Worst Guinea Pig carer in the world or the unluckiest?

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rjespicer

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:10 pm


OK I hadnt been separating out the amount as we were just trying to get her to take as much as possible each time. Each batch is usually disposed of within 24 hours.

The vet told me to take her of Metacam completely. She is just on Chloro-P and Lasix right now

She was slightly more active when I got home and had another 6ml of critical care (putting her up to about 31-32 ml today which is about what she was taking when she was ill last time but she was eating better then) but it was cold and she had only just had some about 2.5 hours earlier. I will try taking it out before plan on using to warm up a bit it and maybe stand the bowl in some hot water or have a bowl of warm water I can put the syringe in. I have seen her rummaging through the veggies picking at stuff and even fighting big Chunkita for some bits but I couldn't tell if she actually ate anything.

She still seems to be breathing heavily. Hard to tell if there is any change there but it doesn't seem any worse.

She is due some Benebac now so I will try feeding her again in a couple of hours and see what she will take then.

She seems a little more alert and comes over to see what I am doing when I am by teh cage. When I put my hand in the pen or offer food to her in she sticks her head right over but still wont necessarily eat everything she is offered and still hides under the blankets quite a bit.

Her weight was 765g right after I had given her the one and a bit syringes after her meds. So down a bit from when she came back from the vet yesterday but she had just beed fed 2 teaspoons of critical care shortly before I picked her up.

Off to give her some Benebac and then go and buy some Chard. Unfortunately the local supermarket is out of wheatgrass and the daughter put the last tray we had in the pen this afternoon.

Heres hoping she keeps showing improvement

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:46 am


What is Chloro-P?

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:06 pm


Chloramphenicol palmitate.

It is listed on the Antibiotics page after Baytril.
https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotics. ... amphenicol
I have to wear gloves as it is poisonous to humans if ingested.

I am just too lazy to type the whole thing out

She took another 2.5 of the 5ml syringes last night so we got a total of about 40-45ml of critical care in to her yesterday so about a tablespoon of powder, maybe a little more.

I started off burrito wrapping her but after a while she would start twisting and wriggling and chew on any part of the towel she could reach so in the end I had her sat on the table on a small fleece, nestled in the crook of my arm with her paws on my hand and just kept giving her a little bit at a time. She still moves her head but she eventually seems to get the message that she has to eat her food if she wants to go back in the pen. Believe it or not the airplane noises seemed to help ;-)

She was also out eating hay and rummaging through the vegetables but I didn't see if she ate any. She did eat some pepper I hand fed her plus about 1/4 to 1/2 of a leaf of green chard. I also saw her out eating pellets out of the bowl on her own at one point as well.

She is still breathing heavily but it seemed a tiny bit better. Difficult to tell.

She also came out a little bit during floor time.

So no dramatic changes but a few promising signs.

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Sep 07, 2018 5:08 pm


Nala took 2 5ml Syringes this morning before I left for work and the daughter managed to get another 4 in to her at lunch time so that is roughly 3/4 of a table spoon already so I am hoping I can get a least 3 or more in to her this evening again which will put her at over a Tablespoon for the day again. The more she takes the better.

Fingers crossed.

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:58 pm


Nala is currently on
0.15ml Lasix (10mg/ml) twice a day which works out around 2mg/Kg
0.23ml Chlora-P (100mg/ml) twice a day which works out to around 30mg/Kg

Both doses are lower than that the calculator and info on this site suggest. Lasix would be 0.38ml to 0.76ml and CP would be 0.38ml but perhaps she is giving lower doses to take it easy on her? Unless the calculator is giving the total daily dose not the the 12 hour dose?

Anyway she seems a little more active again today. Was out waiting when I went to the fridge like she used to do but didn't seem interested in much of the veggies I put out. We are currently out of wheatgrass which is a shame but so far today she has had 50ml of critical care (about 1.25 tablespoons) and I still have one more feed to go. She has been a bit better about taking the Critical Care which is a relief. The daughter seems to have the knack and as I said she got 20ml in to Nala at lunch time and I managed to get another 20ml in to her when i got home from work, which is on top of the 10ml she had before I went to work.

She was down 7g today at 757 but she was fed earlier than usual this afternoon by about 4 hours and has been around 752 to 772 since Sunday. Her breathing seems slightly better as well.

Still being cautiously hopeful

rjespicer

Post   » Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:47 pm


Nala had 13.5 of the 5ml syringes (67.5 ml or 1.5 Table Spoons of Powder) in total on Saturday and weighed 778g at 6:30pm

She had 12.5 of the 5ml Syringes (62.5 ml or 1.5 Tablespoons of powder) in total on Sunday and weighed 788g at 6:30pm

The ml amount is slightly different each time as we occasionally have to add more water to thin it out a bit

I weigh her just before she has her medication since I am having to pick her up anyway.

So just to sumarise
Thursday - 1 tablespoon of CC Powder, Weight 765g
Friday - 1.5 tablespoons of CC Powder, Weight 757g
Saturday - 1.5 tablespoons of CC Powder, Weight 778g
Sunday - 1.5 tablespoons of CC Powder, Weight 788g

I can still see her chest moving when she breathes but I think it is slightly better, as I said it is hard to tell. She is still coughing occasionally as well.

She is eating hay and has been out eating Pellets from the bowl on her own and some veggies. She was more interested in Critical care this morning and required a little less coaxing to latch on to the syringe and had about 20ml (Half a table spoon of powder). I am hoping that this is an indication that her appetite is returning. We are aiming to get her to take 1.5 tablespoons again during the day today.

She still sleeps a lot but seems slightly more active out in the pen and has come out for a little bit of a run during floor time but not as she used to. Again it is hard to tell how much of an improvement there is from day to day, but at least she doesn't appear to be getting worse.

She still seems stable at least and the weight increase is reassuring.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:52 pm


Sounds like you are making progress putting a little weight on her. Many drugs have ranges of use. Baytril and Lasix are two I can think of. Lasix especially is adjusted to what is seems to work best.

rjespicer

Post   » Tue Sep 11, 2018 12:02 pm


Her weight had dropped a little last night to 781g but the daughter had only managed to get 3.5 syringes in to her yesterday afternoon but had also added a bunch of water to the mix that thinned it out quite a bit.

Rather than leaving me with 5-6 syringes to feed her when I got home from work it took 8.5. Thankfully Nala is more cooperative about taking critical care now, I am hoping that is her appetite returning, and guzzled it down. I did 7 when I first got home and the last 1.5 a couple of hours later as I thought trying to give her 8.5 in one go might be a bit much for her although she seemed happy to keep eating, but that is another 1.5 tablespoons of mix in one day.

When I finished feeding her she curled up in my arms for a nap.

I really hope she gets well and we get to a point where we dont have any more illnesses or infections. I am spending 2 hours in the morning before heading for work at 7.30am medicating, syringe feeding, cleaning and sorting out veggies and fresh hay then when I get home at 6.30pm it is another two hours of the same giving me about an hour to eat and do anything else I need to do before heading for bed so I can get some sleep to get up at 5:30am to do it all again.

The daughter helps during the day which is a huge relief but she is not always as reliable as I would hope as she is trying to fit in helping with her college schedule. If she wasn't helping I would probably be a nervous wreck by now or in hospital with a heart attack.

Just need a period of big, strong, happy, healthy piggies.

rjespicer

Post   » Tue Sep 11, 2018 7:13 pm


Just got a call from the vet who said that the small improvements are good but not necessarily an indication that the meds are working or treating the root cause.
She suggested an ultrasound at $700, we have already paid thousands in vet bills in the last 5 months, and the wife doesn't want the vet prodding and poking Nala anymore. Even with the ultrasound the vet says there is no guarantee that it will tell us what the issue is or even if it does tell us what the problem is it may not be treatable.
They are getting a specialist to look at the X-rays later this week to see if they have any suggestions.
I am hoping and praying that Nala makes some more significant improvement in the meantime.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:10 pm


I hope so too. I know this is taking a toll on you also.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:36 am


I'm thinking of you all. I haven't faced the terrible choice of $$-vs-treatment-vs-no treatment yet. I hope you don't either. Hugs and warm wishes.

rjespicer

Post   » Wed Sep 12, 2018 1:47 pm


She is still relatively active, yes she does sleep a bit but so do the others, she still comes out to eat pellets, hay and veggies and has been wheeking and even jumping but I can still see her chest move and head bob when she breathes, but I honestly dont think it is as bad as before.
She gobbles down the Critical care when I feed her and is still very full of life in that she isn't just sitting under the blanket all day and not eating anything on her own like Mu Mu was shortly before we lost her. From the point that we spotted the breathing issues with Mu Mu to when we lost her was only a couple of days. Nala is still soldiering on after more than a week and is more active and eating on her own which Mu Mu wasn't. Mu Mu also would not take any critical at all without a huge struggle.We are consistently getting 1.5 tablespoons of CC powder in to Nala each day though.

The daughter is helping with feeding in the afternoon which is a huge help but she is not always feeding her at the same time which means the time between weighing and feeding is not always consistent.
She was still syringe feeding her when I got home from work yesterday so had only just been fed when I weighed her at teh usual time , 803g, however I weighed her about an hour and a half later and she was 789g and had another rougly half a tablespoon after that and when I weighed her this morning on an empty stomach, before feeding, she was 781g so still stable or possibly even gaining a little. I may continue to weigh her quickly before each morning feed as a more consistent gauge of progress. She is still pooping up a storm.

If it wasn't for the visible chest movement and head bobbing when breathing (which the vet didn't seem to spot when she was in overnight for observation, until I mentioned it) and occasional coughing (usually shortly after taking meds) and the maybe 30-40% drop in activity she doesn't look like a sick piggy when she is out and about in the pen (the vet even said that her physical appearance didn't seem to tie in with what the X-Rays were showing) so I am still hoping the meds are working and she will make a good recovery.

Many thanks for the support and advice, it is greatly appreciated.

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