Bordetella - URGENT
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GetShelly
- I give
I thought I would post the final report I got today regarding Tiffany's necropsy. Seems there was much miscommunication in my early talks with the doctors.
But anyway, Tiffany had a lot of things wrong with her, and I don't fully understand all of this report to say what actually killed her. I will say, she never showed the classic signs of ovarian cysts (never thin in the shoulders, never lost hair, never too aggressive, and at 2.8 lbs, a chubby, well formed girl). I guess all this hid the cysts.
And, if she was bloated, and suffering from liver failure, it all must have happened very fast, because I'm a very doting cavy mom, and can't believe I could have missed it. She was wheeking for food the day prior to her death, and seemed to tear into the food. I'm glad she didn't seem to be in much pain until the very end. Poor girl.
This is very long. But I thought it might be useful. See next post.
But anyway, Tiffany had a lot of things wrong with her, and I don't fully understand all of this report to say what actually killed her. I will say, she never showed the classic signs of ovarian cysts (never thin in the shoulders, never lost hair, never too aggressive, and at 2.8 lbs, a chubby, well formed girl). I guess all this hid the cysts.
And, if she was bloated, and suffering from liver failure, it all must have happened very fast, because I'm a very doting cavy mom, and can't believe I could have missed it. She was wheeking for food the day prior to her death, and seemed to tear into the food. I'm glad she didn't seem to be in much pain until the very end. Poor girl.
This is very long. But I thought it might be useful. See next post.
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GetShelly
- I give
TIFFANY NECROPSY
Final Report
Date of Death: 08/27/2007
Date of Report: 09/07/2007
Gastric dilatation
Cystic ovaries
Moderate segmental nephrosclerosis
Moderate hepatic lipidosis
Mild to moderate bronchopneumonia
Focal mild epicarditis
Comments
The most likely cause of Tiffany’s death was the gastric dilation (bloat). There was no evidence of a gastrointestinal impaction to cause the gastric dilatation, but decreased intestinal motility can result in the same disease. There was no definitive evidence of Bordetella bronchispetica on aerobic culture of the lung. There were no bacteria isolated on aerobic culture of the lung. Staphylococcus species (most likely a contaminant) was isolated from the liver. Bacterial bronchopneumonia, such as in this case, can be caused by many different bacteria. Cystic ovaries and the lesions in the kidneys (nephrosclerosis) are common findings in older guinea pigs. The kidney lesions may or may not have been clinically significant. Hepatic lipidosis can be seen when an animal is not consuming enough energy to meet its energy demands. The epicarditis in the heart was most likely not clinically significant.
Necropsy Findings
The guinea pig was in good body condition with mild post mortem decomposition. The thoracic cavity had about 2 ml of light brown fluid. The pericardial sac was full of blood, but no obvious origin of the blood was determined.
The cranial ventral lung fields contained areas which were dark red to purple, firm and consolidated. The affected lung comprised approximately 30% of the total lung fields.
The liver was enlarged and had a diffusely pale tan, rough, irregular, and granular appearance. Areas of the caudal surface appeared black and necrotic.
The stomach was severely gas distended and the serosal surface was dark red to black.
The kidneys were pitted and had a diffusely light, irregular, and granular appearance. There were pale tan streaks and small cystic structures, possibly coinciding with the glomeruli in the cortex of the kidney.
Both ovaries contained large (1-2 cm) thin walled cystic structures. About three were noted in the left ovary and two on the right.
These tissues were examined and determined to be grossly normal: small intestine, spleen, adrenal glands, skin, diaphragm, bladder, and uterus.
Histopathologic Description
Kidney: There are multiple linear bands of interstitial fibrosis with infiltrates of small numbers of lymphocytes and plasma cells that extend from the corticomdedullary junctions of the capsular surface. Within these bands of interstitial fibrosis, the cortical tubules are widely separated and the glomeruli are close together. Bowman’s capsule of these glomeruli is often thickened by eoosinophilic material. Bowman’s space of the affected glomeruli is often cystically dilated by eosinophilic proteinaceous material. The affected glomeruli are often hypocellular and shrunken with thickening of the mesangium and capillary basement membranes by eosinophilic material. The cortical and medullary tubules associated with the affected areas often contain eosinophilic proteinaceous material.
Liver: Diffusely, the hepatocytes are swollen by single to multiple clear cytoplasmic lipid vacuoles that displace the nucleus to one side. There are a few foci of necrosis and hepatocellular loss filled with hemorrhage, fibrin, and granulation tissue.
Lungs: The lung is congested and edematous. Many alveoli contain moderate numbers of neutrophilis and alveolar macrophages.
Heart: The epicardium contains a small focus of lymphocytes and lesser number of plasma cells and neutrophilis.
There are no significant microscopic lesions in the spleen, heart, small intestine, large intestine, or adrenal glands.
Final Report
Date of Death: 08/27/2007
Date of Report: 09/07/2007
Gastric dilatation
Cystic ovaries
Moderate segmental nephrosclerosis
Moderate hepatic lipidosis
Mild to moderate bronchopneumonia
Focal mild epicarditis
Comments
The most likely cause of Tiffany’s death was the gastric dilation (bloat). There was no evidence of a gastrointestinal impaction to cause the gastric dilatation, but decreased intestinal motility can result in the same disease. There was no definitive evidence of Bordetella bronchispetica on aerobic culture of the lung. There were no bacteria isolated on aerobic culture of the lung. Staphylococcus species (most likely a contaminant) was isolated from the liver. Bacterial bronchopneumonia, such as in this case, can be caused by many different bacteria. Cystic ovaries and the lesions in the kidneys (nephrosclerosis) are common findings in older guinea pigs. The kidney lesions may or may not have been clinically significant. Hepatic lipidosis can be seen when an animal is not consuming enough energy to meet its energy demands. The epicarditis in the heart was most likely not clinically significant.
Necropsy Findings
The guinea pig was in good body condition with mild post mortem decomposition. The thoracic cavity had about 2 ml of light brown fluid. The pericardial sac was full of blood, but no obvious origin of the blood was determined.
The cranial ventral lung fields contained areas which were dark red to purple, firm and consolidated. The affected lung comprised approximately 30% of the total lung fields.
The liver was enlarged and had a diffusely pale tan, rough, irregular, and granular appearance. Areas of the caudal surface appeared black and necrotic.
The stomach was severely gas distended and the serosal surface was dark red to black.
The kidneys were pitted and had a diffusely light, irregular, and granular appearance. There were pale tan streaks and small cystic structures, possibly coinciding with the glomeruli in the cortex of the kidney.
Both ovaries contained large (1-2 cm) thin walled cystic structures. About three were noted in the left ovary and two on the right.
These tissues were examined and determined to be grossly normal: small intestine, spleen, adrenal glands, skin, diaphragm, bladder, and uterus.
Histopathologic Description
Kidney: There are multiple linear bands of interstitial fibrosis with infiltrates of small numbers of lymphocytes and plasma cells that extend from the corticomdedullary junctions of the capsular surface. Within these bands of interstitial fibrosis, the cortical tubules are widely separated and the glomeruli are close together. Bowman’s capsule of these glomeruli is often thickened by eoosinophilic material. Bowman’s space of the affected glomeruli is often cystically dilated by eosinophilic proteinaceous material. The affected glomeruli are often hypocellular and shrunken with thickening of the mesangium and capillary basement membranes by eosinophilic material. The cortical and medullary tubules associated with the affected areas often contain eosinophilic proteinaceous material.
Liver: Diffusely, the hepatocytes are swollen by single to multiple clear cytoplasmic lipid vacuoles that displace the nucleus to one side. There are a few foci of necrosis and hepatocellular loss filled with hemorrhage, fibrin, and granulation tissue.
Lungs: The lung is congested and edematous. Many alveoli contain moderate numbers of neutrophilis and alveolar macrophages.
Heart: The epicardium contains a small focus of lymphocytes and lesser number of plasma cells and neutrophilis.
There are no significant microscopic lesions in the spleen, heart, small intestine, large intestine, or adrenal glands.
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Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Thank you for sharing this with us.
I do not think cystic ovaries are unusual. I would expect they would only be a cause of death if they had been extremely enlarged and burst and/or somehow became infected.
I fear many guinea pigs will show bloat post mortem because the food left in the stomache would immediately start to decompose and could cause a gas buildup, perhaps unrelated to any possibility of bloat while the guinea pig was alive.
Hopefully Josephine will have an opportunity to look at your report and add something (she is far, far more knowledgeable than I am).
I do not think cystic ovaries are unusual. I would expect they would only be a cause of death if they had been extremely enlarged and burst and/or somehow became infected.
I fear many guinea pigs will show bloat post mortem because the food left in the stomache would immediately start to decompose and could cause a gas buildup, perhaps unrelated to any possibility of bloat while the guinea pig was alive.
Hopefully Josephine will have an opportunity to look at your report and add something (she is far, far more knowledgeable than I am).
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HollyT
- Get on your bike.
I actually think the bloat might make sense. I often wonder if cysts on the ovaries affect the gastric mobility like I've read in humans. I don't think there is any science to back that up but women wonder if their cysts are causing gastric problems too and many concur. When Mickey had his necropsy vet said his belly was full of food but bloat wasn't an issue (post mortem) and it does say something about Tiffany's decomposition being minor. Maybe it happened really fast? Anyway, I am sorry.
I have to say, that is a FAR superior necropsy than what I am able to obtain around here.
I understand it is still frustrating and we always want one clear-cut answer, but it looks like, other than with histopathology, that's about as thorough a report as you could get.
I have to say my gut reaction in reading the whole thing and thinking about the overall picture is *heart.*
That necropsy is very similar to the one on my horse--his liver, lung and kidney findings were almost identical--and it was explained to me by the University of Kentucky vets that the other organ failures start cascading due to the compromised heart function.
I'll be interested to hear what Josephine thinks. Hope she gets a chance to read and comment.
In any case, I think this report can give you peace of mind that it was her time to go, and that you did all you could.
I understand it is still frustrating and we always want one clear-cut answer, but it looks like, other than with histopathology, that's about as thorough a report as you could get.
I have to say my gut reaction in reading the whole thing and thinking about the overall picture is *heart.*
That necropsy is very similar to the one on my horse--his liver, lung and kidney findings were almost identical--and it was explained to me by the University of Kentucky vets that the other organ failures start cascading due to the compromised heart function.
I'll be interested to hear what Josephine thinks. Hope she gets a chance to read and comment.
In any case, I think this report can give you peace of mind that it was her time to go, and that you did all you could.
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Josephine
- Little Jo Wheek
Based on that report and knowing what I know about cavies, I would suspect the problems in this order to be significant and cause of death:
1. Bronchopneumonia (lung infection)
2. Hepatic lipidosis
3. GI stasis
I would think that the heart, kidneys, and ovaries to be more or less incidental findings. Once an infection starts up, a cavy eats less, this sets up the hepatic lipidosis which then progresses to a deadly GI stasis. Unfortunately, very common progression of events in an ill cavy. If their GI tract shuts down, it is certain death.
Sorry for your loss. I hope having answers helps somewhat.
1. Bronchopneumonia (lung infection)
2. Hepatic lipidosis
3. GI stasis
I would think that the heart, kidneys, and ovaries to be more or less incidental findings. Once an infection starts up, a cavy eats less, this sets up the hepatic lipidosis which then progresses to a deadly GI stasis. Unfortunately, very common progression of events in an ill cavy. If their GI tract shuts down, it is certain death.
Sorry for your loss. I hope having answers helps somewhat.
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