Sophie requires surgery - help!

[JanJam]

[SIZE=2]I would like some opinions about Sophie.

Sophie is a piggie rescued by a friend from his next door neighbours. They were very ill and could not care for her properly. We don't know how old she is, but we got her 3 years ago and she was adult sized so we estimate at least 4 years old.

She has a stone in her bladder and cysts on both ovaries. She had a scan a month ago and the stone was in the urinary tract between the kidneys and the bladder. Now it has moved to the bladder. So now her kidneys are not being impacted by this stone and the urinary tract I am told is looking better, and it's expected to improve now the stone has moved. At the scan a month ago she had cysts on one ovary only, now it's both, so I suspect this situation can only get worse.

She has lost about 200g in weight in the past month. She was a little overweight at 900g, now around 700g. This could be caused by two things - 1. her health 2. she came back to us on Sunday after spending a week with a friend being bonded in a neutral area with her current cagemate, Marsha, and 3 new piggies.

Her general health seems good. She is eating by herself, moving about with no difficulty and when picked up she isn't in any obvious pain.

The vet would like to operate, performing a spay for the cysts, remove the bladder stone and also flush out the bladder to remove any sludge. The suggested days are today or Tuesday. I have said Tuesday which will give us the chance over the weekend to syringe feed her some Critical Care and get her weight up. The vet is happy with this but has pointed out that leaving it too long would risk the stone moving into the urethra, in which case surgery can be performed only by a rodentologist, if at all, and is far more risky.
I would like some thoughts here .. .has anyone been in a similar situation? I want of course to do the best for Sophie, and getting her weight up pre-surgery I think an only help her recovery. But I am worried of course. All comments and advice much appreciated.
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[pigsforlife]

900g is not overweight at all. All 4 of my girls are all over 900gs now. 3 of them over 1000g and my vet reckons they are all perfectly healthy.

I would probably weigh up the options and decide from there what would be best. 1 week may not make a whole lot of difference and if she is weak (and obviously now quite thin) it may be better to feed her CC around the clock as a pose to going ahead with the surgery now but I am no vet. Have you posted on GL?

[JanJam]

Thank you for the reply - and the good idea, I have just posted on GL as well.

So far I'm going for the feed her up option, 700g is too low (she's not a small pig frame wise)

The vet is telling me 860g is the ideal weight, but I'm not so sure. I had previously thought around a kilo is fine. Will bear that in mind - one of our new girls, Lola, is 1160g. Her next weigh in is on Sunday, but she may well have lost as she now has a lot of area to roam in.

Anyway I digress - thank you for the reply and I will let everyone know how it all goes. I am cautious as we recently lost Amber after a spay and bladder stone removal operation, and although Amber was eating well she did have the "puffed up" appearance and he was passing blood - neither of which apply to Sophie.

Oh, if only I had a crystal ball ....

[PigWooBus]

Well, I wish you the best, good luck with your piggie and the surgery. I would be scared, too. It's normal when we care about them.

The ideal weight sounds kind of low to me, but I think it just varies a lot from pig to pig. One of my males is almost 4 pounds, and most people tell me that while he's one of the biggest guinea pigs they've ever seen, he's not overweight.

I think I'd do the same thing you decided to do. My vet explained to me that the biggest risk with surgery, or like the biggest thing that will cause a problem, is if they are not eating enough. She said they would want the pig eating right up until surgery and starting eating again as soon as they wake up.

[JanJam]

Just to let you all know Sophie is home. She has to have 40ml of Critcal Care (more if she will take it) per day over 5 meals. She's just had 10ml now, will try another 10 later tonight.

Her teeth got a check too and nothing to worry about there.

The operation is booked for Tuesday. I know it has to be done. I'm just going to feed her up as much as I can and enjoy the time I can have with her, just in case. It's because I don't know how old she is that I worry a little more.

[Pumpkin_RIP]

Awww. I'm no vet, so I'm not going to give an opinion here, but I just hope she is alright. I will pray for her, and good luck with making such a tough decision.

[newpiggiemommy]

Good luck! We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers! We wish Sophie a safe surgery and a speedy recovery!

[JanJam]

Quick update - she has eaten 60ml of Critical Care in the past 24 hours and gained 50g. That's a relief!

thank you for the kind wishes, I will keep updating here, it's going to be a tough time coming up.

[JanJam]

Well, I knew it was going to be tough, just didn't realise how tough.

Sophie didn't come round from the anesthetic. She has now gone to join Daisy, Doris and Amber. I hope they all look after each other.

I will miss her so much - Sophie was the most placid piggie I know. She's the only one who would let me kiss her nose.

We don't know how old she was, she was a rescue piggie. When we got her (it was a friend who rescued her, we took her in) she was thin and had cystitis. She lived with us for just over 3 years, since mid December 2004.

There is another hole in my heart.

[Wheek Weak]

Oh JanJam, I am so very sorry about Sophie.

I know how much it hurts, and I send you comfort and hugs.

Rest well, little Sophie...you are still loved and cherished.