Ollie's Medical Thread

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CavyDad
Supporter in 2018

Post   » Wed May 18, 2022 12:51 pm


Ollie is a 4.5 year-old boar who has been pretty healthy except for a couple of bouts with ringworm when he was young. A couple of weeks ago, he cracked his lower incisor. Vet looked at it when he was in for a checkup and thought it would break off on its own but advised us to monitor and bring him back if there were problems. A few days later, he was having trouble eating and the gums looked swollen and painful so they removed the broken part of the tooth. It seems the break was very close to or below the gum line. They had to sedate him to do this, and while he was under they did head x-rays and full body x-rays. Teeth roots all look good, but they did find sludge in his bladder and advised giving him lots of water. We've been through bladder stones (including surgery) and really don't want to do that again.

Out of all our pigs, he drinks the least, but since the dental work I haven't seen him drink from his water bottle at all. I've also put a water bowl in the cage to see if he'd go for that. We've tried different bottles in case something tasted funny. I'm syringing 10cc every couple of hours trying to get him to flush the sludge. I don't know if that just means he's not thirsty enough to want to drink, but I thought he would at least drink on his own overnight. I'm also sprinkling water on his lettuce so he gets more. Other than that, I don't know what to do.

Otherwise, he seems to be doing well--the tooth is growing back, the gums look normal again and he's eating everything without trouble. The only thing off is his poop, but I think that's the antibiotic at work. He's on baytril to prevent infection since he did have a bit of a hole where the tooth came out, but he's getting benebac too. He made a couple of strange noises last night when pooping--not quite a whimper, so I don't know if the sludge is making him uncomfortable. He hasn't made any of those noises today.

Any advice about getting him to drink more water, or anything to watch for with the tooth would be much appreciated. We've dealt with broken teeth before and they seem to grow back pretty quickly--I've just never had one that broke off so low and needed veterinary intervention.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed May 18, 2022 10:47 pm


I think you are already doing the two things we would be recommending (syringing water and wetting vegetables). The only other thing I can think of is soaking a handful of hay. Since wet hay can mold, remove any uneaten hay in a couple hours.

Besides adding the extra fluids, it's possible using a vibrator of some sort might help suspend any sludge so it can be expelled in the pee.

Updates welcome!

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CavyDad
Supporter in 2018

Post   » Wed May 18, 2022 11:59 pm


He finally drank out of the bottle a couple hours ago, so at least that's a step forward!

Thanks for the suggestion about trying to suspend the sludge--I'm willing to try almost anything to avoid a bladder stone. Our vet has said she thinks physical activity can help break it up too. He's been getting a lot of floor time because he loves to run around the living room, so I'm hoping that helps. I'll post an update once he gets his next set of X-rays.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu May 19, 2022 2:59 pm


Exercise is totally the best! It should help significantly.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sat May 21, 2022 12:46 am


Ditto Lynx. You are doing all the right things.

Glad to hear he's using his bottle, at least a bit. You can try offering unflavored Pedialyte with a 3cc or 6cc syringe. Many pigs absolutely love this stuff, and we've used it successfully from time to time to keep them hydrated when they're not drinking normally for whatever reason (and it always seems to be the light drinkers this happens to, of course :-|).

It's not cheap and only lasts 48 hours in the fridge, but it can get them 'over the hump' if needed.

Best to him and to you.

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