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Buttons' spay

Just got back from the emergency vet appointment. Buttons had to have another round of anaesthetic to restitch the wound as it had opened up all the way to her abdominal wall. She’s home & awake but super out of it again and shaking a little. I made her a heat pad and am letting her acclimatise for a bit before trying to syringe feed her. As of tomorrow I am to up her painkillers to 0,5ml twice a day to make sure she‘s comfortable enough to not be nibbling at the incision. My poor girl, I hope she pulls through :( I am so worried.
 
We have everything crossed here for her. My 900g skinny pig was on 0.7ml Metacam twice daily after his op. So it may be worth asking if you can increase the dose a little. Hopefully, she is just suffering from the after effects of the anesthesia. My vet says the guinea pigs often have problems keeping their body temperature up. xx Sending love and hugs.
 
YvonneBlue said:
We have everything crossed here for her. My 900g skinny pig was on 0.7ml Metacam twice daily after his op. So it may be worth asking if you can increase the dose a little. Hopefully, she is just suffering from the after effects of the anesthesia. My vet says the guinea pigs often have problems keeping their body temperature up. xx Sending love and hugs.
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That‘s really good to know, she was 980g this morning so I‘ll speak to the tomorrow about increasing the dose. For today she‘s had an injection anyways. I spent the last few hours moving her on and off a heat pad as it‘s quite hot today and she felt like she was about to overheat but then got cold again when she was off the heat pad. And as she was still too wobbly to walk I moved her about. She just now had 10ml of CC, 2ml of poop soup and another 2ml of water and after popping her back in her hidey she also munched on hay for a couple of minutes. She‘s still very weak but better, thank god! xx
 
stef.trg said:
That‘s really good to know, she was 980g this morning so I‘ll speak to the tomorrow about increasing the dose. For today she‘s had an injection anyways. I spent the last few hours moving her on and off a heat pad as it‘s quite hot today and she felt like she was about to overheat but then got cold again when she was off the heat pad. And as she was still too wobbly to walk I moved her about. She just now had 10ml of CC, 2ml of poop soup and another 2ml of water and after popping her back in her hidey she also munched on hay for a couple of minutes. She‘s still very weak but better, thank god! xx
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When Peggy had a bad flare up of her arthritis she was on 0.7ml of Metacam 3 times a day for 5 days. This was from the head exotics vet at the practice. He believes that it is not dangerous in high doses for short spells.

I do hope that Buttons starts to feel better soon. You are certainly doing all you can for her. xx
 
Evening update ☺️ Buttons has pulled through the anaesthetic although she‘s still very sleepy and doesn’t have much energy. Her appetite has taken a bit of a hit probably due to the antibiotic injection she had this morning. I completely forgot to ask the vet today what antibiotic she administered - I will give her a quick ring tomorrow so I can note it down for future reference. Since Benito‘s ordeal after the Convenia injection which ultimately destroyed his whole body it‘s hard work keeping my anxiety at bay. I am fairly sure Buttons didn’t have Convenia but my anxiety doesn’t really care about that.

Thankfully, she doesn’t have to take any more antibiotics so I‘m hoping the lack of appetite will be over soon. She still nibbles a little bit of hay here and there (especially right after her syringe feeds), so she hasn’t fully stopped eating which I count as a success. I‘m going to continue with poop soup and probiotics.

Other than that her wound now looks really good, much better than it did right after surgery. I‘m wondering if there was maybe something off with the way the lower half was stitched because exactly the part that opened up was weeping & on and off lightly bleeding ever since I picked her up. The vet today also thought that there might have been an issue with it and that’s why she had a go at it. At the moment she shows zero interest in her stitches and she doesn’t seem uncomfortable. Fingers crossed the rollercoaster is behind us now and things are looking up! xx
 
stef.trg said:
Evening update ☺️ Buttons has pulled through the anaesthetic although she‘s still very sleepy and doesn’t have much energy. Her appetite has taken a bit of a hit probably due to the antibiotic injection she had this morning. I completely forgot to ask the vet today what antibiotic she administered - I will give her a quick ring tomorrow so I can note it down for future reference. Since Benito‘s ordeal after the Convenia injection which ultimately destroyed his whole body it‘s hard work keeping my anxiety at bay. I am fairly sure Buttons didn’t have Convenia but my anxiety doesn’t really care about that.

Thankfully, she doesn’t have to take any more antibiotics so I‘m hoping the lack of appetite will be over soon. She still nibbles a little bit of hay here and there (especially right after her syringe feeds), so she hasn’t fully stopped eating which I count as a success. I‘m going to continue with poop soup and probiotics.

Other than that her wound now looks really good, much better than it did right after surgery. I‘m wondering if there was maybe something off with the way the lower half was stitched because exactly the part that opened up was weeping & on and off lightly bleeding ever since I picked her up. The vet today also thought that there might have been an issue with it and that’s why she had a go at it. At the moment she shows zero interest in her stitches and she doesn’t seem uncomfortable. Fingers crossed the rollercoaster is behind us now and things are looking up! xx
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Poor buttons and you! It's so stressful when they aren't well. I hope Buttons has a good night tonight
 
Night #4 is behind us. Buttons weight was up 40g this morning which also happened after going under on Thursday so I guess it‘s normal for her. So far I haven’t seen many poops, just a few tiny ones but it also took her a good 24 hours last time to start the pooping machine again. She has gut sounds on both sides and is still happy to eat hay on her own so I‘m not worried about GI stasis. Her appetite is still a bit reduced but she jas started nibbling on some cucumber again which is an improvement. No interest in coriander & lettuce yet though, which are usually her most favourite things in the world. Her wound looks really good, she definitely hasn‘t touched it and also doesn’t seem bothered by it. Fingers crossed the anaesthetic and antibiotics are going to make their way out of her system soon and she can start fully feeling like herself again.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes & continued support. It really makes caring for her so much more bearable knowing there‘s so many of you who I can pour my heart out to & who cheer us on xx
 
That's great! It's pretty normal that they don't want to touch their favourite food. Usually the thing that was okay at the last feeding is a no go at the next. :mal:
I hope that she won't start to nibble at the stiches again (if that's what happened). If she doesn't leave them alone, you could try a body. But not all piggies tolerate them well. :blink:
 
Aw that’s good news and everything is going in the right direction 🤞sending loads of healing vibes her way x
 
That's great news 🥰
Have you tried her on a bit of fresh grass? My past piggies would often eat grass even if they didn't want other veggies after an operation.
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
That's great! It's pretty normal that they don't want to touch their favourite food. Usually the thing that was okay at the last feeding is a no go at the next. :mal:
I hope that she won't start to nibble at the stiches again (if that's what happened). If she doesn't leave them alone, you could try a body. But not all piggies tolerate them well. :blink:
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Amen to that! Today‘s favourite is lettuce - already curious what it will be tomorrow. 😂 You know, I googled earlier and I found this weird but kinda comfy looking body here. Should be easy enough to make myself too if I need it. For now she‘s still not at all bothered by the stitches so fingers crossed it stays that way but if not, expect pigtures of Buttons modeling this cute body.

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ScrufflesRules said:
That's great news 🥰
Have you tried her on a bit of fresh grass? My past piggies would often eat grass even if they didn't want other veggies after an operation.
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I did think about trying grass but they never get grass because Pewter‘s IC doesn’t do well with it so she‘s absolutely not used to it. And with her tummy being a bit upset because of everything I‘m a bit worried it might cause her to bloat 🙈
 
Buttons is doing much the same tonight, she is eating little bits for herself but overall her appetite is still very much reduced. She‘s pretty much the same as she was on Friday, 24 hours-ish after her anaesthetic. I had hoped that due to the second anaesthetic being less strong she might recover more quickly from it but with everything her body’s been through it‘s just taking its time (and I have to learn how to be patient). Her poop factory is slowing reopening and I‘m seeing more well shaped, bigger poops around the cage although she‘s eating most of them at the moment. Pewter and Cornelius are providing her with poop soup 3 times a day which seems to be helping really well. Her belly had started to get rumbly yesterday but it stopped super quickly with the poop soup. She also gets bene bac once a day.

We’re currently on 0,5ml Metacam twice a day as my vet wanted to see how she‘s doing on it before upping it again and I think it‘s working really well for her. She doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable or in any pain and hasn’t touched her stitches at all. She does spend most of her time passed out when the metacam is fully kicking in but I guess that’s probably a good sign. Means she‘s comfortable enough to sleep and heal.

I am still syringe feeding her around the clock & am honestly starting to get very tired but we‘re not giving up now. I know she will probably be much better in a few days time even though it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel right about now. xx
 
Button’s does sound like she is getting better but the poor little lady has had two GA‘s in a very short space of time so will be slower to pull around. keep up the good work with the recovery food, you are doing a great job x
 
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You are doing so great caring for Buttons. Hopefully she will continue to improve and start to eat more for herself soon. Don't forget to look after yourself too.xx
 
No wonder you are getting tired. It's hard work caring for and worrying about a sick piggy.
If you're in Austria at the moment you could try Rodicare drops, Rodicare akut works really well and there is also Rodicare Appetit. I'm not so sure if this will do much good, but I always give it when one of my piggies doesn't want to eat.
 
Thank you everyone, your words really make this whole thing a lot easier ❤️ Little lady was just out and tucked into some of her dinner veg for a couple of minutes and has now gone back to sleep in her house. Next and last feed before my bedtime is going to be in half an hour. xx
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
No wonder you are getting tired. It's hard work caring for and worrying about a sick piggy.
If you're in Austria at the moment you could try Rodicare drops, Rodicare akut works really well and there is also Rodicare Appetit. I'm not so sure if this will do much good, but I always give it when one of my piggies doesn't want to eat.
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I swear by the Rodicare stuff, I think it‘s really good and I always have the akut and the appetite ones in my piggy first aid kit. The akut one has proven it‘s worth every time when any of them had an upset tummy. I‘m still not sure if the appetite one is actually working well because there were always such harsh outside factors when I used it that I don‘t think plant-based drops had a realistic chance of getting them to eat again. I‘m still giving them to her though, can‘t make anything worse and my vet approves of them as well.
 
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