madelineelaine
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Posts
- 2,597
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 2,597
Izzy and I have had a stressful day, although i'm sure hers has been worse.
To simplify her medical history, Izzy has ovarian cysts that were unsuccessfully treated with lupron. She is 6.5 so we decided against spaying. She had the cyst aspirated and they drained 20ml+ of fluid, but a few months later they have returned. She currently has an injection of cystorelin (0.5ml intramuscular) every two weeks. Izzy currently sees a vet who is about 30-45 minutes away for her cysts as this clinic specializes more so in exotics. I have another exotic vet 10 minutes from me that I go to for other issues. (the closer vet actually sent me to the further vet for the cyst treatment and they work together to treat her).
I noticed about 8 or 9 days ago that her butt was wet. I had added in a glucosamine supplement recommended on this forum and thought she may of had some diarrhea. The next day her vulva had swollen and she had some scabbing. We went to the vet near me. I raised the possibility of stones because she has swelling near her urethra and I could feel something but I wasn't sure what as i have no experience with stones. She wasn't squeeking or hunching when peeing, and she wasn't passing any visible blood. The vet said it was most likely a UTI or it could be a uterine infection. We decided to put her on a course of antibiotics (baytril, 2x a day. 0.2ml of the 50mg/ml injectible solution). Once we started the baytril the wetness went away. I called back the next day to ask about metacam for the inflammation and we started her on 0.2ml every 24 hours of the 1.5mg/ml concentration. The swelling decreased a little bit.
Fast forward to today, almost a week later. She was still having some crustyness. I called my usual closer vet but all vets in the office had gone on vacation. I ended up getting an appointment at the further one. I am SO glad I did.
After an exam the vet felt the same lump I did. She figured it was most likely a stone. As it was very close to the opening of the urethra, the vet pushed sub q fluids and gave her a muscle relaxant and pain medication. After 45 minutes of waiting to see if she could pass it herself, the vet was able to manipulate the stone out.
We have been sent home with more metacam (0.35ml at 1.5mg/ml every 24 hours), gabapentin (0.1ml at 50mg/ml twice daily) and baytril (0.15ml at 35mg/ml twice daily).
Aside from feeding oxbow pellets, I have almost always fed a low calcium diet. My girls get one carrot each per day, as well as leaf lettuce and half a bell pepper for three pigs. I then add in other things like cucumber, tomato, occasionally a piece of fruit, corn husk, celery etc. My dad cuts them a big bowl of fresh grass from the backyard everyday. He sometimes gives them a small piece of dandelion and a peppermint leaf (he has been instructed to stop this as they are both high calcium greens). I recently started feeding 1/2 cup of pellets per day for three girls but I am going to cut it back to 1/4 cup. They are all grazers so unfortunately I don't think I can feed them pellets separately.
I was looking into what kind of water we have and according to the municipality it is medium hard water. I live near Toronto. The pigs and myself drink tap water. Izzy has never drank very much. I am probably going to get a filter of some sort to run their water through because I am concerned the calcium in the water could have contributed to this stone.
Considering she is 6.5 and we have ruled out surgery for her ovarian cysts, I am worried she will develop another stone and not be able to survive surgery. My priority now is to do whatever I can to keep this from happening again. I have done some searching on Guinea Lynx and these forums, but I am wondering if anyone with experience has any advice on the best way to keep her comfortable, and how I can monitor to see if another stone develops. Considering she had none of the typical signs, I'm worried I could miss it. I am still kicking myself for not getting a second opinion until a week later.
To simplify her medical history, Izzy has ovarian cysts that were unsuccessfully treated with lupron. She is 6.5 so we decided against spaying. She had the cyst aspirated and they drained 20ml+ of fluid, but a few months later they have returned. She currently has an injection of cystorelin (0.5ml intramuscular) every two weeks. Izzy currently sees a vet who is about 30-45 minutes away for her cysts as this clinic specializes more so in exotics. I have another exotic vet 10 minutes from me that I go to for other issues. (the closer vet actually sent me to the further vet for the cyst treatment and they work together to treat her).
I noticed about 8 or 9 days ago that her butt was wet. I had added in a glucosamine supplement recommended on this forum and thought she may of had some diarrhea. The next day her vulva had swollen and she had some scabbing. We went to the vet near me. I raised the possibility of stones because she has swelling near her urethra and I could feel something but I wasn't sure what as i have no experience with stones. She wasn't squeeking or hunching when peeing, and she wasn't passing any visible blood. The vet said it was most likely a UTI or it could be a uterine infection. We decided to put her on a course of antibiotics (baytril, 2x a day. 0.2ml of the 50mg/ml injectible solution). Once we started the baytril the wetness went away. I called back the next day to ask about metacam for the inflammation and we started her on 0.2ml every 24 hours of the 1.5mg/ml concentration. The swelling decreased a little bit.
Fast forward to today, almost a week later. She was still having some crustyness. I called my usual closer vet but all vets in the office had gone on vacation. I ended up getting an appointment at the further one. I am SO glad I did.
After an exam the vet felt the same lump I did. She figured it was most likely a stone. As it was very close to the opening of the urethra, the vet pushed sub q fluids and gave her a muscle relaxant and pain medication. After 45 minutes of waiting to see if she could pass it herself, the vet was able to manipulate the stone out.
We have been sent home with more metacam (0.35ml at 1.5mg/ml every 24 hours), gabapentin (0.1ml at 50mg/ml twice daily) and baytril (0.15ml at 35mg/ml twice daily).
Aside from feeding oxbow pellets, I have almost always fed a low calcium diet. My girls get one carrot each per day, as well as leaf lettuce and half a bell pepper for three pigs. I then add in other things like cucumber, tomato, occasionally a piece of fruit, corn husk, celery etc. My dad cuts them a big bowl of fresh grass from the backyard everyday. He sometimes gives them a small piece of dandelion and a peppermint leaf (he has been instructed to stop this as they are both high calcium greens). I recently started feeding 1/2 cup of pellets per day for three girls but I am going to cut it back to 1/4 cup. They are all grazers so unfortunately I don't think I can feed them pellets separately.
I was looking into what kind of water we have and according to the municipality it is medium hard water. I live near Toronto. The pigs and myself drink tap water. Izzy has never drank very much. I am probably going to get a filter of some sort to run their water through because I am concerned the calcium in the water could have contributed to this stone.
Considering she is 6.5 and we have ruled out surgery for her ovarian cysts, I am worried she will develop another stone and not be able to survive surgery. My priority now is to do whatever I can to keep this from happening again. I have done some searching on Guinea Lynx and these forums, but I am wondering if anyone with experience has any advice on the best way to keep her comfortable, and how I can monitor to see if another stone develops. Considering she had none of the typical signs, I'm worried I could miss it. I am still kicking myself for not getting a second opinion until a week later.
