Abbey's Medical Thread

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Fri Jun 07, 2013 6:10 pm


Abbey went in for her ultrasound today. I felt so bad putting her through the tummy shave and procedure. They let me hold her for the shave which was good. They wanted to have me lie her on her side on the table and hold her down. Wasn't going to happen. I told them I would hold her up with her back against me. The tech grumbled a little but had perfect access to her tummy and sides with a lot less stress on Abbey.

The ultrasound came back totally normal. No sign of stones, sludge, tumors or cysts anywhere. She could even see urine entering the ureters from the kidneys.

So what now? I have a healthy active guinea pig with no sign of disease that gets blood in her urine. The vet has seen similar cases with dogs that will shed blood from the kidneys on and off but have no other symptoms and are totally healthy.

Abbey's vet suggested the next step would be to spay her and see if the bleeding stops. She feels spaying them when they are young is easier on them than waiting until they are older. Spaying is fairly inexpensive but I am not ready to put Abbey through that yet.

I asked about the protein showing on the test strips. Her vet said when you use the test strips on a sample that is not sterile this is normal. If you saw protein in urine taken right from the bladder then it would be a problem.

wenton5

Post   » Fri Jun 07, 2013 8:35 pm


Has the vet done a blood test and full fecal smear? LS in AK, what treatment was provided for your piggy that had the uterine tumor?
L

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Delaine
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Post   » Fri Jun 07, 2013 9:08 pm


Wenton5

I have not had a blood panel done yet. What would that tell me that the other tests haven't?

She hasn't had a fecal exam for a year. Her stools are totally normal. Would she not show some sort of abnormal stool if she had bowel issues?

Her vet said the ultrasound showed a normal uterus and ovaries.

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LS in AK
Upside-down & Backwards

Post   » Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:19 am


If I were you, I would just monitor her closely for now. If problems persist, it may be time for a spay. It is better to spay a piggie when she is younger and in better health, but plenty of members on this board have put their sows through successful spays for that to be a major worry (in my mind, at least...)

Lara, with my sow who ended up with the uterine tumor: she started showing signs of recurrent UTIs (pain while urinating and defecating both) at around 3 years of age, but we could not find anything abnormal with x-rays or ultrasound. She did have an initial bladder infection, but symptoms of pain remained after the infection had cleared up. We tried more ABs, and more ABs, and then she started spotting blood, and then the symptoms cleared up, then they came back... Symptoms developed for about a year before the pain and bleeding became bad enough that we put her on Metacam long-term, and she was relatively healthy and happy on the pain meds until we found the tumor, about 2 years after the pain and spotting began. At that point we spayed her (she was 5.5 yo) and she would have recovered if I had known better how to hand-feed, and had not left her overnight at the vet after surgery. She went into stasis and due to my own ignorance and inexperience, we failed to pull her out of it.

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Delaine
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Post   » Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:37 pm


Thanks LS:

I agree with you. I am going to monitor her for now. I would hate to put her through a spay and have something go wrong, especially when she looks the picture of health right now. Thank you for Lara's story. I have learned so much from other people's experiences.

I found yesterday so emotionally exhausting. I hate putting Abbey through all this. She has a slight razor rash on her side where they shaved her but seems to have recovered from her ordeal. Probably better than I have.

I usually leave myself an hour to get to the vet but coming home there was some sort of spill on the highway and we had to wait for an extra half hour backed up in traffic. I am very conscientious about the environment and hate idling my car, but it was a hot afternoon and I had to keep the air conditioning going for the girls. I just wanted to get the girls home and back to their cage.

wenton5

Post   » Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:27 pm


Delaine, LS in AK has more experience than me, my thought was that blood tests tend to be more accurate than urine and a fecal smear never hurts. LS in AK, thank you so much for sharing your information, this is very interesting and I am wondering Lynx if there are very many threads on the forum regarding this situation. Delaine, you sound exhausted, as I was when my baby got sick. Hang in there, please keep us posted and thank you.
L and the gang

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Sun Jun 09, 2013 12:47 am


wenton5

I really appreciate your feedback. I love this forum because many people put their heads together and sometimes all the pieces of information fit to complete the puzzle. I still need a couple of pieces for my puzzle or maybe I will never find the answer.

Abbey looked pretty sorry for herself yesterday. She was covered in gel from the ultrasound and with the shaved sides she looked so sad and was puffed up after her ordeal. That still didn't stop her from eating hay at the vets and on the way home. Good advice to take Zoe with her. Zoe was quite interested in all the new smells on Abbey.

I haven't ruled out blood work, spaying, etc. in the future if things get worse or I see changes in Abbey's health or weight. I wish the vet was closer. All this traveling back and forth takes its toll on the girls and me.

I am going to keep monitoring her urine with the test strips so I will know for sure if blood is present and keep a record. It is hard to tell just by the color, unless I see actual blood.

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LS in AK
Upside-down & Backwards

Post   » Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:43 am


I learned pretty quickly when I started keeping piggies that it was generally better to take everyone to the vet together, so long as nothing contagious is involved. They seem to bond over the stress of the carrier, the car ride, the clinic, and any new, strange smells are swiftly shared, and therefore aren't as threatening, because the piggies have to cope with it all together while crammed into the corner of their carrier, trying to hide under their blankets from everything that is certain to eat them.

The aftermath of the ultrasound sounds familiar, too. It has been awhile, but I remember various sows coming back into the examination room with their fur all spiky and wet and puffed out -- I think the alcohol gel chills them a bit as it evaporates.

Hope all goes well for you and Abbey. Please continue to update as things develop.

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Delaine
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Post   » Sun Jun 09, 2013 12:16 pm


Thanks LS

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Delaine
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Post   » Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:37 pm


Lynx:

I got both my girls (sisters) when they were 5 weeks old. They are now 2 years 4 months old. Even when they were very young I would notice the odd small spot of blood on occasion. I have recorded seeing 2 drops of blood on their bed back in August, 2011 and again in Sept 2011. The girls were only 5 months old. I would check both girls over and could never find a source.

I got Abbey and Zoe in May 2011 and they were fed grass, forage and some greens from our garden.

In October they started getting store bought lettuce and less grass and forage. Abbey started getting a dirty bum and once I started ready more on feeding I realized they were getting way too many greens.

I had her to the vet and with her suggestions and the recommendations on the forum I cut back on her greens. The dirty bum cleared up but every since then she still gets a wet urine stain around her opening. I could never figure this out because both girls stool was normal and not soft.

She has always dragged her bum and chewed more underneath as if something was bugging her. I think the urine stain comes from dragging her bum on the hay after she pees. I rinse her bottom every couple of days and that seems to help.

Lynx: The information you were asking for is as follows:

Obvious blood Feb., Aug., Oct., Dec. 2012. Feb., Mar., Apr., May 2013. Many times her urine leaves a dark ring around it or looks pinkish/orange. Then I am not sure if blood is present or not so I bought some urinalysis test strips. Quite often the urine looks clear but still tests for blood.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Jul 15, 2013 1:40 pm


Do you mean one day in Feb, one day in Aug, one day in Dec. etc. Precise dates of each incidence would be helpful.

slavetofuzzy
4 the Good of all Pigs

Post   » Mon Jul 15, 2013 2:32 pm


I think the best advice would be to either get her into the vet for urinalysis, or take a sample in within a few hours of her giving it.

Are her girl parts swollen? Nipples enlarged at all?

edit: I just read through the beginning of your thread. With Marion, she acted normal, ate, etc...everything indicated normal. We barely saw the tumor on the ultrasound and xray showed nothing. In fact, we weren't even sure if it WAS a tumor. The surgery she had was done more as exploratory but I think we all knew she'd end up with a spay, unless there was something found that would have made it not worth it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, sometimes things can't be seen on diagnostics because they are hiding behind another organ, or the vet can't get the right angle. I don't know what the answer is for you, but I do know how frustrating it can be and how nerve-wracking it is to make decisions regarding surgery in these guys. Since Marion is young and healthy and feisty, I felt it was a good decision to do her surgery.

Also, I've never had to fast one of my pigs before an ultrasound. (?) We've just made the decision at the office visit to do one and in come the razor and the machine. I always hold my pigs for them.

I hope you can get some answers soon.

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