I'm worried about Rosie.

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pinta

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 3:26 am


Probably Meloxicam would be better. Ours dispenses in single drops so I don't know the actual dose.

I don't know how much success you would have in getting the pus up a needle. It would have to be wide gauge. A shunt is not that big a deal - the ones we've had done are just a bit of latex or rubber tubing stitched into the wound. They just keep the wound open so you can keep flushing it.

I do think you need to switch to a different AB. Evidently, the Bactrim isn't doing anything. In an ideal world, you'd wait 3 days with no ABs so you could culture the pus but you may not have the luxury of time.

Has he been on Baytril yet?

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Paravati
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 3:32 am


Yes, he is on Baytril now. He was switched to Baytril this past Friday. The abcess continues to grow, despite the Baytril.

I found an ER vet who doesn't know anything about Guinea Pigs but is willing to take a look at him. I will have to trust her knowledge of abcesses - If she thinks it needs to be drained, she will try and drain it. If she says I'm overreacting and it's ok at least I will have some peace of mind.

They have no idea what to do with medications and asked me to print out the meds page here and bring it in. I think I might can get Rimadyl; they don't seem to have heard of Meloxicam. The only thing I am worried about is that MY vet won't give him Rimadyl because she is worried he might have liver disease. Will it be harmful to him, if he DOES have liver disease, to get Rimadyl for two days or so until we can get back to my regular vet?
Last edited by Paravati on Thu Nov 27, 2003 3:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Paravati
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 3:34 am


And the needle that my vet uses to drain his abcess is the same kind I use for subcues - It has a pink tip and is the next size up from a butterfly needle, I believe. The first time the abcess was drained I believe they got 3ml of fluid out of it (it filled up one of those bigger 3 cc syringes). The same when it was drained today. Now, I think it's probably got at least 2ml of pus in it, unless I am mistaken about the puffiness of it. It just FEELS like there's liquid in there. That means it needs draining, right?

(we're printing out all 14 pages of the meds sheet before going to the ER)

pinta

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 4:37 am


Meloxicam is also Metacam. Torb is a nartcotic painkiller that will probably make him groggy.

Th ER vet would know if the Rimadyl is safe for a couple of days.

Ask the ER vet about Chloramphenicol or Doxy.

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Paravati
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 5:25 am


We just got back. The ER vet was not able to withdraw much of anything from Rosie's abcess. She got some stinky blackish red fluid, but no pus. She tried in two different spots.

She was out of both Meloxicam and Chloramphenicol. She didn't want to give Rimadyl because of the liver damage possibility. She felt that he would be ok until Friday when we could take him back to my regular vet, and said her Chloramphenicol had already been ordered and would be in by then if I wanted to come pick some up at that time. She didn't think the abcess was in danger of rupturing or anything before Friday.

She gave me some butterfly needles in case I needed to give him a subcue while we were out of town. I'm packing a bunch of supplies for the day just in case I need anything - Nolvasan, syringes, subcue stuff, etc.

I do feel better that a qualified person looked at the abcess but I wish there was more we could do for him. It sucks having to wait like this, knowing he's in pain.

Thanks for your help, Pinta.

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Paravati
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 8:16 pm


Rosie's blind eye appears to be sinking into his skull. Does anybody have any experience with this? It looks like it's shrinking or something, leaving the outer lids too loose and flappy. He's still not eating much and I'm going to the vet tomorrow morning for some dental XRays to see if we can nail down what's really going wrong. I am worried that possibly his roots are elongated. But the blind eye sinking into his skull really worries me. The abcess, the eye... I think he might be dying, and I'm scared. Is there anything else I can do for him tonight?

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salana
GL is Just Peachy

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 8:20 pm


Feed him, give him subcues, snuggle him. Can you have his eye removed tomorrow? It might be dying. Can you flush the abscess at all?

glade
Even Republicans Give!

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 8:25 pm


Hug him tight!
Rosie will be in my thoughts tonight...i

pinta

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 8:31 pm


I don't know of the Chloramphenicol would help but it could be worth a shot.

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Paravati
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 8:34 pm


He got a subcue today. He ate some watermelon and some veggies I shredded up really fine today for his Thanksgiving Dinner, but he's refusing Critical Care for the first time in about a month. He usually loves the stuff. He went with me in a Tupperware I'm Sick house to the family dinner and everybody fussed over him. My uncle even helped me hold him so he could get his subcue.

This is just killing me, because I don't feel like he's "given up" yet. He still purrs at me when I walk by, and gives me little nose-kisses. He just seems tired all the time now, and lays around a lot, and doesn't want to eat. But he perks up when I come to pet him. I just don't know what else to do.

The abcess is not open. It has been drained several times by inserting a needle, an aspiration really. Nobody seems to think that Rosie would survive being put to sleep for a drain to be put in. The Baytril doesn't seem to be working.

I talked to Charybdis last night and she gave me some good advice about going for some dental rads. If he's got a condition like really bad elongated roots, there might not be much we can do anyway. If it really only is an abcessed root because of the split incisor, at least we will know that's what it is and we can decide at that point what to do about it. From what I understand, they have to excise the jaw, right? Go in from underneath to pull the tooth and root out? I am just so scared.

Rosie has managed to really creep into my heart this last month, the little bastard. I will just absolutely not be able to stand it if I can't pull him out of this. I just won't.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 10:30 pm


Just make sure he is well hydrated. I hope you get some encouraging information tomorrow.

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Paravati
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Nov 27, 2003 10:49 pm


He seems a bit better now. We have been home for a while, about two and a half hours I guess. I think he is happy to be home. He's drinking out of his water bottle and trying to eat some hay. Perhaps being someplace else stressed him out. I finally noticed (duh, me) that there were no poops in his I'm Sick cage so he got some Simethicone and Lactulose. I think he feels better after the meds even though he hasn't started pooping again. I have been so worried about his abcess I didn't think to check to see if he was bloated. He hasn't had bloat issues in a while. Can Baytril make a pig get bloated? I seem to remember hearing something about Baytril and somebody's pig getting constipated??

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