Parnassus
New Born Pup
A PSA, Ode to my beloved, and a BIG middle finger to unethical breeders.
This is my beloved and our first/longest had guinea pig in the home. She's the one that started it all 3 years ago. She is such an important life to us. Yesterday, when we left her at the vets for x-rays and blood tests, I cried and cried worrying that OD came on too suddenly for any chance at having more time with her. So many horrible end of days scenarios ran through my mind that I gave myself the worst tension headache of my life. I could feel it in my tongue and neck. I had to leave work early because I was in pieces. The good news is that she is still with us and already perking up after we started the treatment plan.
Blade, being perfect and beautiful, napping in her fleece tunnel during floor time, 2 weeks after her spay last year.
What's wrong, exactly?
She is losing bone density.
She has inflammation in her blood work.
Her white blood cells are indicative of fighting an infection of some kind.
Her gait is a little bit "wobbly".
Her rear right molar is a little too long and poking her in the tongue a bit.
She was dehydrated.
She dropped 40g in weight over 2 months.
She is still refusing hay.
What's the plan? There's gotta be a plan, right?
Yes! First thing, we need to get her out of the not-eating-hay woods to prevent GI stasis and continued tooth growth. Unfortunately, it's unclear if the not eating hay is caused by her being a picky eater (according to our vet, satin's are known for being pickier eaters than a typical guinea pig) or the discomfort from the osteodystrophy symptoms. It could be both.
- We are giving reglan twice daily;
- Continuing with syringe feeding critical care every 2-4 hours around the clock (my partner and I are taking shifts napping on the couch at night to wake up and feed her);
- Ordered samples of new orchard grass sourced from several different companies with rush delivery, they should arrive Mon-Wed this week. Also driving around town today to investigate some local hay options to try this weekend if possible;
- Daily weigh-ins to ensure weight loss stops, and ideally, weight gain begins;
- If she's doing alright with the food, a course of antibiotics begins early this week (we want to avoid gut upset), and this will be accompanied by probiotics, of course.
If this all goes decently, we will book surgery to have her rear molar filed down. She needs to be stable enough to go under anesthesia.
After that, we'll have to see where all this leaves us in terms of osteodystrophy symptoms moving forward. Best case scenario, we'll be in pain management mode until that's not an option anymore. Hopefully, we can have a couple more quality years left with her.
How could we not catch this sooner?
Since she is a satin, we always knew this was a possibility. Personally, I was really hoping she'd be one of the lucky few who never experience symptoms in their lifetime.
We also brought her in for an early check-up two months ago because she was just a little off to me, nothing concrete that I could put my finger on, and I was assured that as long as she's eating/drinking, she's probably fine. And to keep an eye on it. The escalation of symptoms came up suddenly and we acted fast. However, I still wonder if I was more aggressive about doing x-rays and blood work two months ago, that the eating complications could have been avoided entirely.
Advice to any satin owners: TRUST your gut, TRUST that you know your guinea pig. Insist on x-rays and blood work early on and insist on scrutinizing the high levels of alkaline phosphase in the blood report even if the guinea pig is otherwise perfect and the vet isn't alarmed. Insist on a satin-tailored action plan for OD in case it "springs up" on you like this. We're in this tougher situation because I didn't do this and I regret it.
Why am I posting all this?
I heard my vet mention that our local guinea pig rescue tends to explain all of these risks/likelihoods when prospective adopters meet their satins. Obviously, and firstly, some satin owners out there may not know to even look out for these things, and perhaps more importantly;
While all of this is so gut-wrenching, I also feel so lucky to have Blade in my life. She's so intelligent, vocal, happy, beautiful, and she's taught our other rescue how to be a confident, brave, best-self guinea pig. We've had her since she was 4 months old, she will stick her whole head into our fists without even a little reservation. She'll step into our hands, lick the heck out of our fingers and faces. She gives us kisses and taught our other rescue to give us kisses. I've taught her basic tricks that she's helped our other piggy learn because she moves forward in life with so much confidence. She taught her cage mate how to drink out of her water bottle like a normal guinea pig.
The reason all these issues are so heart-breaking for us is because of just how amazing and special she is -- truly, a one-of-a-kind, deeply enriching, rewarding girl. I don't regret adopting her for one second.
(Whistler left, Blade right)
As an aside, I'd welcome any positive stories of satin owners helping their satins maintain quality of life for a good time after the initial OD symptoms manifest. I could use some positivity right now.
This is my beloved and our first/longest had guinea pig in the home. She's the one that started it all 3 years ago. She is such an important life to us. Yesterday, when we left her at the vets for x-rays and blood tests, I cried and cried worrying that OD came on too suddenly for any chance at having more time with her. So many horrible end of days scenarios ran through my mind that I gave myself the worst tension headache of my life. I could feel it in my tongue and neck. I had to leave work early because I was in pieces. The good news is that she is still with us and already perking up after we started the treatment plan.
Blade, being perfect and beautiful, napping in her fleece tunnel during floor time, 2 weeks after her spay last year.
What's wrong, exactly?
She is losing bone density.
She has inflammation in her blood work.
Her white blood cells are indicative of fighting an infection of some kind.
Her gait is a little bit "wobbly".
Her rear right molar is a little too long and poking her in the tongue a bit.
She was dehydrated.
She dropped 40g in weight over 2 months.
She is still refusing hay.
What's the plan? There's gotta be a plan, right?
Yes! First thing, we need to get her out of the not-eating-hay woods to prevent GI stasis and continued tooth growth. Unfortunately, it's unclear if the not eating hay is caused by her being a picky eater (according to our vet, satin's are known for being pickier eaters than a typical guinea pig) or the discomfort from the osteodystrophy symptoms. It could be both.
- We are giving reglan twice daily;
- Continuing with syringe feeding critical care every 2-4 hours around the clock (my partner and I are taking shifts napping on the couch at night to wake up and feed her);
- Ordered samples of new orchard grass sourced from several different companies with rush delivery, they should arrive Mon-Wed this week. Also driving around town today to investigate some local hay options to try this weekend if possible;
- Daily weigh-ins to ensure weight loss stops, and ideally, weight gain begins;
- If she's doing alright with the food, a course of antibiotics begins early this week (we want to avoid gut upset), and this will be accompanied by probiotics, of course.
If this all goes decently, we will book surgery to have her rear molar filed down. She needs to be stable enough to go under anesthesia.
After that, we'll have to see where all this leaves us in terms of osteodystrophy symptoms moving forward. Best case scenario, we'll be in pain management mode until that's not an option anymore. Hopefully, we can have a couple more quality years left with her.
How could we not catch this sooner?
Since she is a satin, we always knew this was a possibility. Personally, I was really hoping she'd be one of the lucky few who never experience symptoms in their lifetime.
We also brought her in for an early check-up two months ago because she was just a little off to me, nothing concrete that I could put my finger on, and I was assured that as long as she's eating/drinking, she's probably fine. And to keep an eye on it. The escalation of symptoms came up suddenly and we acted fast. However, I still wonder if I was more aggressive about doing x-rays and blood work two months ago, that the eating complications could have been avoided entirely.
Advice to any satin owners: TRUST your gut, TRUST that you know your guinea pig. Insist on x-rays and blood work early on and insist on scrutinizing the high levels of alkaline phosphase in the blood report even if the guinea pig is otherwise perfect and the vet isn't alarmed. Insist on a satin-tailored action plan for OD in case it "springs up" on you like this. We're in this tougher situation because I didn't do this and I regret it.
Why am I posting all this?
I heard my vet mention that our local guinea pig rescue tends to explain all of these risks/likelihoods when prospective adopters meet their satins. Obviously, and firstly, some satin owners out there may not know to even look out for these things, and perhaps more importantly;
While all of this is so gut-wrenching, I also feel so lucky to have Blade in my life. She's so intelligent, vocal, happy, beautiful, and she's taught our other rescue how to be a confident, brave, best-self guinea pig. We've had her since she was 4 months old, she will stick her whole head into our fists without even a little reservation. She'll step into our hands, lick the heck out of our fingers and faces. She gives us kisses and taught our other rescue to give us kisses. I've taught her basic tricks that she's helped our other piggy learn because she moves forward in life with so much confidence. She taught her cage mate how to drink out of her water bottle like a normal guinea pig.
The reason all these issues are so heart-breaking for us is because of just how amazing and special she is -- truly, a one-of-a-kind, deeply enriching, rewarding girl. I don't regret adopting her for one second.
(Whistler left, Blade right)
As an aside, I'd welcome any positive stories of satin owners helping their satins maintain quality of life for a good time after the initial OD symptoms manifest. I could use some positivity right now.
Sending huge hugs xx
