Hunched up after surgery

[Sianalexandra1]

One of my pigs had surgery yesterday, she had been bloated and it turns out she had a mass growing on her spleen so it was removed. We brought her home yesterday and she seems okay within her self, she is eating hay and peppers which are her fave. She moves when she needs to, so she will move for food. We syringe fed her some water to make sure she is drinking enough and she is weeing (hard to tell if she is pooping because she shares a cage but were going to monitor her today) but other than that she just kind of stands in the corner of the cage and is hunched up. When I went to the vet yesterday and asked what kind of warning signs to look out for they did mention hunching but it seems bizarre that she is eating, drinking and moving (albeit not much). I'm just wondering if its something I should be worried about or should we wait it out a few days for the metacam to start working giving that she has has some serious surgery it doesn't seem too far fetched that she is uncomfortable

 

[Piggies&buns]

Metacam won’t need a few days to start working, it’ll be considerably quicker than that
Is she on dog or cat metacam and at what dosage?
What is her weight?
Make sure you weigh her daily so you can be sure she really is eating enough hay and not losing weight.
Poop output does not give real time information on food intake - poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake so by the time you notice reduced poops, they already not been eating properly for a couple of days.
If she isn’t eating enough hay to maintain her weight then you need to syringe fed a recovery feed

These guides will help further

Tips For Post-operative Care
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

If your girl is not right, then please contact the clinic promptly.

Painkillers are designed to kick in quickly but they also wear off quickly. How soon have your vets told you that you can step in with them after the operation (since they are also part of the operation drug cocktail) and at what strength and dosage? Dog metacam is three times stronger than cat metacam. Because of the fast metabolism, analgesics like metacam should be given every 12 hours once the operation cocktail has worn off. Guinea pigs tolerate much higher concentrations than larger pets due to their fast metabolism. It should say on the label what concentration you have got.

Please read our very practical and helpful Post-op Home Care advice and our Support Feeding and Medicating guide links in the previous post. Your support at home in keeping her going can make all the difference.

All the best.

 

[Posyrose]

I've nothing to add in the way of advice, but hope your piggy improves soon.

 

[Sianalexandra1]

Hi

If your girl is not right, then please contact the clinic promptly.

Painkillers are designed to kick in quickly but they also wear off quickly. How soon have your vets told you that you can step in with them after the operation (since they are also part of the operation drug cocktail) and at what strength and dosage? Dog metacam is three times stronger than cat metacam. Because of the fast metabolism, analgesics like metacam should be given every 12 hours once the operation cocktail has worn off. Guinea pigs tolerate much higher concentrations than larger pets due to their fast metabolism. It should say on the label what concentration you have got.

Please read our very practical and helpful Post-op Home Care advice and our Support Feeding and Medicating guide links in the previous post. Your support at home in keeping her going can make all the difference.

All the best.

Metacam won’t need a few days to start working, it’ll be considerably quicker than that
Is she on dog or cat metacam and at what dosage?
What is her weight?
Make sure you weigh her daily so you can be sure she really is eating enough hay and not losing weight.
Poop output does not give real time information on food intake - poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake so by the time you notice reduced poops, they already not been eating properly for a couple of days.
If she isn’t eating enough hay to maintain her weight then you need to syringe fed a recovery feed

These guides will help further

Tips For Post-operative Care
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

I must've misunderstood when reading about metacam. So when we took her in yesterday she weighed 0.98kg but we have not yet weighed her today as it hasn't been 24 hours since the surgery. On the sheet of info we were given at the vets it says to start giving her the metacam today which we did this morning at 7am. We are to give her 0.31ml twice daily for 5 days. The label says "metacam dog 10ml x 0.5". I understand she might not be acting "right" but I don't know what is "right" after surgery like this, I'm just worried about potentially stressing her out more if we take her back to the vet as they stressed one of the main things is that she has time to rest and recover

 

[Sianalexandra1]

Hi

If your girl is not right, then please contact the clinic promptly.

Painkillers are designed to kick in quickly but they also wear off quickly. How soon have your vets told you that you can step in with them after the operation (since they are also part of the operation drug cocktail) and at what strength and dosage? Dog metacam is three times stronger than cat metacam. Because of the fast metabolism, analgesics like metacam should be given every 12 hours once the operation cocktail has worn off. Guinea pigs tolerate much higher concentrations than larger pets due to their fast metabolism. It should say on the label what concentration you have got.

Please read our very practical and helpful Post-op Home Care advice and our Support Feeding and Medicating guide links in the previous post. Your support at home in keeping her going can make all the difference.

All the best.

Hi sorry I replied above but I'm not sure I did it right.

I must've misunderstood when reading about metacam. So when we took her in yesterday she weighed 0.98kg but we have not yet weighed her today as it hasn't been 24 hours since the surgery. On the sheet of info we were given at the vets it says to start giving her the metacam today which we did this morning at 7am. We are to give her 0.31ml twice daily for 5 days. The label says "metacam dog 10ml x 0.5". I understand she might not be acting "right" but I don't know what is "right" after surgery like this, I'm just worried about potentially stressing her out more if we take her back to the vet as they stressed one of the main things is that she has time to rest and recover

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Can you please confirm with the clinic whether they have given you the right strength? Mistakes can happen, especially at this time with the personnel so badly stretched.
The dog strength prescription is perfectly reasonable for a piggy of your size whereas as a cat strength medication, the same dosage would be verging on the cosmetic.
Dog metacam has a concentration of 1.5 mg/ml whereas cat metacam is 0.5 mg/ml.

Please be aware that the day after surgery is generally the day when a piggy is feeling very sore and a big hung over as the operation drugs are worked out of the body (especially the GA drugs) but the healing process has not yet set in. Even in the best of cases, piggies will generally be a bit down and painful on the first day; the healing process won't start and take off until days 2-3.

It is important that you step in with feeding support if your piggy is not really feeling like it, as well as with the medication to get your piggy through this rough bit in the first usually 3-5 days after a major op.

 

[Sianalexandra1]

Hi

Can you please confirm with the clinic whether they have given you the right strength? Mistakes can happen, especially at this time with the personnel so badly stretched.
The dog strength prescription is perfectly reasonable for a piggy of your size whereas as a cat strength medication, the same dosage would be verging on the cosmetic.
Dog metacam has a concentration of 1.5 mg/ml whereas cat metacam is 0.5 mg/ml.

Please be aware that the day after surgery is generally the day when a piggy is feeling very sore and a big hung over as the operation drugs are worked out of the body (especially the GA drugs) but the healing process has not yet set in. Even in the best of cases, piggies will generally be a bit down and painful on the first day; the healing process won't start and take off until days 2-3.

It is important that you step in with feeding support if your piggy is not really feeling like it, as well as with the medication to get your piggy through this rough bit in the first usually 3-5 days after a major op.

Ah okay, the label definitely says "metacam dog 10ml x 0.5" and to give twice a day at 0.31ml, I'm going to call them up and query this. thank you for pointing that out.