Sick Is Gizzy just TOO sick?

GizzyandMe · Aug 18, 2012

Gizzy has been getting sicker and sicker!

Current Status:
810gram (A year ago she weight 1000g)
3 years and 2 months old
Female Not spayed
Fantastic Appetite!
Poops still looking good
EXCELLENT DIET!!!

Last year she was on anti-biotics 4 times!
Once - UTI
Twice - cold/URI
Once - for a lump that was removed from her back

Our local vet did a biopsy and found cancerous cells present in the lump they removed.

This year she has already been on anti-biotics 5 times!!
Twice - cause the Vet felt it was a cold/URI
Twice - for a UTI
And then the last time as the Vet was trying to do a scan for the 3rd time to see what is going on she peed him full of blood and puss! So he put her on anti-biotics again.

She has had 3 scans and 4 x-rays this year.

She has a new lump by her nipples. She has lost 50% of her hair. She has lost 120grams in the last 6 months alone!

I have found one Vet that has done a spaying on a female before. The female was not sick and only a year old. This Vet is 8 hours driving from me! He is NOT willing to do a spaying on Gizzy if she is still sick. In the last 6 months she has been on anti-biotica every 2nd month for UTI or a cold! The reason I thought of spaying her is she has ALL the symptoms of Ovarian Cycsts. I feel very uncomfortable with a Vet that has only preformed this once before. My own Vet declines to do it. He feels it is too invasive and she is too sickly for it.

NO one has ANY idea how hard it is for me to even VOICE this but I have to do what I think is right for Gizzy.....is it time? Time to let her go? Or will trying to get her spayed and having the 2nd lump removed be worth her life? I am willing to do the 8 hour journey. I have already taken out more than one loan to cover her vet costs so it is also not the money. I just want to know.....is it worth it for HER? Will this be beneficial for her? Or is she just a sicky piggy?

Here are some photos where you can see her thinning hair! (NO she does not live outside! She was having a bit of "snack time" on a piece of protected grass - under constant supervision!)

bpatters · Aug 18, 2012

Hi, Gizzyandme, I'm sorry Gizzy is ill.

There are hormone injections that can be given when a pig is not in a condition to be spayed. I don't know whether her other problems with the URIs/UTIs would keep her from being able to get Lupron or not. It's not a cure for the cysts, but many pigs see a reduction in size of the cysts, and are able to live relatively normal lives for quite a while after the injections.

Depending on the size of the cysts, they could be (not necessarily are) contributing to some of her other problems. Pressure from the cysts could possibly keep her lungs from inflating/deflating normally when she breathes, effectively trapping stale air. They could also press on her bladder and kidneys and keep them from functioning normally.

I think if I were in your position, I'd at least want to try to injections and see if they help. You and Gizzy have had such a special relationship, it would be a shame if that came to an end. In the years I've been reading these forums, you are the only person I know who has a guinea pig who will play with them!

GizzyandMe · Aug 20, 2012

Thanks bpatters - the Vet will try and source some of the Lupron but has never heard of it. I printed your response and faxed it to the vet to take a look at it. At least our Vet is willing to do research and learn as much as possible. Gizzy has lost another 10grams. Her bones on her shoulders and back are now visible through her hair. She is still eating great and we have double her pellets from 1/8 of a cup to 1/4 cup.

She is still happy and willing to play and we had a great evening last night - hubby was working night shift - so Gizzy and I cuddled and played for a while. She still hates Sniper and he still loves her...if only we could get her healthy!!

Will see how the next few days go.

bpatters · Aug 20, 2012

I did a little reading around, and hCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin) and Cystorelin (gonadorelin diacetate tetrahydrate) are both alternatives to Lupron, and may be easier to find.

You may want to post your information about Gizzy over at Guinea Lynx. There are several posters over there who have a lot of experience with cysts and hormones, and they may know vets who would be willing to consult with your vet about the best treatment and dosage.

kananaka · Aug 20, 2012

Hi. I do not have any medical advice to add, but wanted to let you know you and Gizzy are in my thoughts.

GizzyandMe · Aug 22, 2012

Gizzy has lost another 50grams in weight in the last 2 weeks. The Vet took more x-rays and send it off to an Exotic Vet Clinic here in South Africa to see if they can see anything that can be done. My vet is pretty cool and he contacted a Vet we found on this site (vet link) and chatted to him - the vet Brandon spoke to said that to him it does not look like cysts alone but something far more devious! I hate it when they use words like that! Now we sit and wait for word from the Clinic and see what they say. The vet we contacted said we could not put her on another course of anti biotic so so soon .....so the waiting games begin.

She has now stopped eating and drinking and she is laying on her mum's lap - a safe place to be when feeling yucky!

bpatters · Aug 22, 2012

I'm sorry, @GizzyandMe. But if she's not eating and drinking, that's a medical emergency, and you need to be force feeding her and syringing water to her. If her gut stops moving, it will just complicate her recovery beyond belief, and may even be fatal.

If you can't get Critical Care or Critter Be Better where you are, then make a slurry of her pellets and feed them to her. See https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for more information on how to do it.

GizzyandMe · Aug 23, 2012

Thank you @bpatters . She is eating little bits at the moment. Made her some of the slurry stuff yesterday and she ate a bit but then she went and got some normal pellets, have been bribing her with mini carrots and a bit of apple (treats she only gets seldom) and that seemed to have perked her a bit. This morning she even ate a few leafs. We are watching that she is still digesting and such but we are waiting on the ONLY specialist in South Africa to respond to us and her response yesterday was "Well I am heading home now, I will look at this tomorrow" Blinking cow! So now me and the Vet are just waiting and praying and hoping. So will keep ya up to date. Thank you for caring!!

bpatters · Aug 23, 2012

I think you need to force feed her, and it's called force feeding for a reason -- she'll hate it, and you'll have a hard time doing it. A pig who isn't eating normally needs 50-60 cc of some kind of food supplement -- Critical Care, Critter Be Better, or pellet slurry -- every day, plus syringed water.

If she winds up having to have surgery, she'll need to be in the best shape possible beforehand. And pigs with a little extra weight reserve tend to do better than those who are debilitated before the operation. It's fine for her to nibble at things, but that's not really adequate nutrition, nor enough to keep her gut moving properly.

GizzyandMe · Aug 23, 2012

I am going to make a mixture of the pellet slurry for her but add a bit of vegan babyfood. No critical Care or Critter Be Better available here (Vet has never heard of it either) so I am going to follow a "recipe" I found on that link from guinea lynx @bpatters gave me and hopefully she will get more in of that than just the pellet slurry!

She seems to rather want to eat her pellets as is but I am happy to double her intake of food if she is not in the mood for fresh veggies then pellets and pellet slurry will have to do! It is nearly the end of the "working day" here by us and still NO word from the so-called professional!

bpatters · Aug 23, 2012

You can mix it with anything else she'll eat -- squash or pumpkin (NOT the pie mix, but just plain pumpkin), cilantro, whatever her favorite stuff is. Whiz it up in the blender or food processor and mix it in, then see if she'll eat it.

GizzyandMe · Aug 23, 2012

Off to the stores to go find some baby food. Thought to bring some laughter into the house I will buy some diapers and a baby blanket with the baby food and just pack it all out and ask my hubby if he knows "whats up" hahahaha! shame he might run away and I need him to entertain Sniper while I force feed Gizzy --- it upsets him something terrible when he is alone in his cage and she is not right there in hers next to him.

Will let you know in our AM how the feeding went and if we have heard from the "Pro" yet.

schavarry · Aug 23, 2012

Good luck! I hope your poor little Gizzy makes it through the night! She's in my thoughts and prayers!!

kananaka · Aug 23, 2012

schavarry said:
Good luck! I hope your poor little Gizzy makes it through the night! She's in my thoughts and prayers!!

Seconded. Keep us updated.

GizzyandMe · Aug 24, 2012

The guine pro finally got back to Vet Brandon this morning and Gizzy and I went straight in to see him! The pro says she does not detect any cysts and feel that there is something seriousely wrong with her bladder! Because she has been on Baytril so many times this year she advised we put her on Purbac - paediatric! With it also petcam! We weighed her again and in the last 2 days she has lost another 30grams!! She is still eating but still not enough! The vet feels if she can gain back about 100grams in the next 2 weeks that she will be a lot healthier! So we are working towards that now! Keep your fingers crossed! Will let you know how it goes! Thanks for the "goodlucks"!

bpatters · Aug 24, 2012

Are you also giving her a probiotic? Somehow I missed the fact that she's been on A/Bs so long. That can really screw up their intestinal bacteria and cause them to lose weight.

If you can find Bene-Bac there, that would be good. If not, human acidophilus or kyodophilus tablets will work -- you can crush them and sprinkle them on her food. Give them either an hour before or after the antibiotic, most people seem to prefer after.

GizzyandMe · Aug 24, 2012

I am giving her a really good pro-biotic my vet found us - protexin soluble! So she gets that sprinkled onto her leaves cause I know she nibbles on them! She ate a bit of pellet slurry mixed with carrot baby food! She seemed to really like it and actually ate 110ml!! That's pretty good for her! It jut got pretty cold here so I put extra blankets in for her! Saw her drink some water just now so I am calming down a bi! Let's see what the night brings!

GizzyandMe · Aug 27, 2012

Gizzy has been having trouble breathing again today. Its like she is trying to get the breath in but it just won't go all the way! Her nose sounds quite snotty! She has one good night of eating but stopped again! She gags whenever she chews anything! I am still force feeding her but if its anything thicker than water she will take a sip or 2 then gag and so it goes on and on! I just noticed that she sounds a lot like my sister does when she is having an ashma attack!!

Is there anything else I can do?

Paula · Aug 27, 2012

I really respect and appreciate all you're doing to save this sweet little pig, but at this point I think it might be wise and most fair to Gizzy to consider euthanasia. I have been following this thread and it reminds me a lot of an ordeal I had with a pig a couple years ago. Whatever is causing the recurrent infections obviously isn't going to be resolved with a spay, and quite honestly I don't think it's fair to spay an animal in such a frail and fragile condition. The sheer number of times a vet has put her on an antibiotic gives me serious pause, because the more often an pig is on an antibiotic, the more likely they are to develop an intolerance, and antibiotics, especially when prescribed long term or very often, cause symptoms and problems of their own.

At this point I think I'd consider the quality of her life before prolonging it with more tests, procedures, and force feedings. I know that's hard to hear but I've been down this road a few times with pigs who were very ill with no obvious clear cause and in every case, despite all my efforts, the pig died in the end and I wished I'd chosen to end it rather than prolong the inevitable.

I'm very sorry you're dealing with this with her and I hope you can come to some sort of resolution one way or another soon. Take care.

GizzyandMe · Aug 27, 2012

Thank you for the blunt honesty @Paula my husband felt the same but it would be the 2nd animal we have to put down this year and well Gizzy is my special friend! She will popcorn just at the sound of my voice and never hesitates to come to me for a pick up and she helped me through some tough times so its a very hard decision! But when her whole body shakes with trying to breath I feel evil for keeping her alive!
I will take her to the farm this weekend - she loves riding with me and she totally loves the grass at the farm so will go do a special trip and have some "us" time before I attempt to take this plunge!

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Sick Is Gizzy just TOO sick?

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