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Sandy has diarrhea

I’m so sorry you lost your Mum, sending big hugs, take care of yourself, such an awful time what with Sandy poorly too x
 
weepweeps said:
Yeah. That’s what I do if I’m not sure about anything. Take a few days to mull it over. Then you will be happy with the decision you make. 🤗
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Yes, that's what I think I'll do. Thank you.
Betsy said:
What I do if I'm not sure about something is I make a decision, live with it for a day or so and if I'm happy with my decision, I go ahead if not I don't.
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I remember one of your previous threads when one of your piggies was sick. You and some other TGPF members were talking about that approach to decision-making. That stuck with me and I think it's a good approach.
Bill & Ted said:
I’m so sorry you lost your Mum, sending big hugs, take care of yourself, such an awful time what with Sandy poorly too x
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Thank you very much.
 
Hope4gem said:
Yes, that's what I think I'll do. Thank you.

I remember one of your previous threads when one of your piggies was sick. You and some other TGPF members were talking about that approach to decision-making. That stuck with me and I think it's a good approach.

Thank you very much.
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Listen to your gut if in any doubt and whenever you have enough time for doing so and are not forced to make a snap decision.

I grew up with notoriously decisive dad who expected you to know your mind instantly and be able to make informed long term influential decisions, so I had to come up with a criteria that works within a minute if needed; although it drives my husband crazy when we are out choosing stuff together - 'I can live with it'. Meaning quite literally that I can see myself 10 or 20 years down the line still OK with my decision; whether that is wallpaper or an end-of-life decision.
 
So we are almost a month in since I started this thread. Sandy's diarrhea seems to be under control as long as she gets 2 doses of Pectillin per day. She gets about 60 mls of CC per day spread into 3 or 4 feedings and so far has been weight stable with that and every other day subq fluids. Unfortunately, she had a drop of blood come out with her urine a few days ago. She also has what appears to be calcium crystals in her urine and appears to be in a lot of pain when urinating once in a while. I've called the vet Monday and Tuesday and still didn't hear back. Hope to hear back today or I will call again. I'm guessing they'll want to do another urinalysis, but we'll see what they say. I'm ok with that, but still don't want her to have to go through the bloodwork the vet recommended, if we can avoid it. She's already on .15 dog Metacam for arthritis so we'll see what the vet recommends for pain.
 
Hope4gem said:
So we are almost a month in since I started this thread. Sandy's diarrhea seems to be under control as long as she gets 2 doses of Pectillin per day. She gets about 60 mls of CC per day spread into 3 or 4 feedings and so far has been weight stable with that and every other day subq fluids. Unfortunately, she had a drop of blood come out with her urine a few days ago. She also has what appears to be calcium crystals in her urine and appears to be in a lot of pain when urinating once in a while. I've called the vet Monday and Tuesday and still didn't hear back. Hope to hear back today or I will call again. I'm guessing they'll want to do another urinalysis, but we'll see what they say. I'm ok with that, but still don't want her to have to go through the bloodwork the vet recommended, if we can avoid it. She's already on .15 dog Metacam for arthritis so we'll see what the vet recommends for pain.
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Your vet can up the metacam quite considerably. I have given up to 0.5 dog metacam twice daily to 1 kg piggies of mine. The benefit of the metacam very much outweighs any concerns re. kidneys, which in guinea pigs are a lot less impacted compared to dog and cats and can really cope with higher metacam dosages for the long term.
Gabapentin can now also be used for guinea pigs with arthritis or neurological problems.

All the best.
 
Wiebke said:
Your vet can up the metacam quite considerably. I have given up to 0.5 dog metacam twice daily to 1 kg piggies of mine. The benefit of the metacam very much outweighs any concerns re. kidneys, which in guinea pigs are a lot less impacted compared to dog and cats and can really cope with higher metacam dosages for the long term.
Gabapentin can now also be used for guinea pigs with arthritis or neurological problems.

All the best.
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Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it!
 
Hope4gem said:
Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it!
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My Dylan was on 0.5 ml dog metacam twice daily (plus two courses of zithromax antibiotic) for a full four weeks when he started to develop a jaw abscess just before the Christmas holiday gap in 2019; he is still with me, now around 6 years.

My long term arthritic piggies have been on long term higher dosages, depending on the progression of the arthritis.

These dosages are from vet prescriptions from a vet very experienced with guinea pigs.
 
Still didn't hear back from the vet. I will call again tomorrow.
 
Heard back from the vet and we're starting Sandy on potassium citrate. Metacam dose to stay the same for now which I'm not happy about. I may increase it slightly on my own anyway. I have a whole bottle so I have plenty to do that. If she has more high calcium pees or seems like she's in pain again while urinating then I'll increase the metacam dose and follow up with the vet again. Hopefully, the potassium citrate will help.
 
Hope4gem said:
Heard back from the vet and we're starting Sandy on potassium citrate. Metacam dose to stay the same for now which I'm not happy about. I may increase it slightly on my own anyway. I have a whole bottle so I have plenty to do that. If she has more high calcium pees or seems like she's in pain again while urinating then I'll increase the metacam dose and follow up with the vet again. Hopefully, the potassium citrate will help.
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Aw I do hope so. My Ted used to be on 0.4 dog Metacam twice a day when his teeth were causing him pain, so you have some scope there x
 
Sandy's having a rough day, or perhaps has taken a turn slightly for the worse. I'm not sure which, but I hope it's just a rough day. Her diarrhea is worse today. Thankfully, I'm home, but I'm having to check the cage every 15 minutes or so because she keeps having poos like cow pats. I've been a bit quiet on the forum lately because it takes so much time to feed, meds, vet trips for fluids, etc.
 
Sorry to hear Sandy is having an off day.
Don’t apologise for not being around much - we understand that there isn’t always time.
Remember that you are still held in our thoughts
 
Merab's Slave said:
Sorry to hear Sandy is having an off day.
Don’t apologise for not being around much - we understand that there isn’t always time.
Remember that you are still held in our thoughts
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Thank you so much. Really needed to hear that today.
 
Had Sandy at the vet tonight for fluids. I had a frank discussion with the vet about how much more it is fair to ask Sandy to go through given her struggles. I don't think we're at the stage yet of considering pts, but I wanted to get another perspective as well. The vet seemed to think that there is more we can try. That being said, she prescribed Metronidazole, Sucralfate, and Famotidine. Sandy was briefly on Sucralfate and Famotidine about 10 months ago after a period of no appetite following a course of antibiotics. The vet prescribed those meds in the off chance that Sandy had developed a stomach ulcer. The meds helped then so we are going to try them again this time. The vet also prescribed Metronidazole, which Sandy has never been on, and I wasn't told it was an antibiotic. I'm very nervous about giving it to her because the issues she has now started after a course of antibiotics. I don't want to make things worse. So I purchased the meds from the vet, but I am giving myself 24 hours to decide whether or not I want to risk giving them to Sandy. The vet asked me to stop giving Sandy Metacam in the chance that it is contributing to the gastro-intestinal issues. I'm not going to stop giving Sandy Metacam because she has really bad arthritis in her knees and I don't think it's fair to ask Sandy to go through pain when it feels like there is a low chance of actually finding a root cause to these problems. The vet also told me to stop giving Pectillin because she said that it can be over-used and Sandy could get constipated. I recently had to increase Sandy's dose of Pectillin in order to keep her diarrhea under control so I don't think there is any risk of constipation. I explained to my vet that without Pectillin Sandy needs a bath every day and there is a mess all over the cage. I don't mind cleaning up, but it would mean asking Sandy to sit in that mess for hours when I sleep and during the day when I'm at work. That's not fair at all to ask of her. I agreed with my vet just so that we could get her new prescriptions to see if they help, but I'm not going to stop the Pectillin when it seems like it's helping her. If Sandy doesn't improve soon I may consider whether or not we need to travel further afield to a more experienced vet. I'm weighing out the potential benefit of doing that versus is it fair to ask Sandy to go through more appointments, more medicines, fluid treatments, etc.
 
Poor Sandy. You are such a wonderful slave. It’s sad to start thinking that Sandy may have had enough. You know her best and I’m sure you won’t let her suffer. Good luck. I really hope Sandy feels better soon. Take care ❤️
 
It’s hard when making the right decision isn’t straightforward.
Sandy is lucky to be in your care.
You will know in your heart when / if it’s right to stop vet trips and medication.
Holding you in my heart ♥️
 
weepweeps said:
Poor Sandy. You are such a wonderful slave. It’s sad to start thinking that Sandy may have had enough. You know her best and I’m sure you won’t let her suffer. Good luck. I really hope Sandy feels better soon. Take care ❤️
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Merab's Slave said:
It’s hard when making the right decision isn’t straightforward.
Sandy is lucky to be in your care.
You will know in your heart when / if it’s right to stop vet trips and medication.
Holding you in my heart ♥️
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Thank you.
 
Sandy's weight has been a bit better the past few days, but there's still definitely something wrong. There were drops of blood in the cage this evening in several different spots. I have seen this before and told the vet, but this is definitely an increase. I just fed her and gave her the rest of her meds before I go to bed. I'm nervous about going to sleep, but I think it's something that can wait until the morning. Anyway with all of her health issues I don't want to put her through the stress of an emergency vet visit. I will call our regular vet in the morning. Trying to remind myself that I really do need sleep. And Sandy's not alone. She has her cagemate. Going to try to get some sleep now and hope that she's ok.
 
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