Sick Palliative care advice needed please...

wigglemish · Mar 10, 2017

I'm going to keep this short, because it's breaking my heart and I need to get through without crying.

Our baby girl, Pompom, is dying. She's 5 years old and is full of nasty growths on her ovaries. They are beyond the stage of being treatable. In the last couple of days she has started having breathing difficulties due to the pressure on her diaphragm. We took her straight to the vets, who said she was getting enough oxygen and her heart was still going well, but that there wasn't much to be done except try and keep her comfortable and wait for the inevitable really.

We're giving her 0.3ml metacam twice a day, and she seems content enough, but this evening she has developed diarrhoea. It's soft, greenish/light brown and smelly. We've withheld evening veggies, cleaned her up and have made sure she has lots and lots of hay, but are a bit at a loss as to what else to do to help her. I tried syringing her some water, but she really fought me and I was terrified of aspirating her or causing her pain.

We know we are losing her. She's stopped wheeking, doesn't leave her pigloo much... I know there are no miracles to save my baby. But the diarrhoea has really terrified me. I've never had a pig with it before. Squidgy poos from med, yes, but not like this...

What else can I do to make this period as stressless and painless as possible for her? What is the line between helping her and hurting her?

We lost another of our pigs earlier this week after a spay that was supposed to be lifesaving and honestly I am just not emotionally equipped to deal with this right now...

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. I have to go into work tomorrow and am so frightened she's going to end up in a terrible state while I am not there to comfort her...

jaycriae · Mar 10, 2017

Personally, I would have her put to sleep peacefully by a vet. I wouldn't want to risk her passing away covered in filth while I wasn't there. I'm very sorry for what's happening with her and with your other pig, I can't imagine how hard a time you're having right now.

In the meantime, keeping her clean, medicated and hydrated is the best you can do.

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bpatters · Mar 10, 2017

I agree. To keep her alive at this point is to assuage your pain, not hers. She deserves to go in peace, and without pain and suffering.

It's very hard to let them go. I lost my favorite pig about three weeks ago. You're never ready to give them up. But their comfort has to be the most important thing. It serves no purpose for her to you to try to keep her alive when she's obviously not going to make it.

wigglemish · Mar 11, 2017

Honestly, I took her to the vets on Thursday night thinking it was time. I don't want her to suffer at all, believe me, my piggies deserve better and more dignity than that. So on Thursday I took a half day from work to spend time with her, we went out on the lawn for playing in the grass, which she loved, then we had a nice long laptime cuddle and by the time we went down there in the evening I was as ready as I could be to say goodbye, I didn't think there'd be any other thing to do for her. But then the vet said she didn't think it was time yet and now I'm all in knots. I thought I was doing the right thing by her and then the vet felt she was still strong enough to be left alone for the time being.

I'm just in bits. I don't want her to go through pain. She's still interested in food, she's still happy enough with her cagemates and interested in the rustle of veggie packets or my chatting to them. But she also seems very tired and every time she takes a breath my heart hurts because it seems like such an effort. Her nostrils flare and she sort of bobs back and forth.

The diarrhoea has stopped at least. It seemed like a brief bout, we had three blobs last night but nothing since. My partner stayed up all night to check in on her hourly. Today her poops are small, but they are poop shaped.

Please don't get me wrong, I don't want to hang onto her for selfish reasons. I have watched furbabies go through horrible pain before and it'll stay with me forever. I just now don't know what the right thing is to do and I'm just trying to keep her comfortable.

jaycriae · Mar 11, 2017

Then like I said. Keeping her clean, hydrated, and medicated is all you can do until it's time. I'm glad the diarrhea has stopped, that sounded terrible. And I'm glad that you had a good day with her on the lawn and cuddling. It's possible that the diarrhea was a result of the grass on the lawn, hopefully that's the case and it won't come back. Best wishes to you, your piggy, and your partner. It's a very painful thing to go through, but it sounds like you have it under control.

bpatters · Mar 11, 2017

It is very hard to make up your mind to let them go and then have the vet tell you it's not. I'm sorry you're in that position.

wigglemish · Mar 11, 2017

Thanks both. Pompom seems to be doing better this evening, she's pooping better and still seems bright eyed, contently eating hay. I'm hoping that you were right and it was the grass that upset her. I'm going to chance giving her a small size portion of veggies tonight, just to see how she gets on. I'm so anxious right now. We don't know how long we have, at the moment she's doing okay but we know she could plummet fast without warning. I'm trying to leave her be as I don't want to pass that stress on to her. But I am still checking her compulsively since I came home and while I was at work I was on the phone getting updates from the other half every hour... Honestly I think I am far more bothered than she is, which is a good thing I suppose.

lunarminx · Mar 11, 2017

I wouldn't have given the vet the say in it. As you know the pig more than she does and both of you know she is in major pain as is. Is the vet not going to charge you for another office visit ontop of the euthanasia when the time comes? Painless is taking her in again and having her euthanized quickly over dying slowly and in pain over days.

lunarminx · Mar 11, 2017

bpatters said:
It is very hard to make up your mind to let them go and then have the vet tell you it's not. I'm sorry you're in that position.

That doesn't sit right with me. My sister took her cat in to be euthanized when she thought it was time and the vet told her it wasn't time, he just needed his medication adjusted(thyroid medication) and he lived another 1 1/2 years almost but he wasn't full of tumors and in pain. His thyroid(hyper) was whacked and like us just needed a slight adjusted again. But to me if a piggy is showing pain, they are really in pain.

wigglemish · Mar 11, 2017

lunarminx said:
I wouldn't have given the vet the say in it. As you know the pig more than she does and both of you know she is in major pain as is. Is the vet not going to charge you for another office visit ontop of the euthanasia when the time comes? Painless is taking her in again and having her euthanized quickly over dying slowly and in pain over days.

I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do. I was thrown by it, and I've been agonising over it since. I don't mean to be cruel, I'm sorry, I'm trying to do what's best by her.

dirah93 · Mar 11, 2017

wigglemish said:
I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do. I was thrown by it, and I've been agonising over it since. I don't mean to be cruel, I'm sorry, I'm trying to do what's best by her.

I'm so, so sorry you're going through this. I can't even imagine going through this predicament. It's great that you and your partner are doing the absolute best for your pig - keeping her as comfortable as possible during this time.

Theres no reason to be sorry at all, you've done nothing wrong, in fact you seem to be doing everything right. It's a very tough thing to go through when you have your mind set on something and your vet tells you otherwise.

All I can say is keep doing what you're doing, and if you feel that despite all your efforts she's still in pain, it's best you let her go peacefully. Lots of hugs and moral support.

wigglemish · Mar 11, 2017

I just wanted to share a picture of my little one. This is what she looks like at the moment. This was her on Thursday afternoon and she still looks very much the same today..

dirah93 · Mar 11, 2017

wigglemish said:
I just wanted to share a picture of my little one. This is what she looks like at the moment. This was her on Thursday afternoon and she still looks very much the same today..

She's beautiful! Thank you for sharing her picture with us!

jaycriae · Mar 11, 2017

She's very lovely. And personally, if they've been reliable thus far, I'd trust the vet's judgment. Especially since she's still eating, no longer having diarrhea, and enjoying her cagemates' company. You could ask about raising her Metacam dosage if you think she's still in a lot of pain. But otherwise, your vet is likely right, and difficulty breathing may be very unpleasant but it's not enough to warrant euthanasia unless she's deteriorated in other areas too.

Most vets use the JOURNEYS Euthanasia scale for pets, if you want to look that up. A score of below 35 is the area in which euthanasia would be considered.

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wigglemish · Mar 11, 2017

jaycriae said:
She's very lovely. And personally, if they've been reliable thus far, I'd trust the vet's judgment. Especially since she's still eating, no longer having diarrhea, and enjoying her cagemates' company. You could ask about raising her Metacam dosage if you think she's still in a lot of pain. But otherwise, your vet is likely right, and difficulty breathing may be very unpleasant but it's not enough to warrant euthanasia unless she's deteriorated in other areas too.

Most vets use the JOURNEYS Euthanasia scale for pets, if you want to look that up. A score of below 35 is the area in which euthanasia would be considered.

Thank you, I've not heard of this before. I'll perhaps give this scale a look over the next couple of days a few times to see where we're at by the time the vet opens on Monday. If nothing else it might help me get my anxiety in check a little...

lunarminx · Mar 11, 2017

https://journeyspet.com/quality-of-life-scale-pets/

lunarminx · Mar 11, 2017

wigglemish said:
I just wanted to share a picture of my little one. This is what she looks like at the moment. This was her on Thursday afternoon and she still looks very much the same today..

She is gorgeous and I am so sorry you are going through this. Sometimes I come off so hard and I really don't mean to, I just was thinking of her having a hard time breathing and the wobbling. Stay strong for her, You know your piggie the best!

wigglemish · Mar 12, 2017

We have made the decision to take her down tomorrow. She is doing badly with her bowels again today and is obviously not happy. She's just huddled in her pigloo, won't eat any substantial amounts of hay, she's picking at the odd strand. The only thing she's eating is veg and even that is slow. We are going to keep her as comfortable as we can, she's curled up with a hot water bottle tucked into one side of her pigloo and we're going to give her whatever tidbits or treats she shows interest in today.

Guinea Pig Papa · Mar 12, 2017

I'm so sorry you're going through this. She's such a beautiful girl. I hope it goes easy for all of your. My herd send their wheeks and grumbles to you.

bpatters · Mar 12, 2017

I'm so sorry you're losing her.

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Sick Palliative care advice needed please...

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