• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Cystic Ovaries

Hi all, quick update. Sandy is still not really eating - she keeps going in the hay tray for a snuffle but not eating and she is picking at a small amount of veg and pellets. I have been giving around 10ml of Oxbow critical care every 2 and a half hours and have stopped feeding during the night. She has been gaining weight thankfully and has gone from 774g on the 21st October and gained around 15g a day to be 825g today. I have to be in the office tomorrow and my 13 year old daughter will be taking over the feeding - she can give the Emeraid easily and I will do the Oxbow first thing and try to get in 3 feeds in the evening. Hoping this won't affect the good gains she has made. She does seem bright eyed and less lethargic but still nowhere near her usual self.

With regards to understanding the cause of her not eating, I still can't find a pig savvy vet who is working this week and most have no appointments for at least two weeks. After speaking to Northampton again, they don't have any appointments for a couple of weeks but have said that I can call next week at 8am when Simon and Kim are back and will hopefully be able to get an emergency appointment on the day. It means another week of syringe feeding (at least) and I hope she can keep going for that long and that the delay doesn't have any more negative impact on her health.
 
Hi, Sorry, I have another question about Sandy's mystery illness.

I am running low on metacam and emeprid so went to my local vet to get a refill. I didn't take Sandy with me as they have seen Sandy many times recently. The original prescription was given by a vet in the next town over when we went for an emergency appointment. She prescribed:

Metacam - 0.25ml twice a day
Emeprid - 0.4ml twice a day

The vet today who prescribed has previously seen Sandy and said she is not very experienced with guinea pigs. She has prescribed:

Metacam - 0.15ml once a day
Emeprid - 0.78ml twice a day (this seems a lot and her gut is moving well now with regular poops etc)

Do I continue with the original prescription amounts which has been keeping her going - she is gaining weight although still not eating independently - or do I change to the new amounts prescribed by a less experienced vet? My gut is telling me to continue with the original doses and I understand from other posts that their metabolism means twice daily pain relief is more appropriate. This is all so stressful!
 
I’m afraid we cannot give advice on dosing, only a vet can do so.
The dosages from the first vet seem much more inline with personal experiences though.
 
The metacam dosage is in both cases low (especially if it is cat metacam).

The high emeprid prescription is what I would like to see for one of my own piggies with acute digestive issues. If these have really settled but are chronic, then I would go with the lower dosage for maintenance and with the higher dosage for any acute flares.
 
Thanks ladies, I will maintain the current dosage. She is eating loads of the critical care now (i'm slightly concerned I may be overfeeding her!) but she really needs to gain the weight back in case an op is needed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Northampton will squeeze her in as an emergency on Monday and get to the bottom of it!
 
Hi all, quick question..

I am hoping to be able to get an appointment tomorrow with Simon/ Kim in Northampton.

As it will be over an hour journey and sandy is likely to be pulled about a bit, do you think I should take her cage mate Lollipop with us?

I am wary of stressing out Lollipop for no reason but also worry about Sandy not coping.
 
Yes thankfully. We saw Kim and it was such a difference talking to her over our local vet - she is amazing!

It is a dental issue, her tooth is growing weirdly which was hurting her cheek and possibly a bone/root issue in her jaw. She filed everything down to look normal again and put her on dog metacam so stronger pain relief and said that the next 24 hours were crucial to get her eating again to give her confidence in there being no pain and so that the eating motion reduces the risk of the painful tooth regrowth. She told me to stop syringe feeding for 24 hours so she recognises the hunger and to put stalky veg like kale stems into her mouth so she can realise it won't hurt. She ate those happily last night after a little resistance. I tried to do the same with hay but I think I picked the wrong bits as she kept biting it out of my hand and throwing it away 🤣.

I weighed her before bed so i could weigh in the morning and see if she had eaten as I worried that she would starve overnight. This morning when I came down she was in the hay bed and scoffing loads of hay. When I weighed her, she weighed the same as last night! I have weighed a couple more times today and she has maintained all day at around 750g. Hoping she will start to gain over the next few days but I am just so happy to see her eating again and behaving a lot more like herself.

We have an appointment to check up on her progress with Kim in 2 weeks and depending on how she is, she may choose to xray or possibly sedate her so she can check out something down the back of her mouth that she couldn't see when she was conscious and the possible bone/root issue. She thinks she will need regular dental treatments but I am hoping it will be a 6-8 week window in between them and not the 2 weeks that she said some pigs have to have.

She also checked her over and found a small stone which she removed and we talked about the cysts and she feels that they are not affecting her negatively and her current condition means that it wouldn't be safe to treat them now anyway which I completely agree with.

I am sooooo happy I made the trip to see Kim. Thank you all for the tips and recommendations and good wishes
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Ah you were there at the same time as me. I was the lady with the three carriers of piggies. You probably thought I was a weirdo as I was wearing a Halloween hairband! 😂
Click to expand...
Ha ha, you just started to ask about our visit and then got called in! I had my mum with me. Definitely didn't think you were a weirdo! I was very nervous as i was worried she wouldn't be able to find the problem following my visits to the local vets.

Were your piggies all OK?
 
Leo was there for his regular dental. Ivan had been worrying me as he was very lethargic, although would eat, if you put food in front of him. Simon said he felt quite gassy and prescribed gut motility drugs. Within 20mins of having the drugs he was dashing around happily. Patch was put to sleep. I knew it was a one way trip, which is why I’d taken all her little friends. She had dreadful teeth but had an extra couple of years of life, thanks to Simon. She was an elderly girl and had suddenly gone downhill. She did so well, for such a long time! x
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Leo was there for his regular dental. Ivan had been worrying me as he was very lethargic, although would eat, if you put food in front of him. Simon said he felt quite gassy and prescribed gut motility drugs. Within 20mins of having the drugs he was dashing around happily. Patch was put to sleep. I knew it was a one way trip, which is why I’d taken all her little friends. She had dreadful teeth but had an extra couple of years of life, thanks to Simon. She was an elderly girl and had suddenly gone downhill. She did so well, for such a long time! x
Click to expand...
Oh that's so sad 😔. No more pain for her though and its great simon was able to give her a couple of extra years of happiness.

Maybe I will bump into you again on a future visit as it seems I will now be a regular there!
 
SallyM79 said:
Oh that's so sad 😔. No more pain for her though and its great simon was able to give her a couple of extra years of happiness.

Maybe I will bump into you again on a future visit as it seems I will now be a regular there!
Click to expand...
She loved life and all her friends. I knew it was time when she lost her spark. Her friends spent about 15 minutes with her, after the passed. I think it helps them cope with the loss!

I’m sure I’ll see you again! I spend a lot of time there! 😊
 
Update: sandy is continuing to eat well although a little slower than before. I keep putting her in the hay tray to encourage her to eat more. Her weight is mostly stable and perhaps creeping up a tiny tiny bit.

Do I need to keep giving the Emeprid as she is eating well?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top