Henry's Thread
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Talishan
- You can quote me
You're not dense. It's confusing (thanks to yours truly :-P)
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"To recap, for JoePig and others who have asked about Actigall dosing, this is what we have so far. (Tracis, please check me and make sure I'm not missing anything when you have a chance.)
Protocol #1, from Dr. Ella Ahearn, Animal Hospital of Sandy Springs, Atlanta, Georgia:
Mix 1 300 mg capsule in 4 mL of liquid. Administer 0.25 cc's of this once a day for 4 days. After that, administer 0.15 cc's of this daily.
Protocol #2, from Vicki of Jack Pine Guinea Pig Rescue's vet:
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1237793#1237793
Mix one 300 mg capsule Actigall/Ursodiol with 2cc liquid.
Give 1/2 cc (.5 cc) once daily for 8 days
Then mix one 300 mg capsule Actigall/Ursodiol with 4cc liquid
Give 1/2 cc (.5 cc) once daily for a 1-2 months or until stone or sludge is confirmed gone by X-ray.
After that administer lower (weaker) dose once every other day indefinitely if it seems to have helped.
Protocol #3, from Dr. Miller for TWP and TWP_2's Henry:
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1462369#1462369
Henry started out on 0.5 mL of a 150 mg/mL compound for eight days. After that, he has been on a maintenance dose of 0.5 mL of a 75 mg/ML compound once a day.
I am assuming all protocols are using a 300 mg ursodiol capsule. This contains a powder that readily mixes with water."
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I am really sorry to be such a PITA. I just don't want any casual reader to overdose their pig.
***********************
"To recap, for JoePig and others who have asked about Actigall dosing, this is what we have so far. (Tracis, please check me and make sure I'm not missing anything when you have a chance.)
Protocol #1, from Dr. Ella Ahearn, Animal Hospital of Sandy Springs, Atlanta, Georgia:
Mix 1 300 mg capsule in 4 mL of liquid. Administer 0.25 cc's of this once a day for 4 days. After that, administer 0.15 cc's of this daily.
Protocol #2, from Vicki of Jack Pine Guinea Pig Rescue's vet:
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1237793#1237793
Mix one 300 mg capsule Actigall/Ursodiol with 2cc liquid.
Give 1/2 cc (.5 cc) once daily for 8 days
Then mix one 300 mg capsule Actigall/Ursodiol with 4cc liquid
Give 1/2 cc (.5 cc) once daily for a 1-2 months or until stone or sludge is confirmed gone by X-ray.
After that administer lower (weaker) dose once every other day indefinitely if it seems to have helped.
Protocol #3, from Dr. Miller for TWP and TWP_2's Henry:
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1462369#1462369
Henry started out on 0.5 mL of a 150 mg/mL compound for eight days. After that, he has been on a maintenance dose of 0.5 mL of a 75 mg/ML compound once a day.
I am assuming all protocols are using a 300 mg ursodiol capsule. This contains a powder that readily mixes with water."
***********************
I am really sorry to be such a PITA. I just don't want any casual reader to overdose their pig.
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Tracis
- Let Sleeping Pigs Lie
This is wonderful, Talishan!
Protocol #2 was also used successfully by Dr. Ridgeway for Valentine:
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1427912#1427912
"The dosage we used was:
Mix one 300 mg capsule of Ursodiol (Actigall®) with 2 mls of mixing liquid, give 0.5 cc orally one time a day for 8 days, then mix one 300 mg capsule of Ursodiol (Actigall®) with 4 mls of mixing liquid, give 0.5 cc orally daily for 1 – 2 months.
Sincerely,
William V. Ridgeway, Jr., D.V.M.
Long Beach Animal Hospital, Inc.
3816 E. Anaheim Street
Long Beach, CA 90804-4005"
Protocol #2 was also used successfully by Dr. Ridgeway for Valentine:
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1427912#1427912
"The dosage we used was:
Mix one 300 mg capsule of Ursodiol (Actigall®) with 2 mls of mixing liquid, give 0.5 cc orally one time a day for 8 days, then mix one 300 mg capsule of Ursodiol (Actigall®) with 4 mls of mixing liquid, give 0.5 cc orally daily for 1 – 2 months.
Sincerely,
William V. Ridgeway, Jr., D.V.M.
Long Beach Animal Hospital, Inc.
3816 E. Anaheim Street
Long Beach, CA 90804-4005"
-
Lynx
- RESIST
I edited her earlier post with a link back to the new post.
Tracis, do you have an actigall thread in the Records forum? What you could do is copy Talishan's info (or you could do it, Talishan) and add Tracis info with pertinent links added.
It is a real bonus for links to have some of the advice quickly available to read. I could also link from the stones page to an actigall records thread.
Tracis, do you have an actigall thread in the Records forum? What you could do is copy Talishan's info (or you could do it, Talishan) and add Tracis info with pertinent links added.
It is a real bonus for links to have some of the advice quickly available to read. I could also link from the stones page to an actigall records thread.
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Tracis
- Let Sleeping Pigs Lie
In the Records Forum now:
LINKS - Actigall® / Ursodiol
I'm still adding other links at the end of the page.
LINKS - Actigall® / Ursodiol
I'm still adding other links at the end of the page.
Henry seems to be doing great. He's eating, drinking, playing with Frost, and keeping a good, steady weight. He is periodically putting out a puddle of sludge, but it isn't too worrisome.
The strange thing is that he's taken to sleeping in weird places. He never before was the kind of pig to sleep smack on top of the hay pile, and now that's what I've seen him doing. He also will sleep in random places in the cage, with his facing the coroplast with his nose touching the coroplast. It's very odd.
Also, if either of us pets Frost, he'll run over and stick his head under our hands to get the attention. Which is amusing. And he doesn't accept you petting him with one hand and Frost the other. He wants all the love.
Can guinea pigs grow a teensy bit senile in their sunset years?
The strange thing is that he's taken to sleeping in weird places. He never before was the kind of pig to sleep smack on top of the hay pile, and now that's what I've seen him doing. He also will sleep in random places in the cage, with his facing the coroplast with his nose touching the coroplast. It's very odd.
Also, if either of us pets Frost, he'll run over and stick his head under our hands to get the attention. Which is amusing. And he doesn't accept you petting him with one hand and Frost the other. He wants all the love.
Can guinea pigs grow a teensy bit senile in their sunset years?
-
becksters
- Two Time Supporter
That sounds kind of sweet though! The old guy just wants some loving!
Matilda sits facing the corners of the coroplast, and butts her nose against the corners as well. I attribute that to her cataract and lack of what little vision she had to begin with and possibly old age as well but who knows.
Glad he's doing well though - question, will you re x-ray in a few months to check again? Or just wait and see and hope the agitall is doing it's job?
Matilda sits facing the corners of the coroplast, and butts her nose against the corners as well. I attribute that to her cataract and lack of what little vision she had to begin with and possibly old age as well but who knows.
Glad he's doing well though - question, will you re x-ray in a few months to check again? Or just wait and see and hope the agitall is doing it's job?
Our Lionel is "wierd" too. He's not a very consistent pig. Sometimes he likes the fleece bed, sometimes he likes to flake out on a blanket. I think they just change like we do.
becksters - We've gone back and forth on whether or not to x-ray him again. I think at this point, as long as he's acting healthy, keeping his weight up, and not showing signs of pain, we won't traumatize him with a trip to the vet.
We've all batted around this theory that the Cavy Cuisine might somehow be connected to stone formation. What I'm wondering is if that is only true for pigs who were switched to Oxbow after adulthood. My two youngest pigs were raised on it from birth and then were switched to KM's pellets. Frost and Linus are both just a little over two years old and don't seem to have any problems. All of the other pigs - five of them - started Oxbow when they were mature, and they all developed stones after the switch.
We've all batted around this theory that the Cavy Cuisine might somehow be connected to stone formation. What I'm wondering is if that is only true for pigs who were switched to Oxbow after adulthood. My two youngest pigs were raised on it from birth and then were switched to KM's pellets. Frost and Linus are both just a little over two years old and don't seem to have any problems. All of the other pigs - five of them - started Oxbow when they were mature, and they all developed stones after the switch.
That's a good question. We adopted Otis when he was about a month old, and he was on, I think, Kaytee, for a few months, and then we switched over to Oxbow and he was on that up until around Jan./Feb/Mar. of 2008 (when Zachary was battling all of his stone problems). He turned 5 in October; has been on Kleenmama since early 2008, but yeah -- I have to wonder if Cavy Cuisine somehow has a "cumulative" effect on the bladder. I don't see how, but who knows.
Did you ever have your water evaluated, TWP?
I"m going to be pursuing that again (another GL member kindly offered to help; I need to follow up with her this week).
Did you ever have your water evaluated, TWP?
I"m going to be pursuing that again (another GL member kindly offered to help; I need to follow up with her this week).
Also wanted to add...I contacted Dr. Hawkins of UC Davis awhile back (before Otis was diagnosed with a stone), asking if she had an opinion on the number of cases we're seeing of guinea pigs with stones that have also been on Oxbow pellets. I cited my own experiences as well as some of the experiences of other GL members. She wrote back and essentially said that the role of diet is unclear, but she felt that the brand of pellets was less of a concern than the amount of pellets in the diet. That is, pigs with a diet consisting largely of pellets were at a higher risk.
That may be true, but I've always been careful about the amount of pellets I feed. It's certainly the smallest part of their diet; each pig gets roughly 1/8 cup a day, divided into two feedings, with considerably more than a cup of fresh veggies at each feeding, and unlimited hay. Other than one male who was over-weight (3+ lbs.) when we got him and has continued to be on the hefty side, our boys' average weight is around 2 lbs. 6 oz.
I just don't buy that something in Oxbow pellets aren't a contributing factor in some way.
That may be true, but I've always been careful about the amount of pellets I feed. It's certainly the smallest part of their diet; each pig gets roughly 1/8 cup a day, divided into two feedings, with considerably more than a cup of fresh veggies at each feeding, and unlimited hay. Other than one male who was over-weight (3+ lbs.) when we got him and has continued to be on the hefty side, our boys' average weight is around 2 lbs. 6 oz.
I just don't buy that something in Oxbow pellets aren't a contributing factor in some way.
I just a measuring cup to measure out pellets, so I don't believe we're overfeeding the pellets. I'm glad you followed up with UC Davis, though, sef.
And as far as we can tell based on Jim's conversation with the water department, our water isn't a problem.
And as far as we can tell based on Jim's conversation with the water department, our water isn't a problem.
-
becksters
- Two Time Supporter
I wonder if the high incidents of stones is becoming something like the high incident of ovarian cysts in sows. Is it possible it's just becoming one of their many prone illnesses?
I suppose the unfortunate amount of careless breeding doesn't help either with the gene pool and maybe because of that these things are becoming more pronouced now and as time goes on? Just another thought.
I suppose the unfortunate amount of careless breeding doesn't help either with the gene pool and maybe because of that these things are becoming more pronouced now and as time goes on? Just another thought.