• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Why did I post that positive thread... :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
mikulinek

mikulinek

Teenage Guinea Pig
Joined
Jul 27, 2010
Messages
976
Reaction score
1
Points
310
Location
Salford, Greater Manchester, UK
Hi all,

This must be fate! No sooner did I post that positive thread about how healthy Biscuit has been recently does his health take a turn for the worse...

I've just got home from work (I know, I need to find a job closer to home!) and I noticed his toilet paper in his cage looked a little pink. I had him sit with me on the sofa and sure enough, he's peed and it's pretty pink. I can't get hold of the vet 'til tomorrow morning - I called the emergency number on their answer phone and the pet medic at the other was less than useless...

Any way, what do you think? 0.5ml of metacam for now 'til he can see his vet? I asked the pet medic and they said "don't give him anything before he sees his vet" but it also sounded like they didn't kow much about piggies.... What should I do tonight?

Thanks :)
 
So sorry to hear this.

Is the wee pink when it is freshly passed or does it turn pink after it's been exposed to the air?

To work out metacam dosage the following info is needed:
How much does he weigh?
Do you have dog or cat metacam (ie what is the concentration)?

Is he in any pain? Obviously if he is not and is eating fine then it;s probably not worth giving metacam until you get to see the vet. However plenty of fluids to hlep flush the kidneys through would help and obviously keep an eye to make sure his urine output doesn;t stop suddenly in which case he will need emergency attention

HTH
x
 
Thanks everyone,

Last time he was put on metacam it was 0.5ml x2 a day (dog metacam i.e. 1.5mg/ml) which was why I thought he'd be on this much as his weight hasn't changed much since then.

He seems his normal self but then he always is. Even when he had pneumonia he didn't give any signs of pain or distress - that's why he's such an amazing piggy. I've given him the metacam just to help him pee without too much pain.

I'll phone his vet first thing and try to get him seem ASAP. Last time the vet suspected the start of crystal formation from calcium but he hasn't been eating any high calcium food since then so I'm not sure what's caused this. He isn't fussy about where he lies down in his cage and I suspect he's got a bacterial infection from that but I don't want to second guess the vet's diagnosis.

This is the first time he's had anything in about six months so it's frustrating because I thought he was doing so well. I think he's just going to be susceptible to things because of his health record. I just keep hoping that these things are cutting short his life expectancy! He's such a wonderful piggy and I'm not ready to part with him if he gets worse again.

Oh and the pee is pretty pink as soon as it comes out.
 
Oh Okay - just seems like an enormous dose to me? My vet would never allow more than one or two drops for a pig that being 0.05 or 0.1ml but if yours has had a big dose before and it's what the vet said. I've just never heard of such a big dose being prescribed - sorry. :)
 
That is a hefty dose if it is the dog metacam. I have only given that large a dose to a piggie who was in the end stages of kidney failure owing to inoperable kidney stones and have only seen two other "in extremis" cases on the forum where a massive dose of anti-inflammatory was justified and that amount was prescribed..but 0.5ml once daily not twice daily.

Normal dog metacam dose for a 1kg piggie would be about 0.15ml once daily

HTH
x
 
Here's an example - I have a 3kg chihuahua who is prescribed 0.3ml twice daily following a knee surgery.
 
That's what it says on the box :)

Biscuit was once given 0.7ml x2 for three days but that was when he was recovering from pneumonia. He's had these kinds of doses several times in the past as I'm sure you're aware how many times he's been poorly. He's never had any negative reaction to it and it generally helps him stay perky.

I imagine he'll be prescribed metacam and an anti-biotic tomorrow but we'll see...

I'll let you know what the vet says :)
 
No Offense to your vet but it't not an adverse reaction it's liver and kidney damage that would result. 0.7ml boy oh boy nearly a whole syringe full?

Now I can't say 100% sure - I wish someone on here could but 0.7ml dose - i'm surprised it wasn't lethal. Antibiotics sure but metacam? It's like 10x the dose I have ever heard prescribed - all I can think is he's made a mistake?

Did your guinea pig eat okay after that?
 
Yeah, he's never had a problem with it. This was over 6 months ago so I can't imagine the two are related. I will ask about those doses later when the vet calls for me to pick Biscuit up - I had to leave him there to go to work.

In all fairness, our vets have been great and, given the amount of different issues Biscuit has, they've performed minor miracles with him. He's seen two vets at the centre, one of whom is Aidan Raftery who is a small/exotic specialist. Sarah is also excellent and got to the bottom of Biscuit's recurring URI infections and helped him through his pneumonia.

But I will ask abut those doses just to be sure.
 
Hi,

sorry to hear biscuit's condition has relapsed:(

My biscuit has the same symptoms, he has had an x ray, metacam, and baytril a few times.

The only thing that has worked for him long term is barley water, given two syringe fulls twice a day for a couple of days. His bodily condition has improved dramatically and he has put on weight.

If he gets a relapse I repeat the barley water.

This may not work for you, so seeing the vet is the best thing:)
 
Just to say my piggie savy vet gives between 0.1ml and 0.5 ml up to twice a day depending on the size of the piggie and severity of the problem but it is usually short term up to a week. Billy is on 0.5ml once a day for his arthritis and he is 1.350 kg. he has never had any piggies that have problems long or short term on that dose. and it is definately the dog one :)
 
OK,

So I finally got home with Biscuit this evening. The X-ray showed no signs of calcification, crystal formation or stones so the vet is pretty sure that Biscuit's inflamed bladder is being caused by another bacterial infeciton of some kind. He's got to take three meds:

0.35ml Metcam x2 for 10 days
0.5ml Cerenia x1 for 5 days
0.6ml Co Trimoxazole x2 for 10 days

That's a lot of meds but hopefully his urine should start to clear up by Monday they reckon and then we just want to give his bladder time to heal.

Fingers and paws crossed he'll be ok. As ever, he is totally content, just had a nice cuddle with me on the sofa for about 20 mins without needing to pee and he's his usual happy little self - what a trooper :)
 
mikulinek said:
OK,

So I finally got home with Biscuit this evening. The X-ray showed no signs of calcification, crystal formation or stones so the vet is pretty sure that Biscuit's inflamed bladder is being caused by another bacterial infeciton of some kind.
OK, good news in that he "only" has a bacterial infection

He's got to take three meds:

0.35ml Metcam x2 for 10 days

High dose if dog metacam....but not that frought if only given short term for say a week

0.5ml Cerenia x1 for 5 days Uuuhhh! This is an anti-emetic for dogs...piggies cant be sick. i do knowthat some drugs have other capabilities above what they're registered for, (eg zantac) so would be useful to know the basis on which this particular drug has been given in this circumstance

0.6ml Co Trimoxazole x2 for 10 days

a.k.a. septrin...he could go up to 1.0mltwice daily on this for up to 3 weeks

That's a lot of meds but hopefully his urine should start to clear up by Monday they reckon and then we just want to give his bladder time to heal.

Fingers and paws crossed he'll be ok. As ever, he is totally content, just had a nice cuddle with me on the sofa for about 20 mins without needing to pee and he's his usual happy little self - what a trooper :)
Click to expand...

I've put some comments in becauseyou are not getting the "normal" treatment.....I'm not, by the way, saying your vet is wrong....just would really appreciate the reasoning behind the meds if poss as it could be really important info for piggies with urinary symptoms in the future...

Keeping my fingers and paws crossed here for the lovely Biscuit

xx
 
Unfortunately I didn't get to speak to the vet last night when I picked up Biscuit. He called me when I was at work to tell me the results of the X-ray and we had a short chat about the possible causes of his infection.

By the time I got to pick up Biscuit, the vets had all gone and I got given the meds etc. by the nurse (this was at about 7.30pm so I wasn't expecting a vet to still be around). The nurse was very helpful but of course it wasn't her who prescribed the treatment so she couldn't answer all my questions.

I'll be calling through to the vet today at lunch to see if I can get a few more details on that course of treatment. He has had all of those meds at one time or other before though so I'm not overly concerned.

The cerenia I believe was prescribed to avoid gut stasis from the AB. The AB has worked on Biscuit before so I'm confident about that one. I'll let you know the result of my conversation if I manage to have it :)
 
Just to give you all an update:

There is no response/improvement to the medication yet but the vet did say to monitor until Monday, by which time we should see and improvement.

The good news is there is also no change to Biscuit's behaviour. He's still energetic and curious and content. He's eating and drinking normally and the vet weighed him at 1.07kg which is roughly where he's been for the past 6 months or so. I will weigh him later on to see if there's any change.

Thanks for all your advice and helpful messages. The vet in question isn't in until Monday so I will pass on your questions/concerns to him then and see if we can get some info on the meds and doses.

Have a good weekend everyone :)
 
Just seen your thread :...
whee would like to send sweet darling little Biscuit loads of healing wheeeeks and loves! xxxxxxxxxxxxx

GET WELL SOON BISCUIT LOTS OF GIRLIE KISSES AND HUGS FROM US ALL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top