Soft poop: what the vet said

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somechick

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:04 am


Got the report in and I'd gladly type it up here if anyone really wants, but it's a lot of big words and medical-type. I read it and it meant nothing to me really. The only words I understood were "intestines" "hemorrhage" and "pancreas".

I will call the vet today to maybe shoot down tomorrow and pick her up.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:18 am


Is it long? Up to you if you feel it would be helpful.

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somechick

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:40 am


Clinical information
There is a two-month history of chronic Coccidia with intermittent severe cecal distention. An intussuseption of the small intestine was noted on gross examination. There are areas of tissue hemmorhage.

Microscopic
Submitted are 10 sections of gastrointestinal tract.

Pancreas: There is mild cytoplasmic vacuolization noted in the isles of Langerhans. This is multiple variable discrete cytoplasmic vacuoles within the islet cells.

Lymph node: Examined are sections of lymph node. No lesion is recognized

Intestines: Examined are multiple sections of intestines at various levels. There are intestinal sections in which the omentum is supporting extensive lesions, degeneration, edema, and inflammation with areas of hemmorhage. The inflammation is a mixture of lymphocytes, plasma cells, and large numbers of neutrophils. There is also a mixture of lymphocytes and plasma cells, and there are neutrophils in the lamina propria of the intestinal sections. Many of the intestinal sections have variable loss of the mucosa, primarily die to autolysis. In areas where the mucosa is intact, there are moderate numbers of large rod-shaped bacteria, some with a hairpin shape, that are accumulating along the surface.

Stomach: Examined is a section of glandular stomach. No lesion is recognized.

Diagnosis
1) Intestines: focally extensive severe transmural subacute enteritis with focal peritonitis
2) Pancreas: Islet cell vacuolization

Comment
This guinea pig does have a significant enteritis that is a focally extensive area of the intestines. This inflammation is extending out into the attached omentum. There are, in these sections of intestines, large rod-shaped bacteria associated with the less autolyzed mucosa. These organisms are suggestive of a possible Clostridium. The pancreas has an interesting change in the isles of Langerhans. There is vacuolation of the islet cells, which can be a histologic lesion associated with diabetes mellitus.

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rshevin

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:52 am


I wish I had more time to help you translate all this but for now, all the comments on plasma cells and various kinds of while bood cells indicate extensive infection of the intestine. I don't know what a loss of intestional mucosa (lining) means but it can't be good. Autolysis makes me think her intestines were just so infected and irriated they were almost dissolving. Peritonitis I think means the infection had moved out of her intestines and into the abdominal cavity as well. Islet of Langerhans are specialized pancreas cells that make insulin. Tonight, when I have more time, I'm going to dig through my medical dicitionary and get you some better information. My general impression is that her intestional infection was so bad that she had decompensated to the point where not much would have helped. I too wonder about congenital malformation of the GI tract but like I said, I'm going to have to look it up later.

((big hugs))

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somechick

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:41 am


Thanks rshevin! I pretty much got "real bad infections" out of all of that. The insulin thing seems weird and unrelated to anything we were treating. I do think that if the Coccidia was caught sooner, this might not have ended this way. I wish Dr. Stuart told me to do multiple fecals and not just stopped when the first one showed nothing.

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Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:55 am


And the clostridium would certainly have caused problems.

The diabetes it the surprise, no?

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somechick

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:03 pm


It is, but what would have told me that she had diabetes? Her glucose levels were normal (81) on the blood tests we took. I don't understand what OTHER than that I would need to look at to find diabetes. Anyone? So I know in the future.

Also she was on Flagyl up until the end which should have covered the Clostridium. Maybe taking her off that did her in too.

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luvmypigs2

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:43 pm


Did your vet give you a "layman's" explanation of the necropsy?

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somechick

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:30 pm


Yeah, I posted that on the previous page.

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rshevin

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:35 pm


Physical symptoms of diabetes are unexplained weightloss, increased thirst, and excess urination. Some antibiotics mess with glucose levels in human diabetics so I wonder if perhaps they affected her pancreas in some way?

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somechick

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:41 pm


Yeah, there were never any physical signs of diabetes so when I heard about it on the report it made NO sense to me. Thats when I checked the record of her glucose levels, which ended up being normal.

So what exactly are you saying rshevin? That ab's could not necessarily mess with her levels but actually mess with the pancreas itself?

Fweeprluvr

Post   » Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:41 pm


The pancreas can be affected but not necessarily have anything to do with diabetes. Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) has nothing to do with diabetes. I have a dog that has chronic low grade pancreatitis, but her glucose levels have always been fine. They have told me that it is possible she may be more prone to becoming diabetic at some point because of the pancreatitis.

I also know that the pancreas is very sensitive, and if anything around it is affected, it can get "upset".

I wonder if the infection could have caused changes in it, of the gas could have put pressure on it.

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