Dana, 7yo, just seems to be slowing down

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:20 am


Like it says up there. Dana is 7–at least—and was just under 1100 grams in May. I was not as routine with weights as I should have been but she has had a slight trend of weight loss and is down to 966. I initially chalked it up to aging but when she dropped under 1000 I started worrying.

Today I pulled all the pigs from their cage and placed them in a smaller play pen with readily available hay/pellets/water while I built a brand new cage (we were going back to C&C after using an alternative for the last 2 years, as well as upgrading their square footage). As far as I could see Dana was acting completely normal this morning/afternoon, eating/pooping as usual.

I put the pigs into the new cage and everyone puttered around checking out the new surroundings, Dana included. I did notice at this time that she gravitated toward one cuddle cup and wanted to nap in it. What tipped me off that something wasn’t right is when I came in with evening veggies a couple hours later and she didn’t seem to respond to the sound of me putting them in. I managed to get her to eat a small leaf of green leaf lettuce but otherwise she didn’t want to eat much. This is definitely not her normal attitude toward veggies.

Later this evening my partner came home and we tried a few things. Generally was not keen on eating anything while outside the cage with us but she did take bites of another lettuce leaf and some hay. Even an apple slice and a bit of carrot she didn’t go for. Once back in the cage she did eat a little more hay but it seems like a lot of the time she is just sniffing things, biting into them once, and then dropping.

I tried to whip up a pellet slurry which she did take some of but I couldn’t actually get it up into the syringe properly, even with the tip cut off. We have Critical Care and a better syringe on the way from Amazon to arrive tomorrow morning (really today since it’s 1am).

For the most part she is not lethargic. When placed in the cage she putters around for a few minutes before heading to a hide. Reactive to touch, will still eat little bits and seems to still be pooping/peeing. I am calling vet tomorrow to see if she can be seen on Monday if there are no changes in condition...

I’m panicking because this is so weird to me. The previous two elder pigs we’ve cared for in their last days seemed to crash suddenly from their normal, to much worse than this...but I worry Dana may go south fast as well now. Thank goodness I’m working from home and can keep a close eye on her.

Reassurance and suggestions would be appreciated.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Aug 16, 2020 4:40 am


Biting into food and then dropping sounds like this could be a dental issue. I would get her to the vet for full xrays, but with a focus on head and neck.

The other thing I might rule out at that age would be renal failure. When the kidneys aren't working properly, food doesn't taste right and can affect appetite. There is usually also significant weight loss and a sort of "wasting" away with prominent hip bones as a sign. Is she drinking either significantly more or less water?

While it doesn't sound like she has any typical signs of a bladder stone, the xrays will hopefully help rule that out as well. Pain from a stone greatly affects appetite and activity level--as does any pain in general.

7 years old is not young and some amount of weight loss at that age is to be expected, but you are right to be concerned with the lethargy and inappetence. You will need to aggressively hand feed until you can get this sorted out. I'm glad that the new syringe arrives today. In the meantime, what kind do you have? Maybe we can figure out a way to get it to work for you this morning. Can you try making the CC a little more watery if it's not going into the syringe easily? Also, nuking the CC in the microwave for just a few seconds can help improve the consistency.

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:51 am


Morning,

She did well overnight and is now eating breakfast veg/hay along with the rest of the herd. I did find better syringes in my med kit and I have regular Critical Care still coming in just in case she goes downhill again tonight. Will definitely still be calling vet tomorrow to get her in for a visit/x-ray, it’s about time for a wellness visit for her anyway. I will be keeping an eye on her all day today for changes.

It’s possible she was just stressed/tired from several hours in their cleaning pen while I built the new cage and wanted to nap. Knowing her she was probably quite annoyed with us taking her out and prodding her! :)

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Aug 16, 2020 9:03 am


Well, that's good news! I hope that's all it was (fatigue; moving into new surroundings). If you were going to do a wellness check, anyway, it wouldn't hurt to have xrays done. Otherwise, you can continue to monitor and weigh her regularly--preferably at the same time of day every day, such as a.m. before they are fed.

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:29 am


Thanks. I will be asking for rads for sure, I do want to see how she’s looking with her teeth/GI tract just in case. She also has a small lump on her chest that popped up over a year ago and has not changed at all, but I’d like to see if it shows anything on x-ray as well. She had a lipoma-like bump removed from right over her spine a couple years ago so we suspect it’s the same deal.

She is still a little less reactive today, definitely going about her usual business but not startling/running when touched in a cuddle cup which is pretty uncharacteristic of her. She’s our little diva who does NOT like to be bothered, having that change is definitely cause for concern to me. We’ll have to see if the vet can find any issues.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:38 am


I think it's a reasonable plan. Do keep us posted and let us know what you find out.

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:22 am


Good news, she did well overnight and is acting pretty much normally today! I was able to get her an appt with our exotics vet tomorrow afternoon, which I am comfortable waiting for since she’s eating/drinking/pooping now.

The main thing I am having checked out is her teeth and overall GI tract due to the biting/dropping food she was doing and the fact that she has a tendency to cough while eating sometimes—not a URI, has been occurring very occasionally for a while. Previously we were told not to worry but now that it’s happened along with all of this other stuff I definitely want to see if there’s something causing it in her mouth or throat.

She ate eagerly this morning and has been spending plenty of time walking around the cage outside of cuddle cups and hides. Plus she’s definitely back to her usual startle/running away from me when I reach in the cage so that’s good. Fingers crossed we’re at least able to catch anything early if something shows up on the rads.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Mon Aug 17, 2020 12:57 pm


That certainly is good news! You are on top of this, so hopefully it is nothing major or is something caught plenty early.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:03 pm


That does sound promising. As for the cough while eating, one of my guinea pigs used to eat green pepper too fast and would occasionally cough as a result for a short while. I wonder if she is eating too fast?

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Mon Aug 17, 2020 11:32 pm


Glad to hear she’s doing better today and that you were able to get an appointment tomorrow. Hope all goes well.

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Sat Aug 22, 2020 11:12 am


Hey y’all, so sorry I wasn’t able to respond sooner. Dana is doing well :) The vet checked her over and her teeth look fantastic, belly felt fine, vitals all good. We did not opt for an x-ray this visit but I will definitely push for one if things go south again.

Vet believes she may just be slowing due to arthritis, so we are doing 0.35ml Metacam once daily. Currently doing it in the evenings but I may start doing it in the AM instead so she has more medication in her system during her peak eating hours. Weight has been a bit up and down in the few days since we started but I’m hoping we can get her stable or gaining now that she has the pain med and solid veggies back. Fingers crossed :)

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sat Aug 22, 2020 11:56 am


Vets always seem to prescribe metacam once a day, but I had much better luck with splitting the dose in half and adding 10% to it. It just won't last 24 hours as pain medication.

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