Sakura - Medical Thread

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Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:22 am


Wet bum quickly turns into dirty bum when your white-long-haired girl chooses to sit in the hay/food/poo.

Shaving her fur around her bottom has really helped, I believe. I may keep that area trimmed for a while. I'm not sure that I feel confident enough with an electric hair clipper/shaver to actually shave that area by myself.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Apr 12, 2010 11:06 am


I think it helps prevent UTIs too (trimming the hair).

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Wed Apr 14, 2010 3:23 am


Things aren't going so well.

Sakura's incontinence is back; it started again the afternoon of the 12th.

Earlier this evening (the 13th) I noticed that her urine smelled different again.

We haven't missed any doses of Bactrim, and it seemed like it was starting to help her situation.

Should I ask for a higher dose of Bactrim, or perhaps a different antibiotic?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:42 am


I am surprised you are smelling anything. Are you using the standard dose of Bactrim? I've always noticed the pigs smelled sweeter because I suspected some of the Bactrim was being passed and killing odor producing bacteria. You've trimmed her butt hair, right?

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:24 am


The bottle reads:
0.8 ml/cc of Trimethoprin/Sulfa 48 mg/ml every 12 hours for 14 days

She weighs 1330g.

She had her rear area shaved, but it may be time for a trim.

She seems happy. She wheeks for snacks. Her weight is good. She is eating and drinking normally, and her poops look perfect. She has been dividing her time between playing with her Chube (giant cardboard tube) and napping next to the hayrack this week.

If she wasn't dribbling urine, I'd think she was completely healthy.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:58 am


The drug calculator came up with 0.83125 cc. I imagine you could increase it to 0.9 and see if it made any difference (the small amounts are hard to measure accurately)

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:28 pm


Sakura finished the second round of Bactrim yesterday, March 21st.

Increasing the dose has not helped her incontinence.

She has an appointment with Dr. Wright tomorrow. I did not have the heart to take her to the vet today, since it is her 4th birthday.

She is such a sweet girl. I hope that he will have some suggestions to help her.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:33 pm


Jennicat had a chronically incontinent girl IIRC. She nearly tore every last hair out of her head before she finally got it resolved, but it did, again IIRC, finally resolve.

Maybe search for "Jennicat" and "incontinent (or incontinence)" or email her.

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:34 pm


Thank you, Talishan.

Edit:

Found the thread:
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46671

It is encouraging. Mnemie's problem may have been related to bladder stone surgery, though.

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Fri Apr 23, 2010 7:57 pm


From today's vet visit:

Image

Dr. Wright doesn't think that Sakura would be able to pass this stone.

I wish that it had been discovered in the x-ray from 3/14. Dr. Wright said that the it may have been smaller, and hidden in the position that she was in (they only took one view last month; today's x-ray was taken from two positions).

This explains why her incontinence disappeared and reappeared.

I am amazed that Sakura hasn't been showing signs of pain, and has not lost any weight.

Dr. Wright feels that the Bactrim that she has been taking continually since March has been helping her bladder during this time.

I now have Meloxicam and more Bactrim for her.

He has given me quotes for bladder stone surgery, and he says that she seems healthy otherwise. Her heart is strong and her lungs are clear. He seems to be hesitant to perform this surgery because of her age (just turned 4 years old).

________________________


I asked Dr. Wright about his opinion on the cause(s) of bladder stones. Sakura has always had filtered water (reverse osmosis), lower calcium veggies, KM's alfalfa pellets when she was young, and mostly KM's Hayloft timothy pellets as an adult (there was a year of Oxbow pellets).

He told me that he and some other exotics veterinarians from around the US (including Dr. Michelle Hawkins) were recently discussing theories of the causes of bladder stones.

He feels that in Sakura's case, it may be related to the infection from her UTI; sitting around in her urine may also have contributed. He also mentioned that it doesn't take much for an infection to get started in a guinea pig's bladder (they are so close to the ground).

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khb1582

Post   » Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:39 pm


That's a big stone! Poor Sakura!

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:42 pm


"He seems to be hesitant to perform this surgery because of her age (just turned 4 years old)."

Oh mumble. That's not old, especially if she is in good health and thrift otherwise. It sounds like this otherwise excellent vet still thinks they live only 3-5 years.

Are we 115% sure that's a stone and not an admittedly nasty large cloud of sludge?

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