mutajen
New Born Pup
Hi everyone,
I am very angry and frustrated. My 6yo female had 2 stones removed (non-surgically) about 6 weeks ago. Ever since then, her condition has been up and down. Her current vet doesn't know if her bloody pee is from potential ovarian cysts or IC. They keep pushing a $400 ultrasound but, they_don't_have treatment plans for either of those aforementioned conditions.
At her last appointment, we had a different vet. And, even though my pig was bright, alert and still eating she said, "if you want to put her down, I won't judge you." I was like, "WHAT?!?" Surprised by that statement and that her x-ray didn't show another stone, I was 100% positive that was the issue, I walked out of there confused. Xray only showed "potential mineralization of bladder." Again, they pushed the ultrasound. They prescribed Gabapentin, she was already on Metacam, a diuretic, potassium citrate etc etc. Her pee was smelling really strong, too and her bum was wet. To me, that says UTI, but I am not a vet.
The next day at her cage mate's appointment, I mentioned to the vet about the smelly pee and asked if this could this be a UTI. I was told, "UTIs in our small mammals are very uncommon but we can go ahead and put her on an antibiotic." OK, so started that. A few days later she is squeaking in pain while peeing. I call the vet they increase her Metacam to 0.6. This doesn't help, I call again, they prescribed Tramadol but since this was Saturday afternoon, there were no compounding pharmacies open until Monday. I find an alternate vet for a second opinion. They prescribe Buprenorphenie and asked if a urine sample was taken. No, no prior sample. She also indicated, yes, GPs can get UTIs... She takes a sample and sends it off to the lab. I'm waiting for the results. At least it's a starting point! It turns out this 2nd vet was not an exotics office even though they see GPs, but they seemed to do more for my GP than her regular exotics vet did.
Her pain is now controlled. HOWEVER, her poo is that 'string of pearls' business I've read is a horrible sign. I had recently started giving her more chopped-up greens to increase her fluids and help flush the bladder, and address IC (if that's her issue). So, not sure if it's that, or the antibiotics, or the increased Metacam, etc etc that has caused this poop change. I noticed it yesterday but it was not yet a "string," it was a single pellet with the weird stringy end. She had weird poo after her bladder procedure - it literally looked like a Twizzler (sorry, that's gross). When I mentioned this to them they basically shrugged their shoulders. I was only able to get her to poop by putting her in a warm bath and massaging her tummy for 1 hour, plus syringe feeding.
I've got 2 other appointments for a 2nd opinion at two different exotic vets in the event one of them gets a cancellation soon, I can go get an official exotics 2nd opinion. The first appointment is this Thursday morning. My GP issues began mid-May when the cagemate developed diarrhea that lasted 6 weeks. This vet also couldn't fix anything, just kept giving her antibiotics and pushing for an ultrasound. I stopped the diarrhea by giving her critical care with activated charcoal 2-3 times a day for 2 days - problem solved. She had also lost 1/3 of her body weight and read about feeding them porridge so I did that and she gained over 100 grams back - my vet doesn't like that she's eating oatmeal (I don't really care about their opinion, at this point).
I have lost confidence in them, primarily because I would think smelly urine would prompt one to do a urine test; they jumped to euthanasia; they didn't know anything about hormone therapy for ovarian cysts etc etc etc. I am worried because of this delay in switching vets, she's going to die. I'm also kicking myself thinking I should have just done the ultrasound - but I don't know. I am in the US and it is often the case that vets take advantage of people, esp the emergency vets (in my experience) so I am suspicious already.
I sent a photo of the stringy poo to her current vet and they said "we often see this when a GP is at end stages of life ... your GP had "a lot going on."
Is this stringy poop along with bloody pee and any potential bladder or ovarian cysts a sign of dying? Or is it just a sign of GI stasis? I've stopped the fresh veg and will continue to syringe feed every 1-2 hrs as recommended in other posts on this forum.
I am very angry and frustrated. My 6yo female had 2 stones removed (non-surgically) about 6 weeks ago. Ever since then, her condition has been up and down. Her current vet doesn't know if her bloody pee is from potential ovarian cysts or IC. They keep pushing a $400 ultrasound but, they_don't_have treatment plans for either of those aforementioned conditions.
At her last appointment, we had a different vet. And, even though my pig was bright, alert and still eating she said, "if you want to put her down, I won't judge you." I was like, "WHAT?!?" Surprised by that statement and that her x-ray didn't show another stone, I was 100% positive that was the issue, I walked out of there confused. Xray only showed "potential mineralization of bladder." Again, they pushed the ultrasound. They prescribed Gabapentin, she was already on Metacam, a diuretic, potassium citrate etc etc. Her pee was smelling really strong, too and her bum was wet. To me, that says UTI, but I am not a vet.
The next day at her cage mate's appointment, I mentioned to the vet about the smelly pee and asked if this could this be a UTI. I was told, "UTIs in our small mammals are very uncommon but we can go ahead and put her on an antibiotic." OK, so started that. A few days later she is squeaking in pain while peeing. I call the vet they increase her Metacam to 0.6. This doesn't help, I call again, they prescribed Tramadol but since this was Saturday afternoon, there were no compounding pharmacies open until Monday. I find an alternate vet for a second opinion. They prescribe Buprenorphenie and asked if a urine sample was taken. No, no prior sample. She also indicated, yes, GPs can get UTIs... She takes a sample and sends it off to the lab. I'm waiting for the results. At least it's a starting point! It turns out this 2nd vet was not an exotics office even though they see GPs, but they seemed to do more for my GP than her regular exotics vet did.
Her pain is now controlled. HOWEVER, her poo is that 'string of pearls' business I've read is a horrible sign. I had recently started giving her more chopped-up greens to increase her fluids and help flush the bladder, and address IC (if that's her issue). So, not sure if it's that, or the antibiotics, or the increased Metacam, etc etc that has caused this poop change. I noticed it yesterday but it was not yet a "string," it was a single pellet with the weird stringy end. She had weird poo after her bladder procedure - it literally looked like a Twizzler (sorry, that's gross). When I mentioned this to them they basically shrugged their shoulders. I was only able to get her to poop by putting her in a warm bath and massaging her tummy for 1 hour, plus syringe feeding.
I've got 2 other appointments for a 2nd opinion at two different exotic vets in the event one of them gets a cancellation soon, I can go get an official exotics 2nd opinion. The first appointment is this Thursday morning. My GP issues began mid-May when the cagemate developed diarrhea that lasted 6 weeks. This vet also couldn't fix anything, just kept giving her antibiotics and pushing for an ultrasound. I stopped the diarrhea by giving her critical care with activated charcoal 2-3 times a day for 2 days - problem solved. She had also lost 1/3 of her body weight and read about feeding them porridge so I did that and she gained over 100 grams back - my vet doesn't like that she's eating oatmeal (I don't really care about their opinion, at this point).
I have lost confidence in them, primarily because I would think smelly urine would prompt one to do a urine test; they jumped to euthanasia; they didn't know anything about hormone therapy for ovarian cysts etc etc etc. I am worried because of this delay in switching vets, she's going to die. I'm also kicking myself thinking I should have just done the ultrasound - but I don't know. I am in the US and it is often the case that vets take advantage of people, esp the emergency vets (in my experience) so I am suspicious already.
I sent a photo of the stringy poo to her current vet and they said "we often see this when a GP is at end stages of life ... your GP had "a lot going on."
Is this stringy poop along with bloody pee and any potential bladder or ovarian cysts a sign of dying? Or is it just a sign of GI stasis? I've stopped the fresh veg and will continue to syringe feed every 1-2 hrs as recommended in other posts on this forum.
totally normal now. I hope the squeaking stops in a few days. I've to really be careful and not let her go too long between doses of pain meds.