Conditions Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)

[Kensium]

Hello, everyone. I have some bad news.

On 8/25/16, my four month old sow, Periwinkle, had to be put to sleep.

I brought her to a phenomenal vet in Adam's Township PA (Good Shepherd Veterinary Hospital) after I noticed her hunched over, lethargic, and not eating/drinking.
Dr. I told me she either had a severe URI or pneumonia- both of which did not sound good. We had her in an oxygen tank for about 6-7 hours until I came back after an emergency phone call.

Periwinkle did have pneumonia- and it was BAD. Her left lung was completely filled with fluid and her right lung had a very small area that was open.
That wasn't the only thing found on the x-ray.

Periwinkle was born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, also known as CDH. This is when the diaphragm is either extremely weak or is ruptured. This causes three things:
1. Abdominal organs push up into the chest cavity, putting pressure on the lungs and heart
2. The diaphragm doesn't work correctly, making breathing an extremely difficult (and painful) task
3. The chest cavity and abdominal cavity are no longer separated, causing a higher risk for infection

The only way to diagnose CDH is through an x-ray. The only way to fix the birth defect is through surgery, which is risky. Guinea pigs almost never survive this surgery.

I made the ultimate decision in having her put to sleep. She was very calm throughout the procedure. I'm going to miss my little girl, though.

*If your guinea pig has x-rays done, PLEASE ask about CDH. It often goes unnoticed and puts your cavy in excruciating pain and danger.*

 

[bpatters]

I'm very sorry you lost her.

Do you have copies of any of the x-rays you could post so we could see them?

 

[Kensium]

I actually don't at the moment. I'm calling the vet first thing tomorrow morning to get copies, though. I'll post them as soon as I get them!

 

[bpatters]

Thanks! I'd like to see those.

 

[Kensium]

I just called the vet and they have a lot of meetings today. They'll be emailing me the x-rays later this afternoon.

 

[lisa325]

What a sad situation, I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

[Kensium]

Here are her x-rays. Sorry they're so small. If anybody wants a detailed explanation as to what everything is and how to read it, please message me directly.
@bpatters

 

[bpatters]

Can you post the explanation here, @Kensium? That way, everybody can learn from it.

 

[Kensium]

Black areas are air (clear), white areas are solid or liquid.

Bottom view x-ray:

In the lower left corner of the image (right side of her body) are her intestines. It looks like little grey splotches.
The black bean shaped object is her stomach. It's black because she was swallowing air when she gasped.
The larger (hard to notice) white shape above her stomach is her heart.
Her left lung is filled with fluid from severe pneumonia, which I did not notice symptoms for until it was too late.
Her right lung is filled with fluid as well. She has little room to breathe.

Her diaphragm can only be seen on the right side of her body, behind the cecum. As you follow it to the left side, it seems to disappear. This is the CDH.
Her stomach and cecum should not have been pressing against the lungs and heart. This made it increasingly difficult to breathe.

Side view x-ray (Head facing left of the image):

On the far left side of the x-ray, you can see a thin black-ish line running through the middle of her body down to midway between the 4th and 5th rib. This is her trachea.
Down to her 12th rib, you can see one of her lungs. It is completely filled except for a small part in black between the 9th and 12th ribs. This is the part she used to breathe.
You can't even see the diaphragm in this view. The bottom view x-ray was taken because of this.
The black space between her lungs and sternum (breast bone) is her stomach. It should NOT be there.


CDH KILLS GUINEA PIGS IN A HORRIFIC, PAINFUL WAY.