sallyvh
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
- Posts
- 1,392
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
- Messages
- 1,392
I'm currently dealing with a case of bloat in Margaret, who is around 6 years old.
She was perfectly normal yesterday when I went to sleep, but this morning when I woke up she was puffed up in her cuddle sack and didn't come screaming for veggies. I immediately pulled her out, thinking it may be bladder related as she has had many little stones - however, her stomach was extremely round and firm to the touch. I also realized that there weren't really any poops in the cage.
I called her vet right away and was able to get her in for noon.
X-rays showed exactly what I expected, two large gas bubbles. Our vet also noted that there weren't normal digestion sounds going on.
She was still pretty bright and very feisty, plus her temperature was normal so I decided that I would treat her from home instead of hospitalizing her. I think she will be much more comfortable here instead of there. She was given a big subQ injection and an injection of metoclopramide. We were sent home with:
- oral metoclopramide
- cisapride
- simethicone
- trimebutine
- metacam
Everything is to be given every 8 hours, except for the metacam which is every 12. I'm also supposed to hand feed critical care and fluids every few hours until she starts eating on her own.
At the vets she made a few soft stools, there were also a few more in her carrier on the way home and just now there's a few small, soft droppings in her cage. She's visibly unconformable though, she's puffy and can't seem to find a comfortable position.
She has been nibbling at her hay but not really eating much so I just finished syringing her 25mls of critical care. She isn't really active, but definitely not lethargic. She was very feisty at the vets and just now through all her feeding, meds and x-rays. She also still runs from me when I open her cage to pick her up, so I'm taking that as a positive sign.
I'm just hoping she pulls through, Margaret means so much to me and I would hate to loose her to some random case of bloat. I really have no idea what caused it, she hasn't been on any medications, her diet has been normal, I have made absolutely no changes and she has been getting her regular 1 cup of veggies per day.
I have dealt with a lot of different guinea pig illnesses/ailments and this is one of the most frightening. Seeing how they can go from normal to extremely ill in less than 12 hours is shocking. This is a great tome to have an emergency vet fund as well, this visit cost me $375 and it was completely out of the blue!
Anyway, that's enough of my rambling for now, I'll update with how she's doing later. Here's a picture of her X-ray in case anyone is interested:
She was perfectly normal yesterday when I went to sleep, but this morning when I woke up she was puffed up in her cuddle sack and didn't come screaming for veggies. I immediately pulled her out, thinking it may be bladder related as she has had many little stones - however, her stomach was extremely round and firm to the touch. I also realized that there weren't really any poops in the cage.
I called her vet right away and was able to get her in for noon.
X-rays showed exactly what I expected, two large gas bubbles. Our vet also noted that there weren't normal digestion sounds going on.
She was still pretty bright and very feisty, plus her temperature was normal so I decided that I would treat her from home instead of hospitalizing her. I think she will be much more comfortable here instead of there. She was given a big subQ injection and an injection of metoclopramide. We were sent home with:
- oral metoclopramide
- cisapride
- simethicone
- trimebutine
- metacam
Everything is to be given every 8 hours, except for the metacam which is every 12. I'm also supposed to hand feed critical care and fluids every few hours until she starts eating on her own.
At the vets she made a few soft stools, there were also a few more in her carrier on the way home and just now there's a few small, soft droppings in her cage. She's visibly unconformable though, she's puffy and can't seem to find a comfortable position.
She has been nibbling at her hay but not really eating much so I just finished syringing her 25mls of critical care. She isn't really active, but definitely not lethargic. She was very feisty at the vets and just now through all her feeding, meds and x-rays. She also still runs from me when I open her cage to pick her up, so I'm taking that as a positive sign.
I'm just hoping she pulls through, Margaret means so much to me and I would hate to loose her to some random case of bloat. I really have no idea what caused it, she hasn't been on any medications, her diet has been normal, I have made absolutely no changes and she has been getting her regular 1 cup of veggies per day.
I have dealt with a lot of different guinea pig illnesses/ailments and this is one of the most frightening. Seeing how they can go from normal to extremely ill in less than 12 hours is shocking. This is a great tome to have an emergency vet fund as well, this visit cost me $375 and it was completely out of the blue!
Anyway, that's enough of my rambling for now, I'll update with how she's doing later. Here's a picture of her X-ray in case anyone is interested: