Emergency-- meds and dosages for bloat

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amy m guinea

Post   » Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:03 pm


I'm also interested in what special diet and care a post-bloat pigs requires. My Jenna is now doing find on a very small amount (1/8) cup of non-gassy greens and sliver of carrot 2x/day, unlimited timothy hay, and 3 feedings a day of canned pumpkin with Critical Care mixed in. This works for her, but I don't know if it would work on a more serious case.

I'm hoping your little guy gets well soon! He sounds like a fighter.

Maremma and I agree on the CC/pumpkin mixture! Perhaps I should feed more frequent and smaller portions too, it makes sense.

This experience has made me extra careful with what I feed my other pigs, I think in the past I fed them too many greens and chard. Just my thoughts.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:58 pm


JudiL is 100% right. "Avoid in cases of true obstruction" means take an x-ray and if a true blockage is shown, don't do motility drugs and forcefeeding. They can have truly devastating consequences.

Chii, how old is Perriwig? In our experience, older animals (4+) benefit from more frequent, smaller feedings as Maremma mentions, and smaller vegetable pieces at one time, given more often.

I don't think torsion and Sweetpea's 'telescoping' (our vet's lay term for a long, unpronounceable medical word) are exactly the same condition. The net effect is similar, though, as I understand it.

I'd seriously doubt Perriwig has experienced a torsion. As I understand it, it is hideously painful and nearly always, very quickly, fatal.

How is he doing today?

My vet's protocol can certainly be listed in reference or linked to, but I would feel better if Josephine or someone else competent to do so (read: not me) would review it and modify it specifically for a cavy, so that someone reading it in a panic and in a hurry doesn't have to think about modification.

This treatment is for hypomotility/ileus -- that is, stasis. Stasis and bloat are not exactly the same thing. A pig can be bloated and not experience stasis, although a lot (most?) of bloat cases do, unfortunately, go into stasis.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:14 am


Got it [concerning the motility drug question], thanks.

A vet tipped me about pumpkin back when Zachary was having so much trouble with AB's and was really gassy and producing funky poops. He loved the stuff, and the moisture + fiber really seemed to have a positive effect.

chii
I Love Lucy

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:17 am


So sorry, guys... I was up every couple of hours last night with Perriwig and was then at work all day today. I'm now sufficiently exhausted. Thank you ALL again for all of the advice and kind words.

Perriwig seemed much better last night when I got up to do his 2am meds. He was munching on food. At 5am, he was still eating away and fled from me into his house when I went to get him out for his injection. He also felt well enough to scream bloody murder. At that same time, I noticed POOPS in his cage!!!! I took him to work at 8am and took a new x-ray, which while still showing extremely small gassy areas in the intestines, looked great! Perriwig was eating away and PISSED that we kept bothering him. Although his weight is still down, he looked more filled out just overnight, probably because he was finally getting food in his system. I think he'll be on his way back up to normal very soon.

He looks bright and alert today and is acting like nothing happened at all. It truly blows my mind to see how he is today when he seemed so close to death yesterday. My vets were all prepared to console me when I came in this morning and were utterly shocked to hear of his amazing recovery.

I called the wonderful vet who consulted with me and gave me the advice on how to treat him and asked her what to do next. She says to continue his treatment regimen for five days. (My god, five days and nights of meds every 3 hours... it reminds me of when Aya was sick... I'll be a zombie for sure.) She gave me diet, etc. recommendations for after that. For now, he should stay on only hay and pellets. Once these first few critical days are over, we can introduce veggies such as lettuces and parsley. As someone else stated, he should never have fruits again nor any veggies that aren't staples. The nice vet lady was SO glad to hear that Perriwig is doing so much better and I thanked her profusely for taking the time to talk to me. I truly 100% believe that her advice saved his life. Had she not spoken with me yesterday, I would have followed the almost completely contradictory advice of another exotics vet whom I'd spoken with earlier in the day, though that vet has never been one I really trusted. I just hadn't been able to get any advice from another even semi-knowledgeable vet at that point.

So all of that being said, I would like to say that I HIGHLY, highly recommend Dr. Elizabeth Kamaka in Kirkland, WA based on her wonderful expertise and advice (now demonstrated in practice) and her kindness and willingness to help someone in need, even though I had never met her or used her practice in the past. She was so extremely helpful and sympathetic and kind. Even though she is a ways away, I will consider her for future care for my piggies.

Anyway, enough praising for now. I'm just SO incredibly thrilled with how Perriwig is doing. I've never seen such a sick pig that was so willing to live and that recovered so amazingly quickly and completely. At least in appearance, that is. We will continue his treatment, but I feel certain now that he will be OK. Any pig that can pull through what he went through over the last 48 hours can certainly handle the recovery. It must have taken so much heart and life to live through his experience. Now it's almost like he's forgotten what happened. I almost feel guilty when I go to give him his injections and he cries, but I just remind him that a little needle stick is nothing compared to what he's overcome.

I sound like I'm writing an inspirational book. I'm exhausted and delirious. More updates tomorrow.

chii
I Love Lucy

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:31 am


PS- I have a series of radiographs taken beginning yesterday morning, throughout the day yesterday (a series of about 5 or 6 at various times and points throughout treatment), and a recheck this morning. Most of these are at the radiologist's office, but once they come back, I'll try to get decent digital photos of them and write up notes regarding his status at those times and the treatments we did in between. I'm hoping they're something that Lynx may be able to use on the site. I'll also include the radiology report.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:43 am


We will definitely be able to use your experiences. Bloat is one of the most difficult conditions to treat and requires immediate attention.

I hope he continues to improve. An adjustment of Talishan's advice to guinea pigs would also be valuable.

For now I will add a link to this thread from the emergency page in the guide.

User avatar
rshevin

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:07 pm


Yes, I would love to see the radiographs personally. I have a pig with a sensitive tummy who's been on cisapride twice in his life. Luckily I've learned mostly how to control his gas by controlling his diet and he's never ended up with true bloat (knock on wood) but being the nerd that I am, I'm interested in learning.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:15 pm


So glad to hear that Perriwig is doing better. What did Dr. K originally recommend, other than the Buprenex? Sounds like she is a great resource to have in an emergency.

User avatar
amy m guinea

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:16 pm


Yay for poops - so glad to hear to great news about Perriwig.

chii
I Love Lucy

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:13 pm


Our entire treatment plan is based on Dr. Kamaka's recommendations. The Reglan and Simethicone dosages, tapping his stomach to remove gas, the five days of treatment and the diet recommendations. I should give her a call back and ask if probiotics should be added. I think the other vet told me to use them, but I don't recall Dr. K saying anything about it, so I haven't been using any.

Perriwig is still doing great today. He sure puts up a fight with his injections now. He's also getting treated like royalty as he's being carted to and from work with me every day (and getting to hang out in the air conditioning!). He has his own little cage setup there and everyone dotes on him all day. He's loving the attention, but he's mad that he can't have veggies. Normally when I have a pig with me at work for some reason, everyone shares fruit and veggies with them. They'll go down to the store specifically to bring back a treat for the pig. Poor Pigwig.

cutemomomi
Obey My Authority

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:32 pm


That is indeed wonderful new!
And all that extra love and attention from everyone at work can't hurt either. :)

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:51 pm


So glad that Perriwig is doing better! He sure has a strong spirit. I hope he's able to eat veggies soon. :)

I hope Dr. Kamaka will post the suggested treatment and results on VIN. Some vets (such as my local vet) do not like to try new things unless they can locate them on VIN.

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