Otis' Medical Thread (Polyp?)

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somechick

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:55 am


I'm sorry you're dealing with this again Sef, I hope Dr. M can give you a plan of action tomorrow.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:56 am


Well crap. Zero crying all morning until now, after I picked him up to give him his meds. He did fine through the meds - urinated on cue with no sound, no hunching, and no visible blood - but now that he's back in his cage, he's suddenly crying again and making that "harrrramph" sound when he eliminates. Very discouraging.

I gave him Metacam this morning but not the Tram as he now seems to be having some motility issues. I know Sebastian and Zachary both had that problem on opiates; was really hoping we could avoid that w/ Otis, since the Tram seemed to work so well for him yesterday.

Morning is not off to a good start for the little guy.

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Vipergurl88

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:44 am


Could you not give him the tram, then handfeed to keep things moving? I'm sure a painful pig won't be much better. Just a suggestion, I have no experience in the matter. I'm sorry for you and your little boy Sef. You've been through so much with your piggies.

TwoWhitePiggies

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:40 pm


Sef, it is possible that when you picked him up, it rotated the stone into an uncomfortable position in his bladder. You might want to pick him up again and gently rub his abdomen. I know it sounds silly, but sometimes that worked, particularly with Gilbert, who formed stones that could be spikey.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:50 pm


I was actually thinking the same thing, TWP. He was fine last night (and I was up until around 1:00 a.m. and there was NO crying or hunching), back up around 3:00 a.m. and still no crying, and no crying this morning from 9:00 a.m. until around 10:45 when I picked him up and gave him the meds. So I do think it was related. He runs like crazy when I try to pick him up, and it's very possible that catching him and picking him up caused the stone to shift.

Wondering if there is a better way to handle him. He won't go into a cuddle cup to be picked up...very skittish little guy, and fights me on just about everything (he's the first pig I've ever had that doesn't even like Metacam).

He has been relatively quiet this afternoon. Just a few little cries when eliminating, but nothing like before.

I was so hoping that he might have passed the stone, but my hunch is that it's just moving around to spots that either don't bother him as much, or bother him a lot. :(

TwoWhitePiggies

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 4:58 pm


Poor little guy. Widget didn't like Metacam, either. It makes it a lot harder. Fortunately, the rest of my guys would sell their own mothers for a hit of Metacam. Linus has snatched the syringe out of my hand and run off with it before.

Getting him to drink more would be helpful, too, since urine in the bladder kind of suspends the stone and reduces the rubbing and irritation. But that's also easier said than done.

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salana
GL is Just Peachy

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:25 pm


Fortunately, the rest of my guys would sell their own mothers for a hit of Metacam.

I call it "crack". "Jackie, would you like some crack?"

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:35 pm


Heh. I was always a little afraid that Zachary would lose a tooth in our tug-of-war with the Metacam syringe.

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somechick

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:17 pm


Haha Henry too! Once I lost grip and Henry kept tugging the syringe, I thought he was going to swallow the thing. My girls are nuts for the Metacam. I call it "feets" though. I ask them if they want their "foot medicine" because the stuff smells like sock to me.

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salana
GL is Just Peachy

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:20 pm


It smells like wet dog to me. It's supposed to be honey-flavored but, yech, smells like wet dog.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:19 pm


To me, it smells like the prescription nasal spray I sometimes use for allergies -- Flonase.

Well, poops are back to normal this evening, but so is the straining, so I gave him .1cc of Tramadol (half a dose). We seem to be walking a very fine line between comfort/slow gut and discomfort/good poops.


At least his ear looks better now.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:34 pm


Vet visit didn't go very well. Dr. M took two more x-rays; the first set was just before Christmas. Today, she showed us that the stone has almost doubled in size since then. Not only that, but there is a huge amount of sludge in his bladder. Clearly the Actigall hasn't done a damned thing, and I have to wonder if it somehow made things worse. At least a couple of weeks ago there was no sludge.

After discussing all of the pros and cons of the few options available to us, we have made the difficult decision to provide supportive care for as long as we can, and help him go when pain meds and subcues no longer help.

Dr. M wasn't very optimistic about surgery due to his age and a few other factors. She also felt that, based on how aggressive this stone is and the amount of sludge that has formed just in the past couple of weeks, the chances of more stones are pretty good.

Our vet has done an amazing job with our other guys, so I do trust her judgment (although she said she'd do the surgery if we want her to, she didn't really encourage it). I had just hoped that the news today would be a little more better.

Otis is having a bad evening; I gave him a subcue (didn't go all that well; I was tired and didn't get the jab right, and he bled quite a bit), and he has been crying and not very interested in any food. I'm going to handfeed this evening. Gave him another dose of Tramadol, but it hasn't kicked in.

This is bringing back some really sad memories of what we went through with Zachary. :(

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