Stones HELP with post op pig

Lottie89 · Jul 27, 2011

My 6 and a half year old guinea pig (lively old soul) came home today and has been worryingly quiet. One evening I got her out and found that her stomach was swollen, took her down the vets the next day and the vet said that she might have a lump but because she's be acting relatively normally we should just keep an eye on her. A few days later she had been squeaking loudly while weeing, I then saw blood in her cage. Took her straight back to the vets and he booked her in for x-rays the very next day. She went in and they found that she had a large stone blocking her uretha. They operated on her and successfully removed a stone, around the size of a pea, however they had to cut into her bladder a little. They kept her in over night because of this but said that she was eating and drinking well. We picked her up today at lunchtime and have kept a close eye on her. She hasnt touched her food or water and hasn't drunk. We gave her her baytril (antibiotic) and also managed to get her to eat a piece of carrot. As she hadn't drunk we syringed her some water. It's now gone midnight and she still won't eat or drink, and is just looking sad sat in the corner of the cage. She wee'd a bit, which had some blood which they said to expect but she hasn't pooed at all.I know that she's probably in a fair amount of pain it just doesn't seem like she's like she was at the vets. Any one have any advice of suggestions?

Nicolene · Jul 27, 2011

Hi! My pig just had stone surgery last week! I'm surprised at the difference in our aftercare instructions. I was given 4 different meds, including a pain med, some Critical Care to feed 4-6 times a day and sub-q injections were ordered. Mine didn't eat the first few days, in fact, he's only showing interest now, after day 6, but he loves the critical care and still eats hay, so that's good... My pig's poop was very small and it is also only now becoming more like his usual, but he's not there yet. The pain meds made him sleepy and "out of it" for days, but he didn't seem to have any pain, just discomfort.

You need to immediately syringe feed her, as well as looking into sub-q's... We couldn't manage the on our own, but our vet tech is doing it for us every other day. And find out about pain meds...

I'm learning as I go, but I'm a few days ahead of you, so let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to share if I have any insight. Also, PAULA, who is a regular, has been through a few of these, so she's a great resource too. But, really, do syringe feeding ASAP.

Lottie89 · Jul 27, 2011

Ah thanks for that. Got my mum to ring the vets and she's gone and got some critical care, which we've managed to give her, so hopefully, we'll see an improvement in the morning, if not we have an appointment to see the vet in the morning to see about the pain. It is interesting how vets deal with one op in so many different ways. He seemed very experienced though so fingers crossed.

Nicolene · Jul 27, 2011

Oh good! Fantastic. I hope you can get her some pain meds, we only got 5 days worth, so he's been off it for a day now and he is so alert and happy looking. Make sure to feed her every few hours, so her gut starts moving again. Also, it is very important to research a low calcium diet so your pigger doesn't develop new stones. Our new "staples" are cucumber, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and green peppers and the occasional tiny piece of carrot. Here is the nutrition chart that is worth looking at, https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...-charts-poisonous-plants-list.html#post254730

My piggy misses lettuce, but it's for his own good..

foggycreekcavy · Jul 27, 2011

I agree, she should be on pain meds and hand fed.

pinky · Jul 27, 2011

Just curious, what is your source of drinking water? I'm convinced my stone pig developed stones from the hard, private well water I used to give them. City tap water can be really hard, too. Water can be loaded with minerals, depending upon what your water source is. I switched to distilled but someone said that's not good for them, either, so I rotate between distilled and bottled water with no minerals added.

Nicolene · Jul 27, 2011

I agree with the water thing, we live in a VERY hard water area too and I have now switched them to purified water.

Lottie89 · Jul 29, 2011

Well we've taken her down everyday since to get painkillers injected, we've been hand feeding her with critical care but she just doesn't want to take it which isn't great cause I'm sure she's stressed enough as it is. I can tell when she's in pain cause she grinds her teeth. She's started to poo a bit and has maybe pee'd once. The vets been good about it but she is quite old so it's just taking her a bit of time to get over it. Hopefully she'll be ok, she's certainly got enough strength to fight off being force fed.We live in the city but as she's taken so long to develop the stone I dunno if that would be because of the type of water. It's an interesting idea though.

pigsmakemesmile · Jul 29, 2011

I'm sorry to hear your pig is going through all this but your vet should have sent you home with pain meds. Based on what you describe appears that your little one is in a lot of pain. I'm real big on pain meds and comfort...it helps speed the healing process by keeping the pig more comfortable. Is there a special reason why its getting pain meds injected daily and not being given pain meds orally which you can give at home. I'm just curios as that seems to be alot for a small animal to go thru. As far as the stone, to properly determine the source of the stone, it would need to be analyzed by a lab. Good luck to you and your little one.

Char-x · Jul 30, 2011

pinky said:
Just curious, what is your source of drinking water? I'm convinced my stone pig developed stones from the hard, private well water I used to give them. City tap water can be really hard, too. Water can be loaded with minerals, depending upon what your water source is. I switched to distilled but someone said that's not good for them, either, so I rotate between distilled and bottled water with no minerals added.

When my stone pig was diagnosed, I started to use Brita filter to get rid of anything excess in the water. Even the veg is washed in filter water, and when mixing her capsule into a syringe - it's all filtered.

Lottie89 · Jul 31, 2011

I think the vet wants to keep an eye on her, and we're in the UK, so I don't know if maybe it's different. She's not improved at all. If anything she's worse, we've tried to feed her the critical care and water and she hates it. We're desperately trying to get food into her. She looks miserable and I don't blame her

her hearts pumping really fast, she can barely walk and she's sneezed which isn't a gd sign. I think maybe as she's quite old the whole experience has been a bit too much.If we get to the point of her eating veg and drinking water properly I'll try that out. Thanks guys

Lottie89 · Jul 31, 2011

Help! She's lirally just laying with her head on my arm. She seems not to be able to move her legs. What shall I do, she looks so sad!

Nicolene · Jul 31, 2011

Please go to a vet ASAP, and if none are open at this hour, an emergency vet. She must be in so much pain. That being said, once you have the pain under control, my piggy is on day 9 after his surgery and he is still constantly napping and resting. He is eating now, but he is still very inactive. It'll take time.

Lottie89 · Aug 1, 2011

Well it's bad news. We took her to the vet asap and he said that her body might be shutting down because of her age, or that because they'd cut into her bladder, there could be something going on there. We thought maybe she'd had a stroke, they decided to give her one last chance and injected her with fluids and painkillers. They said if she's not improved to bring her back in a few hours. She didn't improve, couldn't mover her back legs, couldn't swallow, I gave her lots of cuddles and we took her back and they put her down. They reckon her bladder couldn't recover from it all, and she was old. She couldn't go on as she was and I'm glad I had her as long as I did. We've buried her down the garden with her sister and put a little plant down there. I don't have any other pigs but you never know, I may be back in the future. Good luck to all your pigs, I hope they have a happy and healthly life like mine did.

Thanks for the help.

Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Stones HELP with post op pig

Lottie89

Member

Nicolene

Well-known Member

Lottie89

Member

Nicolene

Well-known Member

foggycreekcavy

Moderator

pinky

Well-known Member

Nicolene

Well-known Member

Lottie89

Member

pigsmakemesmile

Well-known Member

Char-x

Cavy Champion, Previous Forum Moderator

Lottie89

Member

Lottie89

Member

Nicolene

Well-known Member

Lottie89

Member

Similar threads

Share this Page

Newest members

Online statistics

Key Resources

Members online