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IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!

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Well here we go again, the vet found nothing wrong! Checked her teeth, no malocclusion, listened to her heart & lungs - normal.
Felt all her body, no lumps but did say if it was a cyst they can't always be felt.

I mentioned bordatella which is apparantly kennel cough & can be passed to humans but only if they have a suppressed immune system (ie on chemotherapy) I told her i'd had a suppressed immune system because of my drugs, her eyes widened then she said if Lottie had bordatella she would be extremely ill, on the verge of death & not as perky as she is.

I also asked about contamination from wild mice, she said there is nothing anyone can do about mice because they can squash their bodies to the size of a pencil. I could however send off sample of hay to the lab but it's very expensive to do this :(

She did admit she didn't know what it was. There is no sign of crusting round her eyes this morning, infact they're lovely, clear & bright & she's full of herself.

She's on 0.1ml Baytril for 6 days, i've to take her back next Thursday & i was advised to give her 30mg vitamin C daily & to carry on syringe feeding at the rate i am.
She was weighed again; on their scales she was 1lb 4oz :( On mine this morning she was 1lb 6.8oz (down .2oz fm last night).


There is another RCVS approved small animal practice near me, i think i'll take her there for a second opinion, surely someone has to have an answer.

My wonderful OH Snoopy had the same idea as me, to build something in our bedroom for them all to come inside but would this make matters worse because they're in the warm?

All advice welcomed - i'm at a total loss here

Niki :)
 
aww! I'm so sorry they couldnt tell you what it is! maybe she lose .2oz coz she pooped lol. She will get better! Positive thinking lol it always works...

Good luck! :D
 
baby-wilson said:
aww! I'm so sorry they couldnt tell you what it is! maybe she lose .2oz coz she pooped lol. She will get better! Positive thinking lol it always works...

Good luck! :D
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LOL at pooping.  I've managed to get an app for this afternoon with a "guinea vet" at the other practice, here's hoping this vet will be able to shed some light on what's wrong, will let you know the outcome

Niki  :)
 
Thank you Lucinda :)

No diagnosis :(
Same procedure as the last vet, teeth, lungs & heart all normal. This vet has 25 piggies of her own free ranging in her garden, they have hutches but prefer the outdoors ?
If she wasn't an "expert" then she had a good knowledge of them. She mentioned malabsorbtion, Lottie's not digesting or absorbing her food as she should which is why her poops are small & the only way i'd possibly find out why is to have a post mortem done & then i'd not be guaranteed a result. I'm not going down that road.

She said it takes a lot for a guinea not to eat & found one of her sows dead in the pen with it's face in the food bowl surrounded by her other sows - she said that's how close to death a piggy can be before it will stop eating. Not much of a comfort there :(

i've to carry on with the Baytril. She gave me Science recovery to feed her & Lacto B9 Probiotic/prebiotic sachets to give her after the antibiotics. I've to carry on monitoring her weight & keep her indoors where it's warm as she has no fat on her to keep herself warm & needs all her energy for that.

I feel better knowing it's not a virus but would've liked her to say "it's this" & "this is how we treat it & she'll be fine in x amount of days."

Niki
 
oh love, that is of no comfort at all to you. Any chance of seeing a rodentologist near you?
 
I do remember reading about Bordatella in Cavies magazine the lady lost most of her pigs but as already said the ones remaining had become carriers and she couldn't get anymore pigs until they had gone she then had to burn and dispose of everything, so I do hope its not this your pigs have got , I'm sure its not
wild mice I have heard that they can get in a hole the size of a biro, amazing isn't it?
fingers crossed Lottie picks up soon, :-*
 
Have either of the vets done a faecal culture? If they do that then they could tell you almost for certain if there was anything nasty in the gut. It would also tell them what, if any, antibiotics would be the best to use.
 
Phone CCT and check the dose of Baytril for weight. :) :)

Sorry, just seen that you've spoken to Vedra ::)
 
kellyandpiggies said:
oh love, that is of no comfort at all to you. Any chance of seeing a rodentologist near you?
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I have no idea where or even if there is a rodentologist near me Kelly, i've been on the RCVS website & nothing there :(
 
michellemuffin said:
I do remember reading about Bordatella in Cavies magazine the lady lost most of her pigs but as already said the ones remaining had become carriers and she couldn't get anymore pigs until they had gone she then had to burn and dispose of everything, so I do hope its not this your pigs have got , I'm sure its not
wild mice I have heard that they can get in a hole the size of a biro, amazing isn't it?
fingers crossed Lottie picks up soon, :-*
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Oh my after reading this i hope it isn't - i doubt it is as the only symptom Lottie has is her weight loss. She's as bright as a button today, nipped the vet this afternoon & flew out of the scales at a great rate of knotts & tonight was sticking her nose out of her "hospital room" & quietly chirruping for her veg :)
 
daftscotslass said:
Have either of the vets done a faecal culture? If they do that then they could tell you almost for certain if there was anything nasty in the gut. It would also tell them what, if any, antibiotics would be the best to use.
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Nope neither have done a faecal culture, they both seemed completely mystified by her. I'll ask about that when we go next Thursday,
 
How is she today Niki?

Are the others all ok, hope so

And how is Floyd?
 
kayjay said:
How is she today Niki?

Are the others all ok, hope so

And how is Floyd?
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She's still her perky self Kathryn, she weighed 1lb 7.4oz today & still has a good appetite. She's now in her proper cage, Snoopy's built Floyd one which fits under Simone's bunk beds & he loves it. Floyd's been great all week but sneezed again today (his first since Monday) so he'll be visiting the vets again next week & he's staying indoors indefinitely - he's going nowhere near the piggies again.

Thankfully everyone else was fine today - they were all their normal selves & none of them felt any thinner but i'll be weighing them tomorrow :)

And me - i'm run ragged & rapidly turning WHITE not grey ;D ;D Been out for fleece blankets & other stuff today, cleaned all the piggies, washed Lottie & Floyd's dirty bedding, done my household chores & inbetween syringe-fed Lottie :)
 
Sounds like you're doing all you can for them all. Make sure Snoopy takes care of you too :)
 
Today's update:

We've been back to the vets, last Friday (on their scales) she weighed 645g, today she's 697g.

Both myself & the vet are really pleased with her weight-gain but the vet was perplexed that she's showing no interest in her dry food at all.

She's given me a large syringe with the whole end chopped off; i've to finely chop grass & see if she will take it from the syringe, her thinking is that she may have got used to the syringe & may not go back to eating dry food again

What i don't understand is why will she eat veg from a bowl but not dry food & are there piggies that don't eat dry food? What do you feed these piggies if this is true?

I also asked when i should introduce her to Albie & Maddie, she said it was up to me & couldn't say for certain whether she was/is contagious or not - saying guinea pigs are such complex little creatures.

Could it be she's not eating dry food because she's lonely?
She was from a group of 6 sows & has always had company

Niki x
 
Niki said:
could it be she's not eating dry food because she's lonely?
She was from a group of 6 sows & has always had company
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That could be a relevant point. When Leah and Demon were separated from the rest when they were ill a couple of weeks ago they didn't show any interest in the dry food. I put them back with their other three cage mates a few days ago and they are now tucking into the dry food again!

Great news re the weight gain! Come on Lottie you can do it!
 
Nikki have you asked Vedra where your nearest Rodentologist is? It wont tell you on the RCVS site because they are nothing to do with them. With my Prince I couldnt get a diagnosis from a vet either but the rodentologist knew straight away! Great news that Lottie has gained weight fingers crossed. Hope this story will have a happy ending... thinking about you and hoping it will!
 
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