Clouseau Medical Thread

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JamesandClouseau

Post   » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:13 pm


The vet did say that if we waited one more day, Clouseau would have needed hospitalization. In our case, treatment has been pretty simple and he seems well on his way to full recovery. It really does pay to take these things seriously and get medical help early on.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:09 pm


I'm so glad you moved quickly and that he is improving.

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JamesandClouseau

Post   » Mon Feb 08, 2021 6:04 pm


Hello! It's been ages since I've last been on this forum but wanted to provide an update on Clouseau and ask for some advice. If at all possible, could this post be renamed "Clouseau Medical Thread" as the original title no longer pertains to Clouseau's health?

Clouseau is now 8.63 years old and still bright, cheerful, and demanding for his morning pellets :) Alas, with old age has come a periodic health problem here and there. Most recently, on January 12th, we spotted blood in his urine and immediately brought him to the vet where he was diagnosed with a URI. Our vet (the wonderful Dr. Corcoran, who sadly just left the Boston area) said that Clouseau otherwise looked in good shape (teeth were fine etc). They prescribed him with 0.5ml Sulatrim once per day (240mg/5ml) and 0.3ml Meloxidyl (1.5mg/ml) per day. Clouseau did pretty well on this and concluded his 2 week antibiotic stint a week or two ago.

However, part way through the antibiotics I noticed that his right nipple seemed distended and he was quite upset when it was touched (strained against my hands and squeaked anxiously). His left nipple was smaller and he had no reaction to it being touched. Otherwise he seemed really chipper to be off the antibiotics and was behaving as normally, so we wiped it with a fleece to clean it and decided to keep his cage extra clean and see if it would get better (i.e. if it was just irritated).

The nipple seemed to be doing a bit better (less swollen) but still very sensitive to the touch, so we decided to get it addressed by a vet. In addition, his overall poop production has been a bit down this week and he's been a bit less enthusiastic about hay, although still eating it. We found a new vet in our area who has a strong interest in exotics and brought him in for a checkup today.

The vet said that the nipple looked like it had gotten squashed/pinched because it was slightly flattened, but said that she didn't believe there was an infection (I believe she also said that she didn't believe there was a tumor either although my mom said she didn't hear that - vet conversations over phone are so much more challenging than in person!). I'm trying to wrap my head around how his nipple might have gotten squashed considering the general placement of the nipple on the guinea pig and no things in the cage that I can think of that could have easily caused that (he has cage walls and a wooden house but I can't figure out how he would have squashed a nipple on those vertical objects??).

She also said that one of his cheek teeth was becoming overgrown and was causing an ulcer in his upper mouth. She said that they offered Clouseau an Oxbow hay ring/chew thing and he wouldn't chomp on it while it was hard but when they soaked it he ate it enthusiastically, which also indicated that the tooth was affecting him. She suggested surgery asap to get this solved.

Unfortunately, because I am moving across country and because my mom is helping me with the move, we need to wait to have surgery happen for the next 1.5 weeks (my dad is very loyal to Clouseau but is nervous about handling him, syringe feeding him, and having to make important vet decisions) so my mom can help with Clouseau's care. The vet then suggested that in order to keep Clouseau healthy until the surgery, we give him 0.2ml of Metacam twice a day, which is 0.1ml higher than what we've given him in the past (our old vet Dr. Corcoran suggested 0.3ml when Clouseau's hind leg arthritis was acting up) and 0.5ml (48mg/ml) twice daily for seven days to prevent an infection in his mouth and help with his nipple.

This Sulfatrim dosage is twice as high as what Clouseau had when he had a UTI. I've also read that guinea pigs should get 0.5ml daily per kg of guinea pig - is this true? If so, Clouseau weighs just 700 grams, so would this dose be extremely high? I am in general hesitant about using antibiotics for preventative purposes, especially since Clouseau became a bit withdrawn at the end of his previous Sulfatrim stint.

Ultimately, I am wondering if this all seems like sound advice or if we should get a second opinion before doing surgery here. I am of course worried about putting an 8.63 year old guinea pig under a general anesthetic unless it is absolutely necessary, and am also honestly a bit nervous about the anesthesia dose to which he would be administered as both the antibiotic and metacam doses recommended here are much higher than what he has been recommended in the past. The vet suggested a water bowl for him and to soften his food, but while Clouseau's food consumption is a bit down, he is still happily eating (and demanding) his regular pellets, consuming some hay (especially when hand fed, haha he's spoiled), and LOVES his Oxbow Joint Supplement cookie - these things are hard as rocks and he'll gnaw one down in 10 minutes). Sometimes he's very suspicious of new foods, so I partly wonder if that's what happened with the hesitance at the chew toy offered to him at the vet.

(Also, I do not *disbelieve* he needs a tooth trim, as both he and his passed brother both needed teeth trims during their lives - I think Clouseau has had one around age 6, and James needed two or three before he sadly passed about two and a half years ago. I'm just nervous about having a new vet and wanted to double check the vet's advice here before taking big moves - should we get a second opinion on both the pervasive nipple and the need for tooth surgery? Does anything seem off here?)

Side note - do your vets also strongly suggest having Subcutaneous fluids given to your guinea pig? We've had two vet offices do this, this one being the most recent. Clouseau drinks a decent amount of water at home and also receives a bit of critical care in the evenings which adds to his water intake, and was not mentioned to be dehydrated during the visit, so I'm wondering if the fluids are necessary or just a way for the office to make a bit of extra money. We took the fluids to be on the safe side but I'm doubtful that Clouseau actually needed them.

Sorry for the long post! It's been a while so a lot of health updates :)

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Feb 08, 2021 9:23 pm


Most ill guinea pigs will benefit from fluids so they are frequently given.

When you say URI, do you mean UTI? A urinary tract infection? These often end up being stones instead. An xray will show if this is the problem.
https://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html

Some vets think long incisors need to be trimmed. Without knowing how thoroughly he looked at the teeth (were xrays done?), he may or may not require teeth trimming. It is usually the molars that require trimming, and not the incisors. More to get a feeling about how long teeth should be, you might want to read over:
https://www.guinealynx.info/teeth_broken.html

Dental surgery I believe is needed sometimes when there is an infected tooth. A molar trim, for example, I would not call that surgery. I would call and ask more specifically what the surgery is for and ask how it was diagnosed. You would want any surgery done by an experienced veterinarian or veterinary dentist.

By sulfatrim, do you mean Bactrim? i.e. sulfamethoxazole trimethoprim? See:
https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotics.html#bactrim

You can calculate doses here. Be sure you have the weight of your guinea pig.
https://www.guinealynx.info/calculate_dose.html

I don't know what to make of the squashed nipple. Check to see if it is always that way. Perhaps it looks squashed because of how he is laying lately. If you have a thermal laser, you can compare the temperatures of the two nipples to see if the "squashed" one is hotter and more inflammed.

You had a lot of questions. I am sure I missed some. I hope other posters respond too.

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JamesandClouseau

Post   » Mon Feb 08, 2021 9:43 pm


Thanks for the reply, Lynx. Sorry that my previous post was a bit of a word vomit!

Yes, I meant UTI, not URI. Error on my part! He hasn't seemed to have issues since finishing his antibiotics for the UTI, so we've been assuming that he's over that. He does pass bladder sludge still and has done so for a while but we've upped his exercise and he's been drinking a lot of water to try and keep that from collecting in his system. I think at his age if he does end up having a stone surgery to remove it would not be feasible.

The vet did not do any X-rays, just said that one of the "cheek teeth" was too long and irritating the top of Clouseau's mouth. Thanks for the word clarification - definitely a trim and not a full blown surgery (but he'll still go under general). She made the trim sound pretty dire but Clouseau is still happily eating all his regular foods - not what we've experienced during past teeth issues. Interesting on the incisors and good recommendation to call the vet and get more information. We'll do that tomorrow.

Our antibiotic says "Sulfatrim Suspension." I just googled it and it does indeed seem to be Bactrim. Thanks for the calculator!

Will look for a thermal laser. I can try to upload a picture of it later if that might help. He usually lies on the non-irritated nipple side (since before the nipple became an issue!).

Thanks again for parsing through my long text above!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Feb 08, 2021 11:49 pm


I looked at mine and realized I misspoke and it is called an infrared thermometer. That way you would not have to touch the nipples to check the temperature. So forget about the thermal laser! Maybe a sci-fi weapon?

Edit: I think they are related but the thermal lasers may take temps of a larger area.
https://www.snapon.com/EN/US/Diagnostic ... rmal-Laser

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