Violet's medical thread

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Zaphy

Post   » Sat Mar 11, 2017 5:50 pm


Discovered last night that if I just hold her water bottle up to her face, she'll drink from it. She just won't go to it herself. How weird.

Also forgot to note that she seems to be pretty itchy on her belly where her fur was shaved. I do not see any irritation or hair loss, so I am guessing that it is just that she doesn't like a buzzed tummy, but I will keep an eye on it. I recall hearing that stress can 'bring out' mites, so to speak.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Mar 11, 2017 6:18 pm


If it was shaved very closely, the wrong way, when the hairs grow out they can kind of poke the skin and hurt. Look to see if there is red irritation.

This is what happens sometimes when a female (or male, I imagine) shaves hair on their own bodies. Depending on the direction and closeness of the shave, it can hurt when growing out.

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Zaphy

Post   » Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:40 am


Small update, Violet is drinking a small amount on her own. Still having to supplement though, and she's still leaving only about half the poops in her cage that her sister is. Her low weight today was 1078 and high weight was 1110.

I am going out of town on Thursday, and I have a vet appointment for Violet on Wednesday before that to have her checked to make sure she's ok. Might do an ultrasound again to see if there's any internal change, though I don't feel anything different. I suspect her cyst burst again, because I'm not feeling the lump right now and she seems a little more pained today even with the meloxicam. I really wish I didn't have to leave town this week... but I'm training my husband to handfeed her and what to watch for while I'm gone. If he's unable to handle nursing her, the vet offers medical boarding with emergency staff on duty overnight that he can take her to.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:27 am


Your husband is a good guy! Hope it goes well while you are gone.

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Zaphy

Post   » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:37 am


Vet said he thinks the meloxicam may have been causing some GI upset, so we're trying her off of that and bumping up her CC feedings. They gave her some sub-q fluids plus some vitamin C, but he thinks she's doing pretty good.

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Zaphy

Post   » Mon Mar 27, 2017 12:44 pm


Happy to report that Violet returned to normal while I was gone, though it took about a week of the husband being very diligent and VERY patient with her hand feedings :) He's upset that I ever taught Violet to hop up on my shoulders when she wants to go back to the cage... it makes for some difficult nail trimmings and hand feedings! Her weight is back up to 1150-1170g :)

I'll update again when it's time to try again with the spay- it will probably not be till May, as we've had some things come up during April. Hoping that nothing worsens in the meantime.

Also, on an off topic note- Lynx, the new forums look great!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Mar 27, 2017 1:38 pm


So glad you like them! There are a few new features, too!

And very happy to hear she is doing well!

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Zaphy

Post   » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:02 am


Violet's still not been spayed- we've had a lot of excuses pop up but I think mainly I'm just really scared to have her go under anesthesia again given that she responded so poorly the first time. I know that the vets did recommend trying again and I still basically plan on it but I'm just... going to be really crushed if I kill her by trying to spay her (for new readers, she has ovarian cysts, no external symptoms).

In the meantime though, an unrelated question- I found some blood on a spot that Violet had been chewing so I assume she cut her mouth, but upon checking her lips, front of mouth and tongue, could not find a cut. If a cut is small enough to stop bleeding that fast, should I be concerned about infection? If it were on her skin outside I wouldn't be too worried, just that it might be inside her little poopy mouth. Not sure if this one's worth a trip to the vet?

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Tue Jul 11, 2017 1:00 pm


Does she have a cagemate and if so, do they scuffle from time to time? If so, check the cagemate.

Their mouths and tongues heal exceptionally fast, but they rarely cut them. This one's a little weird to me. I wouldn't necessarily run to the vet, but I'd want to know where the blood came from.

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Zaphy

Post   » Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:51 pm


She does, they don't really, but I did anyway, heh. Same thing, I just figured the advice would be the same. No clue where the cut is/was- and I figure for the blood to have escaped their mouths it would have had to be near the front where I'd be able to see it. I guess I'll just... check their mouths for a while and watch for any redness anywhere. It is weird.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Wed Jul 12, 2017 2:32 pm


A less knowledgeable and experienced owner than you, I would suggest a vet trip. You however know what you're doing. Keep an eye out. Sniff her mouth from time to time; if any infection or abscess develops, you should be able to smell it.

Hopefully it's just a one-off weirdness. I cut my mouth on corn chips too, so yeah. ;-)

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Zaphy

Post   » Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:00 pm


I wanted to put a note here for my own benefit that Violet's started having some weird potential respiratory symptoms. It's very subtle so I'm not immediately concerned, but I wanted to make note of it here since I already forgot exactly when I noticed it- sometime in the last few days. Hasn't seemed to worsen since I noticed it but I will keep an eye (or ear) on it and probably make an appointment and mention it to the vet, since she'll be due for a checkup soon anyway.

Her lungs sound clear when I listen to them but her breathing sounds a little junky every now and then- whenever I do hear it, she's either eating or sleeping. I wouldn't call it a full blown hoot, more of a small grunt. No discharge, no other symptoms.

With her surgery drama earlier I honestly kind of suspect heart problems rather than the beginnings of a URI... but I suppose time will tell. Might make the vet take radiographs anyway even if he doesn't think it likely, just to be sure.

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