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Weight Loss Eri

She did well during the surgery and is starting to wake up! The vet will call me when she’s moving around more
 
We went to get her and the vet had checked her temperature sometime before we got there. Her temperature had dropped to 97. They’d been using a machine called a bear hugger to keep her warm. The vet offered to take her home with her to monitor her and I took her up on the offer. I was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her as well and wouldn’t know what to do if something happened. We only have a heating pad. So Eri is with the vet tonight. She said she was possibly being over cautious but I’d rather be safe than sorry. I know we made the right decision but I am having major separation anxiety right now. I’m also worried. I’m worried that she won’t make it and I’m worried that she’ll think we abandoned her. I spent about an hour at the vet’s office just snuggling with Eri. It did bring her temperature up a degree. Hopefully she can come home tomorrow.
 
Just know you did the right thing for her. I remember well the tension headaches I suffered every time one of my boys was in the vets care. Over cautious or not she's in great hands and you really should feel better about that. In all likelihood she's going to be just fine, but what's meant to be, will be. Looking forward to hearing about Eri coming home tomorrow and listening to you tell us about how she's moving around like a drunken sailor.

I'm not religious at all, but have faith in the care she's getting. She's gonna be just fine.
 
If it were me I'd be so happy that she is in the care of a skilled vet during that first night after surgery. If she's groggy and getting pain meds, she really isn't too aware of who is helping her. the warmth and rest should do a world of good. Sending positive thoughts your way.
 
I understand. It’s just hard being away from her. I struggled a bit with deciding what to do. I know I made the best choice to let her go home with the vet. The vet has been wonderful. I miss Eri and wish that I could be with her. I had to think with my mind instead of my heart. My heart was telling me to take her home but my logical mind was telling me no, let the skilled vet take care of her because if something happens you won’t know what to do, but she will. I really hope that she is ok now and can come home today. I won’t know until a couple of hours now and I have a dentist appointment so I can’t even think about picking her up until late morning.
 
Thank you both for responding. It really helps me feel better. I know I did the right thing but sometimes the right decisions are not the easiest. This one was hard. Luckily my daughter was on board with it too. At first she was thinking let’s just take her home but she changed her mind quickly. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for her either.
 
Eri is doing well. Her temperature was holding at 99.8 as of an hour and a half ago. She was eating and pooping well. The vet said that we can come and get her anytime
 
She’s home! The vet did a flank spay instead of going through the abdomen. Both sides got shaved but thankfully the vet was able to remove everything from the right side. She’s maintained her temperature all day so far and is munching on hay while giving me mean looks. Eevee and Chai are more interested in the Oxbow cozy cave that I bought and are mostly ignoring Eri.
 
Glad to hear she's home!
 
I dropped Eri off with the vet this morning for post op check. Eri’s right kidney is dilated. The vet had mentioned something about the ureter when she was doing the spay so wanted to see her again today for bloodwork and to check her. She’s done X-rays and ultrasounds and she asked me to come get her at 4:30 to go over things. A lot of things. Now I’m scared.
 
Please keep us posted. Fingers crossed that Eri will be just fine.
 
Eri has polycystic kidney disease on both kidneys and hydronephrosis in her right kidney. She may have to have her right kidney removed. The vet drained the cysts and the fluid off of the kidney. Bloodwork shows normal kidney function so the left is apparently compensating for the right, which is good. My vet has never removed a kidney before but said she was willing to try if Eri needs it done. If she continues to accumulate fluid then it will have to go. The vet will be out of town until June 11, so I’ll have to go to another vet or emergency vet if anything happens. We don’t have the money to cover a kidney removal if we go to a specialist. I only hope that Eri won’t have any further problems. She’s been through so much already. Xrays showed a bladder stone also. The vet says she can’t rule out this being a complication from spay surgery or it could be coincidence that it’s presented itself now. She said the stone could have been in the ureter and blocking urine from entering the bladder. We just don’t know. We will have to wait and see and try to come up with the funds if need be. I’m not willing to let her go if we can save her. I don’t know what we’ll do but we’ll have to figure something out.
 
That’s a tough situation to be in. Some vets have Care Credit which allows you to make payments interest free over a period of months. That might be something to consider.

You are taking such good care of her. I hope Eri doesn’t need to have another surgery.
 
Her right kidney is swollen again. She needs to go somewhere and my vet is out of town for two weeks. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if having her kidney drained is best or have it removed. I have Care Credit but the bill is high already from paying for her and Eevee’s bills.
 
I’m at a different vet office right now. They’re going to drain the fluid and take another look at her. They injected her with a sedative and she is relaxing in my arms. I’m so scared right now. So scared that no matter what I do it’s wrong and I’m going to lose her. I feel like I’m failing her because I can’t fix this for her. I love her so much. My heart is hurting.
 
It's normal to second guess everything you do. You're doing something, so that's the right thing to do. In the end, what's supposed to happen, will. You're doing everything you can and sad as it is to say, that's a lot more than so many pigs around the world get.

You're a great mama, and you must know how much she loves you no matter how it turns out. She knows how much you love her, too.

I know it's easier said than done, but try to calm down. She can feel your angst and it won't help her.

Mine, Leo and Jack's thoughts are with you, hoping for a full and speedy recovery for Eri.
 
It’s been a while. I found out yesterday that Eri does not have polycystic kidney disease. The cysts are on her liver. My vet referred me to a university teaching hospital out of state, about 3.5 to 4 hours away for a CT scan. I got there, and they wanted to examine Eri yesterday, keep her overnight, then do an ultrasound instead of a CT scan. They would charge me for the overnight stay of course. I was not told either by my vet or the person who made my appointment. I let them know that I had come from another state and I knew nothing about this. They were able to do the ultrasound yesterday.

I was told that an ultrasound would be better than a CT scan to determine what was going on and would be cheaper. My daughter and I went to lunch and they did the ultrasound. They were unable to determine what caused the hydronephrosis but were able to determine that the cysts were on her liver. They don’t know what is causing the cysts. As far as the kidney goes, they didn’t see any signs of stones so were not able to rule out surgery complications from the spay. They wanted $2000-$3000 to remove her kidney and do a CT scan. They said there was no point in doing a CT scan if I didn’t consent to them removing her kidney. I don’t have 2 to 3 grand so I said no. They are supposed to be contacting my vet today and updating her on everything. She has said that she is willing to remove Eri’s kidney so I will be having her do it. It has to be done. I’m terrified of losing her but I know it is high risk no matter who does it. They mentioned her possibly doing a biopsy on her liver while she’s removing the kidney.

Overall I was not pleased with the vet who examined her. I did not have a good feeling about her at all or the facility. This is supposed to be one of the best places for exotic pets but I wanted to run away screaming. All they seemed to care about was money. They didn’t seem to care about Eri. The other vet who got involved was a little better. She’s losing weight and I suspect that her liver is causing it. I spent $700 yesterday and don’t know much more than what I did before I went there.

They sedated her heavily and they didn’t bother wiping her down after they did the ultrasound. I feel stressed, scared, and frustrated. I feel like I’m doing everything I can but it’s not helping her at all. She’s being failed. Her body is failing her and I feel that the vets failed her yesterday. I love her so much and it hurts that everything I’m doing is not helping her. Like it’s all for nothing. If they wanted to do a CT scan in the end, they should just done it in the first place. They didn’t take any fluid samples. They mentioned it and I thought me saying ok was me giving consent and even wanting them to do so. But they didn’t. I am extremely unhappy with them. Maybe they were the best once upon a time. Not so much anymore.
 
This has to be so frustrating for you. You are doing so much to help Eri. It sounds like your regular vet is very conscientious. I wish you and Eri well.
 
Thank you. I am so frustrated. I’m doing everything I can but it’s been futile so far. It breaks my heart that Eri is going through all of this and I can’t get her the right kind of help. My regular vet has been wonderful and she is probably frustrated too. She’s supposed to be going over the report with me tomorrow and I’m super nervous and stressed about it.
 
Well, I heard from my vet. Eri’s kidney is definitely going to have to go. She is willing to do the surgery. Since no one knows what the cause of the hydronephrosis is, that there is no guarantee that it isn’t a complication of the spay surgery, it is going to be covered by the company that owns the vet practice. I will have to pay for the liver biopsy, which is fair. They don’t know what is causing the cysts obviously. So Eri still has two known hurdles to jump through. I’m taking her tomorrow just to have her kidney drained for some relief and she is having her surgery Tuesday. I’m of course worried about the surgery but it needs to be done.

I know I could just let her go, but I want her to at least have a chance. I need to know that I’ve done everything I can. I love her too much to give up on her. I pray that she pulls through the surgery and that the cysts on her liver can be resolved.
 

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