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2 More Dying Piggies

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Thanks everyone: Vets bills currently at £205 after today's visit for the girls to get their third injections.

Beanie is now making good progress. After the "bloodbath setback" on 14th, we have been changing her dressing every 2 days instead of daily to reduce her stress. On the advice of the vet, we have boiled up some nice porrige oats gloop, sieved it and saved the emulsion to treat her skin. Every dressing change, we dilute some "stock gloop" in warm boiled water and her skin is gently bathed with cotton wool eyepads (no free lint) and allowed to dry. We then "dunk her" in warm 1/500 F10SC (anti-bacterial and anti-fungal) to wash it off and allow her to dry again in a very soft fluffy towel. We then treat any open wounds with Flamazine cream..(antibacterial silver salts) .and then re-dress and put on the jacket.

As of today - Beanie's hair is starting to grow back! Yay!
And her skin on her rump is pale pink/silky smooth! She is also far calmer about irritation and not wheeking or self-mutilating so much! She will however have her jacket on (with or without dressings) for the next 4 weeks minimum.In terms of the scabs/wounds -
We have managed to rectify the damage from our previous oversight....and are now back to where we were at the last vets visit.

Now Dotty is not progressing as well as hoped. She still has big open wounds on her skin in the same places as when she arrived here....and is continuing to self-mutilate and make more wounds. She's a stubborn madam and doesn't take kindly to syringe feeding her meds or extra food, She is, nevertheless, still going in the right direction.

One point to mention for info: - vet said today it is really important that these girls get the painkiller buprecare prescribed at "bang-on" regular intervals because, given what it does, a delay to regular treatment could exacerbate their itchiness.

I will post updated photos at the weekend

x
 
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Thanks for the update.

It is great to hear they are both going in the right direction. It is even good that Dotty is a proper little madam, as at least it shows she has some fight in her. Not so good for people trying to treat her though.

I am sure they are both very grateful for all you are doing for them, although they may not act like it!
 
What a stressful and intense process for both Pebble and Chopsticus. You've both been amazing and Pebble's devotion to these 2 gorgeous little piggies is wonderful. I'm learning all the time. I wish all of you, piggies especially, the very best for the future. :)
 
Dotty - she is clearly a mis-marked Himmi with her smudgy nose and dark ears/front paws....
At first glance she doesn;t look too bad....

....until you see the wounds on her back and neck which she keeps continuously re-opening with her teeth (might need to put a jacket on her too!)




Now little Beanie....sporting her favourite jacket (she still prefers the blue one to the purple one!). Note that all the wounds and scabs on her head have cleared up from her last picture. (Please excuse the critical care debris to the RHS - that was Dotty dribbling!)!




.....and look at the hair starting to regrow on her previously bald rump!....and NO MORE SCURF!

 
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I've just discovered this thread and read through it. I can't begin to describe how amazing you guys are, especially Pebble, for your efforts. You all volunteered for piggy trains, donations, gave advice, etc., and now Pebble is working like a nut to nurse the girls back to health. Chopsticus you're not a bad person, don't feel down about this, it's the inexperienced vets' faults for not diagnosing your piggies properly and for in general being useless. You're a good person for putting your piggies' needs before your own.

Sadly I don't have any pennies to spare, otherwise I would have donated.
 
Get well soon little ones. It's a shame for the poor piggies. Their little jacket is a great idea to stop them scratching.
I really wish more vets had a clue about guinea pigs. :(

Well done everyone for helping to save these girls.
 
Wow - What an improvement with the fur. It is so good to see they are starting to improve so much. Well done Pebble!
 
I can see the improvments on the lickle uns :clap:

Pebble you are a star:yahoo:

A Beanie and Dottie, jacket ensamble might be a good idea for a photo shoot:nod:
 
Looks like they have not lost weight and Beanie may have put a little bit back on. That must be good.
Dottie was called that because she was only about 60% the size of the other 2 when I bought her. She was like massive when I handed her over.:(
 
They are doing so well, you are doing an amazing job! Well done :) I look forward to updates of these girls as they progress!
 
@Chopsticus It's lovely that you have continued to be involved and are massively contributing financially to restoring them back to health. I'm sorry that you and your piggies were so let down by vets. hope you are doing well.
 
The truth is - I probably have those mites in my ears and passed it to them. I always have itching, scratching and biting in my ears and I get out a certain amount of light green/yellow (?) crusts with an earpick just like those on them. And yes, it gets much worse when my ears gets cold. That would more than explain why an afflicted guinea pig tries to destroy its own head. And my ears get cold whenever I go outside, even when it is very warm outside by this country's standards.

I was always worried about their ears. The have massive middle ears like caves and I have heard water killing guinea pigs who got it in there.
 
@Chopsticus

With the exception of fungal ringworm, no other skin disease is tranmissible between humans and piggies - which includes mites.
Humans get a version of the sarcoptic mange your two girls have -it's called scabies - but the bug is completely different, is human-specific - and is not transmisible
x
 
Oh I did. Instead of taking a good look at the problem, they sectioned me under the mental health act. That was how I became an invalid.

...and so that's why there are so many ringworm posters at the vets.
 
I'd just like to thank everyone for their recent donations and will be issuing a proper update in the next 24hours on the girls.

@Chopsticus - Thank you! - You have made a second VERY generous donation at the weekend - this means there is more than enough in the fund to cover the vets bills and make a donation to Glynneath GPR and The Forum - so I will PM about this.

Dotty is doing well and now off meds. Sadly - Dotty has made it very clear she doesn;t want to be with Beanie permanently. Each time I put them together in a temp cage (whilst cleaning them out) or pet carrier (whilst going to the vets) - Dotty is "not very nice" to poor little Beanie. I am not hopeful I will ever be able to re-bond them (but I will try once they are both better)

Rudy (my dapper male with the personal hygiene problem) has been constantly trying to woo Dotty with his wheeks - I think his attention may have gone to her head! Rudy is too old to be neutered - so I may have to consider getting Dotty spayed when she is well enough if these two are ever to be "an item"

Little Beanie has started trying to self-mutilate again, with accompanying squealing and squawking - but focusing on her neck and ears now. Also her skin is scurfing again despite the oatmeal baths, so we are consulting the vet again tomorrow to change her treatment plan with a view to concentrating on anti-fungal treatment now. Good news - her hair is growing back!

Bad news - Beanie is a naughty influence on my own pigs and clearly teaching them very bad habits......much of the "noise" she makes when her dressing/jacket is changed now is clearly no longer pain but "indignation".
Even my most placid pig Valentine (who went to see Uncle Simon yesterday again) - started squawking like Beanie when his teeth were looked at! I was so embarassed!

Pics and proper update on the girls to follow tomorrow.
x
 
Bless them. Causing chaos, at least it means they are feeling a bit better. :D
 
"Rudy (my dapper male with the personal hygiene problem) has been constantly trying to woo Dotty with his wheeks - I think his attention may have gone to her head!"
Oh, this made me laugh.

The posts on this thread are starting to give me a smile when I read them, always a good sign.
 
Chopsticus said:
Oh I did. Instead of taking a good look at the problem, they sectioned me under the mental health act. That was how I became an invalid.

...and so that's why there are so many ringworm posters at the vets.
Click to expand...
Please take care of yourself misses! x
 
@Chopsticus Poor you, your ears sound painful. You may have a fungal ear infection, the symptoms are very similar to what I had recently. I hope you are OK, obviously this has been very distressing for you.
 
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