[cavykatie]

Yeah, c'mon Jackie!

[salana]

Jackie's poopies are almost normal. Last night I didn't take him out for separate (smaller portion) veggies, just threw two portions in the cage, and put some pellets in the dish. Today his poops are good!

After a week of this, I'm going to look into adding Metacam for his achy back.

I have taken to calling his mom "Suzi Loaf" because she's so fat and round. She does not appreciate this. She also enjoys peeing on all the hay in the haybox and then taking a snooze and winding up with a yellow belly. Eeew.

[HollyT]

Poor Jackie. Teh metacam should help.

[salana]

Okay, I've been working like a maniac, trying to, you know, have money, and I forgot to call the vet today or yesterday.

How likely is it that 0.1ml of metacam a day would upset Jackie's stomach severely? I just feel so bad for how achy he seems to be. I think if he felt a little better, he could put weight back on and be a happy litte scaredypig.

[Mum]

Perhaps it wasn't the Metacam? Maybe just a coincidence?

[salana]

He hasn't started on Metacam. Do you think it would hurt to try it?

[Mum]

I'd definitely give it a go!

[snowflakey]

Oh, yeah! Give the boy some meds! Poor dude.

[mini'smama]

That .1 cc of Metacam may do a world of good for Jackie.

[Talishan]

Ditto. Mum, do you not regularly use 0.15 mL for your arthritis pigs daily?

Unless Jackie has some particular sensitivity to it, 0.1 mL daily should be no problem at all. You can probably go up a little if you need to.

This is the "standard" 1.5 mg/mL suspension (purple box), right?

[salana]

Yep.

I can't tell if he feels better, but he's currently backwashing into the water bottle.

[salana]

Jackie has a URI (probably got it from me). I know he has a URI, I know that Bactrim works well for him, and I don't have any Bactrim and don't really want to shell out almost $40 to take a taxi to the vet.

Anyone have any ideas on getting the vet over the phone to call in a prescription to a human pharmacy?

[Mum]

Poor Jackie.

All you can do is plead with your vet - I hope he can help.

[Lynx]

I guess it will depend on your vet. Only thing I can think of is if you have to go, discuss the possibility of getting a nice hunky bottle of that stuff. Bactrim is pretty cheap. A big bottle would last a long time (decent shelf life). You might print out Pintas info on rural pet owners and starting things quickly when there is an illness.

http://www.guinealynx.info/vet_rural.html

The points made there emphasize using it under supervision when you can't get there. Maybe you could prevent having to do this in the future. You have had so many pigs with medical issues. The vet should trust you to know when there is something going on. Do you have a stethiscope?

[Mum]

I just picked up a 240ml bottle of bactrim for $19.00. It expires in 2011, which is why I like to always keep it around.

[salana]

Got a rather uninformed vet I've never seen before. Hopefully next time I have to take one of the fuzzbutts in, I'll get Dr. F or Dr. S, who I think would be more receptive to giving me bunches of Bactrim. This lady said Jackie could have allergies but did prescribe him Bactrim after I basically stepped her through what I wanted.

I got some good pics of Jackie's X-ray from last time, which I will post tonight. I also noticed that he was sitting funny, with his butt flat on the table like a dog. Then he started walking on the table, and his gait was very odd. I took a video of him walking, which I'll upload too. He's also been very fussy and bitey when I hold him, which I think is because of discomfort. But if I hold him with his butt in my lap and his front half propped up, he seems to relax more. Poor little old arthritic man.

So I'm thinking, in addition to him getting his Weaver beds soon, I need to do more for his arthritis. I was thinking of making his Metacam dose into 0.1mL twice a day instead of 0.15mL once a day. I would transition him to fleece instead of Carefresh, but I know I can't keep up with the cleaning it needs. I'm unsure whether glucosamine would help his back more than it would hurt his tummy.

[Talishan]

We've had better luck with Metacam with 2x/day dosing than 1x/day. Some folks have better luck the other way (larger dose at one time), and others feel that the 2x/day dosing increases the risk of GI problems with it. My experience has been 2x/day (thus smaller doses) keeps them 'evener'.

Glucosamine: try it and see. I have some Cosequin I'm not using that's still in date and you're welcome to it. Email me a mailing address if you do. I still have it because it did zip for ours, although I didn't notice any GI problems with it. For the one girl for whom we tried it, although she liked it, it was essentially a placebo.

[salana]

Here's a video of how Jackie walks:

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/charlyblue/Jackie/?action=view&current=P9060096.flv

Here's his X-ray:

[Lynx]

I can add these to your thread if you'd like.

[Bugs Mom]

His walk looks a lot like GuineyPinny's Peaches. Poor babies. That's got to hurt.

Jackie is a good looking pig.