Laszlo&Pollen
New Born Pup
Hello all,
I have a boar named Laszlo who is unknown age (someone dumped him outside and I found him) but estimated to be at least 4yo. Long story short, we have been dealing with chronic UTIs with multiple negative x-rays for months. I see a great exotic vet who I trust. 3 days ago, he had a recheck appointment and was found to have a ton of bacteria in his urine after 3 weeks on bactrim. We sent it for culture (pending) and switched from Bactrim to Cipro. Of note he’s also been on metacam for discomfort associated with the UTI.
By the middle of the next day, Laszlo completely stopped eating, and was just sitting puffed up under his blanket. I immediately started syringe feeding Critical Care and continued with his metacam. Yesterday as soon as the vet opened I brought him in, the vet did an X-ray to evaluate for bloat and found not only the beginnings of bloat/stasis, but a bladder stone! He went into emergency surgery to remove it hours later (cystotomy), which was successful.
I got him home after surgery around 10:45AM and continued syringe feeding Critical Care and giving his bactrim as instructed. I was instructed to not give any more metacam that day because he’d gotten a large dose after surgery. Things were going okay - he ate a couple large leaves of green leaf lettuce and started to have darker, larger, more well-formed stools.
Suddenly around 5:30PM I check on him and his breathing is rapid and labored, with a distinct “click”. He is again sitting hunched and puffed up, looking really unwell. My primary vet was closed for the day, but I am lucky enough to have an emergency vet clinic nearby affiliated with a veterinary school who sees exotics regularly. I brought him in thinking I was going to have to put him to sleep, but the vet said his lungs were clear, and he thought the breathing was due to postop pain. Notably Laszlo did pass a large blood clot in his urine shortly after arriving to the vet, which the vet said was not unexpected the day of surgery. He gave him a dose of buprenorphine and some subQ fluids and sent him home with me.
I continued around the clock Critical Care overnight. This morning I found him still totally immobile, puffed up under his blanket, breathing the same rapid noisy respirations. He ate another leaf of lettuce overnight by himself but nothing else, and is still making (better) poops.
I brought him to my primary vet again this morning at opening, and told him about our emergency visit. My vet determined that the breathing was definitely due to pain. He gave him another larger dose of buprenorphine, syringe fed him, and kept him for a few hours of observation during which he ate another leaf of lettuce. When I came to pick Laszlo up, his breathing was not any better than when I dropped him off. This made me ask the vet if it would be kinder to put Laszlo to sleep, because I hate the thought of him suffering, but the vet said he thinks he’s overall doing quite well for post-op day 1, and that if we can get him through the next 2 days by controlling his pain and keeping his gut working, he thinks he’ll do really well. He sent me home with 6 doses of buprenorphine to give every 4-6 hours as needed, and said that should be enough to get him over this hump.
Laszlo is still not moving, with the same breathing pattern. I’m in tears constantly the past few days watching him in so much pain, and I’m really afraid that the buprenorphine won’t control it well enough to make him comfortable. Has anyone had a similar postop experience, or has any advice or words of wisdom? I’m not sleeping, not eating, and a total mess. I just want to do what’s right for my little buddy.
I have a boar named Laszlo who is unknown age (someone dumped him outside and I found him) but estimated to be at least 4yo. Long story short, we have been dealing with chronic UTIs with multiple negative x-rays for months. I see a great exotic vet who I trust. 3 days ago, he had a recheck appointment and was found to have a ton of bacteria in his urine after 3 weeks on bactrim. We sent it for culture (pending) and switched from Bactrim to Cipro. Of note he’s also been on metacam for discomfort associated with the UTI.
By the middle of the next day, Laszlo completely stopped eating, and was just sitting puffed up under his blanket. I immediately started syringe feeding Critical Care and continued with his metacam. Yesterday as soon as the vet opened I brought him in, the vet did an X-ray to evaluate for bloat and found not only the beginnings of bloat/stasis, but a bladder stone! He went into emergency surgery to remove it hours later (cystotomy), which was successful.
I got him home after surgery around 10:45AM and continued syringe feeding Critical Care and giving his bactrim as instructed. I was instructed to not give any more metacam that day because he’d gotten a large dose after surgery. Things were going okay - he ate a couple large leaves of green leaf lettuce and started to have darker, larger, more well-formed stools.
Suddenly around 5:30PM I check on him and his breathing is rapid and labored, with a distinct “click”. He is again sitting hunched and puffed up, looking really unwell. My primary vet was closed for the day, but I am lucky enough to have an emergency vet clinic nearby affiliated with a veterinary school who sees exotics regularly. I brought him in thinking I was going to have to put him to sleep, but the vet said his lungs were clear, and he thought the breathing was due to postop pain. Notably Laszlo did pass a large blood clot in his urine shortly after arriving to the vet, which the vet said was not unexpected the day of surgery. He gave him a dose of buprenorphine and some subQ fluids and sent him home with me.
I continued around the clock Critical Care overnight. This morning I found him still totally immobile, puffed up under his blanket, breathing the same rapid noisy respirations. He ate another leaf of lettuce overnight by himself but nothing else, and is still making (better) poops.
I brought him to my primary vet again this morning at opening, and told him about our emergency visit. My vet determined that the breathing was definitely due to pain. He gave him another larger dose of buprenorphine, syringe fed him, and kept him for a few hours of observation during which he ate another leaf of lettuce. When I came to pick Laszlo up, his breathing was not any better than when I dropped him off. This made me ask the vet if it would be kinder to put Laszlo to sleep, because I hate the thought of him suffering, but the vet said he thinks he’s overall doing quite well for post-op day 1, and that if we can get him through the next 2 days by controlling his pain and keeping his gut working, he thinks he’ll do really well. He sent me home with 6 doses of buprenorphine to give every 4-6 hours as needed, and said that should be enough to get him over this hump.
Laszlo is still not moving, with the same breathing pattern. I’m in tears constantly the past few days watching him in so much pain, and I’m really afraid that the buprenorphine won’t control it well enough to make him comfortable. Has anyone had a similar postop experience, or has any advice or words of wisdom? I’m not sleeping, not eating, and a total mess. I just want to do what’s right for my little buddy.
