UK Piggy - Anselmo's Medical Thread

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:31 am


Okay, so I've not updated yet so here goes.

Anselmo started his new medication (Bendrofluazide 0.625 mg a day) last Saturday, so he's been on it for almost a week now.

I was monitoring him over the past few weeks just to make sure I had a standard to compare him too.

His before:
-Weight = 1180 - 1220g
- Poops = lots and big sausage shapes
- Calicum spots = Not daily, but regular, small and powdery
- I let him drink himself, just to see what he had and he would have between 0 - 15ml of his "orange juice" each day.
-Bright, happy and interested in food.
-He was starting to bloat on one day and didn't eat his breakfast, but a dose of Emeprid and he was back to normal within an hour and had his breakfast.
-Occassional squeaking, sometimes when peeing, sometimes when pooping. Not loud and not regular

After:

-Weight = 1170 - 1220g
-Poops = lots and sausage shapes still
-Calcium spots - He did a few whoopers the first few days but seems to have settled back into his usual routine, None this morning. Still powdery
- He's drinking more - between 30ml and 60ml a day of his "orange juice"
-Still bright, happy and interested in food
-He's been squeaking a bit more, when he poops but still not all of the time or loudly.

So, he's starting to drink more on his own, and I'm going to start with the syringing of fluids again, as 30ml still isn't enough.

He's been squeaking more, but he did leave a few bigger calcium deposits the first few days after the medication started, so he might just be a bit sore.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 1:25 am


All eminently reasonable. Carry on and keep us posted.

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 5:03 am


Thanks Talishan.

His cage was cleaned out last night and this morning there were 2 1inch calcium spots and a smaller spot. All powdery still.

I find it a bit strange as the medication is supposed to stop calcium being excreted and absorbed internally instead. So, why it is coming out? And more so than usual?

I have very little medical understanding so I'll leave it to the vet to work out.

Maybe it could be that the excess calcium in his bladder is coming out now as he's drinking more? All guesswork by me.

Onwards and upwards!

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LS in AK
Upside-down & Backwards

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 6:19 am


No medical advice to add - I just lost a stone pig, so don't know how to win this war - but wanted to send best wishes and ninja vibes to you and Anselmo in trying out this new medication. Hope it helps in the long term somehow.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 9:04 am


That medication is designed to increase urination. I can't find anything about it stopping calcium from being excreted. The one study I can find on its effects in guinea pigs studied guinea pigs and rats. It had no effect on the guinea pigs as far as calcium and sodium were concerned.

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 9:16 am


Thanks LS. He's a little star, doing really well despite having had two surgeries. He squeaks a bit sometimes but is usually bright and interested in his food :)

I got that bit from my vets and their conversation with a zoo vet bpatters. Sorry I don't have any backup to it though. I was only passed on snippets by my vet but it's been very effective in zoo animals, and other vets around the country have had good results in rabbits. Obviously that doesn't mean it'll work with pigs, but we thought we'd give it a try. The zoo vet was actively looking for bladder stone pigs to try it on (he's a referral vet for pigs too)

I know of two other people who have tried it on pigs and they both stopped it because of the increased calcium deposits on the pigs bedding.

If he's not showing very positive results in a few weeks they want to take him back off it. As they're not entirely sure how it'll affect him internally.

He is drinking lots more on his own though, so that's a good sign.

After ever x-ray he's had, and he's had quite a few, the vet always commented on him having a thickened bladder wall. So, even if the medication somehow made the calcium go somewhere else I'm not sure how it would penetrate through his bladder wall.

We have enough tablets for about 60 days, so we'll take him back for a review at the beginning of Feb, unless something drastic happens in the meantime.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:14 am


Did he have an xray before starting the treatment? Might there have been an accumulation of sludge that is being peed out? Could you do a quick review of current diet?

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:25 am


He did have an xray before the treatment and it showed signs of sludge so it could be that coming out still.

He currently has per day:
Timothy & Rye Hay
Round lettuce (about 6 leaves)
A tiny slice of carrot
Cucumber (a 1cm chunk)
Red Pepper (1/4)
Tomato (a small cherry tomato)
Blueberries (one)
Currently we can still get cranberries so he has a little bit of one a day
Sweetcorn leaves when I can get them (none at the moment)

No pellets

Brita filtered bottled water.

He also takes Cystassist (which is pretty much just Glucosamine) and Potassium (The vet thinks this won't really do anything in the small dose he has but it won't harm).

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:34 am


Could you weigh the amount of cucumber in grams?

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:36 am


Yeah, I'll do it tonight.

I know a few people have said to take out the cucumber, but he's really not a big drinker so wanted him to still get some sort of fluid into him.

He is drinking more now he's on the new medicine, he had 30ml overnight (compared to maybe 5ml) so I can stop the cucumber if needed.

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Sat Jan 10, 2015 2:04 am


The piece he had for dinner was 6 g. He has veg twice a day so 12g total.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sat Jan 10, 2015 3:57 am


That's less than a half an ounce (total). That's not much.

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