use some gut motility drugs. Not sure if it’s that or just the passage of time but in the last couple of hours she’s been much more mobile, eating with more enthusiasm, started drinking water from the bottle again and her body is dry. She also looks more alert in her eyes and generally more with it. She nibbled my face and boshed her cardboard house which is more like her. She’s still not quite herself but hopefully the GA effects are wearing off, she has been pretty off and I didn’t expect her to still be a bit dazed 24 hours later. Bit worrying but she’s perked up tonight. Also she hasn’t lost weight and she’s pooing and weeing. So hopefully she’ll be ok from this procedure and now we just have to wait for the test results...

If she’s not herself tomorrow though I will take her back in. Thanks again.

 

[Swissgreys]

You are doing a great job, and glad to hear that she seems to be perking up a bit.
Depending on how much GA she had and her own response (which will vary from pig to pig) it can take them a while to fully get it out of their system.
Hopefully it is onward and upward from here on!

 

[LucyP]

Thanks so much! Today she squeaked for food for the first time since the procedure and is much more active, so hoping she is almost back to normal on that score. The vet phoned me first thing this morning to see how she was and update us that the blood tests show nothing remarkable, apart from low sodium which could be due to her drinking more than average water. Whether she has kidney issues is hard to tell and doesn’t really explain why she sometimes cries when she wees. Maybe the urine results will shed more light. For now though she seems comfortable and bright. The first 24 hours after the GA her eyes and general state was very much ‘the lights are on but nobody’s home’ which was quite disturbing. She does seem almost normal for her now though. Keeping her off veg in case minor bloat has been an issue but she’s taking plenty of hay. Thanks for all your support, it does help!

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks so much! Today she squeaked for food for the first time since the procedure and is much more active, so hoping she is almost back to normal on that score. The vet phoned me first thing this morning to see how she was and update us that the blood tests show nothing remarkable, apart from low sodium which could be due to her drinking more than average water. Whether she has kidney issues is hard to tell and doesn’t really explain why she sometimes cries when she wees. Maybe the urine results will shed more light. For now though she seems comfortable and bright. The first 24 hours after the GA her eyes and general state was very much ‘the lights are on but nobody’s home’ which was quite disturbing. She does seem almost normal for her now though. Keeping her off veg in case minor bloat has been an issue but she’s taking plenty of hay. Thanks for all your support, it does help!

All the best for getting her through this.

 

[Little Ones]

Glad she’s doing better regarding GA. I had a similar experience, after GA my pig wouldn’t move, eat, drink, or poo. He just sat in his own wee for almost a day. We half thought he was dead because of how limp he was to move and he was very much as you said, the lights were on but nobody was home. I’m worried my boy will need GA for an X-ray and a blood test, etc, as he’s also dealing with squeaking in pain with some of his pees. I’m so reluctant for GA though just because last time he frightened us to death
I really hope you find the root of the problem soon, it’s such a worry when you know there’s something wrong but you can’t figure out what

 

[LucyP]

Thanks all. We still don’t know what the problem is but she is doing better in herself after a rocky couple of days. The blood results showed nothing remarkable (just low sodium - and she drinks a lot). The urine results are due next week. She’s still making noises when she toilets, and she did some poos which had a creamy film (almost like they’d been dipped in emeraid) we sent photos to the vet who thinks may be possible mucus. So there is also the possibly of something like colitis going on, but the vet wants to look at all the clues together once we have the urine test results before jumping to any conclusions.

I feel for you having to make decisions about GA as it’s tough but Betty did bounce back (it took a while though). I was freaking out a bit that maybe it was the wrong decision but she needed bloods, bladder sample, x ray and ultrasound and the GA was a way to do all of those quite quickly and not putting her through too much. It was scary though. Has your pig been tried on any antibiotics for the squeaking yet? Hope things improve for him - keep us posted.

 

[Little Ones]

Thanks all. We still don’t know what the problem is but she is doing better in herself after a rocky couple of days. The blood results showed nothing remarkable (just low sodium - and she drinks a lot). The urine results are due next week. She’s still making noises when she toilets, and she did some poos which had a creamy film (almost like they’d been dipped in emeraid) we sent photos to the vet who thinks may be possible mucus. So there is also the possibly of something like colitis going on, but the vet wants to look at all the clues together once we have the urine test results before jumping to any conclusions.

I feel for you having to make decisions about GA as it’s tough but Betty did bounce back (it took a while though). I was freaking out a bit that maybe it was the wrong decision but she needed bloods, bladder sample, x ray and ultrasound and the GA was a way to do all of those quite quickly and not putting her through too much. It was scary though. Has your pig been tried on any antibiotics for the squeaking yet? Hope things improve for him - keep us posted.

I completely get you there, I was so terrified that something really bad had happened, I’d never read of any other pig having such an adverse reaction to GA, but it had to be done and I’m glad she’s back to her usual
Yes, he’s been on baytril, then sulfatrim and cystease along with pain relief. Nothing seems to be making much difference though so I think GA will have to happen and we’ll just have to hope he’s okay with it as I’m scared to leave him much longer when the antibiotics don’t seem to helping in case it’s something serious