Hind end/back injury

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Feb 23, 2005 5:52 pm


I don't know why but I thought for a moment you were talking about holding off on taking a valium yourself. I used it once when I had a sore neck -- it worked wonders to relax the muscles (this was maybe 20 years ago). Glad to hear she's improving.

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AliceMcmallis
Supporter in '08

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 7:51 am


Megan is now Trevor. I had a suspicion that she was a he, but as it wasn't a high priority I didn't do some serious checking until last night. I think he's holding his testicles up inside him most of the time, but they're definitely there.

This adds a new dimension, as I'm not sure how well the Roxy cart will work for a boy. Will I have to adjust it somehow to allow for him urinating in a slightly different direction?

Also, I'm worried about impaction. I've noticed a couple of times that he's getting a little blob of poop stuck in there. It's more like a bunch of little wee poops all stuck together. Poor little thing.

I've got pictures too although they're not the greatest.

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AliceMcmallis
Supporter in '08

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 7:55 am


Here is Trevor's butt, not sure how much of the junk you can see. His skin has that white crust mostly all over.

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This is Trevor "standing" on his hind feet. I was trying to get across the position of his feet. I think that's how he has them all the time, and the left one in particular is not showing much reaction when I touch it or tap it.

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Trevor trying to walk towards a piece of parsley. He would pull his front feet forward and the back ones would come out like he was stretching them.

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AliceMcmallis
Supporter in '08

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:06 am


This is Trevor's belly and butt. The position I'm holding him in (all crooked/twisted) is how he always lays, it seems to be most comfortable for him. I'm thinking I should be discouraging it.

Note how he's got the poos stuck coming out of his butt.

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What a cute little guy he is:
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Now, when the vet looked at his x-rays (not a guinea pig expert) the first thing he said was that it looked like severe arthritis. We discounted that as he's only 7 months old and were pretty sure he'd been mishandled. But is this a real possibility? Why would the vet say that if it isn't arthritis? Is there something else that would show up on x-rays as looking like arthritis?

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AliceMcmallis
Supporter in '08

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:25 am


I fed him some veggies for the first time last night (1 piece of romaine lettuce and a baby carrot), and unfortunately they went right through him. He had a big, wet, greenish glob of poo under him a few hours later. We also gave him lots of fluid though, so maybe that had something to do with it?

I'm not feeding him any more veg until his system gets under control I think. This morning - after having lots of Critical Care last night - he had some bigger, better formed poos in his carrier, but also another blob of little poos stuck together. For the most part his poos have been the little hamster ones.

He also ate the veg very strangely. When he was eating the piece of romaine he seemed to be only biting it with his front teeth. And with the carrot he would bite off a piece and then put it down. My friend looked at his teeth with an otoscope and thought the molars looked good (no obvious spurs anyway). Any idea why he would only be taking small bites with his front teeth like that? My friend suggested that maybe he wasn't really hungry and because he couldn't move out of the way of what I was shoving in his face, he was trying to move *it* away from him.

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salana
GL is Just Peachy

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:41 am


He's not a Satin, is he?

pinta

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:52 am


You could cut a scoop out of the cart base for him to eliminate. Old injuries can look like arthritis. Roxy had some scarring on her back from her first injury as a baby.

He looks like he could be a satin(you'll need to confirm the breed). Ask the vet to take a close look at the bone density on the xrays. You may need to supplement with calcium but wait until someone can tell you how the bones are looking. Unneccessary calcium can cause a set of new problems.

I think the teeth will need a closer look. Pigs have a lousy sense of smell and if he doesn't want the food, he'd just turn his head to avoid it.

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AliceMcmallis
Supporter in '08

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:56 am


It's funny, after I posted the pictures I started thinking "Hmm, he looks like a satin". But up close I don't notice anything particularly special about his fur.

I will call the vet now and ask him to look at the x-ray again and pay special attention to the bone density. Will also give him the info about old injuries, thanks. Maybe I should take in a regular pig and have him x-rayed for comparison? Maybe I'll take both in at the same time and see if we can get dental x-rays on Trevor too.

Any other way I could tell if he was a satin?

pinta

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:11 am


All I know is the fur absolutely glows because the hair shaft is hollow and reflects(?) light.

Comparison xrays is a great idea. They may have some on file to save you the cost. If they're inexperienced with dental issues, a comparison xray from a pig you know doesn't have teeth issues would be very useful.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:00 am


He had a big, wet, greenish glob of poo under him a few hours later -- you know these are the caecal pellets that he should be reingesting for the B vitamins. I hope he does.

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AliceMcmallis
Supporter in '08

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:33 pm


I was going to ask about that, because it's obvious he can't reach under himself to eat his caecal pellets. What you're referring to I was positive was just the lettuce. I used the wrong term when I said glob, it was more of a globby smear and really looked like steamed spinach. Could this really be caecal pellets mashed up though?

I tried to offer some of the other blobs of poo to him, just in case they were caecal pellets but he didn't want them. Should I try and force him to eat them? Mix them with his Critical Care maybe?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:59 pm


I don't know. Maybe make sure that they are caecal pellets and if so give him some by syringe.

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