Very puzzled

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Fri Aug 31, 2007 1:28 pm


Thank you all of you for the information. I have decided to go with Mum's dosage. She seemed to have a little better movement yesterday but it will take some time to tell how much as it's hotter than bloody blue blazes here right now. We're running in the low 100's and Lady Bug is always less active in the heat. (Me too, for that matter!).

A thought I found amusing to me-we're both taking Nasiads for out arthritis. Too old ladies here.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:41 pm


Rather than hijack someone else's thread I though I'd bump this one up.

I have a question for you Talishan. I've stopped posting everytime Lady Bug has one of her episodes as they are becoming farther apart but more severe when they do occur.

Her last was two weeks ago and lasted a full 7 days and scared me to death. I thought I was going to lose her. She had lots of gas which the doctor was able to expel and she got rid of the remainder on her own in the next couple of days. She was eating less, peeing and pooping appriproate to the amount she was taking in-not much.

My question was, your piggy that developed stasis and torsion-what, if anything ever showed on x-rays? Other than eating less and becoming slower what did you observe?

I'm at my wits end with LB. Her x-rays show a tremendous amount of gas but that's all. Her heart is fine, and nothing looks out of place on X-rays or ultrasounds. I don't know where to go at this point. I'd sure like to do something pro-active. Her diet is always the same and she gets KM's hay and pellets so I know the quality is there.

One strange thing this last time, as she stopped eating she actually gained over 4 ounces.

Is there anything you can tell me that will help my little one? Thank you.

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amy m guinea

Post   » Thu Nov 01, 2007 11:42 pm


Could this weight gain be water? From heart issues? I know her heart looks fine on xray and ultrasound, just came to mind. I wish you all the best, I am not an expert by any means, this just popped out at me.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 12:02 am


She dropped back to her normal weight as she got better. All the tests show her heart occupying the 60% or less of the thoratic cavity.

I'm tempted to say heart too, but the tests just don't substantiate it.

I just wish I knew what was going on.

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amy m guinea

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 12:26 am


What else could cause water retention? Kidney issues? I wish you all the best in finding out what is wrong.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:37 pm


It wasn't water (I don't think) with ours, though Amy, that's a good idea.

Ours would gain weight too. She would defecate a little less, and eat a little less, yet gain weight. I swear the gas seemed to weigh something, which is ridiculous but it seemed to.

For ours, we:

1. Were really, really, really careful with vegetables. Absolutely no gas producers (kale, broccoli, bell pepper). Fortunately she would eat the Oxbow GNC-50 tablets, so as her vegetable intake decreased, I didn't worry too much about C.

2. Gave her smaller pieces of leaf lettuces and fruits (some) more frequently rather than larger pieces only once or twice a day. Romaine even caused her problems sometimes. We pretty much stuck to redleaf and greenleaf.

3. Watched her water and pellet intake very carefully. If she slacked off, even a little (she was always our biggest drinker, going through close to 32 oz. some days), we knew to watch for a potential episode.

4. Tried to get her to move around. Not chase her or scare her, but we have a big 4x4 supplemental run area in the den and we'd put her out there.

5. Pick her up. Weigh her. Check her nails. Check her nipples. Don't palpate or massage her, necessarily, but just gently handle her. Just the gentle manipulation of being handled sometimes helped a little.

6. We have one of these:

Massaging neck pillow

It didn't seem to help ours much, but it may help yours.

7. Reglan may help. A motility agent will help push the gas through along with the food. Simethicone did zip. Nada, nothing.

8. Give her a cardboard toilet paper roll, cut lengthwise and with the sharp corners clipped off. They will sometimes chew on those and eat them, eat a lot of it. For some reason eating the paper that doesn't actually get digested sometimes seems to help.

Ours had tremendous black gas on x-ray and the vets didn't even react. No talk of tapping it or anything. Not that I'd necessarily have gone for that anyway, but they didn't take it as seriously as it was.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:47 pm


Thank you for getting back to me Talishan. In my avatar my little one is actually sitting on one of those pillows being vibrated!

I'm beginning to suspect doctors don't react to all the gas on x-rays and ultrasounds because they really don't know what to do about it. The standard answer to me is "it's normal". I find that hard to believe when they stop eating and start crashing the way mine just did.

Reglan has the same effect on mine-nada.

Why did your little one go into Stasis and Torsion? What are the signs to look for that might be different from LB's "normal" episodes?

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:49 pm


One more thought: if you're comfortable doing so (and she is too, don't freak her), take her out for a car ride. Sometimes the vibration alone from the car helps.

Reglan isn't the nada -- simethicone was. Reglan may help LB.

I suspect you're right; the vets don't know what to do about it. Saying "it's normal", though, isn't right.

There, unfortunately, aren't any signs (that I know of) other than a "normal" episode. A "normal" episode that gets just that little bit much worse could be the one that goes into stasis. That's the problem. There's just no way to tell.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:52 pm


Sorry, I meant the baby gas stuff has no effect on her.

Interesting about the paper roll. I just gave her one so I'll see what she does with it.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:53 pm


https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39445

Long, but similar in many respects. May be helpful.

"She had lots of gas which the doctor was able to expel ... "

How'd s/he do it? Be ready to have it done again if it helped LB and didn't hurt her.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:58 pm


Just got your em. Thanks. I do watch her and you're right, it's very frustrating when every test we can think of comes out perfect and yet things happen.

The last time two weeks ago I took her in and he just massaged her tummy and that seemed to release the gas. I also made sure she got a sub-q figuring it wouldn't hurt her and just might help replace what she hadn't been getting.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Nov 02, 2007 5:04 pm


Very good point; hydration is essential.

If your vet is a good masseuse :-), the drive is not too horrible, she doesn't freak/hate the vet and the waiting room is not always full of barking dogs and yowling cats, take her as often as she needs to go. Your vet may be able to teach you the technique s/he is using.

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