Bereaved senior piggy health problems

[Fluffbabies]

Hi all,

I was posting on here over the weekend about our beautiful Nugget who went downhill very quickly and passed away yesterday at 5 years old. She had progressing arthritis, cystitis, stone/s and enlarged kidneys at the end. Despite early treatment it was all too much and who knows what else might have been happening under the surface that the vets couldn't tell.

This morning I have been paying close attention to our remaining five piggies, especially our remaining senior Oreo who is 6 years old. They're all doing well eating and drinking and being active in the cage. We're giving them extra attention, new treats and enrichment, and will weigh daily.

Oreo has arthritis which is managed with Loxicom but her back legs are noticeably weaker. I noticed she was nodding back and forth only very slightly, only noticeable by looking closely when she was resting. Nugget was doing this along with symptoms of cystitis and I had rushed her to the vet about 10 days ago. I feared Oreo has a URI and rushed her to the vet. A different vet saw her than saw Nugget. Perhaps Nugget also had a URI that we didn't pick up because she didn't show any signs of it. I thought the nodding was a sign of increased pain and the two vets Nugget saw within a week did not check her for a URI. The antibiotics she was on for the UTI should have helped a URI anyway I guess.

The vet found Oreo's breathing is slightly faster and she sounds chesty so diagnosed URI. No other symptoms and the vet said she thinks we caught it early. She also has pain in her bladder so diagnosed cystitis as well. Not sure if she may have a stone/s but Oreo has an appointment booked with the exotic vet in a week's time. Vet prescribed Baytril 0.4ml twice a day for one week, which she said is good for UTIs. Asked about different antibiotics and she said Sulfatrim is good for URIs but had been stopped so she could not give us that right now and said to come back if Oreo does not improve to try a different antibiotic. Asked again about probiotics but she said not to worry because they're for diarrhoea/gut problems and Oreo's guts are very good. She even peed and pooped on the table to show us. Urine looks good and Oreo didn't seem to struggle to pee. Asked about increasing pain relief by adding a different one as I can tell Oreo's legs are weaker and her mobility is a bit more hobbly. The vet said she wanted to do the course of antibiotics first because something like gabapentin could make her feel wobbly and increase risk of turning her off her food.

We know that Oreo is quite frail and are preparing ourselves in case she deteriorates and follows Nugget over the rainbow bridge. We were treating Nugget but ultimately it was not enough. I've heard URIs can be quick and fatal but we are hoping she can pull through these issues. If she has stone/s too I don't think she is suitable for surgery due to frailness and her arthritis, and we wouldn't want to put her through that.

My questions are:
- Do we give Oreo probiotics anyway, even if her guts are good and she continues eating/drinking as normal, for support and prevention?
- Do we need to be concerned that our four 1.5 year olds could also get URIs, or even UTIs if they're infectious? (I was concerned about Oreo catching infections because of her age.)

I have asked all our piggies to start showing us symptoms when they get sick but I don't think they will start any time soon! They're masters at having almost no visible symptoms!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry for the loss of Nugget and to hear Oreo is unwell.

In answer of your questions.
Antibiotics an affect the gut so a probiotic can be given. If you feel she could benefit from the support and prevention, then it should be fine to give it to her.

The other piggies. URIs can be contagious but a healthy functioning immune system can fight them off. We see cases of one piggy getting a URI but the others not. All you can do is monitor the others.
UTIs are not contagious. They are caused by faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract.

 

[Fluffbabies]

I’m sorry for the loss of Nugget and to hear Oreo is unwell.

In answer of your questions.
Antibiotics an affect the gut so a probiotic can be given. If you feel she could benefit from the support and prevention, then it should be fine to give it to her.

The other piggies. URIs can be contagious but a healthy functioning immune system can fight them off. We see cases of one piggy getting a URI but the others not. All you can do is monitor the others.
UTIs are not contagious. They are caused by faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract.

Thank you Piggies&buns.

So probably the most you can do to prevent UTIs are to keep the cage clean? Perhaps older piggies are more susceptible due to a bit less vigorous cleaning due to reduction in mobility?

These are thankfully the first URIs we've had. Our piggies live in our living room and we do our best to limit drafts and keep them warm. But I guess you can't stop all infections especially when piggies are older and have weaker immune systems.

It makes you want to cart all five to the vets just to be checked over for everything. But the vet we saw today told us she has multiple vets in the family and they have all missed illnesses their pets have gotten and been unable to treat their own guinea pigs as they can deteriorate so quickly. When we had Oreo spayed (probably a year-year and a half ago) due to ovarian cysts the vet was very surprised to find she had a "raging" UTI which would have been fatal and she had no signs of it until they were inside her! They checked for any signs of other illness before doing the operation and there were none.

 

[Fluffbabies]

I’m really worried about Oreo and it’s so painful because we’re grieving for Nugget. Worrying about losing Oreo too so quickly is almost unbearable.

Yesterday she was quite active in the cage eating and drinking, moving around and interacting with the environment. We started treatment with Baytril yesterday and added Cystpro this morning. So she’s had three doses of Baytril. She took her meds alright and then chowed down really fast on some salad. I weighed her first thing and she is the same weight she was a few days ago.

But after she had her meds and salad, I put her back and she’s gone to lay down in the hay in the corner and isn’t moving much. Every now and then she eats a bit of hay but she doesn’t seem herself. Last night she was laying in the corner of the hay and was there this morning.

Last night when we were giving her her meds my partner touched her bladder are and she squealed. She’s doing her nodding back and forth but we’ve started the treatment from the vet so what else can we do? I will weigh her later today and could start syringe feeding if she loses weight?

It feels so similar to Nugget. Nugget didn’t drop a lot of weight at the end and she didn’t suddenly stop eating just slowed down. first she stopped drinking and eating nuggets, then stopped hay. She still ate salad on her last day just really slowly. Nugget also went down hill so quickly after starting Baytril. But I’m telling myself that it was her time and she had multiple problems, not the antibiotic?

I'm stuck in the same mindset of treating Oreo and supporting her but not forcing her and making her miserable if everything’s too much and she wants to go :’( My chest hurts so much it’s so painful and I’m full of worry.

 

[piggieminder]

I can't add anything to what Piggies and Buns said but I wanted to offer you support. You are a wonderful piggie mum and are doing all you can. Having a second sick piggy especially after losing one is hard, you second guess everything you do. Sending you hugs.