Peekaboo's Medical

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Thu Nov 19, 2015 3:25 pm


Panic attack over. I think he just got a pellet stuck in his throat and couldn't breath or wheek properly. It must have taken close to 5 minutes for him to be able to cough it back up/out. Scary 5 minutes for both of us! He seems ok now, but I'm going to stick extra close today.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:11 pm


Does sound scary! Glad it resolved okay.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:22 pm


As I've mentioned before, Peek coughs a lot. He's been seen by no less than 3 different vets, none Exotic, but all experienced with guinea pigs, and none ever found a problem. Granted, the last vet only seriously checked problems I could report and this is not one I thought of at the time.

I'm pretty sure I hear him cough at least once a day, and MOST of the time he's eating. The second vet suggested I separate him from the others at meal time so he wouldn't feel rushed. I did and he now coughs a lot less, but how do you separate them when they need hay all the time? (rhetorical question).

To date, the worst episode was when he apparently got a pellet lodged in his throat - that time he could barely breath and it took about 5 minutes and my massaging his throat before he was able to move it.

However, last night while eating in his carrier, he had a coughing spell that worried me enough that I had to run over to check on him. He coughed a couple more times, then mostly stopped.

I've been giving all but Fuzz cherry tomatoes almost every night. They get cucumber several times a week, but not every night (various reasons); last night was a cucumber night. My point being: could the cucumber seeds lodge in his throat easier than tomato seeds?

Is it possible he has something wrong with his throat? Of the 5 pigs I have, if I hear a cough, 99.9% of the time it's him. I know I'd need to take him to a certified Exotics Vet, but what test would they do to check his throat? Since the only time he truly scared me was with the pellet (in 3+ yrs), is this something I need to have checked more in-depth?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Dec 14, 2015 1:02 pm


Cucumber seeds shouldn't present any problems for a normal pig. Tomato seeds, either. It's the hard ones you really have to worry about.

That said, we've had a pig on here that had an abnormally small throat opening. I can't remember what happened with it. But yes, you need to see an exotics vet. You're only wasting time and money otherwise.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Tue Dec 15, 2015 2:11 am


Thanks, bpatters. As soon as I get back I'll start my search for an Exotics Vet.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:20 am


ImagePeekaboo 2015 Weight Chart

This concerns me a little bit. We aren't sure of his age, but think he's at least 5, possibly closing in on 6 (counting March, his adoption month, as his birth month). He was definitely an adult when I adopted him in March of 2013. Would the weight loss support our suspicions?

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Wed Jan 06, 2016 10:39 pm


In my experience, definitely yes. Many of our senior males have lost 100-300 grams slowly after hitting 5+ and older, especially if they were big pigs to start with.

Is he otherwise healthy?

Consider an x-ray for heart enlargement and arthritis. If his weight begins to stabilize in the lower range and he's otherwise fine, I'd not worry. If he continues to lose, something else may be going on.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:09 pm


Thanks, Talishan!

We know he has arthritis (takes Metacam daily) - he had full body x-rays done last Sept., when the vet suspected bloat, along with the arthritis. She DID look at his heart because we'd just discussed possibility of developing heart disease (all the coughing he did, the fatty eye (?), and occasional "hoot" of a sort). She felt it was normal.

I will definitely watch his weight much more closely now that I've seen the downward trend, and will discuss that with our new vet who is looking at the x-rays. He didn't find any obvious problems with Peek, either. I can't believe I didn't see such a steady loss until I made the graph. I do compare weights over time, but just by -looking- at the page in their record books, not giving my full attention to an analysis. I will be doing so now!

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sun Jan 10, 2016 7:47 pm


See if you can get the vet to consider a trial of benazepril based upon clinical sign. This will take respectful diplomacy along with a lot of persistence on your part, but keep trying.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:58 pm


I just spoke with the new vet up in Olympia (vs the one down in Longview). He has some problems with the x-rays of Fuzzbutt & Peek, taken digitally by the vet in Longview. I'll post more on Fuzzbutt's thread since she was the main focus of our conversation.

Anyway, I'll take Peek and Fuzz both up to Olympia and have him take some more x-rays. As willing as he is to learn from us, I'm pretty sure he'd be willing to try heart meds after the x-rays. I'll print off the heart info from GL just to be sure he understands the possible need.

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countrygirl49
Supporter in '13

Post   » Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:26 pm


Good luck! :)

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Wed Apr 20, 2016 1:03 pm


Vet still waiting for dental x-ray machine so still no new x-rays for Peek or Fuzz.

Meanwhile, Peek's annual limp has just appeared again. Overnight. He seemed fine yesterday. Ran from me at dinnertime and everything. We got up this morning and I noticed he was laying around hunched up so I gave him his drop of Metacam early. Just now I noticed the limp, so I've given him another 0.05 of the stronger strength. He's not been getting it every day as was suggested by the vet. I wanted to see how little we could get away with and him still be comfortable, so he's been getting the 0.05 (or slightly less) every other day, and has been fine. If I see signs of pain on the off days, I go ahead and give him the small dose. I just checked the dosage again, and if this second dose still doesn't do the trick, I can give him another in a couple of hours. Vet says we can go up to 0.2 if necessary.

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