Zoe's Medical Thread

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:09 pm


Thanks Catie Cavy. My vet is pretty amazing. Between my friend's two sows and my two she has done 6 surgeries on the four sows over two years. Out of these 6 surgeries 3 were spays.

Zoe is still doing well. I was a bit concerned how she would be today because it is her first day without pain medication but she seems fine. Her weight is down which is to be expected but she is eating well. She gets 1 tbsp. of pellets daily and has been eating all of them so I have started offering her more. I will worry about stones once she has gained back some of her weight.

I pulled out my second 2 x 4 cage and divided it in half with grids and she is enjoying having the space of a 2 x 2. I have to go to work on Monday and I couldn't stand leaving her in the small cage. By the time I got home she would be knee deep in poop and pee with no way to get away from it. Now she has a house, a cuddle cup and a hay pile to spread out her waste.

Talishan
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Post   » Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:21 am


Excellent plan/adjustment. A 2x2 will give her what she needs, but it's still not big enough for her to do enough running to cause damage.

Keep us posted.

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:24 pm


Leaving Zoe for 7 hours and going to work was so stressful for me today. I started to get myself worked up yesterday and was constantly hovering over her, counting poops, watching how much hay she was eating, etc. etc. which in turn stressed her out. I had convinced myself she wasn't doing as well but it was really me that wasn't doing well. I didn't sleep and was up at 3:00 am hovering once more. How could I possibly get her to the vet and go to work!

I even phoned the vet from work and suggested getting more pain medication and maybe a sub-Q because I saw more sludge in her cage. Zoe has had small stones so seeing sludge even stressed me out more. Her vet said as long as she is eating she doesn't need anymore pain medication.

Anyways I rushed home from work and Zoe was quite fine, lots of poops in the hay pile and she started wheeking for me to get it together, quit worrying and get those greens coming.

I bought some Valerian root tincture, took some Rescue Remedy and some Calms Forte so now I am feeling much better.

I really should have put this post in Delaine's Medical Thread and not Zoe's.

Talishan
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Post   » Tue Mar 31, 2015 12:48 am


Bear in mind that once she is out of restricted recovery space, she'll move around more and that will help her clear sludge.

Syringe her extra water in the meantime if you like. It won't hurt and may help.

It is not at all unusual for guinea pig caretakers to need more meds than the recovering guinea pigs. ;-)

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Tue Mar 31, 2015 6:59 pm


Sometimes Zoe will take water from a syringe but soon gets bored with the game. If I rub the tip of the syringe on a slice of apple I can fool her for a short time. I will keep trying. I do rinse her veggies in water and drain them before giving them to her and she is drinking from her water bottle. I hope that will be enough until she can run around and shake up that sludge! I compare a guinea pig bladder to one of those glass Christmas globes with the fake snow. When you shake it up all the snow floats around and when you set it down all the snow settles to the bottom.

I don't remember being this stressed when my children were sick! I was not worried when I went to work today because Zoe is doing so well and eating as much or more than before the surgery. Her sister Abbey looks like she has put on weight. She hasn't been tormented and chased around by Zoe for a week now and she is getting kind of chunky.

Talishan
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Post   » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:25 pm


The snow globe analogy is a good one. I'm gonna remember that.

Kids are more durable than guinea pigs (well, as long as it isn't super-serious).

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Fri Apr 03, 2015 2:20 pm


Last night I had Zoe out in a 1 x 2 floor time pen so she could have her supper and maybe interact with Abbey through the grids. We have been doing this for a few nights now and Zoe seems to appreciate the change of scenery and a return to her normal routine.

It had been 9 days since her surgery so after I put Abbey back in her cage I opened up Zoe's small run so she could explore the floor time area if she chose to. She went into the lower floor time cage and sniffed in the cuddle cup Abbey was using and it looked like she was eating some of Abbey's poops.

All of a sudden she panicked. I don't know if she had a pain or just got scared. I put her back into her cage and after that she stopped pooping for awhile, didn't want to eat and then pooped small, sticky, misshapen poops. I massaged the sides of her tummy and gave her some probiotic. I could get her to eat greens and she munched a little on hay but not with the same enthusiasm.

This morning her poops are normal and she is eating hay but not interested in her pellets. As the day is progressing she seems to be returning to normal and I just heard her at the water bottle. After her scare she would not eat pellets or drink water so I have been offering her water from a syringe.

She only walked about the length of three grids so I don't think she did anything to her incision. The outside stitches look good. I think she just got a fright which for Zoe can throw off her digestion and cause these symptoms. It is not the first time this has happened.

Anyways, now I am stressing about reintroducing her to Abbey and putting her back into the main cage in case this happens again. She seems to have become accustom to the smaller 2 x 2 cage. Abbey seems extremely content having the main cage to herself so I am not sure if she is going to be too happy having Zoe back.


I am going to set up a new floor time area for the introductions somewhere they have never been in hopes they will need each other for security.


Should I wait the full 14 days or do you think I could try and introduce her to Abbey on day 12? I am not going to try anything new until the Easter closures are done at her Vet office in case I need them. They are normally open 7 day a week so I will call tomorrow and find out their schedule for this long weekend.

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Delaine
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Post   » Sat Apr 18, 2015 12:07 am


Zoe is doing well. I have been working hard at getting her weight up. The day before her surgery she was 1198 gr. and she went as low as 1084 gr. (after I put her back in with Abbey). I started giving her extra greens, grass, a few oat flakes and just introduced a very few organic shelled sunflower seeds. She has slowly been gaining weight and tonight she weighed 1127 gr. so I think I can relax a little.

I do have a new concern. I noticed on Saturday that two of Zoe's back nails had turned black. The toes looked good at that time. I have been checking them everyday for any changes. Tonight one toenail is still black and only a very small tip of the other one. I think the toe connected to the black nail may be slightly swollen tonight so I will make an appointment tomorrow to take her in to her vet.

Has anyone had experience with something like this? They were fine when I had her nails cut March 6th and they cut them on March 24th when she had her surgery and nothing was mentioned.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Apr 18, 2015 10:21 am


The surgery was a spay? I am surprised about the nails turning black. Read www.guinealynx.info/.html I wonder if there is a blood circulation problem or lymph nodes. Check the feet for feeling.

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Sat Apr 18, 2015 11:23 am


Thanks for the link Talishan. Yes it was a spay. She came out of the anesthetic quickly and she doesn't have any other signs of heart issues. I had an X-ray done March 6th to check for stones and asked about her heart. Her vet said it looked normal and she could see no signs of arthritis.

They cut her nails at the same time as her surgery. Could cutting a nail too short cause it to go black? Or maybe she caught it on something? There is nothing obvious in her cage that she could catch it on.

Only one nail is currently all black.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Apr 18, 2015 3:05 pm


If it bled, it may be dried blood you are seeing.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sat Apr 18, 2015 3:27 pm


Ditto Lynx.

Can you post a picture?

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