Daphne's Medical Thread

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Zaphy

Post   » Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:52 pm


Daphne is an almost 2 month old female pig, 250g. Acquired her recently and it looks like she's got some form of cheilitis. Now, I don't see any inflammation around the area and it definitely doesn't look as gross as the examples on the cheilitis page but there's definitely something there- maybe either the beginning or end stages? Sorry the pic is pretty blurry. I don't have a great close range focus on this new phone.
Image

Anyway, I was wondering about the effectiveness of antibiotic/antifungal ointment for such a little pig. So long as I'm being very sparing with the application, should it still be ok on her little digestive system? Or are there better alternative treatments I could look into?

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Kimera

Post   » Wed Nov 22, 2017 4:48 am


It looks much more like fungus than other infection, so antibiotic would be counterindicated. At such early stage, and at such early age of the patient, I would suggest just gently washing off the crust. If there is any lesion underneath, it could be treated with some gentle disinfectant.
Guinea pigs are very prone to fungal infections, but happily, most resolve with good diet, hygiene and a little TLC.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Nov 22, 2017 7:33 am


Ditto on the possible fungus. Perhaps a topical yeast infection (yeast is a fungus).

Would you like your pic added permanently to your thread?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:54 am


I'd get one of the antifungal ointments -- nystatin, lotrimin, monistat, etc -- and apply sparingly with a q-tip and rub in well.

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Zaphy

Post   » Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:48 am


Oh good- I don't have much experience with topical infections but i was guessing fungal as well so i put the tiniest amount of antifungal cream on it last night and rubbed in coconut oil on top of that. Some of the crusties seem to have fallen off overnight and it looks pretty good underneath so far.

And for my own future reference, so I don't forget- her (and her sister's) DOB is 10/6.

[edit] Also, thank you all for the help! And sure, it's ok to add the pic permanently :)

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Zaphy

Post   » Mon Nov 27, 2017 2:36 pm


Hmmm. She's got some dandruff on her rump- not sure how to go about potentially trying to treat that since there's no hair loss and the fur (Texel, I think) is quite thick. Wait and see if it resolves on its own? Maybe just rub in some coconut oil? She's too little for shampooing, and any product is going to also sit in the hair if I apply enough to get down to the skin.

There's no itchiness so I don't suspect mites (if anything I would assume more fungus given the stuff on her mouth) but I know ivermectin is often suggested as a "just in case" treatment anyway. She ought to be big enough for that in a week or so. I just hate to not do anything and prefer to nip things in the bud when I can... Thoughts?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Nov 27, 2017 7:20 pm


The coconut oil might be soothing.

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Zaphy

Post   » Mon Nov 27, 2017 7:24 pm


I'll start off trying that, then. Thank you!

Another question: is there, like... a best way to apply it? I feel bad getting her fur all oily. Not sure if that'll bother her or not? Anyone with experience with furred pigs with dry skin?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Nov 27, 2017 7:31 pm


I would go for the most problematic area and just be gentle. I think the oil would benefit the coat too.

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Zaphy

Post   » Fri Apr 01, 2022 2:31 am


Wanted to just document this here for now. Daphne's been having kind of a hard time lately, one of those "something's wrong but I don't know what" thing.

The first thing I noticed is that she just kinda breathes hard all of the time. Not wheezing, but seeing her sides move and her body rocking back and forth slightly with the effort. I've noticed this for upwards of a year, but in the absence of other symptoms haven't felt it actionable other than to keep an eye on her.

Over the last couple months, she's become more uncomfortable. I noticed she's had some trouble grooming her back end, her fur gets dirty and matted on the backs of her hind legs/near her vent area very quickly (and she's not one of my 'lounge about in the litterbox' pigs). She's started showing some slight signs of pain, I don't find her laying down and relaxing much if at all. Her back feet have developed some irritation/mild bumblefoot (none of my six other pigs struggle with foot irritation, not even my arthritic seven year old). And then the last month or so I finally started seeing some weight loss (~1200g to ~1050g) plus misshapen poops and calcium urine deposits, so today I brought her in to the vet for an exam.

Vet could see that she wasn't feeling well, she was low energy and didn't fight the exam much but other than that she looked ok on examination apart from some mild dehydration and the listed symptoms. Heart and lungs sounded ok, no masses palpated, teeth looked fine. She urinated on the table so he collected a sample and we decided to do a urinalysis. He found blood in her urine (not visible to the eye) as well as a high amount of crystals, and also noted that the urine was fairly dilute despite her dehydration. We then took radiographs to rule out stones, and found no stones. Also noted no visible masses or problems with the heart and lungs. That pointed to a UTI with the blood in the urine, so we decided on a course of Bactrim and some metacam. We also took a blood sample and did a CBC and blood chemistry panel due to concerns over kidney function with how dilute her urine was, but both of those looked fine as well.

So we'll see how she does with the antibiotics and anti inflammatory. Hopefully she starts looking happier soon.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Apr 01, 2022 7:56 am


It sounds like you were pretty thorough in your exam of Daphne. I take it no signs of arthritis showed up? I think of not being as flexible (cleaning herself) as a result of arthritis. I would also pay close attention to the heart page in case any additional signs show up.

Hoping you get some direction from the blood panel. It sounds like you have an extremely good vet!

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Zaphy

Post   » Thu Apr 07, 2022 9:20 pm


So all of the diagnostics came back fine apart from just the urinalysis. She's finished the course of bactrim and while her urine looks maybe a bit more normal she doesn't seem any more comfortable or happier :(

Sooo i brought her in today for a recheck. Vet agreed that she's still not perked up. They still found some blood in her urine, and also I had found a lump on her belly a few days ago that they lanced. It turned out to be an abscess, so since it was quite small he drained it there and gave me some betadine to flush it with. They sent the pus out for a culture- plan is to figure out a targeted antibiotic to treat it with since we already did bactrim for the suspected UTI.

Unfortunately there hasn't been anything obvious causing her to look poorly so we are concerned that there is something bigger going on (what with the blood still in her urine as well). We are hoping that treating the abscess will also treat whatever it is, but are also aware that it could be something like cancer (possibly reproductive tract cancer also causing the blood in the urine) and the abscess is unrelated. It was quite a small abscess and did not look terribly inflamed or angry so it doesn't seem likely that it was the cause of her feeling poorly. But will see how things go, since it's the only solid thing we really have to go off of at this time.

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