Pooping/Peeing blood, 3 possible illnesses, & a few other questions for you guys..
I hate that I must write in this section but I have a few questions for you folks unfortunately..
The background information is, my guinea pig, Wednesday, has been pooping/peeing blood for about a week now :'( I can tell it's painful because she freezes up and makes those painful soft squeals and arches her back when it passes through..
I DID finally take her to the vet yesterday, and just to clear up why it took me a full week to get her seen, I have been unemployed since October and my new job doesnt begin until Feb 9th.. I wasn't anticipating an emergency like this obviously, and my boyfriend who is lending me the money for the vet expenses was away on business for the past 3 days, so unfortunately thats why she wasn't able to be seen til yesterday.. Thankfully my vets did let me take her in and give them an IOU (I live in a small town in NH, they don't bill & I don't have a bank account so they couldn't hold any checks ) because the Exotic Pets doctor only works Monday - Thursday and I could NOT go a full weekend without her being seen..
He checked her out and said the bleeding wasn't from her rectum or intestines, but her bladder was swollen. He prescribed her an antibiotic called "Sulfatrim Pediatric Suspension" and told me it's 1 of 3 possible things..
A.) A Bladder Infection, which is what I am PRAYING is the case.. he said if it is a bladder infection, the antibiotics will have her feeling good as new and once we finish off the bottle she'll be good as new again.
B.) Bladder Stones.. He said while on the antibiotics she'll pep-up and feel good, but once we run out of the medicine she'll go back to feeling terrible again because obviously it won't magically make the stone disappear.. So the next thing would be to have her x-rayed, which will cost me $88 just for that then most likely surgery.. :-/
or option C.) A Uterus Infection.. he said the antibiotics MAY make her feel a little better, but it's unlikely.. and if thats the case then we'd have to get her an Ultra Sound which is $120 and again, surgery would follow that.
So far she's been given 2 doses of the antibiotics (supposed to give it to her twice daily, so once last night and once this morning) and she isn't showing ANY signs of feeling even the slightest bit better..
but, I also wanted to add that she shares a cage with another female guinea pig, named Vanek.. When I first got Vanek and tried to introduce the two, they would full out lounge at one another and battle (although blood was never drawn), I then made a large C&C cage and put a divider down the middle so they could see one another in hopes that eventually I could remove the divider, but they would spend all day growling and try and chew/dig through the metal to get to the other one.. then one day my cat got into my room and Wednesday and Vanek both jumped out of the cage and hid together in a sweatshirt on my floor for I don't even know how long.. I was working a 4 - 9 shift and got home at 9:45 so for all I know it could have been hours. Nobody was hurt (they're long haired and my cat has the tiniest head ever, I don't think she could even fit a foot in her mouth!) but I immediately built a new, single cage and they've lived together ever since.. they only tolerate each other, but daily I hear growling and squeals coming from their cage and Vanek is always mounting Wednesday.
Vanek is very dominant, and Wednesday is now, very submissive. The issue now is, is since I took Wednesday from the cage for an hour to the vet, now Vanek is mounting Wednesday every 5 seconds and keeps driving Wednesday into the igloo and keeping her in there.. When ever Wednesday tries to leave the igloo Vanek automatically starts growling, shaking her butt and mounting Wednesday so I don't think Wednesday is even trying anymore to leave the igloo, which means she hasn't been eating or drinking...
The vets said I shouldn't separate them and just force feed Wednesday instead (i'm about to go out and buy groceries and pick up tons of fruits and veggies in hopes that that will get her eating..) but I feel like Vanek is causing way too much stress for her during her illness... I am hesitant because If I separate them, One will get the cage, and the other will be on a makeshift cage on the floor and I am afraid I will be put through hell trying to reintroduce them again.. And I am also considering splitting the 2x3 C&C wire cage I built in half until Wednesdays next vet appointment on Monday.. so that way they'll still see each other but this way Wednesday will have some peace of mind and maybe Vanek will get more floor time this weekend?
So after that whole story book I just wrote.. the questions I have for you guys are; what do you think about the separation issue? would I be terrible for splitting a 2x3 wire cage in half (I know it's small for two, but my bedroom is a little over 9ft by a little over 10ft, and I have my bed, a rolltop desk, and two beuros.. literally ALL the walls are occupied by furniture/cages so until I move out this summer a 2 by 3 has to do..) so I KNOW they'll be able to live together again, or take the risk and put one in a temp floor cage and one in the other, with the risk that they possibly won't be able to live together again?
Also, I have read many of the forums about stones and having the surgery, could anyone give me an estimate they paid? I have $250 - $350 figure in my head as to what to expect worst case senario.. But I haven't asked the vets because I am HOPING that won't have to be done... but I'd just like some realistic figures that you all have paid, I know it will vary... but yeah. Help? Advice? Suggestions?
Thanks.
I hate that I must write in this section but I have a few questions for you folks unfortunately..
The background information is, my guinea pig, Wednesday, has been pooping/peeing blood for about a week now :'( I can tell it's painful because she freezes up and makes those painful soft squeals and arches her back when it passes through..
I DID finally take her to the vet yesterday, and just to clear up why it took me a full week to get her seen, I have been unemployed since October and my new job doesnt begin until Feb 9th.. I wasn't anticipating an emergency like this obviously, and my boyfriend who is lending me the money for the vet expenses was away on business for the past 3 days, so unfortunately thats why she wasn't able to be seen til yesterday.. Thankfully my vets did let me take her in and give them an IOU (I live in a small town in NH, they don't bill & I don't have a bank account so they couldn't hold any checks ) because the Exotic Pets doctor only works Monday - Thursday and I could NOT go a full weekend without her being seen..
He checked her out and said the bleeding wasn't from her rectum or intestines, but her bladder was swollen. He prescribed her an antibiotic called "Sulfatrim Pediatric Suspension" and told me it's 1 of 3 possible things..
A.) A Bladder Infection, which is what I am PRAYING is the case.. he said if it is a bladder infection, the antibiotics will have her feeling good as new and once we finish off the bottle she'll be good as new again.
B.) Bladder Stones.. He said while on the antibiotics she'll pep-up and feel good, but once we run out of the medicine she'll go back to feeling terrible again because obviously it won't magically make the stone disappear.. So the next thing would be to have her x-rayed, which will cost me $88 just for that then most likely surgery.. :-/
or option C.) A Uterus Infection.. he said the antibiotics MAY make her feel a little better, but it's unlikely.. and if thats the case then we'd have to get her an Ultra Sound which is $120 and again, surgery would follow that.
So far she's been given 2 doses of the antibiotics (supposed to give it to her twice daily, so once last night and once this morning) and she isn't showing ANY signs of feeling even the slightest bit better..
but, I also wanted to add that she shares a cage with another female guinea pig, named Vanek.. When I first got Vanek and tried to introduce the two, they would full out lounge at one another and battle (although blood was never drawn), I then made a large C&C cage and put a divider down the middle so they could see one another in hopes that eventually I could remove the divider, but they would spend all day growling and try and chew/dig through the metal to get to the other one.. then one day my cat got into my room and Wednesday and Vanek both jumped out of the cage and hid together in a sweatshirt on my floor for I don't even know how long.. I was working a 4 - 9 shift and got home at 9:45 so for all I know it could have been hours. Nobody was hurt (they're long haired and my cat has the tiniest head ever, I don't think she could even fit a foot in her mouth!) but I immediately built a new, single cage and they've lived together ever since.. they only tolerate each other, but daily I hear growling and squeals coming from their cage and Vanek is always mounting Wednesday.
Vanek is very dominant, and Wednesday is now, very submissive. The issue now is, is since I took Wednesday from the cage for an hour to the vet, now Vanek is mounting Wednesday every 5 seconds and keeps driving Wednesday into the igloo and keeping her in there.. When ever Wednesday tries to leave the igloo Vanek automatically starts growling, shaking her butt and mounting Wednesday so I don't think Wednesday is even trying anymore to leave the igloo, which means she hasn't been eating or drinking...
The vets said I shouldn't separate them and just force feed Wednesday instead (i'm about to go out and buy groceries and pick up tons of fruits and veggies in hopes that that will get her eating..) but I feel like Vanek is causing way too much stress for her during her illness... I am hesitant because If I separate them, One will get the cage, and the other will be on a makeshift cage on the floor and I am afraid I will be put through hell trying to reintroduce them again.. And I am also considering splitting the 2x3 C&C wire cage I built in half until Wednesdays next vet appointment on Monday.. so that way they'll still see each other but this way Wednesday will have some peace of mind and maybe Vanek will get more floor time this weekend?
So after that whole story book I just wrote.. the questions I have for you guys are; what do you think about the separation issue? would I be terrible for splitting a 2x3 wire cage in half (I know it's small for two, but my bedroom is a little over 9ft by a little over 10ft, and I have my bed, a rolltop desk, and two beuros.. literally ALL the walls are occupied by furniture/cages so until I move out this summer a 2 by 3 has to do..) so I KNOW they'll be able to live together again, or take the risk and put one in a temp floor cage and one in the other, with the risk that they possibly won't be able to live together again?
Also, I have read many of the forums about stones and having the surgery, could anyone give me an estimate they paid? I have $250 - $350 figure in my head as to what to expect worst case senario.. But I haven't asked the vets because I am HOPING that won't have to be done... but I'd just like some realistic figures that you all have paid, I know it will vary... but yeah. Help? Advice? Suggestions?
Thanks.