Millie’s Medical

[Sef]

I'm really glad she's doing better! Ouch on the back pain, though. I know the feeling.

Albert's on with the vet tomorrow. I am limiting lettuce and just feeding him carrot, a small amount of mixed bell peppers, zucchini, grape tomato and a little parsley. I feel like he does better on less lettuce and skipping the cucumber.

I'm just curious, as you mentioned Albon. Has your vet ever done a fecal smear to look for intestinal parasites, or does he/she just automatically put them on Albon when they're having GI issues?

[ItsaZoo]

I hope Albert’s vet visit goes well. I’m suspicious of the lettuce as well, although I never had issues before. But I know that lettuce is seasonal and it’s farmed in CA or AZ depending on the seasons. So just because it was okay last month, it may be coming from an entirely different place this month. I’ve cut way back on veggies, a thin slice of pepper, no cukes, baby carrot, and corn husk for Millie. Ruby Sue isn’t a fan, but I have timothy treats so she gets 2 each day. Millie doesn’t care for those.

The vet I see automatically prescribed Albon. She didn’t do a fecal smear. I think Albon is her go-to for a variety of issues. She’s prescribed that in the past when I brought Lacey there when she was sick from Baytril that another clinic prescribed. The other clinic thought she had a UTI, but then wouldn’t see her again because they said they weren’t equipped to treat guinea pigs. I got in to see our current vet and Lacey got a thorough exam. This vet suspected hormonal bleeding and not a UTI. We stopped the Baytril and she prescribed Albon. Lacey recovered, and it turned out to be hormonal bleeding.

[Sef]

As a long-time IBS sufferer myself, I do know that I sometimes have to be careful with lettuce. I don't know why, but it can make me feel really uncomfortable if I eat too much of it. But that tends to be romaine or iceberg more so than green leaf. Still, I almost wonder if lettuces in general can be a trigger for the sensitive guts of certain guinea pigs. Toward the end of his life, Harold could eat very few veggies without it causing a flare-up but I didn't really think in terms of lettuce being the culprit. Now I wonder.

[ItsaZoo]

I have a friend whose sister is a nurse. She says lettuce is one of the foods that is most difficult to digest.

Millie did a little backslide overnight. She was kind of puffy and fussy this morning, and not eating as much hay. I gave her the same meds she was getting up until the weekend. When I offered CC she wolfed it down. She’s been watching the fridge and chewing on the bars when I’m getting food out, so she has an appetite. She just wants the good stuff, so I’ll have to give her some corn husks and maybe a strip of baby carrot. I’ll probably have to grow some grass indoors so I have a fresh snack. I’m not sure what else I could get that has fiber but not too much calcium.

[Sef]

I really do think there could be a correlation with IBS flare-ups and lettuce. I'm keeping it to a minimum in Albert's diet, and *so far* he seems to be doing a little better.

I like the idea of fresh grass. A few years ago, I tried my hand at growing wheat grass. Not too easy to grow (for me, anyway), but it was well-liked and seemed to be well-tolerated. Some of the little "cat grass" flats might be a good alternative-?

[ItsaZoo]

Millie is doing well again. She’s done with her meds and looking for treats every time I walk by. She’s eating more hay and drinking more water. I’m so relieved.

I’m going to try one fresh veggie at a time and very small amounts. She has no problem with carrots. I’m going to try a small slice of a pepper each day and see how she feels. I think the vitamin C is important.

I’ve grown cat grass, I think the seeds looked like barley to me. And we have a plant nursery that sells seed to grow Easter grass. More people are using that for centerpieces and decorations instead of the plastic grass that you line baskets with. I asked if it was treated with anything and it’s not. I don’t know what kind of grass it is, but it’s easy to grow and comes up in a few days.

[ItsaZoo]

I took Millie to the vet on Saturday to have her look at Millie’s front feet. Her feet look red and inflamed to me. I’ve been using a paw salve daily for a long time, but I switched back to Mupirocin over the past few weeks. The vet recommended applying it 3 times a day, and washing with anti-fungal shampoo no more than twice a week.

She has crooked feet that splay out, and the vet suspects at one time she had a vitamin C deficiency. So I need to up her vitamin C to 50 mg daily. Of course, Millie has decided she doesn’t like her Oxbow vitamin C, so I’m putting Oasis drops on Simple Rewards treats several times a day.

I’m not sure what else I can do. If she was more active I think it would help. I have her food, water, pellets and hideys all spread out so she moves but she sit as in one place a lot.

[SardonicSmile]

Is she on glucosamin? It might help with movement if she has joint issues. (Not sure if this actually does help piggies whatsoever, but I have my almost six year old on it and she seems to be moving around a bit more)

[Lynx]

I think of limited causes for a simple reddish inflammation. Abrasion and irritation being most likely. Irritation from contact with urine, abrasion from bedding. Might be interesting to do some experimentation using a liquid bandage on a single foot (cleaning then drying daily before reapplying the liquid bandage/barrier to urine) to see if that improves it.

What you describe sounds common. I think lots of guinea pigs have feet that are "not happy".

[ItsaZoo]

There might be more going on here. Overnight she didn’t eat much and only a few poos. Today she’s sitting in one place and not interested in eating corn husks, which is a favorite.

She breathes heavier than Ruby Sue, and I have asked two different vets about possible heart issues. They both listened and said her heart and breathing sounded good. I don’t know what to think. I’ll have to start CC today to keep her strength up.

As far as bedding irritation, the vet asked if I used Tide detergent. I don’t, I use Dropps which is supposed to be non-chemical vegetable based. I do use a sanitizing rinse and I think I’ll switch back to vinegar.

[ItsaZoo]

The soonest I can get an appointment is Thursday morning. She is lethargic and not interested in eating. I mixed up CC, she had a couple of syringes and some water, but she doesn’t want any more. So I’ll wait a while and try again. She ate a couple blades of fresh grass, but left the rest. Definitely not feeling well.

[Lisa12]

Maybe its some kind of infection...hope you figure it out.. we re sending positive vibrations your way and keeping fingers crossed!!