Feeling overwhelmed and defeated

[kaplanj0920]

Hi all,

I’m a frequent reader of this forum but rarely have posted. I’m not sure exactly what I’m looking to gain- advice, support or really just somewhere to vent.

I have two boars (Hans and Giles) who live in a 6x2 C&C with a 2x2 loft in our tiny old flat. They are kept on fleece. The boys will be 4 around December time.

Recently it has felt like one thing after another and I’m drowning in anxiety. I even took the day off work today because I’m sick with worry about Giles. Giles is displaying symptoms of a UTI that I recognise from Hans. He is straining while using the toilet and making a hiccup sound when he poos. His poos are also decreased in amount and softer. We have a vet appointment today . He also occasionally makes hooting sounds that clear out with a cough like sound but this is unrelated.

Hans’ history:

He started off April with hay poke, then I noticed what I thought was blood in his urine, then he started limping. The vet felt a mammary gland tumor and that’s where the blood was from. We actually tested a bit of the lump before removal to make sure it was a cancerous tumor (it was). One week later he had surgery to remove the lump and it was a tough recovery. We got the biopsy after the tumor was removed only to check if the margins were clear (they were). Hans was stitched underneath the skin so no stitches had to be removed but I had to clean the site daily and he was on metacam, baytril and gabapentin. As soon as we stopped the baytril, boom bloody urine and squeaking. A UTI from a weakened immune system from the surgery. Finally put on a week long course of a different antibiotic (not bactrim because of a manufacturing shortage). This cleared and then we found a Sebaceous cyst which now gets drained monthly.

I should also add that last month the boys were scratching and got diagnosed with mites (likely hay) so I’ve spend lots of money and time replacing and deep cleaning the cage only for the three treatments of ivermectin to not work. They received a dose of selamectin last Thursday in hopes this works better.

After noticing Giles is now falling ill I am just really struggling to cope with it all. I’m having flashbacks to force feeding Hans critical care and I worry about doing it again with Giles. The thought of it is making me well up. I also worry Hans will get whatever Giles has.

I feel like a bad owner and like I’m doing something wrong as it feels like it’s constantly one thing after another for the last four months.

I worry if this is also a UTI that it is because they are on fleece and have been for about a year. I change damp areas daily and full cleans every 5 or 6 days but the laundry is constant I can no longer cope. I’ve ordered wood shavings which will come on Saturday and I sadly will be switching back for hopefully easier maintenance.

Side note: the boys both get half a tablet of feliway cyst ease every other day , vitamin c every day and a Sherwood preventative tablet each every other day. Vitamin C they’ve had most of their lives but the other two I started more recently. Cystease was cleared for Hans but is there a chance it’s effecting Giles badly? What am I doing wrong?

Please keep my boys in your thoughts and thanks for reading my ramble.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all,

I’m a frequent reader of this forum but rarely have posted. I’m not sure exactly what I’m looking to gain- advice, support or really just somewhere to vent.

I have two boars (Hans and Giles) who live in a 6x2 C&C with a 2x2 loft in our tiny old flat. They are kept on fleece. The boys will be 4 around December time.

Recently it has felt like one thing after another and I’m drowning in anxiety. I even took the day off work today because I’m sick with worry about Giles. Giles is displaying symptoms of a UTI that I recognise from Hans. He is straining while using the toilet and making a hiccup sound when he poos. His poos are also decreased in amount and softer. We have a vet appointment today . He also occasionally makes hooting sounds that clear out with a cough like sound but this is unrelated.

Hans’ history:

He started off April with hay poke, then I noticed what I thought was blood in his urine, then he started limping. The vet felt a mammary gland tumor and that’s where the blood was from. We actually tested a bit of the lump before removal to make sure it was a cancerous tumor (it was). One week later he had surgery to remove the lump and it was a tough recovery. We got the biopsy after the tumor was removed only to check if the margins were clear (they were). Hans was stitched underneath the skin so no stitches had to be removed but I had to clean the site daily and he was on metacam, baytril and gabapentin. As soon as we stopped the baytril, boom bloody urine and squeaking. A UTI from a weakened immune system from the surgery. Finally put on a week long course of a different antibiotic (not bactrim because of a manufacturing shortage). This cleared and then we found a Sebaceous cyst which now gets drained monthly.

I should also add that last month the boys were scratching and got diagnosed with mites (likely hay) so I’ve spend lots of money and time replacing and deep cleaning the cage only for the three treatments of ivermectin to not work. They received a dose of selamectin last Thursday in hopes this works better.

After noticing Giles is now falling ill I am just really struggling to cope with it all. I’m having flashbacks to force feeding Hans critical care and I worry about doing it again with Giles. The thought of it is making me well up. I also worry Hans will get whatever Giles has.

I feel like a bad owner and like I’m doing something wrong as it feels like it’s constantly one thing after another for the last four months.

I worry if this is also a UTI that it is because they are on fleece and have been for about a year. I change damp areas daily and full cleans every 5 or 6 days but the laundry is constant I can no longer cope. I’ve ordered wood shavings which will come on Saturday and I sadly will be switching back for hopefully easier maintenance.

Side note: the boys both get half a tablet of feliway cyst ease every other day , vitamin c every day and a Sherwood preventative tablet each every other day. Vitamin C they’ve had most of their lives but the other two I started more recently. Cystease was cleared for Hans but is there a chance it’s effecting Giles badly? What am I doing wrong?

Please keep my boys in your thoughts and thanks for reading my ramble.

HUGS

I am very sorry for your bad run. Not your fault, but it can really get you down.

Would you and our vet consider a sterile (i.e. non-bacterial) cystitis instead of a bacterial urine infection, which is actually very rare in well-kept indoors piggies? Sterile IC is not well known outside vet circles who see guinea pigs very regularly.
You can find more information on urinary tract infections in this (new) link here: Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones

If you have concerns about weight loss, please switch from weighing once weekly to weighing daily first thing in the morning.
This new guide link explains what the different monitoring methods bring to the table and how you can put a weight loss into its individually relevant proportion. It will hopefully help managing your anxiety a little better: Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Hay mites fix tiny eggs to the hairs around the bum and the underlayer. It looks like somebody has twisted a peppermill over the piggy and when you feel the hairs in darker-haired piggies, it is like minute beads on a string.

Unless it stresses you out further, I would recommend to give both boys a very short haircut to remove as many eggs as possible. This will immediately cut down on the number of future mites and future generations and also makes it easier to spot new eggs - and the number of mites you have to fight medically. The egg cases themselves are immune; you can only kill emerging mites with ivermectin or selamectin.
You will still have to use the medication for the existing and newly emerged mites from eggs you have missed but - while admittedly drastic - mechanical removal of the eggs reduces the problem massively and also helps with very quick comfort. Some strains of hay mites are unfortunately pretty resistant. The good thing about a haircut is that this method doesn't cost you anything. If necessary, ask a friend or family to hold your boys during a haircut. The hair will always regrow to its genetically determined length. But it is hopefully going a fair way to reducing your stress levels quickly.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting

I would also recommend to switch to a UK hay producer who harvests in the traditional way and not buy imported hay which is harvested on an industrial scale, which churns up a lot more soil, dirt and parasites.
A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)

What you may want to consider is a 2-3 weeks booster course of extra vitamin C to strengthen the immune system. Oxbow is fine.
Please do not do it for longer because the body will adapt to the higher levels of vitamin C and ignore them. If those high levels suddenly drop for some reason, they can cause scurvy symptoms even though the actual level is still above normal. Not the kind of rabbit hole you want to disappear into if you have anxiety issues! Vitamin C should only ever be used as a booster for guinea pigs with a lowered immune system.

Here are some helpful practical tips for anxiety sufferers and their support network to help take the pressure off yourself a little: Pet Owners Anxiety - Practical Tips For Sufferers and For Supporters

PS: Personally, I really have a major issue with the American expression 'force feeding' - which is exactly what it should not be. We use syringe feeding instead when stepping in with life saving feeding support. If you try and look at it from that angle, it has a much more constructive and helpful role.

I hope that this helps you? Please take the time to look at the link with all the detailed information on all the various points I have covered because I simply cannot type it all out in full.

 

[MnJ]

I am sorry to hear that it has been like this for quite a while. Definitely not your fault. It will get better eventually, it always does. I am a worrier myself. I feel you. Hopefully if you talk it out you'll feel better. At the beginning my piggy didn't like the critical care too, but after I changed the brand, he ended up liking it. I hope your piggies get well soon. Sending you hugs and healing thoughts

 

[weepweeps]

Sending healing vibes to your piggy and hugs to you.

 

[Truffolo]

I use wood shavings as I share a washing machine and can't risk debris. I use a horse bag, but wood shavings are just easier in many ways. I can just scoop up the damp, soiled bedding and throw it away. My piggies tend to use particular corners, and their beds, of course. The poops go the same way, and it's very convenient. They do love their fleece though and still get snuggle sacks I put them into a box for their hair cuts to catch the fur and use hair dressing scissors, but am thinking of getting an electric shaver as I think they are safer. Piggies are so sweet and grateful for everything we do for them

 

[Bill & Ted]

Sending big hugs, you and your boys are really going through it lately, no wonder you feel so stressed and anxious. Ît’s because you care. Hope thing improve for you all soon x

 

[kaplanj0920]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and replies. We are hanging in there.

The boys and I will be back at the vet tomorrow for a re check of the mite situation and another urine analysis for Giles.

In the first instance there was blood but no bacteria and some crystals and the second test showed no blood but still some crystals. We think it’s IC and he is on metacam , cystease and gabapentin. Apparently there was not enough calcium crystals to indicate a stone so they won’t do an xray. He definitely needs the meds for longer though.

I quite stupidly threw out all my fleece because I thought it was a UTI before the vet appointment last week. Super wasteful and impulsive I know. The boys are now on shavings until I can get more fleece and possibly until the mites issue is sorted. They are normally only on shavings when boarding.

I am worried they don’t like it as much and it’s also more annoying than fleece because of carpet LOL. I can’t win.

I am worried about their feet on the P@H wood shavings. Do you think they’ll be okay for one month until the new fleece comes? I ordered from cozicreations UK and they must be good because they have such a long dispatch time!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and replies. We are hanging in there.

The boys and I will be back at the vet tomorrow for a re check of the mite situation and another urine analysis for Giles.

In the first instance there was blood but no bacteria and some crystals and the second test showed no blood but still some crystals. We think it’s IC and he is on metacam , cystease and gabapentin. Apparently there was not enough calcium crystals to indicate a stone so they won’t do an xray. He definitely needs the meds for longer though.

I quite stupidly threw out all my fleece because I thought it was a UTI before the vet appointment last week. Super wasteful and impulsive I know. The boys are now on shavings until I can get more fleece and possibly until the mites issue is sorted. They are normally only on shavings when boarding.

I am worried they don’t like it as much and it’s also more annoying than fleece because of carpet LOL. I can’t win.

I am worried about their feet on the P@H wood shavings. Do you think they’ll be okay for one month until the new fleece comes? I ordered from cozicreations UK and they must be good because they have such a long dispatch time!

Hi

All the best with your vet trip tomorrow. Don't worry about the bedding. Your boys will be OK whichever way. All the best for the boarding as well.

 

[Truffolo]

My piggies are on P@H wood shavings and their feet are OK. Good luck, hope everything goes well!

 

[kaplanj0920]

The boys were back at the vet today to get a second round of selamectin. I have been keeping their hair trimmed so am hoping this is the last treatment needed. Will do a full blitz of the cage tomorrow.

They tested Giles’ urine again and sadly the blood is back along with some crystals.

The vet now no longer wants to rule out potential stone/s. Since the practice is under refurbishment we are looking to have him referred to the small animal hospital where he can get an X-ray/ultrasound and whatever else is needed.

I am thankful he is still eating (knock on wood) but devastated about the prospect of a stone and another guinea pig surgery. I certainly regret even more now getting rid of the fleece should he need surgery before the new fleece order comes and he needs soft bedding .