She dropped the most recent 150 grams over the course of the past month, but she has been eating voraciously.
She has dropped about 500 grams over the past 4-5 months. I guess I would be glad to think that was just senior weight loss. I would certainly feel better about not having her poked and prodded further. But she is so severely under weight - I can feel every one of her bones.
Peppa’s Possible Pyometra
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Lynx
- Resist!!!
Have you read this case study? I don't know if it will be helpful or not, I reread some of it but not all:
https://www.guinealynx.info/hyperthyroi ... study.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/hyperthyroi ... study.html
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JJGiebz
- Make Good Choices
Thanks, Lynx! I have read that. That was what pushed me to push for the thyroid meds, in addition to the recommendations of a vet we used to see several moves ago (the most trusted of all the vets we've seen).
She has always consumed a lot of water and peed frequently in large volume, so that is not new. But the voracious eating and rapid weight loss are both new. She certainly doesn't have excessive energy, but she is also in quite a bit of pain from her feet as well as (I think) from her weight loss. Which contributes to her not moving, which makes her feet worse, etc. etc. Another symptom - she has recently begun regrowing hair in a lot of bald patches she's had for the past few months. I really thought it was thyroid, but the medicine just had no effect on her.
She has always consumed a lot of water and peed frequently in large volume, so that is not new. But the voracious eating and rapid weight loss are both new. She certainly doesn't have excessive energy, but she is also in quite a bit of pain from her feet as well as (I think) from her weight loss. Which contributes to her not moving, which makes her feet worse, etc. etc. Another symptom - she has recently begun regrowing hair in a lot of bald patches she's had for the past few months. I really thought it was thyroid, but the medicine just had no effect on her.
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Lynx
- Resist!!!
When you say she is eating a lot. Everything is going in? Poop is going out? I ask because a guinea pig that is having teeth issues, for example, may look like they are eating but not as much is going in as it looks like. Weighing pellets, for example, may help get a good reading on intake.
Are you hand feeding? Some people will make Critical Care "mush balls" for a guinea pig to consume if they can eat on their own.
Are you hand feeding? Some people will make Critical Care "mush balls" for a guinea pig to consume if they can eat on their own.
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JJGiebz
- Make Good Choices
Oh yes, she is eating and LOTS of poop is coming out. I am glad for that, at least. I am also giving her some critical care when she has her meds, but she is eating about 3 times the recommended amount of pellets - about 3/8 of a cup - in addition to her regular vegetables and hay. She has always been a grazer and not at all what I would call food motivated, so this is definitely unusual.
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JJGiebz
- Make Good Choices
Thanks, bpatters! I did give her some benebac last night after the second increased dose of flagyl, after the diarrhea started. It seemed to help a little. Weirdly (luckily) she has never had a negative reaction to any antibiotic before. So maybe I will keep up the increased dose of flagyl for 5 days, give her benebac after each dose, and see what happens.
Reading through other users experiences with flagyl it sounds like it is usually prescribed for 5-7 days. It is under a different brand name here, but it is the same strength. So I wonder why the vet told me it requires a 30 day course.
As always, I wish science would pay more attention to these tiny critters. In the meantime, trial and error. If this doesn't work, I may go back to the thyroid meds and increase the dose slightly until something happens. I feel like she has nothing to lose at this point.
Reading through other users experiences with flagyl it sounds like it is usually prescribed for 5-7 days. It is under a different brand name here, but it is the same strength. So I wonder why the vet told me it requires a 30 day course.
As always, I wish science would pay more attention to these tiny critters. In the meantime, trial and error. If this doesn't work, I may go back to the thyroid meds and increase the dose slightly until something happens. I feel like she has nothing to lose at this point.
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JJGiebz
- Make Good Choices
Hello everyone -
With great sadness I need to wrap up this thread. Peppa passed away two days ago, during a surgery.
It turned out the weight loss described immediately above this post was caused by a parasite. That cleared up with the Flagyl thankfully. But she was never able to put the weight back on. Her abscess recurred two - or maybe three more times, before she lost both of her bottom incisors earlier this year.
She was getting along quite well with monthly incisor trims (the vet suggested surgery to remove her top incisors, but I didn't want to put her through that) and all of her food chopped into strips.
In October, I noticed she was crying while peeing, but louder and in a different way than she has in the past. I know that's weird, but I don't know how else to describe it. I ran through the usuals - metacam - UTI - but decided to take her in to get it checked. On ultrasound, the vet discovered that one of her kidney cysts had grown to 2.5cm and was likely causing more pain. As an initial step, we decided to drain it and do blood work while she was under.
The kidney was still functioning normally, per the bloodwork, so we decided to see how quickly it would fill back up. On a follow up ultrasound 10 days later, the cyst was only 1cm but the vet mentioned that the uterus (or what was left of it? I'm still unsure what was going on in there) looked cancerous. On the first ultrasound she had said it looked "bad" and 10 days later it was worse. She wanted to remove it.
Peppa being ca 8 years old that was obviously risky. The word "cancer" makes me panic, though. And I agreed. She always proved tougher than I thought, so I decided to give her a chance instead of wait it out. She's been under anesthesia once per month since August to have her teeth trimmed and has done well, I thought she would make it through the surgery itself and it was the recovery we would fight through. Unfortunately, she stopped breathing and the vet could not revive her.
I know there is never a right thing to do, and there is never a right time - or enough time - and I also know that she could have been screaming at me for veggies on Wednesday (which she was) and have died by the weekend anyway. But knowing these things doesn't make it any less heartbreaking.
She had a great life. She was a great traveler. After we lost Gus last year I started taking her with me whenever I could. She had been to 6 countries (including the U.S.) and I was planning to drive her through Liechtenstein next month to keep her count up. The guinea pig I picked up in South Carolina and the guinea pig I dropped off at the vet two days ago were unrecognizable to each other (not just because she had lost so much hair...) and I'm very thankful I was able to give her that life. I just think she deserved more.
Thank you all for all of your advice and encouragement along the way. This message board has always been a great support and comfort to me.
With great sadness I need to wrap up this thread. Peppa passed away two days ago, during a surgery.
It turned out the weight loss described immediately above this post was caused by a parasite. That cleared up with the Flagyl thankfully. But she was never able to put the weight back on. Her abscess recurred two - or maybe three more times, before she lost both of her bottom incisors earlier this year.
She was getting along quite well with monthly incisor trims (the vet suggested surgery to remove her top incisors, but I didn't want to put her through that) and all of her food chopped into strips.
In October, I noticed she was crying while peeing, but louder and in a different way than she has in the past. I know that's weird, but I don't know how else to describe it. I ran through the usuals - metacam - UTI - but decided to take her in to get it checked. On ultrasound, the vet discovered that one of her kidney cysts had grown to 2.5cm and was likely causing more pain. As an initial step, we decided to drain it and do blood work while she was under.
The kidney was still functioning normally, per the bloodwork, so we decided to see how quickly it would fill back up. On a follow up ultrasound 10 days later, the cyst was only 1cm but the vet mentioned that the uterus (or what was left of it? I'm still unsure what was going on in there) looked cancerous. On the first ultrasound she had said it looked "bad" and 10 days later it was worse. She wanted to remove it.
Peppa being ca 8 years old that was obviously risky. The word "cancer" makes me panic, though. And I agreed. She always proved tougher than I thought, so I decided to give her a chance instead of wait it out. She's been under anesthesia once per month since August to have her teeth trimmed and has done well, I thought she would make it through the surgery itself and it was the recovery we would fight through. Unfortunately, she stopped breathing and the vet could not revive her.
I know there is never a right thing to do, and there is never a right time - or enough time - and I also know that she could have been screaming at me for veggies on Wednesday (which she was) and have died by the weekend anyway. But knowing these things doesn't make it any less heartbreaking.
She had a great life. She was a great traveler. After we lost Gus last year I started taking her with me whenever I could. She had been to 6 countries (including the U.S.) and I was planning to drive her through Liechtenstein next month to keep her count up. The guinea pig I picked up in South Carolina and the guinea pig I dropped off at the vet two days ago were unrecognizable to each other (not just because she had lost so much hair...) and I'm very thankful I was able to give her that life. I just think she deserved more.
Thank you all for all of your advice and encouragement along the way. This message board has always been a great support and comfort to me.
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Lynx
- Resist!!!
I am so sad to hear this, JJGiebz. You were such a wonderful caretaker and she was such a great companion. I am so sorry she is gone.
What a wonderful life she lived. You were there for her, making the best choices you could. It is never easy to lose a beloved pet. I hope in time that it is all the good memories that come to mind when you think of her.
What a wonderful life she lived. You were there for her, making the best choices you could. It is never easy to lose a beloved pet. I hope in time that it is all the good memories that come to mind when you think of her.
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