Gracie had possible bloat and took her to vet. Have questions if anyone can answer.

graciethepig

Post   » Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:30 pm


Hi Lynx, I have been weighing Gracie twice a day (morning/night). What's odd is that her weight seems inconsistent. I know about it fluctuating (eating, drinking, pooping and peeing) but how much can you expect it to. When I first brought her to vet three weeks ago they said she weighed 857 grams but the next day I took her in and the vet tech said she weighed about 50 grams less than the day before. The vet said that's impossible and can't be right so I found out they didn't record that in the chart. Now I was shocked when I weighed her last night at 780 grams (better than the 760 grams earlier in day) then weighing her this morning she weighed 740 grams. That's a 40 gram difference in about a twelve hour period. The thing is I've seen her eat her hay, she has no problem chewing on the Oxbow vitamin C tab which is quite hard. She's been drinking. Now keeping mind during that 12 hour period she didn't get any critical care because I was sleeping during most of that period. She didn't pee or poop hardly at all the night before I took her to the vet. She has peed and pooped more starting last night now that she is getting the critical care. She got a total of 12.5 ml of critical care yesterday. For the most part she has been around 790-800 grams in the past week up until 2 days ago. I am really getting concerned that she's getting the critical care, eating hay and drinking and still losing weight. My girlfriend said give her time through the weekend with the critical care since she just went to the vet yesterday. However, if the weight of 857 grams three weeks ago was correct at vets and now at shes at 740. That's over 100 grams and based on this site that's very alarming.

The vet said that she could have a problem with her back teeth or if she has a mass and that if she wasn't accepting the critical care he would suggest an ultrasound to see if there is any cancer. I'm hoping for the best but wondering if there is anything else I could do or give her to bring her weight up. Should I give her more critical care than I am? The vets office said give her 5-15ml per day as long as she is eating. Well she's eating hay and today a couple pieces of dandelion leaves. One thing I have noticed and maybe part of her problem is that she isn't eating many pellets. She won't eat the new Oxbow pellets but has been eating her usual plain pellets I have been buying her for years. If I am correct she should be eating about a quarter cup a day but she hasn't. Since she's not getting the nutrition from lack of eating enough pellets may explain why she wasn't eating again. Can I feed her something else in addition to critical care and hay that will bring her weight up? Does she need more protein? I seem to think just eating some dandelion green, critical care and hay may not be enough to bolster weight. Any thoughts would much be appreciated.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:50 pm


Usually guinea pigs are given perhaps a couple tablespoons of pellets a day. There are significant fluctuations normally (one or two ounces) but a trend certainly indicates a problem.

For more to evaluate her weight, look over weigh.html more closely (there are guidelines a vet provided for evaluating condition).

Continue to hand feed to keep her weight up. Some people will put a moistened ball of Critical Care on a plate that a guinea pig can eat itself.

If there are teeth issues, an experienced veterinary dentist would take an xray to evaluate the teeth, especially if the issue is not evident by inspection.
malocclusion.html

graciethepig

Post   » Wed May 02, 2018 11:50 am


Hey everyone, it's been awhile since I posted about Gracie. Here's the update. She would improve maintaining her weight, eating and drinking for about twelve days and then drop a bunch of weight overnight. Last Friday evening she has been holding a steady weight of 810 grams then Saturday morning she weighed 760. She stayed in her tree trunk hiding the whole weekend occasionally coming out to drink or eat some hay. I knew she didn't feel good when she refused a piece of carrot or the Oxbow Vit. C tab (that she absolutely loves). Took her to vet Monday morning and went ahead with recommended ultrasound to see what's going on. Vet found what looks like an ovarian cyst about a centimeter in size. He said he wouldn't recommend surgery due to her age (5 1/2 yrs old). He recommended Lupron for hormonal therapy when needed every 28 days. Apparently he has never used on guinea pigs because he had to research it first. He said he used it on birds successfully. When he found out it could be used he gave her a shot of it and she is to get Metacam .05 once a day for seven days.

Has anyone had success with Lupron or know of success using it for cyst? I researched this and found that ovarian cysts are common in gp's especially older ones. I have been giving her Critical Care everyday (3 times a day) at about 7 to 9 ml each feeding. Although I don't see her eating much but she is maintaining weight. She is drinking and seems to be hydrated. She was currently 790 grams this morning. So at least she is gaining somewhat. She'll eat a couple dandelion leaves if I put in front of her by hand feeding. I saw her eating a couple pellets or so. She's peeing but not much poop at all. I feel bad that since Saturday morning she's been hiding and not much else of activity. I wonder if the dosage and frequency of pain med is enough. Even when she was sick when this first started she'd bounce back fairly quickly (originally gas was diagnosed shown in x-ray). I know it's only been two days since vet visit and the shot but it worries me that she is like this. He did say the Lupron takes awhile to set in and why he gave pain meds. I have a follow up visit set for Monday with vet.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions they could give me? I would really appreciate it. We just want to see her back to her old self. Thanks.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed May 02, 2018 12:33 pm


It's often used for older sows. It may or may not work, and the length of time that it works also varies widely.

graciethepig

Post   » Wed May 02, 2018 2:45 pm


Hi bpatters, yeah I wonder if this was going to work but I guess it's worth a try. I guess this cyst is what's causing her problem with the loss of appetite. I don't think I mentioned that he said her gut looks fine through ultrasound and she wasn't too gassy so that rules out the original diagnosis of possible gas/bloat. Unless the gas then was caused from not eating because of the cyst.

Although I want to see her improve and hope this Lupron works, I don't want to see her like this if it doesn't help over time. What kind of life is she to have hiding in her home all the time and being force fed critical care three times a day. I hate to think of it but have to also consider what might have to be the hard decision of putting her down. My daughter will be so sad but we have to do what's right for Gracie, not us. Would you agree with me? Anybody else feel free to comment too. Now for the record, I am still holding on to hope and not giving up yet.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed May 02, 2018 10:32 pm


I do not remember anyone citing loss of appetite being caused by ovarian cysts. There can be slight weight loss but guinea pigs usually don't need to be hand fed. I think something else is causing her inappetence.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed May 02, 2018 10:40 pm


Ditto Lynx.

graciethepig

Post   » Thu May 03, 2018 9:31 am


Hi Lynx and bpatters, yeah I wonder if this exotic vet is giving me the best advice. I told the staff about her not improving and they called me this morning just a few minutes ago and told me the doctor said there should have been improvement with the Lupron and that something else must be going on. Now he suggests exploratory procedure on Gracie. They are going to send me the costs of procedure to my email. I can only imagine the cost too. Wondering if the Lupron injection was even necessary from what you two had mentioned about loss of appetite not being an issue from the cause of cysts. However, I did find loss of appetite on some sites but from you are saying it may be slight loss and not excessive. She doesn't seem interested much in food except for eating some hay and few pellets here and there. Definitely not enough I think to keep her weight up. The critical care at least should be helping.

Should I keep going back to this exotic vet or should I try another place for a second opinion. I hate putting her through all this. I am sure it's stressing her out on top of all of what's going on with her. Should I let him do the exploratory procedure? What would you do in this case?

kailaeve1271

Post   » Thu May 03, 2018 9:45 am


I would see another vet for a second opinion. Especially if, from what I read, your thinking she’s in pain to the point where you’re considering putting her down. I’d have then check her mouth for cysts. Does anyone else think pain or something may be a factor?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu May 03, 2018 10:25 am


I doubt seriously that cysts in the mouth are the problem.

I would see another vet. As far as I know, Lupron doesn't work instantaneously, so it may be too soon to expect results.

graciethepig

Post   » Mon May 14, 2018 7:17 pm


Hi everyone, wanted to update you about Gracie. I have sad news but I had put her down today. It was tough and my daughter was so sad but we think that it was the best for Gracie. I went to a different exotic vet and he seems so much more knowledgeable than the first. He found a mass on her left side where as the other vet did not. He told me that he did not recommend exploratory surgery as the other vet suggested. He also said usually guinea pigs are not good candidates for surgery especially since Gracie was older at 5 1/2 years old. That being said we don't know for sure why she had the problem she did but she seemed in pain and it was heartbreaking seeing her last night in the cage acting the way she was. I really thought she wouldn't pull through last night but she did and I had to do something. I do appreciate all of the responses I received from the ones who commented and gave their input. At least now Gracie will no longer be in any pain. My daughter mentioned about getting another one some day but I said we probably should get two of them to keep each other company (didn't know that before we bought her). I hope the next pets are as sweet as Gracie. Take care everyone!!!

graciethepig

Post   » Mon May 14, 2018 7:20 pm


Oh and another thing. I am so much more informed by reading up about guinea pigs and also by visiting this site and maybe next time I'll be more prepared for the unexpected.

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