General Lily's medical thread

[SSLee]

Lily is now 8 years old and about a week ago started on metacam at .25 mg twice daily. I'm guessing Lily will be on metacam for the rest of her life. The little bottle of metacam from the vet is expensive at $45 and expected to last a little longer than a week. I checked with Costco pharmacy and they carry it. For those who have pigs on metacam, where do you get the prescription filled?

Lily was scruffy looking and the vet told me to give her a butt bath using diluted Dawn. Because Lily doesn't move much, she developed urine scald even though I change her pee pads twice (and sometimes 3x) a day. I've never bathed a guinea pig before and was anxious about it. Luckily watching a number of YouTube videos helped. Lily was a real good girl and did wonderfully. I used a basin in the tub and had a real hard time getting up off the ground afterwards. I think the next time I will use the sink. The vet did not tell me to bath Lily continuously nor gave me additional information. Is butt bathing something I should do daily or weekly? Also, I read in some posts to use diaper rash ointment afterwards. A Reddit post indicated her vet recommended calendula cream after bathing. Any additional information on treatment other than bathing would be appreciated.

I don't think Lily got the full attention of the vet as I brought in both of my pigs for consultation. The other pig, Rumi, might need surgery so we ended up spending more time focused on Rumi. Lily still eats her veggies with gusto and is most active at that time. Because she eats slowly, I put a grid divider down during veggie time so that Rumi will not steal any of Lily's veggies. One of Lily's spots is the bunk bed next to the hay rack so I know Lily has access to hay. When she moves to her other spot, far away from the hay, I put down handfuls of hay in front of her. I thought that would be helpful for Lily but it might have been bad for the urine scald issue.

 

[ItsaZoo]

Lily is in good hands with you caring for her. I don’t know if I would use Dawn for frequent butt baths. I think it would be rather drying. There are shampoos specifically for guinea pigs. I don’t bathe mine often but I use a solid soap bar for pets that’s very gentle and rinses well.

I have used diaper rash cream on mine. She had a skin fungus and after it cleared up, her skin was a bit pink and sensitive.

I don’t know what you use for bedding, but chenille bath mats might keep her dryer. I buy them at Target. They’re inexpensive, soft, they wash well and the chenille wicks moisture away from the surface so she wouldn’t be as likely to sit in a wet spot.

 

[4boipigs]

Ummm, Metacam lasting a little longer than a week? What size did they give you that lasts that long for $45? That's insane.

Walter gets a varied dose daily depending on his pain level (.1 to .2 ml) and Trishula gets .1 on occasion for his back pain. We have 32 ml bottle of Meloxidyl that has lasted us...a while now, but I'm not sure how long.

I believe Meloxidyl is cheaper than Metacam. Metacam has run us $80 at the vet. Meloxidyl we've gotten online thru the vet's pharmacy for $30. When I worked at a vet, most people favored getting their meds from Chewy. I still get it from the vet because the vet's online pharmacy is extremely slow at shipping. (To clear it up for anyone reading - meloxicam is the generic name! Metacam and Meloxidyl are brands.)

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I agree with both @4boipigs and @ItsaZoo , @SSLee . Even in Canada, I get a 32ml bottle of Metacam from my vet (Just picked it up yesterday, in fact) and it's $68. Leo has been on .5ml for nearly a year now, and a 32ml bottle lasts us two months. It would last you double. (edit. Just noticed yours is twice a day, so scratch the double that comment.)

Dawn is great for cleaning grease glands, and for a stubborn fungal infection I've used Nizoral weekly to good effect. For a regular all around bath, I use Johnson's small animal shampoo. It's very mild.

 

[SSLee]

@ItsaZoo, I agree using Dawn continuously is not appropriate and just ordered Fluppets organic pet shampoo. I am using a pet wipe daily and will bathe Lily again this weekend if needed. I also ordered the calendula cream to have on hand.

For bedding, I'm currently using chenille bath mats topped with fleece pee pads completely lining the edge of the cage. I started using the chenille bath mats over a year ago because you gave it such a positive recommendation. Several of the YouTube guinea pig influencers talked highly of the mats but it wasn't until you wrote in a post here that I decided to try it. Since then, the GuineaDad liners have been gathering dust. I wish they come in smaller sizes like the pee pads.

@4boipigs, thank you for clarifying the brand and generic names. I was confused because the box states Meloxidyl (meloxicam) and the instruction sticker from the vet shows Metacam. The bottle is 10 ml. I live in San Francisco and it seems we pay more for everything.

For Rumi, when she had a bad case of bloat, the vet visit, x-rays, and associated costs were over $1,500. The vet wants to do another x-ray on Rumi this Friday to see if she still needs surgery. A friend suggested I use a vet several hours away as the price would be about half what my vet charges. He does that with his dog. I don't drive so having a vet several hours away is not practical. The current vet is an exotic vet and is walking distance.

@GPP, thank you for the information on the drug and shampoo. I'm going to call Costco again. Yesterday, the pharmacist asked me for the drug's strength and I did not have the info. Since I'm rooting for Lily to live many more years, I want to make sure I can find a good pricing for her pain meds.

I was surprised at the large variety of pet shampoos on Amazon. After last Sunday's bath, some of the tips of Lily's fur were still clumped together and I ended up cutting some off. Definitely looking forward to using a mild shampoo on Lily for future baths.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

@ItsaZoo, I agree using Dawn continuously is not appropriate and just ordered Fluppets organic pet shampoo. I am using a pet wipe daily and will bathe Lily again this weekend if needed. I also ordered the calendula cream to have on hand.

For bedding, I'm currently using chenille bath mats topped with fleece pee pads completely lining the edge of the cage. I started using the chenille bath mats over a year ago because you gave it such a positive recommendation. Several of the YouTube guinea pig influencers talked highly of the mats but it wasn't until you wrote in a post here that I decided to try it. Since then, the GuineaDad liners have been gathering dust. I wish they come in smaller sizes like the pee pads.

@4boipigs, thank you for clarifying the brand and generic names. I was confused because the box states Meloxidyl (meloxicam) and the instruction sticker from the vet shows Metacam. The bottle is 10 ml. I live in San Francisco and it seems we pay more for everything.

For Rumi, when she had a bad case of bloat, the vet visit, x-rays, and associated costs were over $1,500. The vet wants to do another x-ray on Rumi this Friday to see if she still needs surgery. A friend suggested I use a vet several hours away as the price would be about half what my vet charges. He does that with his dog. I don't drive so having a vet several hours away is not practical. The current vet is an exotic vet and is walking distance.

@GPP, thank you for the information on the drug and shampoo. I'm going to call Costco again. Yesterday, the pharmacist asked me for the drug's strength and I did not have the info. Since I'm rooting for Lily to live many more years, I want to make sure I can find a good pricing for her pain meds.

I was surprised at the large variety of pet shampoos on Amazon. After last Sunday's bath, some of the tips of Lily's fur were still clumped together and I ended up cutting some off. Definitely looking forward to using a mild shampoo on Lily for future baths.

The strength of Leo's Metacam is 1.5mg/ml, and I would venture a guess that its the same for Lily. Still, a 10ml bottle should last longer than a week.

 

[SSLee]

@GPP, you are correct. The Metacam strength is 1.5 mg/ml. And yes, it should last way more than a week as I initially miscalculated. That bottle sure is small though.

Rumi is jealous that Lily gets syringe feeding twice daily. The vet told me to give Rumi diluted juice to get her familiar with the syringe again before surgery. I just started giving Rumi diluted pomegranate juice and she loves it. Rumi comes running over when she sees me put the syringe through the grid. Lily, I have to catch and burrito wrap her to give the pain med.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Their little personalities are so very different, and hilarious. Leo is a little weirdo, he loves his medication. Every morning he gets his metacam, and a couple of 1ml syringes of Benebac. All I have to do is walk into the living room and say, "I got your medicine for you, baby!" And he comes running.

Sly was the same way. I would ask him if he wanted his juice, and moments later he was climbing the bars.