Hazel's medical thread

User avatar
Zaphy

Post   » Wed Mar 07, 2018 3:21 pm


I will say though, she does look a little better still this morning- poops are still a bit soft but actually mostly well-formed. So maybe she will pull out of this latest episode without needing more pain meds! (though I'll definitely ask my vet about alternative meds to potentially keep on hand still)

Dropped the fecal sample off at the lab this morning anyway, so we'll see if they find anything unusual.

User avatar
Zaphy

Post   » Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:44 pm


*forgot to add, knock on wood- in the words of the great Michael Scott, 'I'm not superstitious... but I am a little stitious.'

User avatar
GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:46 am


For what it's worth: I had one of my neutered males on long term Metacam (Meloxicam) and it never affected his gut. His poops were always nicely formed and firm. I think he was on the daily Metacam for a couple of years or more, until he died of what we believed to be age-related kidney disease. He was in the neighborhood of 7 years old when he passed.

User avatar
Zaphy

Post   » Fri Mar 16, 2018 3:34 am


That is good to note, GrannyJu. The specific study I am thinking of was in people who had irritable bowel syndromes already- a mix of Crohn's and ulcerative colitis IIRC- and it found a higher rate of recurrence in patients who used NSAIDs than those who did not. However causation or a lack thereof could not be proven- it could be that NSAIDs aggravated their diseases more, or it could be that they just had a more severe case of their disease to begin with and thus experienced more pain than those who did not take the painkillers, and the recurrence was due to the severity of the disease rather than the painkillers taken to manage the symptoms of the severity. So it's something I'm definitely taking with a grain of salt. I've caved a couple times since the last update and given her meloxicam again when she's looked more uncomfortable than I want her to have to deal with. :/

Anyway, the fecal float came back clear so that's good. I am considering getting another sample and having them do a gram stain or another float since I know they're not always super reliable, but not sure if I'm experiencing tunnel vision here cause I've been reading a lot about coccidia lately.

She's still been not perfect, but still not nearly as bad as in the past. Definitely better. I'd say behaviorally she's back to her normal self about 50-60% of the time. The rest of the time she's not super hunched up or anything, just a little more tense than normal. And then there were the couple times I resorted to meloxicam. Nothing that seemed like an emergency, just like she was really not having a fun time. So we'll see still I guess. I'm still supplementing with Critical Care 3-4 times a day, she's still really good about taking it. If I let her she'll take up to 40ml in one sitting, though she'll be a bit unenthusiastic and crabby about the next one then so I try to keep the feedings smaller. I also still see her eating hay/pellets and drinking on her own as well. She lost a small amount of weight under the care of my husband last weekend, but now that I'm feeding her she seems like she might be starting to creep back up again (or it might just be normal fluctuations).

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Mar 16, 2018 8:33 am


Thanks for the update. It sounds like things are improving. I hope you get her back to normal!

User avatar
Zaphy

Post   » Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:20 am


Today was a good day for her! I know it doesn't necessarily mean that she's done with feeling cruddy. But it was relieving to see her hop around the dust broom and nip at my hands for treats while I swept up the cage with the rest of the pigs, instead of sulking in the corner trying to avoid attention. And popping between hidey holes, and poking her head out to see me when I came up to the cage, and feeling confident enough to eat at the same time as other pigs. I really don't think she's had what I can really call a good day since this whole thing started over a month ago. So I'm really happy about today even if it might be a fluke, and wanted to share :')

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:04 am


I forget, is she on pain meds right now?

User avatar
Zaphy

Post   » Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:09 pm


Nope, I've given her a dose of meloxicam here and there during the worst of this bout but have been hoping/thinking that if her diet were more firmly regulated it would fix the issue so my focus has been more on distributing the Critical Care feedings more regularly/evenly. Her last dose of meloxicam was four or five days ago, and I've given it I think four times over the last month.

Also I changed the fleece liner in the cage after I posted last night and she was the first one I put back in the cage after it was clean, and she ran zoomies and popcorned :) Which I think I've seen her do maybe once or twice before in her entire 2.5 years so far.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:48 pm


That you are managing with almost no pain meds is even more encouraging!

User avatar
Zaphy

Post   » Tue Mar 20, 2018 5:00 pm


Something that seems to correlate with her better days so far, in addition to the more frequent CC feedings, is to mix it up thicker. I don't recall the thread I was looking at (I think it was a recent one? Not sure though) but someone's vet had told them that watering the CC down too much can lessen the benefit of the fiber in it. I'd originally been watering it down quite a bit because there's always the concern of dehydration with diarrhea. But since that never has seemed to be a problem, I thought I'd give the thicker consistency a try. It's only been a couple days so I can't say for sure whether or not it's been a coincidence but wanted to note it here before I forget.

User avatar
Zaphy

Post   » Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:40 pm


Darker/orangeish urine is not normal in older guinea pigs, right? I'm having trouble telling if Hazel's urine is pink/red tinted or just orange. Regardless, it's probably time for a trip to the vet as she also just had/is recovering from an episode of GI stasis/bloat...

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:16 pm


Not really. Could be something in the diet or can be a sign of dehydration, if it's orange vs. pink/red.

Post Reply