What tests for Diabetes diagnosis

[BlueBird]

So unfortunately when it rains it pours in guinea pig land.

My top pig Belle seems to have very early stage cataracts. She's 6ish now so could be simply age related but she has had back to back URIs so is quite low weight (therefore difficult to spot weight loss) and she's quite a big drinker so I'd like to get her checked for suspected diabetes. I haven't noticed any UTI symptoms but I'll admit, I've been a bit preoccupied with my other guinea's terminal illnesses the last couple of months.

How is diabetes normally diagnosed? Would taking a urine sample to the vets be wise or silly? I'm trying to be proactive and give the vet as much information as possible to make a diagnosis (not necessarily diabetes - that's just what I personally suspect).

 

[BlueBird]

Hi there,

So good news is my guinea pig doesn't have diabetes. Whoo hoo! Bad news is she's just cost me a small fortune in eye drops (good job she's too damned cute for her own good!) It's for an eye problem which is, in lamens terms, to stop bits of her eye budging into other parts of her eye where it shouldn't be which is causing some eye cloudiness.

What is the best technique for eye drops. I'm to give one drop a day to the eye in question and I'm wary of over dosing her as the vet warned there could be side effects (hence the check up appointment in a week). Trouble is if I manage to get her to sit still with the help of food bribery. She blinks really hard when it's gone in so I have no idea whether she's got the dose or not.

Does anyone have any advice. I'm assuming not to drop again 'just in case' to minimise the side effects the vet warned about.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi there,

So good news is my guinea pig doesn't have diabetes. Whoo hoo! Bad news is she's just cost me a small fortune in eye drops (good job she's too damned cute for her own good!) It's for an eye problem which is, in lamens terms, to stop bits of her eye budging into other parts of her eye where it shouldn't be which is causing some eye cloudiness.

What is the best technique for eye drops. I'm to give one drop a day to the eye in question and I'm wary of over dosing her as the vet warned there could be side effects (hence the check up appointment in a week). Trouble is if I manage to get her to sit still with the help of food bribery. She blinks really hard when it's gone in so I have no idea whether she's got the dose or not.

Does anyone have any advice. I'm assuming not to drop again 'just in case' to minimise the side effects the vet warned about.

Hi!

What is the brand name of the drops? I've never had issues with side effects, and after ending up with 8 hay pokes in 2018 alone, I have done quite a bit of eye care. I am always grateful if a vet has the antibiotics in gel rather than in drops form.

Sadly getting drops into piggy eyes is not quite as easy; there is regularly something going amiss. The most effective way (and the way vets and nurses apply eye drops) is by pulling the lower lid slightly away and aiming the drops into the gap between lid and conjunctiva.
Otherwise it is trying to sneak the drops in over the dead angle on his back when he is totally absorbed in quaffing his favourite fresh grass or veg, but that can be somewhat hit and miss.

The good news is that being so sensitive, it means that he still has sight. Sometimes the injury and ulceration can be so bad that a piggy can lose sight temporarily. It is easier to medicate but of course much more worrying!

PS: Please do us the favour of keeping all questions on an ongoing case to the same thread so we can look up revelant information and don't have to either ask you repeatedly or give you hip shoot advice. It makes our job easier (considering we are doing it for free in our won free time) and allows us to support you better and more consistently for the whole duration. None of us can read every sinbgle post on this forum, be around all the time or remember everything, considering the amount of posts we are getting in just a day! This forum has the advantage being able to run a single support thread for an ongoing case for as long as necessary, but we can only do that if you are helping us to help you.
You can set your own notification alerts via the Watch button at the start of your support thread and always pick it up via the search option just underneath the top bar. Thank you.

 

[BlueBird]

Hi!

What is the brand name of the drops? I've never had issues with side effects, and after ending up with 8 hay pokes in 2018 alone, I have done quite a bit of eye care. I am always grateful if a vet has the antibiotics in gel rather than in drops form.

Sadly getting drops into piggy eyes is not quite as easy; there is regularly something going amiss. The most effective way (and the way vets and nurses apply eye drops) is by pulling the lower lid slightly away and aiming the drops into the gap between lid and conjunctiva.
Otherwise it is trying to sneak the drops in over the dead angle on his back when he is totally absorbed in quaffing his favourite fresh grass or veg, but that can be somewhat hit and miss.

The good news is that being so sensitive, it means that he still has sight. Sometimes the injury and ulceration can be so bad that a piggy can lose sight temporarily. It is easier to medicate but of course much more worrying!

PS: Please do us the favour of keeping all questions on an ongoing case to the same thread so we can look up revelant information and don't have to either ask you repeatedly or give you hip shoot advice. It makes our job easier (considering we are doing it for free in our won free time) and allows us to support you better and more consistently for the whole duration. None of us can read every sinbgle post on this forum, be around all the time or remember everything, considering the amount of posts we are getting in just a day! This forum has the advantage being able to run a single support thread for an ongoing case for as long as necessary, but we can only do that if you are helping us to help you.
You can set your own notification alerts via the Watch button at the start of your support thread and always pick it up via the search option just underneath the top bar. Thank you.

Hi weibke,

Firstly, sorry for the double post. Normally I would do keep posts collated as you suggest but I honestly thought the previous question was now irrelevant (I would have removed it or something to make that clear but I don't know how or if I can even do that). Please don't think it was me being impatient or something! I really wasn't! I am very grateful for the advice you guys give and I certainly didn't in tend any annoyance or disrespect. I just honestly thought they were separate topics hence the separate posts.

But the drops are sadly drops rather than gel. I've never had drops before and have only used the gel which is certainly easier for me. These are acular drops the main ingredient seems to be 5mg of ketorolac trometamol.

The vet said this was caused by the ligaments in the eye aging hence not keeping everything in place as well as it should so I don't think it was hay poke related which thankfullyy she hasnt had in a while. The vet on duty yesterday happened to be an eye specialist so this was kind of his jam. All eye pressures etc are fine though which is good.