Infection Blood on fleece. Infection?

[Artista]

Found this on the fleece. Looks reddish so assume it's some blood. She's behaving normally, eating, drinking, etc. It went from coolish temps here to very warm. Could it be from this?

Her vet is 45 min away. I'm battling terrible UTI and gall stone and feel sickly. Ok to wait and see if I see more symptoms than this?

 

[Artista]

MIght help if I post the pic...

 

[Artista]

Another photo of same area:

 

[bpatters]

My guess would be bladder stone. I know it's difficult for you, but I'd try to get her in as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, syringe her as much water as you can get into her.

 

[Artista]

should i sit up all night doing it, until i can get her in? how much/often?

 

[bpatters]

No, not all night. I'd see if I could get 10 cc or more in her before you go to bed, and then again as soon as you get up.

If you can get some pedialyte (the generic stuff is fine), they generally like that and will readily take it from a syringe. Or you can mix a little fruit juice in if you've got something she'll like. Mine LOVE watermelon added to water. You just have to strain fresh fruit through a fine strainer so it won't clog the syringe.

 

[Artista]

I gave her a few 1 ml shots of water through a small syringe they use for antibiotics. She takes it if I hold her head. Any dietary issues? She gets 1 large leaf green or romaine lettuce, 1 large slice roma tomato, 1 or 2 baby carrots, large leaf of radicchio, few leaves of italian endive along with the slice of green pepper in the am.

 

[bpatters]

That's fine for her diet.

Can you see or feel a stone at all? In a female, they're sometimes close enough to the outside that you can gently manipulate them out.

The other possibility, which I didn't think of until now, is that she's in heat and spotting. Guinea pigs don't usually do that, but you run across the occasional sow that does. Is she showing any signs of being in heat?

 

[Artista]

She does the noise of mating/excitable at times when I pet her on her back to the end. I'll see if I can feel anything. Of course now she's eating and drinking water (of course happy about the water drinking but will give 10 cc before lights out as well). I've held her and she doesn't show any sign of discomfort or makes noise as such. Maybe she passed it and I don't have to go to the vet?

 

[bpatters]

That would be great if she did.

 

[Artista]

Still see blood on fleece. This am is a small line. Today I have a doc appt for a tough miserable infection I'm battling. Vet has said I can do a drop off before 2 pm any day for this so I have that. I also made an appt for Fri afternoon to take her in case I don't do the drop off. Problem with drop off for me is the vet is 50 min away, with traffic, feels like more. Today I'm just focused on my own misery since she is acting herself and eating/drinking/begging loudly, etc. Put a fresh fleece flipper where she sits and all the stains were so I can see what may be new. Really hope it's not cancer or something and if it has to be something, an infection.

 

[Artista]

@Artista, I'm so sorry that you are having such health issues. I will keep both you and Moosie in my thoughts and prayers.

You are so sweet, thank you. Mooshy manages to get issues the same time I do. First was 3 weeks after bilateral mastectomies, then just before starting chemo and now with my lower abdominal discomfort/side issues. Saw pcp today. UTI is gone. Baffled what could be as everything she looked at checks out ok. Thinking medication I'm on (Tamoxifen) for breast cancer, hormone reduction, may be causing the fibroids in my uterus to flare. Or another side effect can be endometrial or uterine cancer. Next up is pelvic ultrasound early May and follow up with my doc and onc. Meanwhile I was given rx for cramp relief if it gets bad. And meanwhile I deal with Mooshy on Friday. Just a small line of blood today. She's the same in all aspects. I did find a dark white spot/line which I'm hoping was a stone that finally passed. We'll see. More worried about her than myself. It's just her and I, my bff (best fuzzy friend) .

Thanks for your prayers/well wishes. I'll update here on Friday after her appt.

 

[Artista]

So $500 later, Mooshy has an infection and a stone in her ureter that they can't just push out. They took 2 xray views and she showed me where the infection is at the tail end of her spine, but not life threatening. Urine sample showed infection. Having urine with culture done to make sure the antibiotics she's on is the right one. Really hope so because Baytril was one which she stopped eating and I'm not very good at force feeding through a syringe.

She also found crystals just on physical exam so she did pass some stones. Just one is stuck. Things I need to do:

Force down 9-10 ccs of water 3 x a day since she's obviously not drinking enough on her own.

Go from 2 Tbsp pellets to 1.5 a day. She's got a fatty liver.

Cut down on veggies altogether. Said gps don't digest veggies like we do and contributes to fatty liver. So 1 small leaf lettuce, 1 smaller piece tomato, 1 baby carrot (not 2), 2 leaves italian endive (not 4) and radicchio (didn't have an amount on it but won't do big anymore).

She needs to move around and is lazy. So I clear out her pen with a few toys and make her go back and forth using the endive and radicchio pieces at the reward.

Follow up appt with xrays in 3 weeks to see if infection is cleared and stone that is stuck is passed.

Funny thing is I understand so much medical stuff since I've been through so much myself.

 

[bpatters]

Ugh. I'm so sorry Mooshy's having all these expensive problems.

Good luck with the stone in the ureter. That's a very hard one to do anything with. Make sure to keep an eye on her to see if she's in pain from it.

Do you trust these vets? Because absolutely nothing I can find anywhere says that vegetables contribute to fatty liver disease, in guinea pigs or any other species. And how did they diagnose the fatty liver?

 

[Artista]

Ugh. I'm so sorry Mooshy's having all these expensive problems.

Good luck with the stone in the ureter. That's a very hard one to do anything with. Make sure to keep an eye on her to see if she's in pain from it.

Do you trust these vets? Because absolutely nothing I can find anywhere says that vegetables contribute to fatty liver disease, in guinea pigs or any other species. And how did they diagnose the fatty liver?

On xray she saw the liver. Said there is fat is in it and to cut down portion of dinner veggies since they don't digest it like we do and she's lazy so no exercise there. She is an exotic vet as well. Her and her husband. Her husband only sees exotics with a special interest in reptiles in another location. I started out with her husband in 1995 with birds, so I've been with them for a long while. She does a very thorough exam in addition to tests/xrays. Here's the link to the clinic I take her to. So many vets say they do exotics when in fact they really don't know much. I drive an hour one way for her to see Dr. Welsh who has been very good for Mooshy for the past 4 years since I've had her.

(broken link removed)

 

[Artista]

Re: Blood on fleece. Infection & Stones

Hi Shonta,


I have written down the instructions for Mooshy's care that we discussed today, as well as I can remember them at this time. Please let me know if there is something I missed or if you have any questions.



Please decrease Mooshy’s pellets from 2 tablespoons a day to 1- 1 & 1/2 tablespoons a day.
Please decrease the number of endive leaves from 4 leaves a day to 2 leaves a day and decrease from 2 baby carrots a day to 1 baby carrot a day. Please decrease the size of the piece of tomato offered to Mooshy daily.

Mooshy may continue to have unlimited access to timothy hay or orchard grass.

Please attempt to increase Mooshy’s activity level by placing small pieces of her treat foods as far apart as possible a couple of times a day.

Please increase her water intake daily. Please offer her water via syringe if needed to encourage more fluid intake. She is currently being offered 10 ml of water twice a day (The antibiotic syringe can hold 1 ml of water. The larger syringe sent home today holds 3 ml.) She may have 9-10 ml water by mouth three times a day, as long as she is accepting the water willingly. Mooshy may also be offered a couple of mls at other times during the day if she will take it easily.

Please clean Mooshy’s cage daily. Ideally, all layers of the cage would be cleaned on a daily basis instead of spot cleaning. Layers of towels can be absorbent and can be easily changed daily, especially if you are able to have someone help with the laundry. Paper pellets may also be used, but will still need to be completely changed out daily. The cleaner Mooshy’s cage can be kept, the healthier she will be.


Mooshy was started on Trimethoprim Sulfa (TMS) today (an antibiotic). Please give her 0.8 ml of TMS by mouth twice a day (every 12 hours) for at least 21 days, or until her recheck appointment. Please do not stop the medication before her recheck exam unless advised to do so by a team member at the hospital.

The urinalysis results should be available tomorrow. The urine culture results will be back toward the middle of next week. We will call you with the results. It is possible we may need to change the antibiotics based on the culture results and adjust the timing for the recheck exam accordingly. We will plan on rechecking her radiographs at the time of her recheck exam.


Have a great weekend!


Diana Welsh, DVM


--
Please call with any questions or concerns!

Wildwood Veterinary Hospital
1115 Luchessi Drive, San Jose, CA. 95118
408-265-8811
408-265-8355 (fax)

 

[bpatters]

I don't see anything wrong with any of her recommendations except that I'm still suspicious of the fatty liver cause. But she's the vet, and I'm not.

 

[Artista]

Combo of no exercise and too large portion of veggies that they can't digest the same way we do.

 

[jaycriae]

My advice for that would be to increase her exercise rather than decrease the veggies. I have a pig with a stone currently (which is why I haven't been online much lately), and my vet's advice was to feed her lots of wet and watery veggies, to hydrate her even more. Also, I couldn't find any definitive sources, but the implication I get from searching old Guinea Lynx threads is that fatty liver does not happen to pigs that haven't been seriously neglected and fed horribly inadequate diets. I'm sure it's true that guinea pigs don't digest veggies the same way we do, but they certainly do digest them, they're herbivores, and they typically should eat a cup a day.

 

[Artista]

They are herbivores but in the wild they don't eat tomatoes, lettuce, baby carrot, green pepper, etc. So I trust my exotic vet knows what she's saying. It could be MY gp issue and not so much a global gp issue with TOO much veggies. And for extra water Mooshy takes drinking from a 9 ml syringe very well from me. She's not drinking enough. I see that with her bottle every day. Best she drink water than just wetting down more veggies.. I think she's had 5 oz of water so far today. And Mooshy is not neglected nor is she fed inadequate diet. I'm home 24/7 due to disability and tend to her every hour and everything she has/eats is top quality.