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Conditions Uterine Tumor: What Would You Do?

zsquidtastic

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Guinea Pig Papa Thank you for your advice. I was super serious about the critical care, and I also ended up using acidophilus during feedings after the antibiotic. She has definitely perked up a bit today - she's showing an enthusiasm for vegetables again, which is wonderful! She is also incredibly thirsty. Some head butting & general feistiness have begun to return too. :)

I'm still worried things could change though, but I'm weighing her about 3 times a day & she's gradually gaining instead of losing like she was. She's such a strong girl & I'm so proud of her.

It's just been a strange new experience for me as I've never had a pig, or even a pet of my own, go through something like this.
 

zsquidtastic

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stray hares I would be so curious to hear what she says - thanks for reaching out! We're hanging in there, she's definitely doing better than yesterday & the day before, but she's still pretty weak. How long did it take for your girl to be fully recovered, would you say as a guess?

The vet said she had thought she removed the entire uterus, but it's possible some cells are lingering around -- not too sure about this. I may end up calling around for a second opinion, I don't know. I would hate to put her through another surgery. I just want her to recover now.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I've been checking periodically all day for a positive update on Opal. I have to admit, I was getting worried when I didnt see anything all day today.

I'm so happy she's doing better, and you should continue to see improvement in her in the days ahead.

I do think weighing her 3 times a day is maybe a bit much. Once a day might serve you better, and would definitely give her a chance to rest more.
 

zsquidtastic

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I've been checking periodically all day for a positive update on Opal. I have to admit, I was getting worried when I didnt see anything all day today.

I'm so happy she's doing better, and you should continue to see improvement in her in the days ahead.

I do think weighing her 3 times a day is maybe a bit much. Once a day might serve you better, and would definitely give her a chance to rest more.

Thank you for caring! I was seriously so happy & proud of her when she found this will to eat her vegetables!

I take her out at least 3 times a day for critical care - so I figure why not weigh her while she's out. Today I'll have had her out 4 times for feeding. Do you think that's too much? It's easier to do smaller more frequent feedings (plus I feel like more consistent meals might be better), but I don't know if that's harder for her.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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If you have her out, it's not that big a deal. I just mean that her weight will fluctuate constantly through the day if she's peed or pooped, or eaten anything. Over a spaced out amount of time would give you a more accurate picture of whether or not she's actually gaining or losing anything. When you do weigh her, try to make sure it's as close to the same time of day as you can get.
 

zsquidtastic

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Hey guys. We're on Day 5 after the surgery & she is still extremely lethargic. She can't seem to walk properly (normal?) and she still has minimal desire to eat on her own. When I take her out and offer her some hay she shows interest at first & takes little nibbles, but essentially gives up. For the most part she still has a good appetite for vegetables - but occasionally she'll give up on that as well. She's been hovering around 1040 weight-wise, so it seems she's not losing anymore. She left the vet at 1100.

I'll be speaking with the vet tomorrow about her progress, but for those of you who have had a pig surgery - how long did it take for them to recover? Maybe stray hares can weigh in? Thanks all.
 

bpatters

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Is she still on pain medication? Or any other meds? If so, which ones, what strength, and what dosage?
 

zsquidtastic

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Is she still on pain medication? Or any other meds? If so, which ones, what strength, and what dosage?

Yes she's still on Meloxicam 2 mg/ml, 0.3 mLs every 12 hours & Enrofloxacin 20 mg/ml 0.9 mLs every 12 hours.
 

bpatters

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I'd stop the Meloxicam. I've never had to use it longer than a couple of days after surgery.
 

stray hares

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Hi, sorry for the slow reply, how is she going today?

It really can vary and after such a big surgery it can take a couple of weeks. If you post a video (if you can) it might be easier to get a feel for how she's recovering. What did your vet say?
 

zsquidtastic

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Hi guys - finally spoke with the vet today. She thinks things are going well since Opal is gaining weight (about 10g a day) and showing an enthusiasm for vegetables. She instructs to continue the pain med & antibiotic until Friday. She also stated that it can take around 2 weeks for them to recover from the abdominal incision and begin walking normally again - so that put me at ease.

Tomorrow it will be a week since the surgery and she is definitely doing a lot better since that point in time. I still get sad seeing her depressed in the corner though, so I'm hoping she'll perk up once she's off the antibiotic.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Hi guys - finally spoke with the vet today. She thinks things are going well since Opal is gaining weight (about 10g a day) and showing an enthusiasm for vegetables. She instructs to continue the pain med & antibiotic until Friday. She also stated that it can take around 2 weeks for them to recover from the abdominal incision and begin walking normally again - so that put me at ease.

Tomorrow it will be a week since the surgery and she is definitely doing a lot better since that point in time. I still get sad seeing her depressed in the corner though, so I'm hoping she'll perk up once she's off the antibiotic.

You will likely see a very different pig once she's off the antibiotic. On top of the surgery, the poor little thing is also dealing with a medication that will make her not feel well, and will upset her already tender tummy. It's unfortunately necessary, so that she doesn't develop a post op infection. The antibiotic is also the reason why the Critical Care is so important, and that she gets fed on a regular basis to make sure she eats. If she's gaining weight, that's great!

If she has enthusiasm for her favourites, that's a good sign. 2 weeks seems to me to be a fair timetable for her to start getting back to normal.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I just wanted to follow up and see how Opal is doing? Hoping you have some good news?
 

zsquidtastic

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She's doing okay - definitely regaining her mobility. She's no longer stranded in the corner all day and she's sitting and walking more normally. The vet suggested backing away from the critical care a little bit to encourage her to eat on her own & now she's eating hay and pellets on her own. When do you know to stop with the critical care? She lost a little bit when I started feeding less, but she's steadily gaining again.

She's still on the pain med though. The actual doctor is unreachable until tomorrow and none of the vet techs know what they're talking about! Last I talked with the vet, she said continue on the pain med - she didn't say until when though. I made my own judgment call and reduced it to 2 cc twice a day (from the 3 cc) but I'm hesitant to stop immediately, though I know she probably shouldn't be on it this long.
 

zsquidtastic

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She has to get her stitches out today and I don't know what to expect. Do they put her under for this/is it super painful?
 

zsquidtastic

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She had a little pus and they decided to put her back on the antibiotic, as well as do a rinse with an antiseptic ('Chlor Hexiderm'). They also suggested going to get silver cream to put on afterwards.

Ugh all of this is never-ending. The vet told me to focus on healing the wound, then think about the second procedure. She said she wasn't entirely sure that she clamped off all of the polyp on the left uterine horn and that's why she wants to go back to remove it all & the ovaries so it doesn't grow on its own and rupture or cause infection. She said there was so much of her GI tract in the way to be sure.

On the one hand, I understand why she made the call to not remove the ovaries given the length of the surgery just getting the uterus out. But on the other hand - she couldn't have made sure she at least got all of the uterine tissue out? I'm actually kind of upset about it now because this means I have to make another huge decision on surgery.
 

stray hares

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Will the ovarian surgery just be a flank spay? Usually that's not quite as invasive.

It really does seem neverending sometimes. :( I hope Opal is feeling better at least. Poor little pig. It's a lot to go through!
 

zsquidtastic

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Will the ovarian surgery just be a flank spay? Usually that's not quite as invasive.

It really does seem neverending sometimes. :( I hope Opal is feeling better at least. Poor little pig. It's a lot to go through!

Yes it would just be a flank spay. Thanks for your kind words & your advice/input throughout all of this!
 

zsquidtastic

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Hi guys. She's down to 975g tonight. I have honestly been weighing her in the mornings (this morning she was at 985g) but she was also weighed last night at the vet and was 1007g. So she's lost ~30g. I attribute this to my lack of hand feeding. I did not feed critical care last night or this morning. The vet instructed to stop as Opal was eating hay even at the vet visit yesterday.

When would you be alarmed and administer the critical care? She is on the antibiotic once again, and I worry this may be messing with her appetite (as it seems to have before). I'm emailing the vet, but I'm sure she won't get back to me until tomorrow afternoon.

Fortunately her incision seems to be healing well.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I would worry if she continues to drop. The antibiotic WILL mess with her appetite, and a continuous weight drop will indicate that she isnt eating enough on her own. If shes eating on her own but drops more steadily over a day or two, then I would go back to the Critical Care. Some pigs can come to prefer the CC over their hay and other foods they need to keep their teeth ground down, but nutrition will be paramount as long as shes on the antibiotic.
 
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