Worst Guinea Pig carer in the world or the unluckiest?

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rjespicer

Post   » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:21 pm


Picked Nala up from the vet. She is still quiet and breathing heavily and her weight is up to 772g but she had just been fed before i picked her up.

The vet showed me the X-Rays and Nala has a lot of fluid on her lungs, so much so you couldn't get a good view of the heart however the vet said she had consulted with other vets on bulletin boards and at least two had said they had seen piggies in a similar condition recover fully both with the antibiotics Nala is on or with other Antibiotics so that is hopeful.

Going to see how she does over the next few days and hope for signs of improvement.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:02 pm


The heart page link is the one I would reread. Lasix should help with the fluid.

I'm glad she's home.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2018 10:34 am


I'd vote for Lasix also, since it could only do good, not harm her. But all of my knowledge comes from reading Guinea Lynx pages and posts, so .... I'm glad she's home, also. She may not feel extra good, but being home has to feel better!

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:12 pm


She seems slightly perkier but only slightly.

She has been out around the pen a few times since she got back, rummaging around in the hay piles and chomping that down and even had a nip at Siouxsie when she started to try and grab some of her food. She will occasionally have a bit of veggies mainly pepper or a bit of chard. When I hold food in front of her she stick her nose forward as if she is interested but after a sniff or a test bite will either eat it or turn away and go back to looking for hay to eat. I am hoping that the fact that she still actively eats hay and occasional veggies is a good sign.

She took her meds OK this morning, only a little bit of resistance but she took the new Bene-bac without issue chomping on to the syringe and not letting go even when she had already had the full dose. So she does like some syringes.

I was able to get just over 10ml of Critical care in to her using the burrito method before I left for work this morning. It took some coaxing but once she was comfortable she was chewing on the syringe to get more. there was a little bit of spillage but not too much. I am hoping this is also a good sign.

We usually mix 1 Tablespoon with about 40ml of water/Pediatlyte. The vet suggested that it should be 45ml. Looking at the Oxbow site it suggests 30ml per tablespoon of mix so one is a slightly runnier mix and the other a lot thicker. What mix proportions do others use?

I was also thinking it may be better just to use water and leave out the pedialyte for now. Although it is unflavored it may have a taste that puts her off. We also make up a batch of mix that we use through the day and refrigerate between feedings and I was wondering if warming it up a bit first may also help. She used to be ok with it slightly cold right out of the fridge but maybe having it a little warmer might also help? I did try the other day with warmer mix but she didn't seem any more interested.

I think if I can get her to take that 10ml or more 4 times daily, or 13ml or more 3 times a day we should be good as that gets . I had the Tech Assistants at the vet show me how they do it and she was way more well behaved with them when feeding than she usually is with me. They had managed to get two lots of 2 teaspoons in to her yesterday (so two lots of 30ml, or two lots of six of the 5 ml syringes we use or two lots of 10 of the 3ml syringes they use) that seems like a lot of mix and a lot of time spent feeding to me but they make it look easy.

I took it slow and steady this morning and, although she struggled a bit, once she was comfortable she was chomping it down ok.

She is still taking time to wash and groom herself which I am taking as another good sign.

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2018 6:10 pm


I am still a little concerned about the Meloxicam dosage.

The vet said "I always do twice a day rather than once a day for Metacam and I upped the dosage" but it still looks high to me based on what I have seen on this site and might explain why Nala seemed to be recovering at first and then took a turn for the worst after 6-7 days at that dose. I am just concerned in case the vet may not be being 100% upfront if there was an error and that may have been a contributing factor. I tried various calculations with different Dosages and Concentrations but cant find a combination that gives a figure of either 0.2ml or 0.4ml.

Nala obviously has other issues but again I am still wondering whether a 50-60% (If using the 0.5mg/Kg Dosage) overdose might be contributing to her condition as she is exhibiting several symptoms listed online related to a Meloxicam/Metacam overdose such as Loss of Appetite, Heavy Breathing and Lethargy. It also lists heart problems as well on some sites .

That said I found info on a UK site where various people said that their vets had prescribed from 0.25ml to 0.4ml/Kg twice daily of the 1.5mg/ml (dog) Metacam (so 0.75mg to 1.2 mg/Kg) which at the lower end is what Nala was on (0.79mg/Kg).

I also found a comment that explained why it is better to split the daily dose in to two as well rather than doing once a day.

Wasn't sure if it was OK to link to the other sites or not?

In fact the 0.75mg/Kg dosage would give a dose size of 0.38ml which split in to two would be .19ml per dose so maybe that was what she was working to?

Perhaps it isn't such an issue, it is difficult to tell.

There is so much conflicting info out there. Perhaps I am overthinking things. It just surprises me that there isn't more solid info out there for Guinea Pigs. Its not like they haven't been around for a good long while.

Anyway Nala hasn't had any Meloxicam since Monday evening so hopefully it will be working its way out of her system (if it hasn't done so already) and if it is contributing to any of her symptoms or problems then the effects should be lessening and the other drugs will hopefully be taking care of the other issues.

Have made a mental note to check ALL Medicine dosages thoroughly and checking any I am uncertain about in future.

I am hoping to see some improvement when I get home this evening and preparing to settle in for an evening of Guinea pigs and syringes and temper tantrums

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2018 6:57 pm


Just had a text update from the daughter who is feeding them while I am at work and she said Nala is out and about and even wheeking which sounds promising. Will find out more when I get home.

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2018 7:25 pm


Further quick update from the daughter, couldn't edit the previous post so please excuse the extra one.

Nala took between 3 and 3.5 of the 5ml syringes of critical care on top of the 2 and a bit she had this morning so that is around 25-27ml of the 40ml we need to try and get in to her today. That is the most she has taken at home for some time.

The daughter made up the mix with no pedialyte this time and Nala seemed to prefer that and apparently gulped it down. Once she had 3 to 3.5 though she was full and wouldn't take any more. She is currently out and eating wheatgrass.

Fingers crossed this is a good sign.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2018 10:33 pm


I think if you quietly adjust the metacam dose to 0.5 mg/kg if a higher dose is prescribed again, that would not be an issue.

If you choose to mix all the CC at one time, warming the amount you plan to feed her will indeed make it more palatable. Be sure to remove the amount you want to feed from the mixture so there is no contamination from refiling syringes.

Hope she continues to improve!

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:10 pm


OK I hadnt been separating out the amount as we were just trying to get her to take as much as possible each time. Each batch is usually disposed of within 24 hours.

The vet told me to take her of Metacam completely. She is just on Chloro-P and Lasix right now

She was slightly more active when I got home and had another 6ml of critical care (putting her up to about 31-32 ml today which is about what she was taking when she was ill last time but she was eating better then) but it was cold and she had only just had some about 2.5 hours earlier. I will try taking it out before plan on using to warm up a bit it and maybe stand the bowl in some hot water or have a bowl of warm water I can put the syringe in. I have seen her rummaging through the veggies picking at stuff and even fighting big Chunkita for some bits but I couldn't tell if she actually ate anything.

She still seems to be breathing heavily. Hard to tell if there is any change there but it doesn't seem any worse.

She is due some Benebac now so I will try feeding her again in a couple of hours and see what she will take then.

She seems a little more alert and comes over to see what I am doing when I am by teh cage. When I put my hand in the pen or offer food to her in she sticks her head right over but still wont necessarily eat everything she is offered and still hides under the blankets quite a bit.

Her weight was 765g right after I had given her the one and a bit syringes after her meds. So down a bit from when she came back from the vet yesterday but she had just beed fed 2 teaspoons of critical care shortly before I picked her up.

Off to give her some Benebac and then go and buy some Chard. Unfortunately the local supermarket is out of wheatgrass and the daughter put the last tray we had in the pen this afternoon.

Heres hoping she keeps showing improvement

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:46 am


What is Chloro-P?

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:06 pm


Chloramphenicol palmitate.

It is listed on the Antibiotics page after Baytril.
https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotics. ... amphenicol
I have to wear gloves as it is poisonous to humans if ingested.

I am just too lazy to type the whole thing out

She took another 2.5 of the 5ml syringes last night so we got a total of about 40-45ml of critical care in to her yesterday so about a tablespoon of powder, maybe a little more.

I started off burrito wrapping her but after a while she would start twisting and wriggling and chew on any part of the towel she could reach so in the end I had her sat on the table on a small fleece, nestled in the crook of my arm with her paws on my hand and just kept giving her a little bit at a time. She still moves her head but she eventually seems to get the message that she has to eat her food if she wants to go back in the pen. Believe it or not the airplane noises seemed to help ;-)

She was also out eating hay and rummaging through the vegetables but I didn't see if she ate any. She did eat some pepper I hand fed her plus about 1/4 to 1/2 of a leaf of green chard. I also saw her out eating pellets out of the bowl on her own at one point as well.

She is still breathing heavily but it seemed a tiny bit better. Difficult to tell.

She also came out a little bit during floor time.

So no dramatic changes but a few promising signs.

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Sep 07, 2018 5:08 pm


Nala took 2 5ml Syringes this morning before I left for work and the daughter managed to get another 4 in to her at lunch time so that is roughly 3/4 of a table spoon already so I am hoping I can get a least 3 or more in to her this evening again which will put her at over a Tablespoon for the day again. The more she takes the better.

Fingers crossed.

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