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Specialist Lump On Tummy

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flintstones said:
How long does she have left on Zithromax? I'm convinced it stopped my Fred eating although it saved his life so was definitely worth sticking the course out.
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She's been on it about three weeks bless her and still has another approx 2 weeks before we see the vet again. Because it is so invasive, I think he wants to make sure it has got rid of it. Of course, if her appetite suppression continues and her weight loss goes on I will go back to vet asap.
 
Wiebke said:
This is typical for an iffy appetite. Just be patient and carry on hand feeding; that is the main thing you can do right now. It gives her the strength to hang in there and to fight back. :(
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She has had 52mls since she came home at 5. Just left her munching on hay witha bowl of small chopped fruit and veg to tempt her and will be up at 3 for another lot. My husband has the 6am feed on his agenda! We'll keep it up.
 
All the best! That is a very respectable amount post anaesthetics. Hopefully Dwynwen will start to fee better in herself and pick up from now on! it is good that she is still eating a bit on her own; that is always an encouraging sign.
 
It's great your husbands also helping with the feeding, I know just how difficult it can be when a piggy won't eat it's self. A good support network can be vital to bringing a piggy round after such a long illness. Keep up the good work!
 
So, an update.... Dwynwen finished her antibiotics on Friday and had been picking up slowly with her weight maintaining a positive trend and just being a bit brighter. However, yesterday, she became lethargic, was lifting her head for the syringe but then hunkering down with her head between her paws. I was devastated as just the day before I had been with her in the sunshine in the garden as she tripped around and nibbled some grass then had a little rest. I didn't sleep last night and spent a while cuddling her, hearing some 'moans' every so often which reminded me of my last night with my gorgeous Bronwen (Black and white beauty in my avatar).

Luckily we had already made an 8am appointment with the vet for today as a follow up from her latest GA/bloodtests etc. The brilliant vets have taken her in for observation and to restart her on a new antibiotics in case the infection was recurring internally (the wound looks great!). I had made a video of her the day before yesterday so he could see how she had improved then gone downhill. I felt awful leaving her again but know she is in the most capable hands.

The vet has just phoned to say she has picked up a bit on the new antibiotics and we will see how that goes. The two main possibilities are the recurrence of an infection/infected organs or that the abscess (which was so intrusive in her abdomen) adhered to internal organs. Unfortunately, this can only be established by her having more surgery to see. If that is the case, some medication may help to reverse it (she was on it for 5 days after surgery to minimise the possibility) I will check with the vet tomorrow which one she is on now (her second type). So, she is now on metacam, antibiotics, anti inflammatory, milk thistle (for her liver)

We are taking each day as it goes. I was a wreck this morning in the vet (sheer exhaustion from caring for my girl for 5/6 weeks now I think) and hate to say that part of me is glad to allow someone else to care for her for a day. She is having an overnight stay and we will phone tomorrow to see how she is doing. Please keep her in you thoughts. x
 
Oh what a saga, And what a little trouper Dwynwen is. Stay strong Dwynwen. Pogwen it's so hard when it's a rollercoaster type recovery x
 
I am so sorry that Dwynwen has taken another dive after finally being firmly on the road to recovery. it sounds like she has been in major pain last night, poor girl!

I am keeping my fingers very firmly crossed for her! Dwynwen could certainly not have a more devoted mummy!
 
Thank you both. It is so tiring on this roller coaster. At least tonight I can spend quality time with Eira, my other lovely girl, who has not had as much attention recently. X
 
Pogwen said:
Thank you both. It is so tiring on this roller coaster. At least tonight I can spend quality time with Eira, my other lovely girl, who has not had as much attention recently. X
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Caring for a very ill piggy takes it out of you in every way - physically, mentally and emotionally.

Have a good time with Eira!
 
So sorry to read this news. I really hope she picks up soon, it can be horrible caring for a piggy longterm you are however doing a fantastic job.
 
Thanks @flintstones You just don't know what to do for the best sometimes - especially in the dark hours of the night. I hope she doesn't have to have more surgery - she's been through so much.
 
I know especially if she isn't happy but I have in the past nursed piggies for a number of weeks both Fred and Wilma stopped eating for over a month. Both however recovered and are very happy piggies now 2 years on. When she gives up, it's time to say bye but until then keep going with her. Piggies are robust little creatures, don't be fooled.

One thing I would say is have faith in yourself, you and your vet will both know if the time does come so don't beat yourself up about 'what if's' take each day as they come.
 
Thank you. It has been 6 weeks now of syringe feeding. Vet has just been on with my husband this morning. She is still not eating and he wants to keep her in tonight to make sure her fluids are ok and to keep an eye on her. I am ok with that but the guilt does seep in of being a bit relieved to be able to get on with my work though she is never far from my mind. I am waiting for the vet to call back after he comes out of surgery to clarify but what I understand from my husband is that he wants to give her antibiotic injections and show us how to do it. He still suspects there are adhesions internally which are creating discomfort for her but wouldn't be able to tell unless he operates. He doesn't want to do that presently. He suspects it is a long term chronic condition which will need long term care. My husband wasn't absolutely sure if the injections were part of that but I doubt it. We will do anything that gives her a good quality of life but don't want to cause her unnecessary pain and discomfort if she doesn't have that. I will keep you all updated and thanks very much for your support x
 
So, I've just been on the phone with the vet. She has picked up since yesterday , put on a bit of weight and is nibbling on some veg and hay now. He still suspects adhesions and may operate tomorrow to investigate depending on how she is. If the adhesions are slight, he may be able to deal with that. If bigger, at least we know what we are dealing with (By the way, it is Shiva at Ashleigh vet who has been fantastic!) the plan of action is to continue on a new antibiotic orally as well as another which has to be injected for a week or so, as well as milk thistle for her liver and cerenia as an anti inflammatory. Best case scenario (pleas e help me will it to happen) is that she starts eating for herself very soon (but don't know how new antibiotics will affect this) and in the long term she would be on the anti inflammatory to keep her comfortable.

She is staying in tonight and he will evaluate what to do in the morning. I must admit I have had a little stress relief cry this morning when going through the options with hubby. It has all built up over time. Managed to hold it together when on the phone but broke when vet said "she is just such a lovely little guinea pig". I know they all are and we all have a bond with our precious furries but since I first picked Deynwen up when she was all alone and she looked at me I formed a very special bond with her and it is so lovely when someone else recognises her gorgeous, sweet nature.

As always, thanks to you for your support. We couldn't do this without you x
 
Poor little girl and you! I tend to hold it together at the vets, but I usually get the reaction afterwards. It is good that you could have a good cry; you have been through so much with her in the last weeks.

Gut adhesion is very painful. My Hywel had it as a rare post-neutering op complication 4 years ago. Thankfully, the band of swelling that caused them contracted away from the guts again and not towards as it was swelling down, or it would have been the end of the line for him. :(

I am keeping my fingers very firmly crossed. It is a good sign that she still has a bit of interest in food and is getting enough food down to hold her weight.

HUGS
 
Hello everyone. It has been a fraught few months but things are looking really good. Dwynwen's wound has amazingly healed and she continues on Metacam and Cerenia to offset any adhesions. Her weight is now 898g (at her lowest she was 784 and there has been a lot of ups and downs). She is happy and squeaky again. The only thing to do now is to try to encourage her friendship with Eira again. I thought I would share some photos of her wound but beware- they aren't pretty!
 

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This is when the stitches which held the wound open were removed after a few weeks. (The White you can see in the earlier photo is padding to protect her organs as the wound always so deep)
 

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As well as being a top carer of course - Dwynwen's recovery is a real credit to your devoted care! I hope that she and Eira will get together again. You could start with rubbing them with a sft cloth and mingle their scents.
 
Wiebke said:
AWW - so great that she has come through all of that! You have got a great vet and a real fighter of a piggy!

Here are our tips for intros. Wishing you the best of luck!
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
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Thanks Wiebke. She has been a real fighter. It has been an emotional rollercoaster that started in early March and it is only in the last week that I have started to relax a bit. It just goes to show that abscesses take a long time (as many piggy slaves on here have already said) but the care and attention is worth it. She was hand fed for over 8 weeks and at times you felt you were just chasing your tail. Without the support of my husband and the wonderful Shiva at Ashleigh vets and, of course, this forum, we would never have been able to do it.
 
what a journey! your care to her has been amazing. she's so lucky to have you. and i suspect you feel very lucky to have her also :luv: really amazing :luv::luv::luv:
 
biscandmatt said:
what a journey! your care to her has been amazing. she's so lucky to have you. and i suspect you feel very lucky to have her also :luv: really amazing :luv::luv::luv:
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You are so right - I am so lucky to have had the beautiful and adorable piggies I have had the pleasure to share my home with! x
 
Pogwen said:
You are so right - I am so lucky to have had the beautiful and adorable piggies I have had the pleasure to share my home with! x
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:luv: they're so special aren't they.

it's nice to hear about the great work shiva has done aswell. i've only seen him a couple of times and i find it hard to trust new people so it's helpful to read about him giving such good care.
 
biscandmatt said:
:luv: they're so special aren't they.

it's nice to hear about the great work shiva has done aswell. i've only seen him a couple of times and i find it hard to trust new people so it's helpful to read about him giving such good care.
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He has been amazing. His obvious affection and concern for her gave me such trust in him. He phoned regularly to update us and to ask for updates. He considers every option and never does anything unnecessary. On the last visit (as it had been a whole three weeks - before then it had been pretty much weekly) he admitted he had to stop himself from phoning to check if she was ok as he told himself we would have phoned if there was a problem. He also made sure she had some dandelion leaves for the hour trip home!
 
Pogwen said:
He has been amazing. His obvious affection and concern for her gave me such trust in him. He phoned regularly to update us and to ask for updates. He considers every option and never does anything unnecessary. On the last visit (as it had been a whole three weeks - before then it had been pretty much weekly) he admitted he had to stop himself from phoning to check if she was ok as he told himself we would have phoned if there was a problem. He also made sure she had some dandelion leaves for the hour trip home!
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aw that's lovely to hear. i can tell he's a good vet from the times we have seen him and the research i did on him! we have just seen aidan for so long that i get anxious seeing anyone else. but it does make me more relaxed hearing your story. :)
 
biscandmatt said:
aw that's lovely to hear. i can tell he's a good vet from the times we have seen him and the research i did on him! we have just seen aidan for so long that i get anxious seeing anyone else. but it does make me more relaxed hearing your story. :)
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It is funny how both a new vet has to trust you (they tend to weigh you up early on as they don't know if you will do everything you can or just say you will) and how we have to trust the vet. When that trust is built up, it is such a relief! :yahoo:
 
Pogwen said:
It is funny how both a new vet has to trust you (they tend to weigh you up early on as they don't know if you will do everything you can or just say you will) and how we have to trust the vet. When that trust is built up, it is such a relief! :yahoo:
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i did wonder if he felt a bit the same as me because on file he would have seen that i see aidan 99.9% of the time! so it does work both ways trying to suss each other out as you say :))

please give your beautiful brave girl a cuddle from us. she's a little star :luv:
 
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