Violet's medical thread

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Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 12:16 am


That's what I'd do.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

https://www.guinealynx.info/records/view ... 38252ad011

That's everything I know about postop care. This is not super-invasive surgery, so you won't need all of that information, but do look it over. Pain relief is vital.

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Zaphy

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:36 pm


Vet said the surgery went well! I have her home now. She is definitely shell-shocked and stumbles drunkenly when she walks. She took a little hay and a small sliver of green bell pepper from me which I offered immediately when I got her home, albeit slowly. I also offered her about 1cc of water just to see if she'd take it and she did, so that's good I guess. Anyway, now I guess I just have to keep myself from bugging her every few minutes and just let her rest for a few hours. I've got her hiding in a soft towel in her recovery cage.

Also, thank you so much for the postop links! They are very very helpful!

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:03 pm


Feed her critical care or a pellet slurry every 3-4 hours, whether she wants it or not. She's gotta have food moving through her gut, or she won't make it.

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Zaphy

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:16 pm


I am planning on it. So far she looks pretty good, she came out of her towel hidey hole and has been munching hay since about fifteen minutes ago. I'm most concerned about her drinking water at this point, I think the water bottle might be a bit too high for her to comfortably reach with the incision on her neck cause she hasn't touched it yet. I gave her some more water by syringe when I noticed her eating hay but didn't force it, even so she's only had about 3cc since coming home, plus whatever was in the pepper sliver. So I'm figuring on waiting another hour, hour and a half, and if she still hasn't taken any water I'll be more forceful about it I think.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:57 pm


If you've got any pedialyte, most pigs will willingly drink that from a syringe.

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Zaphy

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:47 pm


I don't, but I do have Critical Care which she seems to really like. Do you think it would be as effective as Pedialyte for hydration if I watered it down a lot?

edit: small update, she just scratched her shoulder and then wheeked when she heard me cut a bit more pepper. When I brought it over she stood up on her hind legs for it like normal! Small things, and I know she's still likely to get worse in the next day or two before she gets better, but it makes me feel better when I see bits of her personality/normal pig behavior break through the perpetual thousand yard piggy stare.
Last edited by Zaphy on Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:58 pm


Yeah, anything that gets fluids in her will work.

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Zaphy

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:26 pm


That definitely did the trick haha, she sucked down about 13 ccs of watery Critical Care just now greedily. I do have a question: should I keep feeding it to her till she loses interest, or would it be better to space it out to a certain amount every couple hours or so?

Also, she just pooped and peed for the first time since coming into the house(she did a little of both on the way home in her carrier)! Woohoo! It is normal for the poops to be irregularly shaped at first, right?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:50 pm


Feed her as much as she''ll take whenever she's eating it. If you can get 100 cc per day in her, that would be great.

And yes, it's normal for the poop to be an odd shape until she gets back on her regular diet.

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Zaphy

Post   » Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:04 pm


Does this swelling look abnormal? Here's two images of Violet yesterday a few hours after she came home:
Image
Image

and here are two from this afternoon (about 24h after the last pictures):
Image
Image

and if it helps, a profile angle from this afternoon as well:
Image

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:47 pm


Have you considered calling your vet and asking him over the phone if it would be normal to have some swelling post surgery?

He is such a cute pig! Let me know if you'd like your pics added permanently to this thread for future readers.

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Zaphy

Post   » Sat Jan 09, 2016 2:47 am


I did end up calling actually, and made an appointment for tomorrow. They didn't say if swelling was expected or not. :/ Golly I hope I'm doing everything right.

You are welcome to add the photos permanently if you feel up to it!

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