Topaz's Zoey

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Topaz

Post   » Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:25 pm


Here you go:

viewtopic.php?t=48463&start=0

I don't quite know how to feel after reading through all of Brenda's trials and tribulations. The conclusion I have come to is that my vet was right, there is no magic bullet.

It seems like there are so many pigs out there with this unexplainable mushy poo thing. It's difficult to read so many different suggestions to pigs having the SAME EXACT symptoms and then have some pigs respond to certain meds/regimens, and others not. Very frustrating!

I'm curious as to how it all worked out for Brenda.

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:00 pm


I just reread that thread too - all of it! And I'm not completely sure what finally worked for Sierra. The flagyl? It is very confusing. Both my current vet and a previous vet (for another pig) researched it and consulted with out-of-town vets who were experts, all to no avail.

Our Elle was having a similar problem at the same time and I wish our vet had been more aggressive in trying things sooner & moving on to something else. Elle up and died while she was on the Bactrim. I felt so guilty that I hadn't pushed the vet to move along sooner with various meds. Maybe the flagyl would have saved her. Or maybe that's just the guilt talking.

Brenda B hasn't been posting for a while, but so far as I know, Sierra's still alive. You could PM her - or I could. We sort of bonded over soft poos.

Keeping my fingers crossed for Zoey.

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:32 am


It was about 4 days before he was completely fine again. He also had a really gurgly tummy when he was eating certain veggies and that stopped the next day.

His gurgly tummy is always a sign that he's going to have poop troubles.

I really hope Zoey feels better soon!

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Topaz

Post   » Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:33 am


Thanks, guys.

Yes, we have the gurgling stomach here too.

"I just reread that thread too - all of it! And I'm not completely sure what finally worked for Sierra. The flagyl? It is very confusing."

Well, as far as I could gather, people had the best luck with Flagyl. Of all the pigs on there having soft poop, it seems as if more cases resolved from the flagyl. And of course extra vitamin c, probiotics, and dietary adjustments.

That being said, even then not all resolved and it sounds like most recurred. I read through it all as well and it made me feel quite discouraged. It seems as if more cases than not never resolve, regardless of the treatment plan.

And Bookfan, don't second guess. Flagyl did nothing for Zoey. And on Brenda's thread, it also did nothing for some of the other pigs. It may not have prevented the course of things with your pig either. You did what you could and what you thought best, that's what counts. There is no cookie cutter treatment or as I've said, magic bullet. It's different for every pig. This diarrhea stuff is very confusing and frustrating, to owners and vets alike.

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JudiL-MetroGPRescue
Poop Obsessed

Post   » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:19 am


I would definitely stop the Bactrim.

This all makes me wonder if guinea pigs can also suffer from megacolon, or 'cow pile syndrome', like rabbits can. With rabbits, it is limited usually to a specific breed of bun that gets it, but the symptoms are similar.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_disease ... ential.htm

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_disease ... acolon.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8822 ... t=Abstract

Just a thought.

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Topaz

Post   » Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:28 pm


Thank you! I appreciate any and all thoughts on this.

I have stopped the bactrim. I think with Zoey just being on the flagyl and now trying diet changes, I need to see what's what before starting a long course of anything. She only had a couple days worth so if I feel I want to start up with it again, I will do so for the full course. I know it's not good to stop and start but my gut was telling me it was too much for her system right now.

Her previous owner just emailed me(I had filled her in last week) and said she didn't necessarily notice any loose poops but they could have been there. She used yesterday's news in the kitchen area of the cage and commented that the poos could have gotten scraped off of Zoey's feet so that she didn't notice any poop shoes. I don't know about that but something tells me that Zoey has had this problem for much longer than she's been with us.

Also, she told me that about a week before I got Zoey, she noticed the watery eye and assumed Zoey poked it or something. She wiped it and didn't think much of it. So again, Zoey had a couple of issues looming, contrary to what I was told. I'm not really mad about it but I did ask her to tell me of any health issues/concerns beforehand so I could be prepared. I would think these things would have been worth mentioning. Oh well, doesn't change anything now though, does it.

I'm going to research megacolon syndrome a bit more. Thanks again.

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:04 am


Thanks for the support, Topaz. It's always so hard when you can't save a pig.

When we adopted Elle, I noticed her poops looked unusually wet, but they weren't particularly squishy. So that developed at some point after we got her. We did what you're doing: probiotic, vit c, no fruits or vegies, propulsid early on and bactrim towards the end. I just checked the vet records (what a pack rat I am) and she did get flagyl started 5 days before she died. And like Sierra, it would get better & worse.

She suddenly lost a lot of weight while on the flagyl in spite of eating *lots* of kibble. And I was shocked when she died. We didn't do a necropsy, which would certainly have been informative, because we'd already spent ~$700 on the problem.

I was chatting with another vet in the practice later about Elle and he said eating a lot and losing weight could point to cancer. I think he also said something about soft poops being a not clear cut problem. I bet there can be a variety of things that cause it.

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Topaz

Post   » Thu Feb 16, 2012 6:56 am


It's one of the mysterious guinea pig ailments, for sure.

Zoey does the same, it looks better then it looks worse, better then worse. For the past few days though, mainly worse. I haven't checked on her this morning yet but am hoping that three days of no veggies has started to kick in.

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Topaz

Post   » Thu Feb 16, 2012 8:32 am


She's still a fairly mushy, smelly mess. She had her bath, poop soup, and vitamin c. I'm feeling hopeless.

And now I'm also feeling a bit panicky. O.k, not a bit, a lot panicky.

I can't remember who, but a poster in Brenda's thread said that even after negative cultures, her other pigs contracted whatever was going on with the mushy poo pig.

When Zoey had been on the meds for a couple of weeks and her poos were looking better, not perfect but better, she was introduced to my girls and in the cage with them for a couple of days. The vet and I were confident that whatever she was dealing with was not contagious and that Latte and Goldie would not be at risk. Shortly after being in with the girls, her poos turned mushy again so I took her out.

However, she was in there with them for a couple of days. They had her poos on their feet, on the rim of their food bowls, and in their hay.

If I have exposed Latte and Goldie to something like this, I will be devastated. What a stupid stupid thing to do.

I hope I'm just being paranoid but while cleaning their cage this morning, Goldie's poos looked a bit softer and clumped. Not mushy, just different than her normal firm beans.

I'm not going to be able to live with myself if I've subjected them to something like this.

Not to be dramatic but this is feeling a bit nightmarish.

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Thu Feb 16, 2012 9:35 am


Fingers crossed that nothing had spread. I know exactly what you mean about being panicky. I'm exactly the same, but it just shows how much you love your girls.

I would have thought that if something was going to happen to them, then it would have shown itself already.

Maybe Goldie ate a little piece of veg that was slightly off? Or maybe she's wondering where Zoey is. We know that they notice when another pig isn't around anymore. I'm sure she'll be fine, Latte is there to keep her company.

Hugs to you, I know how stressful things like this are, especially when you have no idea what's causing it. Although I still don't know what happened to Arnold (other than the Metcam doing something to him) I feel very lucky knowing that 9/10 days he's completely fine on him limited selection of veg.

I really hope someday soon you get to at least a similar situation with Zoey!

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Topaz

Post   » Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:28 am


Thanks so much, Jaycey.

I'm like a freak going in to the cages collecting poops and evaluating them. This seems to be my life right now. *sigh*

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JudiL-MetroGPRescue
Poop Obsessed

Post   » Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:19 am


Get the probiotic. It can't hurt. Kyodophilus.

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